This low carb keto pizza recipe has been the most popular keto dinner on Wholesome Yum since 2017 — and for good reason: fathead pizza crust tastes just like regular pizza! I challenge you to notice that it’s gluten-free and keto. You can barely tell — even my kids love it. The fathead dough has that chewy quality that’s often so difficult to achieve with low carb baked goods. There’s a long list of keto pizza recipes on my website — including cauliflower pizza crust, paleo low carb pizza crust, chicken crust pizza, and pizza casserole, among others — but this fathead pizza is the best of them all.
What Is Fathead Dough?
This fathead pizza dough recipe is a gluten-free, low carb, and keto dough that is made with mozzarella, cream cheese, egg, and some type of low carb flour. The melted cheeses create a chewy texture that’s often hard to achieve in low carb baking. After spending over a decade on low carb baking, I also developed my own Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour and Wholesome Yum Coconut Flour, to ensure a consistent result every time — I highly recommend using one of these for this recipe. These flours have the finest consistency and the right moisture level, which is super important for the optimal texture, not only in pizza but also in other keto baking recipes. The original recipe for fathead pizza comes from the Fathead movie, a 2009 documentary seeking to refute the lipid hypothesis. The lipid hypothesis is the claimed link between high cholesterol and heart disease, and the source of the “low fat” way of eating promoted in the Western world since the 1950s. Although numerous studies have debunked the claim (this is a good scientific paper on the subject citing many sources), the belief is still widespread today. Fathead pizza crust has become a staple for many on a keto diet. It’s super easy to make and the texture is very close to real pizza! I’m sharing my adaptation of the keto pizza recipe with almond flour and coconut flour versions included — and more ways to use fathead dough at the bottom of this post.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for low carb pizza crust, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
Low Carb Flour – You can make the keto pizza crust with almond flour or coconut flour. After over 1000 reviews, I’ve found some people prefer one and some prefer the other. The only difference is the amount: Use 3/4 cup almond flour or 1/3 cup coconut flour. I highly recommend using Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour or Wholesome Yum Coconut Flour, as these have the finest consistency and the right moisture level, for the best texture in your low carb pizza. If you can’t have either of these flours, you can use flaxseed meal or even lupin flour, in the same amount as the almond flour, though the taste and texture is slightly worse than the almond or coconut options.Eggs – These help the keto pizza dough stay together. Use one egg for the almond flour version or two eggs for the coconut flour version (because coconut flour absorbs more moisture).Mozzarella Cheese – Shredded mozzarella is the star component of fathead dough. It has a neutral flavor and mimics the gluten in white flour to create a chewy texture. For best results, use low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella and buy pre-shredded for convenience, but you can shred it yourself if you like. Avoid using fresh mozzarella (the snow white kind that comes as a ball), which has too much moisture. Other semi-hard cheeses are okay to use, but the texture is typically not as good as mozzarella and your crust will taste more cheesy, due to the stronger flavors in most other cheeses.Cream Cheese – Helps to make your keto friendly pizza crust less dense.
How To Make Keto Pizza
This section shows how to make fathead dough for pizza, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
What Kind of Sauce To Use For Keto Pizza?
Top your keto pizza crust with any of these low carb sauces:
You can melt cheeses in the microwave or a double boiler. The microwave is the easiest option, but a double boiler is a good option if you prefer not to use a microwave. To do this, boil water in a saucepan, then place the cheeses in a metal bowl resting over the edges of the saucepan. The idea is to melt the cheese without burning it, stirring frequently. Use a food processor if you have one. It’s fine to mix the fathead dough by hand, but a food processor makes the crust more airy and easier to mix. Use either a dough blade or S knife blade, and scrape down the sides as needed. Also, if it doesn’t want to mix together, positioning the cheese near the blade can help. Reheat the dough slightly if needed. If the cheese hardens before it fully mixes into the flour mixture, you can microwave for 10-15 seconds to soften it. Ensure a uniform dough. For the right texture, it’s important for the fathead pizza dough to be uniform — make sure there are no streaks. If you are kneading with your hands, it helps to squeeze the dough between your fingers repeatedly. Chill dough if it’s sticky. If your kitchen is warm or humid, the dough may be sticky when you first make it. Chilling in the fridge for 20-30 minutes can help make it more manageable. Use oiled hands to reduce sticking. If the dough is too sticky to work with, another trick is to coat your hands lightly with oil before forming into a ball. Use a pizza stone if you can. I recommend one for all my keto pizza recipes, because it improves the texture of the crust. You’ll want to pre-bake the crust on a sheet of parchment paper over the stone, then bake with toppings directly on the stone, without any parchment paper. Watch the oven time. The baking time for this keto pizza crust will vary depending on how thinly you roll (or spread) it out. I like my low carb pizza crust very thin, so it only took about eight minutes for mine, but you can adjust the thickness to your liking. Don’t let it get too dark. The crust should be just slightly golden when you bake it the first time. If it’s too dark, the edges will burn after you add the toppings and bake again. I like my keto pizza crust crispy, so the pictures above show how golden mine got, but if you like it more chewy, you’ll want it even lighter in the initial baking step.
Keto Pizza Sauce – This one comes together in just a few minutes, with common pantry ingredients. It’s fine to buy store bought pizza sauce as well, but avoid any that have added sugar in the ingredients list.Marinara Sauce – Similar to pizza sauce, but it’s cooked and typically more chunky. I have a recipe coming up, but also often buy organic marinara sauce with no sugar added.Alfredo Sauce – I’m a huge fan of white pizza, and white sauce is lower in carbs than tomato sauce.Sugar-Free BBQ Sauce – Barbecue chicken pizza is delicious! But, you have to use a sugar-free barbecue sauce to keep it keto.Pesto Sauce – This makes the fathead pizza taste more like a flatbread.
Topping Ideas For Fathead Pizza Crust
You can use almost any kind of toppings for fathead pizza! Most pizza toppings are naturally low carb, since they are mostly meat and veggies. Here are the most popular options:
Meats – Pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, ground beef, or even shredded chicken. Since the keto pizza with toppings only cooks for a short time, make sure your meats are pre-cooked before adding them. Any other keto meats are also fine to use.Veggies – Sauteed mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, olives, or sliced tomatoes. Check the list of keto vegetables list for more ideas.Cheese – Shredded mozzarella is the classic choice, but other keto cheeses may work well depending on the sauce you use.Herbs – Fresh basil, chives, or parsley can make nice additions, depending on what toppings you use.
If you are looking for specific topping combinations to try, I have seven delicious combos in my cauliflower pizza post. Avoid toppings that are higher in sugar, such as pineapple.
Keto Pizza Nutrition
Fathead pizza crust nutrition content is very low in carbs, so it’s great for keto diets.
How Many Carbs In Fathead Pizza?
The nutrition info varies a little depending on which flour is used, but is pretty similar: For both versions, this is nutrition info above is per slice of crust (1/8 of the low carb pizza), without toppings. Toppings would be extra, depending on what you add. This keto pizza crust may be a little on the high side when it comes to calories, but you’ll be surprised at how filling it is. Most people agree it’s well worth it, and you end up eating less, too.
Storage Instructions
Leftover keto pizza will keep in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Make Ahead Instructions:
There are three ways to prepare this fathead pizza recipe ahead of time:
Freezing Instructions:
Yes, you can freeze keto fathead pizza! There are two options:
More Fathead Dough Recipes
Fathead dough can be used for so many baked goods beyond pizza! Sometimes the dough is the same, and sometimes there are slight changes, such as adding baking powder or sweetener, omitting cream cheese, or changing the flours. Try these delicious recipes: This reader favorite recipe is included in The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook! Order your copy to get 100 easy keto recipes in a beautiful print hardcover book, including 80 exclusive recipes not found anywhere else (not even this blog!), my complete fathead dough guide, the primer for starting keto, and much more. ORDER THE EASY KETO COOKBOOK HERE Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our Facebook support group, too – I’d love to see it!
Nutrition info is based on the keto pizza recipe with coconut flour, and does not include toppings. Macros for the almond flour version are very similar and can be found in the post above. Check the tips above on working with fathead pizza dough!
Recipe from The Easy Keto Cookbook.
