Crustless pizza is a fun and easy keto dinner recipe. This delicious air fryer pizza serves just two people and satisfies that pizza craving like nothing else. Oven instructions included too.
I’ve created all sorts of keto pizza recipes before, so it’s shocking to think that I have never made a crustless pizza. Shocking, I say.
I’m all the more shocked since I now see just how easy and delicious a crustless pizza can be. Why did I think I always had to make some keto pizza crust when the toppings are the best part anyway?
Whenever I’m in a group that’s ordering pizza, I do exactly that. I eat off the toppings and throw the crust away. Often to the horror of my fellow diners, but I no longer care. My health is far more important than what someone thinks of my table manners. And besides, I can truly say that after years on the keto diet, I no longer crave the bready portion of the pizza.
I simply have no interest in it. This is what happens when you are truly keto adapted. You really do get to the point where you no longer miss some of those high carb favorits.
Air Fryer Pizza for Two
I’ve also never made pizza in the air fryer before and this happens to also be an air fryer pizza recipe. Because heating up my large oven for a meal that serves only two is a waste of energy and time.
Why did I made this crustless pizza so small? Well I’ve long had the idea to do a fun keto cookbook for two. My mini keto desserts for two are among some of my most popular, and not everyone wants a whole lot of leftovers hanging around.
Popping this crustless pizza into my air fryer for 8 minutes was just about perfect, and saved me time and energy. My whole recipe was done in 25 minutes, start to finish!
Don’t have an air fryer? No worries, it can easily be made in the oven too.
Tips for making Crustless Pizza for Two
Ground meat for the base
I chose to use spicy Italian sausage but you could use any ground meat here. Mild sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey would also be just fine. You need to pan fry it and cook it thoroughly before adding to the casserole dish.
If using sausage, read the label carefully and make sure it contains no added sugars. Choose sausage that has no more than 1g carbs per serving.
Tip for small batch recipes: Ground meat often comes in 1 pound packages. You can divvy it up into two portions and freeze the unused portion while it’s raw, or you can cook the whole lot and freeze half for later.
Keto-friendly marinara sauce
A lot of tomato sauce has added sugar, so again, read your labels and choose wisely. Rao’s marinara is well known to be quite low carb so it’s a good choice. It is pricier, though.
Look for a marinara or tomato sauce that has no more than 5 or 6g carbs per ½ cup serving. Or simply use tomato puree and add in a little garlic powder and perhaps a pinch of salt. You won’t need much since the other ingredients are quite salty.
Baking in the air fryer
The most important thing to note is that every air fryer is different. I have the Cuisinart Air Fryer that also doubles as a convection and toaster oven, and I love it. Your cook time may be more or less than that, depending on your air fryer.
You do need to choose a dish that will fit properly into your air fryer. You can do all of the crustless pizza in one dish, as I did, or use two ceramic ramekins. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s heatproof. Ceramic is a better choice than metal for this recipe.
Baking in an oven or convection oven
You can also do this little pizza in a standard oven or even a small countertop convection oven. For a regular oven, preheat to 375F before baking. For convection, you will want to drop the temperature to 350F.
How long the crustless pizza for two takes to bake depends entirely on your oven so keep an eye on it. When the cheese is melted and beginning to brown, it’s ready.
Let it rest
When this keto pizza casserole comes out of the air fryer or oven, it is hot, hot, hot. Do not be tempted to dig in right away or you will burn your mouth. Just like regular pizza, it’s best after cooling for 10 minutes or so.
Ready to enjoy Keto Crustless Pizza for Two?
Crustless Pizza for Two
Ingredients
- ½ lb bulk Italian sausage (hot or mild)
- ¼ cup marinara sauce (choose a low carb one like Rao's)
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella (about 2 ounces)
- ½ ounce sliced pepperoni
- ⅛ medium green pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoon sliced black olives
- 2 small mushrooms, thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until cooked through, breaking up any clumps with the back of a wooden spoon, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. (if your sausage is in links, remove the casings before cooking).
- Spread the sausage in a small casserole dish or heatproof bowl, or in two 8-ounce ramekins.
- Spoon the marinara sauce over the sausage and layer on the cheese and toppings. Save a little cheese to sprinkle over the topppings so that they stay in place.
- Air fry at 350F for 8 to 12 minutes, or bake in a 375F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Rachel says
I love the sausage on the bottom and this is pretty fast to make on a busy night
Kirsten H says
Made this today and it was delicious!!! It was so good I didn’t even miss the crust. When I told my husband what I was making, he was like “what in the world is a crustless pizza?” I reminded him that it was just like him eating the kids pizza and scraping everything off the crust only better because we like lots of veggies. When he took the first bite he said, “Oh my, this is amazing!!!”
Christine says
Best recipe for Keto Pizza that I’ve found. Love it. Mine turned out perfect. Thank you so much.
I also own you Baking cookbook. Love it too.
Jennifer says
What size ramekin did you use for these? I am worried mine are too small!
Jennifer says
Nevermind! I swear I read the recipe twice and didn’t see it before!
Laurel says
So many pop ups that I can’t even read your recipe. Can’t even see what I’m typing, lol. This sucks.
Carolyn says
YOu need to update your browser. I am on my site constantly, on both mobile and desktop, and I have no issues whatsoever.