Low-carb dieters, who aim to lose weight through the reduction of carbohydrates in foods consumed, frequently replace favorite foods with low-carb versions to make it easier to stick to the dieting process. Pizza is a popular choice, as the toppings are easily made low-carb with the inclusion of cheese, meats, and certain vegetables paired with a suitable sauce option. The trick to low-carb pizza is finding an adequate crust. Low-carb tortillas are the easiest store-bought version, while homemade crusts with bases of meat, cauliflower, or flax meal are also possibilities.
Toppings for a low-carb pizza are the simplest to assemble, as there are a wider range of potential products. Shredded cheese, meats such as pepperoni or pre-cooked sausage crumbles, and low-carb vegetables can be used. Low-carb vegetables include mushrooms, olives, and green peppers.
The sauce replacement can also be chosen before the crust preparation method, as no low-carb pizza crust is as sturdy as a traditional crust, requiring a lighter hand. Specialty low-sugar pizza sauces are most likely to have low-carbs, but should still be applied sparingly. Sour cream can also be used as a sauce, though the taste is more untraditional. When making a flatbread pizza, sauce isn’t mandatory and fresh tomatoes could be used instead.
Low-carb tortillas serve as the easiest flatbread low-carb pizza crust thanks to their ready availability in markets. The tortilla should be toasted first before the sauce and toppings are added and then placed back in the oven to melt the cheese and bind other additions. Flatbreads will have a crisp but thin crust that likely won’t support a heavy heaping of toppings.
Flax meal can be used to make a homemade pizza crust with a taste similar to wheat grain. Eggs, baking powder, and water are the important secondary ingredients, while spices and shredded cheese can be added for taste. The mixture is pressed into the bottom of a flat pan and baked until cooked before adding the sauce and toppings.
Homemade meat-based crusts are popular options for low-carb pizzas, though they’re far removed from traditional crusts in taste. Ground meat, such as hamburger or Italian sausage, is combined with spices and then pressed into a thin layer across a baking sheet and baked. Grease is then drained by pouring and the sauce and toppings are added to the top. The end result will still be fairly greasy, however, and may turn off some dieters.
A cauliflower-based low-carb pizza crust is also possible, with the end result being fairly sturdy and lower in grease. Cooked cauliflower is shredded and combined with eggs and shredded cheese to form the crust mixture. It can then be pressed into a pan, baked until brown, and then covered with the toppings.