After years and years of being cast as a boring and unexciting side dish, cauliflower is finally having its moment. Now you can take your favorite carb-loaded comfort food and make it with cauliflower. But does that make it healthy? We're putting cauliflower pizza crust to the test.
How Does Cauliflower Crust Taste?
The thing is, if you make a pizza crust out of cauliflower, it's going to taste a bit like cauliflower. It doesn't sound super appetizing, but it's not as bad you would think.
Cauliflower doesn't have a super strong flavor, so it's not going to overpower the taste of you pizza. Think of the crust as a vehicle for all your favorite pizza toppings, which are the true stars of the show anyway. As for the texture, it's soft and chewy, so if you like a more crispy crust like myself, it may take a couple tries to get used to.
What Are The Health Benefits?
In general, cauliflower is very nutritious. It's low in calories, yet contains just about every vitamin and mineral a person needs. Here are some other notable benefits of switching to cauliflower crust:
High in Fiber
Cauliflower is high in fiber, which is so important to have in your diet. Fiber helps reduce inflammation and promote digestive health. Fiber rich vegetables, like cauliflower, are also known to lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Plus, it can help with preventing obesity because it will make you feel full without consuming a bunch of calories.
Gluten-Free and Low-Carb Alternative to Grains and Legumes
Cauliflower is an easy replacement for grains and legumes and it's a great way to add more vegetables to your diet. Substituting traditional flour crust for cauliflower crust is also great alternative for people who are gluten-free, diabetic, or on a low-carb diet, like Keto, and still want to indulge and eat pizza.
Good Source of Antioxidants
Cauliflower has a ton of antioxidants, especially glucosinolates and isothiocyanates. Studies have shown that these types of antioxidants slow the growth of cancer cells and are protective against colon, lung, breast, and prostate cancer. They are known for their anti-inflammatory benefits.
Cauliflower Crust VS Regular Crust
When you compare our homemade cauliflower pizza crust to a flour pizza crust, there's no question about which one is healthier. One slice of homemade cauliflower pizza crust has 56 calories, 2.6g of fat, 28.1mg of cholesterol, 186.8mg of sodium, 4.1g total carbohydrates, and 4.8g of protein.
Comparably, one slide of Boboli brand thin pizza crust (available at most grocery stores) has 170 calories, 3.5g of fat, 0mg of cholesterol, 340mg of sodium, 28g total carbohydrates, and 6g of protein.
If you're looking for a way to eat pizza guilt free without feeling bloated after, switching to a cauliflower crust might be your best bet.
How Is Cauliflower Crust Made?
Cauliflower pizza crust is actually pretty easy to make. Here's one of our favorite recipes!
Ingredients:
- 1 medium head of cauliflower or 5-6 cups of store bought cauliflower rice
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 cup Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded
- cooking spray
Utensils:
- baking sheet
- unbleached parchment paper or silicone mat
- chopping knife
- double/triple layered cheesecloth or linen towel
- mixing bowl
- whisk
- spatula
- food processor (if not using store bought cauliflower rice)
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves, separate into florets and chop into smaller pieces. Process in a food processor in two batches until "rice" texture forms (skip this step if you are using store bought cauliflower rice).
- Spread cauliflower rice on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove cooked cauliflower rice from the over, transfer to a bowl lined with either a double/triple layered cheesecloth or linen towel. Let the rice cool, then drain by wrapping the cloth around the cauliflower rice and squeezing the liquid out of the cauliflower rice as hard as you can. Do this multiple times until no more liquid comes out.
- Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add cheese and squeezed cauliflower rice. Mix together with spatula.
- Line the same baking sheet with new parchment paper or silicone mat and spray with cooking spray. Take your cauliflower pizza dough in the middle of the baking sheet and flatten until a thin pizza crust forms.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then carefully flip with spatula and bake for 3-5 more minutes.
- Now that your cauliflower pizza crust is completed, top the pie with your favorite pizza toppings and bake again until the cheese turns golden brown.
If you're looking for more fun cauliflower recipes, check out them out here:
Where Is Cauliflower Crust Sold?
You can find at least cauliflower crust pizza in the frozen section of your favorite grocery store. Here are some of our favorites:
- Cali'flour Foods Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Trader Joe's Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Caulipower Cauliflower Pizza Crust
- Green Giant Cauliflower Pizza Crust
If you plan on dining out, California Pizza Kitchen also serves their own rendition of a cauliflower crust.