Skip to content
Families
Link copied to clipboard

Healthy family recipe: Pizza with cauliflower crust

Get into the cauliflower craze with this recipe!

    by Anna Nguyen
    Published 

Cauliflower is quickly becoming one of my favorite vegetables. It's versatile - you can roast or steam florets, chop it up finely in a food processor as a substitute for rice, and you even incorporate it into a pizza crust. This dish was more time intensive that I would like for week night dinner, but I thought the work was worth it. My husband liked the crust while my girls said they wanted 'real pizza.' I might try it one more time to see if I can change their minds. The original recipe calls for a variety of vegetables, but you can top it with whatever you like! Also, the crust can burn easily so make sure to watch it carefully when it's in the oven.

Pizza with cauliflower crust

Ingredients:

  1. 1 cauliflower head, roughly chopped (about 3 pounds)

  2. Cooking spray

  3. 1 teaspoons olive oil

  4. 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

  5. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

  6. 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

  7. 3 garlic cloves, minced

  8. 2.5 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup), divided

  9. 2 large egg whites

  10. 0.5 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

Toppings can include:

  1. presliced cooked cremini mushrooms

  2. cooked sliced red or green bell pepper

  3. thinly sliced seeded tomatoes

  4. fresh baby spinach

  5. pesto

  6. pepperoni

  7. thinly sliced basil leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Place half of cauliflower in a food processor; pulse 10 to 15 times or until finely chopped (like rice). Transfer cauliflower to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat procedure with remaining cauliflower. Coat cauliflower with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, stirring once. Cool.

3. Increase oven temp to 450°.

5. Place cauliflower in a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze until very dry. Combine cauliflower,1 teaspoon oil, 1/4 cup basil, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, salt, garlic, 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, egg whites, and Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Press cauliflower mixture into 2 (8-inch) circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Coat crusts with cooking spray.

6. Bake crusts at 450° for 22 minutes or until browned. Remove pan from oven; top crusts evenly with toppings of choice, remaining 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, and remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake an additional 7 minutes or until cheese melts.

Adapted from Cooking Light.

Have a question for the Healthy Kids panel? Ask it here. Read more from the Healthy Kids blog »