Are you looking for a grain-free pizza crust? Like, say, a cauliflower pizza crust?

There are a number of cauliflower pizza crust recipes going around the web.

The only problem: is a lot of them contain eggs, dairy, or highly processed ingredients.

If you have food sensitivities to eggs and dairy or are trying to stay away from them, it’s a no-no. You may also want to stay away from even vegan processed ingredients.

Because let’s face it: processed vegan ingredients don’t always necessarily mean healthy.
Fortunately, it’s possible to make one without any of these ingredients. It’s possible to make a vegan cauliflower pizza crust from scratch with easy-to-find, whole food ingredients.

One that actually holds together and that you wouldn’t want to split with anybody else. Oh! Wait… Forget that. This recipe is dedicated to all the dads out there for Father’s Day.

So, you might have to beg him to share it with you.

How I Used Wholesome and Grain-Free Ingredients for a Healthier Pizza Crust

Cauliflower pizza crusts are popular these days. For those experimenting with lower grain diets, this crust is a great option.

But, like I mentioned previously, most recipes call for either eggs or dairy. And others call for cheese or harder-to-find vegan ingredients such as arrowroot or brown rice flour.

Also, when it comes to cheese, even if there are plenty of vegan cheeses and egg replacers now available on the market, these are still deemed processed substitutes when trying to veganize recipes.

Making your own wholesome cauliflower pizza crust is not that complicated. You can use simple ingredients that will give you something that is tasty, crispy and healthy.

Instead of eggs, use homemade flax or chia eggs. These can be made by simply stirring together freshly ground seeds and water to make a gluey, egg-like replacement. As for cheese, make your own with either almonds, cashews, or macadamia nuts as your base.

You’ll have a pizza crust that will help lower your calorie intake and reduce the risk of diseases. Yep! Cauliflower is part of the anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory foods. And flax seeds are great for lowering risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as improving your cholesterol levels.

Both of these ingredients are also packed with fiber but low in carbohydrates! Plus, flax seeds increase your protein intake.

The Secret to Making a Cauliflower Pizza Crust that Actually Holds Together

When I looked online for a cauliflower crust recipe, I was afraid to make a complete fail. I’ve read comments of people saying that their attempts came out soggy.

So being the perfectionist and the lazy woman that I am, I wanted something that was foolproof. I ended up finding a recipe from Detoxinista which looked promising.

And it was! It came out perfectly. I changed just a few things, like adding onion powder and switching from dried oregano to dried parsley.

The recipe begins with cauliflower florets, which is turned into a rice-like texture in the food processor. Then, it’s lightly boiled, strained, and squeezed dry. This creates the “dough” base. Apparently, it doesn’t really matter the order you reduce the florets and cook the cauliflower rice. After, herbs and spices are added with almond meal and a flax egg. And finally, the dough is then shaped into a ball, patted into a crust and baked.

You might find that almond meal is a hard-to-find ingredient but it’s really not. If you’re big on whole, plant-based eating, I’m pret-ty sure you’ve always had some in your pantry. Unprocessed and whole.

How? In the form of almonds, that is! All you have to do to make a homemade almond meal is to grind almonds or use the pulp from your almond milk. Pshhh! Piece of cake.

Anyway, I believe what makes the cauliflower pizza crust hold together is the almond meal to make it denser, and the flax eggs (or chia eggs) for binding.

But hold on. Although it holds together quite nicely, it’s still fairly fragile, like most cauliflower crusts are. I would say it’s maybe floppy and foldable, but definitely not soggy.

Kick Wheat Flour Pizza Crust to the Curb and Say Hello to the New Kid on the Block

So, you know it’s Father’s Day in the next upcoming days, right?

I thought to myself, what do dads — men in general… hell everybody — enjoy the most? Of course, pizza!

But of course, I wanted to make one that was healthier. And so, cauliflower pizza crust crept up into my mind.

Let’s be honest: don’t expect to eat real junky pizza, okay? BUT… it tastes similar and more importantly, this version is lighter and something you can eat every day without feeling guilty!

To have great success, I spread the dough with an angled spatula on a pizza pan lined with parchment paper, with the edges being a little thicker than the middle.

Now, about this dough. If you have a nut allergy, you can try sunflower seed or pumpkin seed “flour” (as in, ground seeds). Maybe even hemp protein powder would work. Also, I’ve seen some recipes use other binders like cornmeal and cornstarch together, arrowroot, or potato starch too.

To finish it off, I used a marinara sauce that I made from scratch, but you can use a store-bought one. I topped it with ingredients inspired by the pizza my honey always orders: arugula, garlic, oregano, tomatoes, and capers. It also has Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and some type of cold meat.

I didn’t add those last three. I replaced the Parmesan with a macadamia nut ricotta and next time, I’ll try to make some type of breadcrumbs to add more crunch and a color contrast to the greens. You can play around with the toppings. I don’t have to tell you that you can add onions, red bell peppers, olives… whatever.

Anyhoo, this pizza smelled ah-ma-zing. And I was full with just one slice. I think two slices would’ve been the max as it is high protein.

Last verdict: this vegan cauliflower pizza is savory, crispy, and light. It holds well enough in your hands when it’s at room temperature. And it makes great cold leftovers (if you’re able to control yourself).

Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Arugula, Macadamia Nut Ricotta and Capers

Easy Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Crispy, light, and healthy, you’ll be able to indulge in this grain-free cauliflower pizza crust without feeling guilty at all!

Author: Naïby Jacques

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: American

Serves: Makes 1 pizza

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds, flax meal, or ground chia
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 lbs. cauliflower florets (fresh or frozen) (about 4 cups)
• ½ cup almonds, ground into a meal or almond meal
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Toppings: marinara sauce, sliced garlic, fresh oregano leaves, macadamia nut ricotta, arugula.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also cut parchment paper to fit a perforated pizza pan.
2. In a medium bowl, add the ground flax seeds and water and let it sit until the mixture thickens.
3. Place the cauliflower florets in the large bowl of the food processor fitted with an “S” blade, and pulse until reduced to a rice-like texture. Pour the cauliflower “rice” into a large pot, add enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the liquid, transfer the cooked cauliflower rice to a bowl, and let cool in the freezer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the cooled cauliflower rice from the freezer, transfer it to a nut milk bag, a cheesecloth, or the center of a thin dish towel, and squeeze the rice with your hands, removing all of the excess moisture from the cauliflower.
5. Place the drained cauliflower in a large bowl, then add in the flax mixture, the almond meal, garlic, onion powder and dried parsley.
6. Stir well to mix, then press the mixture into the parchment-lined baking sheet. Shape the crust into your desired size with an angled spatula or your hands, keeping the crust about ¼-inch thick. For best results, press the crust together firmly, making sure that there are no “thin spots”, still remembering to make the center slightly thinner than the sides.
7. Put the crust in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is lightly golden and dry to the touch.
8. To flip the entire pizza crust, preferably use an additional piece of parchment paper on top, then return it to the pan without the parchment paper to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until dry.
9. Add your favorite pizza toppings and return to the oven briefly to let everything heat up, about 5-10 additional minutes.

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Make this Now

It’s rare to find a healthy pizza with non-binding ingredients but not anymore!

You can now have a grain-free, egg-free, dairy-free pizza crust at your fingertips. You can now indulge in a pizza that’s really, really, really good for you. You can now bite into something that will make you say: Mamamia!

So run into your kitchen and get cooking!