Pork Rind Pizza
Modified and reprinted with permission from Eat Happy Italian by Anna Vocino, BenBella Books, 2024. Photographs by Anna Vocino. We love how this recipe delivers great flavor and texture without the carbs of a traditional pizza. It’s from Anna Vocino’s new cookbook, Eat Happy Italian, which is not entirely keto but contains several great keto recipes. Try this delicious keto twist on a classic Italian favorite to bring back the best of pizza night. Author Anna Vocino says about this recipe: “I am not a big fan of pork rinds on their own, even though they’re a fantastic source of crunch in a low-carb or carnivore-forward diet. But they cook up so well in this pizza crust that you will have no idea you have crushed-up pork rinds in your pizza!”
Ingredients List
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese if freshly shredded, pat dry after shredding
- 2 tbsp cream cheese room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup crushed pork rinds
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/3 cup Eat Happy Kitchen Tomato Basil Marinara or your favorite low-carb marinara sauce
- Toppings of choice (sliced veggies, meats, etc.)
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, then spray it lightly with olive oil spray.
- In a large bowl, combine 1½ cups of the shredded mozzarella and the cream cheese, egg, pork rinds, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Mix well then form the dough into a ball.
- Place the dough ball in the center of the prepared baking sheet and press it gently into a circle or square 10 to 12 inches wide and ¼ to ½-inch thick. Bake until the crust starts to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes, then carefully flip the crust and bake until it starts to brown, 6 to 8 minutes more.
- Add the marinara, remaining ½ cup of shredded mozzarella, and other toppings and return the pizza to the oven until the topping cheese is melted and bubbly, 4 to 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then serve.
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Credits
See more recipes fromAnna Vocino
we made an allergen friendly one to accommodate everyone in the house. we used a vegan nut based herb and garlic cream cheese (with decent ingredients, just nuts, herbs and spices, and bacteria to ferment it), and we added gelatine in place of the egg. We did use some violife vegan cheese, the mozzarella stye. it worked GREAT and was super delicious! But it was hard work, we haven’t done it since, but I might be willing depending how much the pizza cravings return lol
Thanks for sharing the modifications you made to this pizza recipe to ensure that your entire family could enjoy it, Lisa! We’re very happy to hear that it turned out so well.
Very clever recipe, and delicious too. My carb-eating son loves it. His only complaint… he wanted more.
I recommend trying this dough recipe as-is before tinkering with the formula — it seems just about perfect the way it is. It somehow manages to taste almost more pizza-like than a wheat and yeast crust pizza. It has a wonderful tooth, crunch, and chew just like a top-notch wheat crust does… without bearing any resemblance whatsoever to a wheat crust! It smells fantastic while cooking and has a wonderful browned-cheese herby flavor right on the bottom of the crust where your taste buds can really appreciate it.
My macros for half a crust:
497 calories, 39g fat, 38g protein, 3g net carbs.
Fantastic!
I used Porq Panko and Great Value Whole Milk Mozzarella which I shredded myself (half the carbs, twice as good).
p.s.
The pan doesn’t need olive oil. The dough leaks a little oil and won’t stick to a clean pan. Two pizza pans with a short rim are handy. The second pan will help flip the seething, undulating 400-degree dough membrane without anyone getting hurt.
Thanks for sharing your experience and recommendations! We’re thrilled to hear that you and your family loved this pizza.
Excellent keto-friendly pizza recipe that is easy to make, doesn’t require many ingredients, and tastes delicious. My husband (a self-described picky eater) loved it and asked me to make it again soon!
Yummy!
It wonderfully fit the craving for 🍕 ! The crust was crispy and was easy to make. I’ll make it again 👍
We made this for our Carnivore diet. We did use the herbs but didn’t put on the tomato sauce. Used Jones Chicken Breakfast Sausage as our topping. Also might have added a little extra mozzarella in top.
I made it in our toaster oven. Trim the parchment so it doesn’t touch the heating element & catch fire. 😉 I decided the easiest way to keep it intact when turning over was to have another sheet of greased parchment and flip the entire pizza onto it, then transfer to baking sheet.
Ate 1/4 of it as a side to our beef brisket. Delicious and felt like we were eating regular pizza.
Thank you for the great feedback and tips! Thrilled that you enjoyed it.
I loved this as an alternative to pizza crust. Full of protein, low on carbs. By the time I added my toppings and had 2 small slices, I easily reached my calorie and protein goals for a meal, got to enjoy a cheesy comforting treat and feel good about not being stuffed full of carbs!
One part of baking the crust that was a bit challenging was when it was time to flip it over. It was a bit too large for just using a spatula to flip it like a pancake. Instead, I put down a fresh piece of parchment and used the old one to flip and place the crust to bake for the rest of the time.
Thanks for your comments and the tip for flipping the pizza, Wendy! We’re so glad you loved this recipe.
I tried this pizza a couple of days ago and the taste was okay, but not outstanding. Part of my problem is that the use of volume measurements instead of weights is always hit or miss. A cup of crushed pork rinds will weigh more or less depending on how finely you crush them. Two cups of mozzarella cheese will vary in weight depending on how finely the cheese is grated. Additionally, mozzarella can be part skim or full fat, which will make a lot of difference to the end result. I used 8 ounces of part skim cheese and 3 ounces of pork rinds, maybe that’s why I was disappointed?
Hi Barbara, Thanks very much for your feedback. It’s true that the weight of one cup of crushed pork rinds will vary depending how finely they’re crushed. I’d recommend using whole milk mozzarella and 4 ounces of pork rinds next time.
Thank you for this recipe, which sounds promising. Mine is in the oven now, but I love a metric recipe too, coming from Europe I’m not used to working with cups. So l’m not sure I did the right thing.
Hi Maartje, Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, we don’t have the metric equivalents for this recipe. We reached out to Anna, the recipe creator, and she said she has never written recipes with metric measures. She suggested using an online measurement converter. Again, our apologies. We hope the recipe turned out OK when you made it!