How to Make a Low-Carb Pizza

Ideas and Recipes for Low-Carb Pizza

Pizza -- it's one of the most popular foods, at least in the U.S. Can we have our pizza and our waistlines too? How about healthy levels of blood glucose? Well, think about it. Most pizza toppings aren't high in carbohydrates. So what we need to do is to find different vehicles for those toppings. Here are some ideas, and several recipes, for low carb pizza. Before we turn to the crust, though, let's learn a bit about toppings.

The Sauce

Most pizza sauce has sugar in it. Yep, you heard right -- just look at the label. Furthermore, most (but not all) red pasta sauce has sugar as well. I find that sugar-free pasta sauce works very well for pizza, and most grocery stores have one or two brands that work. Look for sauce with no ingredients masquerading as sugar in it - usually these sauces have about 6 to 7 grams of effective carbohydrate per ¼ cup serving.

The Cheese

Whole milk mozzarella cheese has about 2.5 grams of carbohydrate per cup, and partial skim has slightly more. Most other mild cheeses have similar carb counts. Parmesan cheese has about a gram of carbohydrate per ounce (about 5 tablespoons of grated cheese).

Other Pizza Toppings

Most meats only have scant amounts of carbs, although some sausages have some added carb. Most vegetables typically used on pizza are low in carbs, including mushrooms (1.5 grams per cup, sliced), green peppers (2 grams per ½ cup, chopped), olives (1 gram per 4 large olives), or other low-carb vegetables.

Non-Crust Alternatives

If you don't want to take the time to make your own pizza crust, try these ideas for having that combination of flavors we all know and love:

1. Just Eat the Toppings

I call this the "when all else fails" technique. It's the most flexible, although messy, way to go. When your friends or family are ordering pizza, just don't eat the crust (and get a salad on the side).

2. Low-Carb Tortillas

The only trouble with this method is that you can't spread much on the tortilla, or it will tear. But you can smear a little sauce, cheese, and toppings, and then heat in the oven or microwave. As an alternative, try a "pizza burrito" by wrapping pizza sauce and toppings in the tortilla.

3. Portobello Mushrooms

Scrape the gills out of a large Portobello mushroom and bake or grill it to get some of the moisture out. Fill with toppings, then broil or bake.

4. Pizza Burgers

Make a thin hamburger, then cover with pizza toppings and cook in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

5. Pizza Omelet or Frittata

Make an omelet, mixing in your favorite pizza toppings, and use the sauce as a condiment. Or, try this Pizza Frittata recipe (a frittata is a quick Italian egg dish).

For low-carb pizza crust recipes, go to the next page.