For those following a low-carb or gluten-free diet, keto crustless pizza offers a delicious and creative twist on the beloved classic without compromising flavor. It’s an ideal choice for those seeking a low-carb, gluten-free option that satisfies cravings guilt-free. It’s like a regular pizza but without the crust. Instead of the doughy base, the yummy toppings are placed directly on a layer of cheese, veggies, or meat.
Let's face it, what we really like about pizza is the toppings! Crustless pizza recipes have become increasingly more and more popular with the rise of the keto diet. I've noticed pizza chains have started introducing this type of pizza on their menu for those following a low carb diet.
Why Choose Crustless Pizza?
By removing the traditional dough crust, you significantly reduce the carbohydrate content, making it an excellent choice for a low-carb or keto diet. Pizza toppings are largely keto-friendly. So, a pizza without the crust would keep the carbs low enough for most people to enjoy crustless pizza it stick to 20g of net carbs per day. When making this recipe or buying it, just be sure to choose low-carb vegetables and sauce-free meats.
This easy, no crust pizza is a great option for a busy weeknight or the ultimate meal prep. This recipe is completely customizable with different meats and vegetables. You can really make this no crust pizza your own.
Key Benefits
- Zero carbs: This Crustless Pizza Recipe provides the pizza flavor we all love with almost zero carbs!
- Customizable: This recipe is completely customizable with different meats and vegetables. You can really make this no crust pizza your own.
- Quick and Easy: My family loves a simple keto dinner recipe, one that we can put together with minimal prep and that tastes delicious.
- One-Skillet Meal: From cooking the ground meat to assembling the no-crust pizza, it’s all made in the same skillet.
- Ready in Minutes: From prep to plate, this recipe takes less than 15 minutes. It’s SO satisfying.
Ingredients
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for this crustless pizza recipe, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options.
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- Ground Meat: 1 pound ground sausage - I like to use ground breakfast sausage because that's what I usually have on hand. You may want to use ground Italian sausage for a more traditional pizza flavor.
- I like to use lean ground turkey, as it cuts down on the overall fat content (to balance out all the cheese used!). I’ve had success when testing this with extra lean ground beef, ground pork, and even ground lamb.
- Any Italian Sausage will work: There are many varieties of Italian Sausage, including hot or mild, pork, turkey, and chicken. Sometimes Italian flavored meat comes as a package of seasoned ground meat. All of those work in this recipe.
- Marinara Sauce: 1 cup jarred marinara sauce - You can use whatever jarred no added sugar marinara sauce you prefer, or you could make a homemade keto marinara sauce.
- For a keto-friendly pizza sauce, I recommend using a low-carb marinara sauce. If you’re unsure which sauce to choose at the grocery store, I’ve listed some of our favorite options below, along with their net carb counts.
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce or pizza sauce See low carb marinara sauce suggestions in the post.
- Cheese: Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Pizza Blend Cheese: this is usually a mix of mozzarella cheese, romano cheese and cheddar. You can use any shredded cheese that you prefer if this is not available in your local market.
- Olive Oil: Olive Oil: this is my cooking fat of choice. You could substitute avocado oil if you wish.
- Vegetables: Vegetables: to make this dish filling but also to enjoy this as a crustless pizza with all the toppings, I‘m using a mix of low-carb vegetables like yellow onions, green bell peppers, and mushrooms
- Seasoning: Italian seasoning. I am making this Supreme Pizza with pork sausage, mushrooms, green pepper, red onion, tomatoes, and steamed cauliflower as the base.
- Pizza Toppings: Your favorite pizza toppings: I like green peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni slices, and black olives.
- Pepperoni: any pepperoni that you enjoy can be used in this recipe.
- Natural Ancient Sea SaltBlack Pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
This section explains how to make this no crust pizza recipe step by step.
- Prep the meat: Step 1- Prep the meat. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch skillet. Once hot, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the ground turkey and use a spatula to break it apart.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In a 10.25-inch cast iron skillet on the stove, heat the 1⁄2 cup pizza sauce over medium heat until bubbling, about 2-3 minutes.Grab a cast-iron or regular skillet. Pour 1/2 cup of marinara or pizza sauce into the skillet and heat it on the stove until the sauce bubbles.
- Mix: Step 2- Mix. Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella and flatten the meat and cheese mixture into a single layer.
- Assemble: Step 3- Assemble. Form the base of the ‘pizza’ in the skillet. Sprinkle a generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the bubbling sauce, reserving about 1/4 cup for later. It's time to add your favorite toppings. Whether you prefer browned sausage, ground beef, veggies, or a combination, layer them on the cheese.
- Spoon the marinara sauce on top of the meat and cheese and spread with a spoon. layer your sliced bell peppers and sliced mushrooms. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.Layer the pepperoni and black olives. Place in already preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and brown around the edges.
- Once your toppings are in place, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese over the top. This will help hold everything together and create a delicious, cheesy finish.To add flavor, sprinkle some Italian seasoning evenly across the pizza.
- Layer the casserole in a 9×13 baking pan. I made two layers with 1/2 sausage meat, 1 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 the vegetables, 1/2 the cheese, and 1/2 the pepperoni.
- Bake: Step 4- Bake the crustless pizza for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling on top.
- Place your skillet or baking dish on the top rack of the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 5 to 10 minutes, keeping an eye on it as it cooks. The mozzarella cheese should begin to bubble and turn golden brown. The exact baking time may vary depending on your oven.
- Place in already preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and is golden brown around the edges.
- Once the top is golden and bubbly, carefully remove it from the oven using oven mitts or potholders.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, until both layers of cheese have melted. Serve hot.
Cooking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
- In a heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat, cook and crumble the sausage. Drain any excess fat.
- Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella and flatten the meat and cheese mixture into a single layer.
- Spoon the marinara sauce on top of the meat and cheese and spread with a spoon.
- Layer your sliced bell peppers and sliced mushrooms.
- Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Layer the pepperoni and black olives.
- Place in already preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and brown around the edges.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t omit cheese in the crust: Adding cheese to the cooked ground meat enhances the cheesy flavor while keeping it moist. If you want to add a ‘crust’ to it, you can make my fathead crust.
- Customize your toppings: The toppings used in this recipe are just a personal preference. You can use any toppings you like, including the ground meat. Just a note, though: toppings like pineapple and sausage will change the carb count.
- If you do not have an oven safe skillet - If you do not have a skillet that can go from stovetop to oven (such as a nonstick skillet), you can sauté the sausage in a skillet and then transfer it to a 9x9 casserole dish.
- Tip: I used a 10.25 cast iron skillet, but it isn’t necessary. Yes, absolutely! You can use small baking dishes, ramekins, disposable baking pans, or muffin tins to create individual portions.
- Any Italian Sausage will work: There are many varieties of Italian Sausage, including hot or mild, pork, turkey, and chicken. Sometimes Italian flavored meat comes as a package of seasoned ground meat. All of those work in this recipe.
- Pizza is one of those meals that you can let your imagination take over a bit. You can add your favorite pizza toppings and enjoy it with the entire family for the whole week. My husband loves to add a little bit of sliced green pepper, fresh minced garlic, garlic power, red pepper flakes, and parmesan cheese to his servings. We love to add our favorite toppings and different vegetables to our pizza bake like black olives, fresh parsley, fresh basil, and diced tomatoes.
Serving Suggestions
Keep it simple, serve it as is, or pair it with a refreshing leafy green garden salad.
Storage and Reheating
- To store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to five days. Let it cool, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- To freeze: Place the cooled pizza in an airtight container and store it in the freezer for up to 6 months. I like to keep them in individual containers for quick, single-serve meals.
- Reheating: Either microwave for 30-40 seconds or warm up in a preheated oven. When reheating your crustless pizza, you have a couple of options. If using the oven, preheat to 350°F and bake for 10-15 minutes until heated through. You can use the microwave for a single serving, starting with 45 seconds and checking for doneness. If it needs more heating, continue in 30-second increments until warmed to your liking.
Nutritional Information
There are 2g of net carbs per serving, based on dividing the recipe into three equal serving sizes. Please note that the nutritional information in the recipe card is specific to this pizza. The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people.
The nutritional information is based on using a low-carb marinara sauce with 3 net carbs per 1/2 cup serving. The toppings included in the nutritional information are listed in the ingredients above.
This crustless pizza has only 6 grams of net carbohydrates in a serving. And, what I love about it, is that nearly all of these carbs are from fresh vegetables! As a means of comparison, according to the USDA, a third of a traditional medium pizza (which is about 2 slices) is 53 grams of net carbs, most of which is from the dough.
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