Super Crispy Keto Pizza! (2024)

Crunchy Thin Crust Pizza on a Keto diet is not just possible, it's even easier than making a traditional pizza! The dough for the pizza crust comes together in just a few seconds and uses a few simple ingredients that you probably have on hand already.

Don't let the simplicity of it fool you, this keto pizza is absolutely wonderful! Simply make the crust and then top with your favorite toppings for a pizza that is crispy, cheesy, and full of flavor!

You will be amazed at how easy this keto pizza crust recipe is to make AND you can make them up ahead of time and freeze for a quick low carb meal in just minutes. There are tons of variations you can make by changing up the toppings, including making breakfast pizzas, dessert pizzas, taco pizzas, cheesesteak pizzas, and the list goes on and on!

More Low Carb Recipes!

While I don't follow a keto diet, I do like to eat lower carb whenever possible and here are my go-to recipes!

Frequently Asked Questions

Ingredients & Substitutions

Pizza Crust

This almond flour pizza crust is made from just 4 ingredients; almond flour, egg, xanthan gum, and olive oil along with a touch of salt for flavor. I have not tried the recipe using various ingredients or substitutions because it was the perfect crispy keto pizza crust for us.

Almond Flour: I haven't tested this recipe with anything but almond flour and I'm hesitant to give any substitutions because various non-wheat flours will absorb ingredients differently. For example, if you wanted to use coconut flour, you would really need to rework the recipe because coconut flour is very absorbent.

Egg: If you need to omit the egg, I would use 2 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 Tablespoons of water in place of the large egg. When doing this, adjust your almond flour so that the end result is dough that forms a ball and isn't too sticky.

Olive Oil: You can use any kind of liquid oil that you like if you don't want to use olive oil. Avocado oil is another great choice. While you can omit the oil to cut down on the fat, the little bit of oil really did improve the taste/texture and pliability of the dough in my opinion.

Xanthan Gum: I use this as a binder along with the egg. It is flavorless and works great to hold the pizza dough together. You can try making it without it, but I had better results using it. There are other thickeners you can use as well, like guar gum or agar agar.

Pizza Sauce

The type of pizza sauce you use really depends on what kind of pizza you want to make.

For traditional pizza, I recommend using a low carb marinara sauce. What I used is my homemade marinara sauce and instead of the sugar, I replaced it with Swerve brown sugar to make it keto.

You can also use a garlic butter parmesan sauce as the base which would be delicious with a chicken pizza. Just make up the sauce that I use in this recipe Garlic Parmesan Wings and spread it on the pizza crust, top with cooked chicken and mozzarella cheese.

Use a keto bbq sauce as a base and top with pulled pork and monterey jack cheese for a bbq pork pizza.

One of my favorite creations is a cheesesteak pizza using a cheesy cream sauce. It's so delicious that I've included the recipe in the next section.

Pizza Toppings

You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to toppings. You can go from basic pepperoni and sausage to a Mexican-inspired pizza just by switching the toppings.

One thing to keep in mind when choosing your toppings is that you want the vegetables and meats to be cooked prior to putting on the pizza. So, if you are using vegetables like onions, broccoli, or any other vegetable that you wouldn't want raw on a pizza, make sure to cook it. All meats should be cooked and cooled before adding to the pizza. Pepperoni is already cooked, so you can use that straight from the package.

Variations of Low Carb Pizzas to try

I like to think of pizza as an extension of whatever I feel like eating, just in pizza form. Now that I have found the perfect low carb pizza crust, you bet I'll be getting super creative with my pizzas. I'll be able to satisfy my pizza cravings and any other flavor cravings just by switching the toppings and sauces and you can too!

Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Mexican-Inspired Pizza

Base: 1 keto pizza crust par baked and cooled

Sauce: ¼ cup homemade enchilada sauce

Toppings:

• ¼ cup of either Mexican shredded chicken or taco flavored ground beef
• jalapeno slices (optional)
• ⅔ cup Mexican Cheese shredded
• Cold toppings to be added after baking: shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes or salsa, sour cream.

Directions:

Spread the enchilada sauce over the par baked pizza crust and top with seasoned and cooked ground beef or chicken and jalapeno slices. Top with cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 450℉/230℃ for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Cheesesteak Pizza

Base: 1 keto pizza crust par baked and cooled

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup heavy cream
• ¼-½ teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 slices American cheese and/or ¼ cup shredded Italian Cheeses or Provolone
• 1-2 ounces thinly sliced roast beef
• thin slices of red onion
• 1 Tablespoon of bacon grease (optional or use butter or oil)
• More Cheese for topping pizza with

Directions:

Whisk together the heavy cream and xanthan gum in a small saucepan. Add cheeses and let melt. Salt and pepper to taste. The consistency should be like a thick alfredo sauce. You can thicken with more cheese or xanthan gum if desired or thin it out with more cream or a touch of water. Remove from heat and let cool.

Sauté the sliced onion in bacon grease or oil/butter until caramelized and soft. Add in the chopped roast beef and heat through.

Spread the cheese sauce over the pizza crust and add the onions and roast beef. Top with shredded cheese of choice or more American slices or provolone. Whatever you like. Bake in a preheated oven on 450℉/230℃ for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Breakfast Pizza

Base: 1 keto pizza crust par baked and cooled

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup pepper gravy (¼ cup heavy cream, ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum, pepper, and salt)
• 1 -2 cooked sausage patty or crispy bacon slices
• 1 egg lightly scrambled
• cheese of choice

Directions:

Whisk together the heavy cream and xanthan gum in a small saucepan. Salt and pepper to taste. The consistency should be like a thick alfredo sauce. You can thicken with more xanthan gum if desired or thin it out with more cream or a touch of water. Remove from heat and let cool.

Spread the pepper gravy over the pizza crust and add the cooked egg and shredded cheese. Top with cooked and crumbled sausage or bacon. Bake in a preheated oven on 450℉/230℃ for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

How to Make Keto Pizza

The most important part of making your keto pizza is the crust. After that, you can top with whatever toppings you love and bake it in the oven until the cheese melts. These instructions are for a basic keto cheese pizza.

Making the Keto Pizza Crust

One thing I love about this pizza crust is it's easier to make than a traditional wheat dough pizza for sure. It's also quick!

Preheat the oven to 450℉/230℃. It only takes a few minutes to make the keto pizza crust and you want to par bake it in a preheated oven, so do this first.

In a medium size mixing bowl, add ½ cup of almond flour, 1½ teaspoons of xanthan gum, and the salt. Mix the dry ingredients well to ensure the xanthan gum is dispersed evenly.

Make a well at the bottom of the bowl and add the 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon of olive oil or oil of choice. You can also use melted butter if you prefer. Stir the ingredients together until they start to form a dough.

Touch the dough with your fingers and if it is sticky, add in the additional 1 Tablespoon of almond flour. I have always had to add this little extra to get the right consistency for the dough.

Mix the extra almond flour into the dough and you will end up with a ball of dough that is not sticky to the touch, but very pliable. Shape the dough into a flat disc.

Press the dough ball between two pieces of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to the size and shape you want.

I used an (affiliate link)8" Pizza pan with holes, but you can use any pan you like. If the surface is not non-stick, then I would line it with parchment paper before baking to ensure the crust does not stick. The shape won't matter, so feel free to use a square pan if that is all you have.

Remove the top layer of parchment paper carefully and place the pan you are going to cook the pizza crust on on top.

Flip the pan and crust over and then carefully remove the parchment paper from the top. Fold over the excess dough to create a slightly thicker crust at the edges. Place the pizza crust into the oven and bake for about 5-7 minutes or just until the crust begins to turn golden brown.

Don't overcook at this stage or your crust may burn on the edges once you put the toppings on and bake.

Remove the crust from the oven. I like to remove it from the pizza pan, as well, to cool. If you are making the keto pizza to freeze and bake later, this will speed up the time it takes for the crust to completely cool.

Once the crust has cooled and set, you can top with your favorite toppings and bake it right away or freeze to make later.

Topping the Pizza

For me, the best pizza is a simple pizza and, although I love all kinds of toppings, I love a plain cheese pizza just as much!

Spread ¼ cup of the marinara sauce (pizza sauce or whatever sauce you want to use) over the pizza crust. You can use more or less sauce according to your preference, but remember the more sauce you use, the less crispy the crust will be.

Top with shredded cheeses and sprinkle just a touch of Italian seasoning on top or some red pepper flakes for a little kick. Fresh Mozzarella slices work great or you can use a combination of different cheeses. I like using a combination of Italian cheese blend and mozzarella.

If you want to add fresh basil to the top of your pizza, do this after cooking because basil doesn't like the heat and will quickly turn brown.

Bake in a preheated oven on 450℉/230℃ for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Freezing the Keto Pizza

One of the best things about this pizza is how easy it is to make and freeze and then cook from frozen. To do this, simply top the cooled crust with your favorite toppings and place the pizza in the freezer for a few hours to freeze.

Then place the frozen pizza into a freezer bag or wrap with plastic wrap. To bake from frozen, preheat the oven to 400℉/200℃ and place the frozen pizza directly on the oven rack. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the pizza is hot and bubbly.

ABOUT THE RECIPE AUTHOR, LOUISE LONG

Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years ofexperience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.

She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.

Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.

Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and getting the most out of the Ninja Foodi.

Ninja Foodi 101

Simply Cooking with Louise

Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format onThe Salted Pepper YouTube channel.

She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can.

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