This low carb pizza crust makes a gluten-free, keto pizza with a chicken crust. It's a simple and easy recipe to prepare with ground chicken, spicy pizza sauce, and pepperoni or whatever toppings you prefer. Makes a delicious and simple weeknight dinner.
The one single food I have missed the most since my bariatric surgery is pizza. I have missed it so much that I have occasionally picked the cheese and pepperoni off of a slice of pizza and eaten it, just to have the flavor of the pizza.
If you're new here, I had bariatric gastric sleeve surgery in early April 2017, and I have lost 190 pounds so far (16 months at the time of publishing). I read early on that bariatric patients who do not eat carbs do the best in terms of long-term success, so I do not eat any grains, flours, white potatoes, or other carb-dense foods.
A couple months ago, my wonderful husband figured out how to make a chicken crust pizza with all the sauce and toppings that I love but with virtually no carbs at all.
I thought I had died and gone to heaven because IT TASTED LIKE PIZZA. Caps are necessary in this case because chicken crust pizza changed my life, and I do not believe that to be an exaggeration.
This pizza is perfect for anyone on a low carb diet, and I daresay it would be perfect for anyone, period. I never much cared for crust anyway (except for Pizza Hut's buttery crust which is pretty much amazing and possibly the reason I weighed 406 pounds {not really} {but it contributed for sure}), and my kids don't eat their crusts either.
The chicken crust is not as crispy as Pizza Hut's dough crust, partly I think because it is pretty thick, but probably also because it is not bread and does not brown in the oven in the same way.
To make this pizza, you will need to grind your own chicken, unless your grocery store carries ground chicken the same way they carry ground beef. Ours does not, so we use the food grinder attachment for our KitchenAid mixer, both of which we got for our wedding twelve years ago. If you don't have a KitchenAid, I am sorry for you, and perhaps you could use a food processor, but I can't guarantee your results.
What you'll need to make chicken crust pizza
Equipment
You don't really need any special equipment as long as you can find already ground chicken. Some smaller grocery stores don't carry it, and if you can't find it, you're going to need a food grinder to grind your own.
Beyond the food grinder, you'll just need a baking sheet with a rim or a pizza pan with a rim around the edge (because juices will come out of the chicken and you don't want them to run out all over your stove) and some parchment paper.
Note: I would not recommend a pizza pan with holes in the bottom. I guarantee that will make a mess in your oven.
Ingredients
- Ground chicken or boneless skinless chicken breast, processed into ground chicken - this should be raw when you start.
- Grated Parmesan cheese - you want the real slivers of cheese, not the powdery stuff in the can.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Prepared pizza sauce - We have found that Walmart's Great Value brand pizza sauce has the least amount of added sugar, if you're looking to limit that. And I personally love the flavor of that particular sauce.
- Crushed red pepper flakes, optional and to taste
- Pizza Toppings - I love pepperoni, mushrooms, and bacon, but you can use whatever toppings you like.
How to make chicken crust pizza
- Preheat oven to 450. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil sprayed with non stick vegetable cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix the ground chicken with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup mozzarella cheese, Italian Seasoning, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Scoop the chicken mixture onto the parchment paper and form it into a flat rectangle. Cover it with plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to evenly roll it into a rectangle.
- Remove the plastic wrap and bake until golden, about 12 to 15 minutes. (It will shrink.) Keep the oven hot.
- Top the chicken crust with sauce and sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ¾ cup mozzarella cheese. Layer on the toppings and season with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and more Italian seasoning.
- Put the pizza back into hot oven and bake until melted and bubbly, about 6 to 10 minutes.
- I prefer to allow the pizza to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving, but you really don't have to do that.
Storing low carb pizza with a chicken crust
This pizza recipe makes 8 slices. This is enough to serve 4 adults, assuming you serve some side dishes along with it, like a nice BLT salad or a keto broccoli salad.
If you need to serve more than 4 people, I would not recommend doubling this recipe. Instead, you should make 2 separate pizzas.
But anyway, about storing the pizza. You can put the pieces flat in an airtight storage container, and they will last in the fridge for 3-4 days.
You can also freeze a chicken crust pizza. To do that, let it cool completely on a wire rack, and then stick the whole thing into the freezer for 30 minutes. Once it is frozen, wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap (tightly!) and then put it in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, unwrap the pizza, place it on parchment paper on your sheet pan or pizza pan, and bake at 400º for 10-15 minutes.
Try these other low carb recipes while you're here:
- Garlic Buffalo Shrimp
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken Skewers
- Beef, Cheddar, and Chive Meatballs
- Maryland Crab Cakes with No Filler
- Zucchini Sausage Egg Muffins
Chicken Crust Pizza - The Best Low Carb & Gluten-Free Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast raw, grind or process into ground chicken
- ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese you want the real slivers of cheese, not the powdery stuff in the can.
- 1 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning We love the Italian Seasoning from The Pampered Chef.
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cups prepared pizza sauce We have found that Walmart's Great Value brand pizza sauce has the least amount of added sugar, if you're looking to limit that.
- crushed red pepper flakes
- Pizza Toppings We like pepperoni, mushrooms, and bacon but you can use whatever toppings you like.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil sprayed with non stick vegetable cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix the ground chicken with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ¼ cup mozzarella cheese, Italian Seasoning, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Scoop the chicken mixture onto the parchment paper and form it into a flat rectangle. Cover it with plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to evenly roll it into a rectangle. Remove the plastic wrap and bake until golden, about 12 to 15 minutes. (It will shrink.) Keep the oven hot.
- Top the chicken crust with sauce and sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ¾ cup mozzarella cheese. Layer on the toppings and season with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and more Italian seasoning.
- Put the pizza back into hot oven and bake until melted and bubbly, about 6 to 10 minutes.
- I prefer to allow the pizza to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving, but you really don't have to do that.
Notes
Nutrition
Ann says
What is the calorie on this recipe
Tara Ziegmont says
I calculated the nutrition facts and added them to the recipe. Keep in mind that any toppings you add (especially pepperoni or other meats) will add calories to the pizza, above what I have calculated.
Dena says
I have made this several times. First for myself as it is low carb and a girl needs her pizza fix. My husband tried it and asked me to make it for dinner for both of us one night. Now he is hooked and said he likes it better than regular pizza. I make it with the my pepperoni. Thanks so much for this delicious and satisfying recipe! A must try.
mo says
pleae make this recipe print on oe page. Put your recipe at the top of the page. I don't need step by step pictures. thank you.
Tara Ziegmont says
If you scroll the whole way to the bottom, there is an option to print the recipe without photos. It takes 2 pages.
Roxanne says
That was the best keto pizza crust I have ever tried. My husband could quit bragging about it. Thank you
Apphia says
Hello, can I freeze and reheat this recipe? Thank you
Tara Ziegmont says
I've never tried to freeze it. If you do, come back and let me know how it goes!
Liz says
What size rectangle is the chicken when you first spread it out with the rolling pin? I did what I thought looked like your picture, but we are going on close to 20 min and my chicken looks like a mushy mess in there. There is lots of liquid on the pan and the only part getting brown is the specks of cheese. Did I do something wrong? I used store bought ground chicken. I’m not on a low carb diet, so maybe next time I will add some breadcrumbs to tighten up the chicken a bit. I didn’t rate the recipe yet, but I’ll come back after it is all done.
Tara Ziegmont says
Did you precook the chicken before you put the toppings on?
Liz says
Yes, it was the precooking I was having trouble with. It might’ve just been too thick, but it eventually worked out. Thanks!
Liz says
This turned out delicious! The chicken must’ve been my fault, perhaps it was too thick. But it eventually got done, just took a little longer. This was a win with my 7 year old son too! Woohoo! Glad I stumbled upon this recipe.
Julie says
The pizza crust I made using your recipe was very crispy crust. I used 1 cup shredded cooked shredded chicken breast. It was very dry and did not have moisture like ground chicken would have. I also used a pizza stone that heated before I put the crust in the oven to cook. Then let the crust sit 10 mins before I added toppings. I used keto white garlic sauce, hot Italian sausage, sliced red onion and mozzarella cheese. Yummy!
Coby says
Oh yummy! I want to try it this way! Pizza stones are so expensive though!
Tara Ziegmont says
I think it definitely comes out better on a pizza stone, but you could use a sheet pan if you wanted to. I wouldn't use a cookie sheet because it is juicy and the juice will run off the sides of the sheet if there's not a lip on the edge.
Kelly says
Can you use ground turkey?
Tara Ziegmont says
I'm really not sure. We've never tried it. If you give it a go, come back and let us know how it goes!
Antoinette Heitmann says
I used ground turkey and it worked fine but I didn’t care for the taste that much.
Tara Ziegmont says
I've never tried it with ground turkey, but thanks for letting us know it's not the best flavor. I really like the chicken, so maybe give that a try?
Deb Heard says
Made this today. First time trying this type of crust. I will make it thinner next time so so it will be more crispy..
Made it half pepperoni, tomato and green pepper with tomato sauce, and half pesto, tomato and fresh basil. Pepperoni side was best. Finished it up under the broiler to get the cheese browned.
Tina says
I followed this recipe exact except o added one egg to help it stick together better. Everything else I followed to the T. It came out great !