Pepperoni pizza is the most popular pizza other than cheese in the United States, and today we celebrate Pepperoni Pizza Day! But, pizza crusts are made from carb-filled ingredients like wheat flour. Do we have to give up pizza when we start keto? Can you find a keto pepperoni pizza?
According to National Today, 98% of the population surveyed like pizza. What else in the world can 98% of people agree on? 3% of people surveyed would rather eat pizza than having a significant other. Okay, that’s a little weird, but it shows how seriously we take pizza in this part of the world. One third of people surveyed eat pizza at least once a week, and 22% of people said they could eat an entire pizza on their own. There is even a pizza museum in Chicago!
Options for Take Out Keto Pepperoni Pizza
If you look around, some of the smaller, privately owned pizza places are offering keto crust options. In the Halifax area of Nova Scotia, we have Pizza Girls who have one location that offers keto crust. The chain Pizza Pizza also has a keto crust. The pizzas are a little more expensive, but they truly fall within the keto guidelines. I find these crusts are better if you get a few toppings on them. I enjoy a cheese pizza, but the crust tends to get a bit darker, the fewer toppings you have on them.
One of the top chains in the United States is Papa John’s. They have recently introduced pizza bowls. They don’t include a crust, just a sauce and toppings. But, when I looked up the nutritional information, the carb counts are still high. Not pizza with the crusts high, but you’d definitely need to plan your day carefully. The chicken alfredo bowl (which looks the most delicious to me) has 12 grams of net carbs. The Italian meats trio bowl sounds like it would have fewer carbs, but actually comes in at 18 net grams! The garden veggie bowl has 15 grams of net carbs.
A Caution About Take Out Pizza
Lots of places are now offering gluten free and/or cauliflower crust pizzas. I was excited when I first heard about this, as keto allows cauliflower. Turns out, keto does not allow this much cauliflower! It’s a wonderful option if you have a gluten sensitivity, but not so much if you are low carb. Boston Pizza offers a cauliflower crust, and when you look at their nutritional information, an 8” crust has 94 grams of net carbs! Definitely not keto friendly!
Options for Do-It-Yourself Keto Pepperoni Pizza
The best option, if you have the time and the energy, is to make your own pizza crust. Now, I know, pizza is usually what we eat when we are tired and want to pick something up to take home. But, it also tastes really good and can be a delicious dinner.
When we first started keto, we would make the Fathead dough pizza crust. It’s made up of simple ingredients and it tastes good. You can find the recipe all over the internet. The carbs are reasonable. We found it a bit difficult to make it as thin as the recipe calls for, and using parchment paper and a rolling pin became a bit labour intensive.
Then, for a while, we made flat bread as our crust. This is made up of mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, eggs, and almond flour. It’s similar to the Fathead dough, but it’s not as thin. It was good, but not really the same as traditional pizza crust.
We then found a recipe for a chicken crust. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical. But Bill pushed me to try it. It’s made from canned chicken breast, egg, and parmesan cheese. Add a little seasoning, and it bakes into a nice crust. I am now a huge fan! It feels like a real pizza crust, and you can even pick it up and eat it with your fingers. It’s so good with a BBQ chicken topping!
Keto Pizza is a Thing
The good news is that you do not have to give up pizza of any kind on keto. There are many options out there! Take out is going to be a little more expensive, but as a treat during a stressful week, it’s totally worth it. Or, find a recipe and make your own. Go celebrate pepperoni pizza day guilt-free!
Wendy
