Little Caesars, a well-known multinational pizza chain with a significant presence in the United States and across 27 countries, offers a variety of pizza and wing options. For those following a ketogenic lifestyle, navigating the menu can be tricky. While traditional pizza is typically off-limits due to its high-carb crust, there are ways to enjoy Little Caesars while staying within your keto guidelines. This article explores keto-friendly choices at Little Caesars, provides tips for modifying orders, and even includes a recipe for homemade keto pizza.
Understanding Keto and Pizza
The keto diet restricts carbohydrate intake, emphasizing fats and proteins. Traditional pizza, with its white flour crust, poses a challenge. A single slice can contain a significant amount of carbohydrates, potentially exceeding the daily carb limit for someone on keto. The exact carb count depends on slice size, crust thickness, and toppings.
Keto-Friendly Options at Little Caesars
According to their official nutrition information, there are up to 13 keto options at Little Caesar's, depending on your remaining carb allowance.
- Thin Crust Pizza (Modified): A slice of thin crust ExtraMostBestest pizza with cheese or pepperoni contains no more than 19g of net carbs. Request a thin crust base with a mild sauce and a small amount of cheese.
- Toppings: Opt for toppings like bacon, sausage, ham, Canadian ham, green pepper, onion, fresh mushrooms, black olives, jalapeno peppers, and mild banana peppers.
- Wings: Traditional oven-roasted wings, and lightly-coated Garlic Parmesan and Buffalo Caesar wings are more keto-friendly. Request wings to be lightly coated and roasted instead of fried. Avoid sweet sauces like BBQ due to their high carb content.
Strategies for Eating Keto at Little Caesars
If you find yourself at Little Caesars and need to stick to your keto diet, consider these strategies:
- Order Wings (Plain): Choose traditional oven-roasted wings, and avoid sauces. If you must use a dip, try the garlic butter dip.
- Create Your Own Pizza (Toppings Only): Order a pizza with a thin crust and load it with keto-friendly toppings like extra sausage, bacon, ham, cheese, beef, or pepperoni, and low-carb veggies. Then, scrape the toppings off and discard the crust. A fork and plate can help with the scraping process. Avoid flavored crusts (except garlic butter) to prevent sugary flavorings from mixing with the toppings.
- Focus on Toppings: Remove the cheese and toppings from any pizza, leaving the crust behind. This way, you can satisfy your pizza cravings without consuming the carb-rich crust. Avoid pineapple.
- Ask About Salads: Check if a side salad is available. If not, pile on the low-carb veggies as toppings on your pizza.
- Request Crazy Sauce: Ask for crazy sauce on your pizza instead of traditional sauce. It’s made of a tomato blend with herbs and spices and has five grams of net carbs per one cup serving.
Foods to Avoid at Little Caesars on Keto
- Crust: Avoid eating any crust if you decide to order a pizza and eat the toppings only. Opt for a thin crust, which is easier to toss out than a thick, doughy crust.
- Breads and Desserts: Stay away from all breads and desserts.
- Sugary Dips: Avoid dips to keep your carb and sugar intake down.
The Importance of Homemade Keto Pizza
While Little Caesars offers some options that can be modified for a keto diet, the best way to ensure you're staying within your macros is to make your own keto pizza at home. This gives you complete control over the ingredients.
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Keto Pizza Crust Options
- Fathead Dough: This popular keto dough uses cream cheese, eggs, almond flour, and mozzarella cheese.
- Chicken Crust Pizza: Ground chicken, mozzarella, parmesan, and seasonings are baked to form a keto-friendly pizza crust.
- Cali'flour Pizza Crust: This pre-made crust contains only 1 gram of net carbs per slice.
- Modern Mountain Keto Pizza Crust & King Arthur Baking Keto Pizza Crust: These are mixes that require only water and oil, with just 1 gram of net carbs per slice.
Keto Pizza Recipe
Here's a simple keto pizza recipe using fathead dough:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Seasonings (garlic powder, Italian herbs)
- Olive oil
- Keto-friendly pizza sauce
- Shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, etc.)
- Desired toppings (pepperoni, sausage, vegetables)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Combine mozzarella cheese and cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
- Remove and mix with a fork until mostly combined. Microwave for another 30 seconds, then mix again.
- Add egg, almond flour, baking powder, and seasonings to the melted mixture.
- Mix all the ingredients together until they combine and are cool to the touch.
- Knead the dough by hand, then place on a piece of parchment paper.
- Top with a second piece, then use a rolling pin to form into a 12- to 16-inch round pizza crust.
- Remove the parchment carefully, then transfer to a parchment-lined pizza stone or pan.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove from the oven and brush with olive oil.
- Add pizza sauce, shredded cheese then your desired toppings.
- Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Sauce, Toppings and Cheese
- Sauce: Use tomato sauce with tomatoes, oregano, salt, and basil in it without it conflicting with your ketogenic diet. Fortunately, any sauce that isn't high in carbs and added sugar should be ok for you.
- Vegetables: Add vegetables to your ketogenic diet is essential because they offer your body the vitamins and antioxidants it needs to stay healthy. Vegetables are a good source of prebiotics and fiber for your body. There are many delicious veggie toppings you can use on a keto-friendly pizza.
- Cheese: Pizza lovers will be happy to know that there are several varieties of cheese that can be enjoyed on the ketogenic diet. Most toppings that you would get on a regular pizza are fine on keto-friendly pizza just make sure to avoid Pineapple, sorry Hawaiian pizza fans. Enhance the flavor of your pizza with herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes.
Nutritional Considerations
Even keto-friendly pizza can be high in calories due to its fat content. Be mindful of portion sizes and overall nutritional balance.
Other Keto-Friendly Pizza Chains
Several pizza chains now offer keto-friendly options:
- Blaze Pizza: Offers a Keto Pizza with around 2g net carbs.
- Papa John's, Papa Murphy's, Marco's Pizza, Jet's Pizza: These chains have been known to offer keto pizza options.
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