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Cauliflower has come a long way - there’s no way of denying the utility of this vegetable. The best way of utilizing it, in my personal opinion, is by making a cauliflower crust and enjoying a keto pizza.
Find an exciting keto pizza recipe that can be made ahead of time and made in less than 30 minutes!
How to Make A Keto Cauliflower Pizza Crust
A keto cauliflower crust is, in short, finely processed cauliflower rice combined with binding factors, shaped into a round shape, and then baked.
This pizza crust is naturally gluten free, low-carb, typically higher in nutrients and can be made egg-free by substituting the egg with either chia or flaxseeds!
On top of this, the versatility of the flavor of the cauliflower allows for any toppings to be added. You can go fully vegan by adding a plant-based protein, or add diced Trifecta chicken breast, shredded chicken, red onions, BBQ sauce as the base or a classic marinara sauce. You can also add your favorite cheeses for further fat content and flavor (ideally, we suggest mozzarella cheese).
The options are endless.
Calculating Your Keto Carb Count
If you are unsure of what carb range you need to be in following a keto diet use this keto carb calculator:
So, to begin, you will need a food processor to process your cauliflower into a fine flour-like consistency. I highly recommend making your own cauliflower rice, as the one that is store bought may be excessively watery or too inconsistent when processed. The flavor will be worth the extra few minutes.
This recipe calls for 1 head of cauliflower (about 24 onuces) to be used as the base. If you decide to purchase cauliflower rice already processed, make sure the product is finely processed, without any brown bits or excessive oxidation present in the bag.
How To Achieve a Golden Brown Crispy Cauliflower Crust
Once the cauliflower ’dough’ is formed and rolled out on top of the parchment paper, transfer the dough to a preheated baking sheet or round pizza pan.
Do this by preheating your oven with the baking sheet left inside the oven for as long as 30 minutes. We want this to be hot enough to give the cauliflower a golden brown color, and create a nice crusted pizza dough.
The process of cooking something before completely cooking it through is called “parcooking” or in this case, “parbaking.” This means the crust will be cooked without the toppings beforehand just about 85%-90% of the way.
For this keto cauliflower pizza crust, you’ll want to cook it on one side for 10 minutes, add the toppings and then cook for a final 5-7 minutes. It shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes from the moment you start cooking the keto cauliflower dough, till the moment you have a final product, ready to be enjoyed.
Making a Keto BBQ Chicken Pizza with Cauliflower Crust
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings:
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of Trifecta Chicken, diced
- 1/2 Cup of G Hughes Sugar-Free Barbecue Sauce
- 3/4 Cup of Mozzarella
- 1/4 Red onion, julienne (long thin cuts)
- Picked cilantro leaves (to taste - optional)
- Olive oil, to taste
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Cauliflower Crust Ingredients:
- 1 Medium Head Cauliflower, processed
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
- 1/4 cup parmesan, grated
- 1 teaspoon oregano, dry
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
- Arrowroot powder, as needed
- Spray oil
Kitchen Needs:
- Cutting board and chef knife
- Food processor
- Parchment paper
- Medium bowls to mix
- Paper towels
- Pizza cutter
- Dough rolling pin
Step One: Preheat Oven and Process & Prep Cauliflower
Preheat the oven to 400F. Insert your round pizza pan or baking sheet in the oven and allow it to preheat along with the oven.
Meanwhile, process your cauliflower in a food processor. If you bought a whole head of cauliflower, start by breaking down the cauliflower into even florets. Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl to hold, and then process in batches, making sure you get fine cauliflower rice. Transfer the now processed cauliflower into a separate bowl, repeating the process until the entire head is processed. Once everything is processed, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper to season the cauliflower and mix with hands to evenly season the entire riced mix.
If you buy a premade cauliflower rice, make sure the grind size is as even as possible, avoiding any excessively large chunks from transferring to the next step.
Transfer the cauliflower to a microwave-safe bowl, or two, evenly distributed across all containers. Use three or four bowls as necessary to avoid having excessive amounts of cauliflower at once in one container; this will promote even cooking.
Microwave for 3 minutes, covering the bowls with paper towels. This step cooks the cauliflower and prepares it for forming the crust.
Step Two: Press the Cauliflower, Add Egg, and Form Crust
After the cauliflower is cooked, carefully remove it from the microwave, and spread it on top of a baking sheet lined with paper towels (have ready before removing bowls). For better results, add a few layers of paper towels at the base of the baking sheet, as this will help absorb as much moisture as possible.
Spread the now-cooked cauliflower rice on the sheet tray and spread the cauliflower as evenly as possible. Using another set of paper towels, press these against the cauliflower and tap across the baking sheet, removing as much moisture as possible.
Conversely, you can lay another layer of paper towels on top of the cauliflower, and place a couple of heavy books on top of the cauliflower. Leave the books in place for 5 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Once the cauliflower is drained, transfer to a bowl, add egg, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix with your hands until an even dough-like consistency is achieved. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle some arrowroot powder as needed to slightly dry out the mix.
Form the crust by laying a piece of parchment paper on the table, placing the cauliflower dough on top of it, and gently rolling it out into a round shape.
Step Three: Par Bake the Dough
Carefully remove the now heated round pizza pan or baking sheet from the oven, using a cloth towel. Spray with spray oil and carefully transfer the dough from the parchment paper into the preheated sheet pan.
Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes are done, remove from the oven, and add your toppings.
Step Four: Add Toppings, Bake Pizza, and Serve
Once the 10 minutes are up, remove the cauliflower crust from the oven, and add the barbecue sauce as the base of the crust, followed by ¾ cup of mozzarella cheese, diced chicken, and sliced red onions.
Return the pizza to the oven and bake for a final 5-7 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and all ingredients are heated through.
Remove pizza from the oven, slice with a pizza cutter, and serve immediately! Enjoy!
Storing and Serving
We don't recommend you store this keto pizza crust. It may not hold well and will most likely lose its crispiness due to the refrigeration and sauce. If you absolutely would like to store the pizza crust as part of your meal prep, then we suggest you par-bake the pizza crust and freeze it in gallon Ziploc bags.
If making several of these, separate them with parchment paper to avoid each from sticking to each other.
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