A delicious deep dish low carb pizza with soul! This keto grain-free crust is light and airy and can stand up to whatever toppings you decide to pile on there.
Let’s talk about pizza. What is it about the stuff that makes it so well loved the world over? It’s practically iconic, that round “pie” slathered in tomato, cheese, and pepperoni. It’s the perfect party food because it feeds a crowd and everyone likes it. It appeals to kids and adults alike. It’s on every kids’ menu in every restaurant in the nation, and it’s the go-to late night snack food for college kid. (Unless you go to McGill University, in which case pizza is replaced by poutine. But that’s a whole other ball of wax.) It’s basically a magical combination of protein, fat, and…lots and lots of carbs.
When new to the low carb lifestyle, many people find that they miss pizza the most. That’s why you see so many low carb pizza recipes. We are all in search of the ideal pizza recipe that gives use plenty of protein and fat with just a wee bit of carbs. I for one have put in a fair bit of effort on this front. It’s not that I am actually in search of some holy grail of low carb pizza. In fact, unlike many people, pizza was never my favourite food growing up. Apparently I was a low carber in the making even back then because I preferred chicken wings or steak or lamb chops. I liked pizza well enough and certainly ate my fair share but it wasn’t my first choice.
But now I just really seem to enjoy the challenge of creating new low carb pizza recipes. It’s not a search for perfection, as I already have a few really good ones that I think live up to the concept of ideal pizza (Check out my low carb Jalapeño Popper Pizza!). But sometimes I get an idea in my head that I really need to try, like using something similar to Soul Bread as the crust. Since the batter is quite thin and liquidy, you can’t just roll it out. So I went deep dish style for this and baked it in a cast iron skillet. I also simplified both the ingredient list and the method for Soul Bread, using my blender to mix up the batter more easily and smoothly
I will say, it was a little more like “pizza bread” than actual pizza because the crust is quite thick. The kids loved it as is, but I am going to try cutting the amounts down to 2/3 and making it a little thinner. It’s definitely a keeper of a recipe, though. I went with basic pepperoni and cheese but it would definitely hold up to whatever you wanted to load it up with.
Deep Dish Soul Bread Pizza
A delicious deep dish low carb pizza with soul! This keto grain-free crust is light and airy and can stand up to whatever toppings you decide to pile on there.
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Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 364kcal
Ingredients
Crust:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tbsp half and half or 2 tbsp cream and 1 tbsp water
- 1 cup whey protein isolate
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Toppings:
- 1 cup sugar-free tomato sauce
- 4 ounces pepperoni slices
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 12 inch skillet well (it doesn't need to be cast iron although that is the best for this purpose).
- In a large blender jar, combine the cream cheese, butter, eggs, and half and half. Blend on high for 30 seconds and then scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- Add the whey protein, baking powder, garlic powder, cream of tartar, and salt and blend for another 30 seconds, until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared skillet. Bake about 15 to 20 minutes, until top is just firm to the touch and edges are golden brown.
- Remove from oven and spread with tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese and top with pepperoni (I like to put some pepperoni under the cheese as well as over the cheese).
- Bake another 8 to 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and let cool a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
Serves 8.
Food energy: 364kcal
Total fat: 25.73g
Calories from fat: 231
Cholesterol: 155mg
Carbohydrate: 4.26g
Total dietary fiber: 0.14g
Protein: 20.82g
Total fat: 25.73g
Calories from fat: 231
Cholesterol: 155mg
Carbohydrate: 4.26g
Total dietary fiber: 0.14g
Protein: 20.82g
Nutrition Facts
Deep Dish Soul Bread Pizza
Amount Per Serving
Calories 364
Calories from Fat 232
% Daily Value*
Fat 25.73g40%
Cholesterol 155mg52%
Carbohydrates 4.26g1%
Fiber 0.14g1%
Protein 20.82g42%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Marla says
I made this tonight for my birthday dinner. I halved the recipe (still used 2 eggs) and a 10″ cast iron pan. Mine did come out thinner (not as thick) as yours for those reasons. While not the rich buttery deep dish crust of decades ago, it was still a satisfactory dinner! I read the comments afterwards and now want to try it again oiling my pan with olive oil and add some Italian seasonings. I think it might help give the crust a little more flavor.
Is there a difference between whey protein isolate and raw Grass Fed Whey? Mine has no flavor and wondered if the isolate has any?
I will make this again.
Princess says
I only have vanilla isolated whey protein. Is that going to make the pizza taste sweet?? Or did you used some sort of unflavored protein?
Carolyn says
It will be awful.
Janelle says
Hi Carolyn, I love your recipes!!
I don’t normally think about substitutions, but do you have any idea if casein protein powder has whatever magic in it to work like the whey powder in this recipe?? I know they’re both from milk, obviously, but that’s all I know.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
I haven’t ever used casein protein powder so I really can’t say for sure. But I would probably try it!
Lori says
This tastes so good. My 13 year old son requests this regularly.
Kasey says
Hi, I’m looking at this recipe and wondering if there’s any way to replace the whey protein? If the crust isn’t as fluffy I’m ok with that. I do a lot of my own cheese making, can I replace other little with fresh whey? I am a single mom with not a lot of money, I have to stick with simple every day ingredients today I can get relatively cheap, but my oldest son is autistic and on a restricted carb diet. All the recipes I can find for most things take specialty ingredients. Help please?
Carolyn says
Soul bread is based on the whey protein powder so skipping it means you would not have anything there! Try my magic mozzarella dough instead… https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-magic-mozzarella-dough/
Kasey says
Thank you, I will! I’m sorry about my typos, I’m not used to typing on my phone yet.
Samantha says
The nutritional facts are per slice?
Carolyn says
Always.
Alisha says
So i cant find whey anywhere! been to 3 different places do i have to add the whey?
Carolyn says
This recipe is entirely based on whey, so yes. Can you order online?
Saad Qidwai says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was craving deep dish pizza and was debating a cheat meal before I happened to see this page. Needless to say… No cheat meal needed. This pizza was amazing. I didn’t have whey or cream of tartar so I just made it without those 2 ingredients and it was still amazing. This is now my go to pizza recipe (deep dish or thin crust). Thank you very much
Liz Johnson says
Am just sitting down to a late lunch and devouring a piece of this heavenly pizza fresh from the oven! I read all the reviews on your website and added about a 1/2 cup grated mozzarella and Italian Seasoning to the crust. I heated my cast iron pan w/ a couple tablespoons olive oil in it too. The extra oil in the pan really gave a good almost chewy crunch to the edges and even a little to the bottom. The flavor was definitely deep dish Chicago style, I’m a die hard crispy crust fan but now and then there’s nothing like a good deep dish. This didn’t disappoint, yes the texture is a bit off from traditional, but when you care more about your health than junk food then this texture is perfect. I topped it with lots of cheese, pepperoni, onions, jalapenos and mushrooms and a little more cheese. I’m thinking that since the crust is pretty thick and almost dryish, having some heated marinara sauce or Franks Red Hot w/ Ranch for dipping it in would make it even more like the traditional style. Thanks Carolyn for yet another winning recipe!
Kelly says
I halved this recipe and used 1 egg plus 1.5 TBS of egg white and it worked perfectly. I didn’t have high hopes for this recipe because I usually find recipes using egg and protein powder tasting too much like the protein powder. I did add some italian seasonings to my crust but other than that and using some egg white so I didn’t have to throw out half an egg, followed the recipe exactly. Delicious!
Robin says
I use cast iron a lot when cooking and making this sounds delish, Do you heat your cast iron skillet before adding the crust mixture as it is cold and has a hard time heating up? Or does it need the cold skillet to help it in its baking process?
Thanks in advance.
Robin
Carolyn says
I didn’t heat it up but I can’t see that it would be a problem.
Julie says
I’d love to try this put whey protein powder and I don’t get along. I read all the comments but didn’t see anything I could sub. Is there anything I can sub for it?
Thanks…..love your site and recipes.
Carolyn says
This one really requires the whey protein but I do have other pizza recipes!
Lou Ann Benson says
Made this for dinner tonight. It was great with a tossed salad. We will definitely repeat this one! 🙂
Jerry says
I oiled my cast iron skillet with coconut oil. The crust stuck. What should I have used instead of coconut oil? Also, when I lifted the pizza out of the pan, the cheese with the topping slid off. I used cooked Italian sausage instead of pepperoni.
Carolyn says
I am not sure, I would have thought coconut oil would work just fine. My crust has never stuck with this recipe, and I usually use avocado oil. My cheese has not fallen off either so I am not sure what to say there.
Penny Shepherd says
Made this for the first time today and added 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning to crust batter – fantastic! Next time I’m going to add 1 tsp yeast for a little yeasty taste as well. I also added sliced calamari olives and sliced fresh mushrooms.
Bill says
Ok, test drive #1 is in the books. I did add 1/2 cup of mozz to the crust and I think it did add a pleasant textural component to crust, especially the exposed edge that I left. I also added 2T olive oil to the preheating skillet, and that did help me achieve the sort of “fried” flavor of the original, but the crust was thicker than I would prefer as suspected from comments. The next time I do this (probably after I do the original for Super Bowl :)) I will divide the batter between two 9″ cake pans as in CI, coated with 1T EVOO ea. Since this crust isn’t really capable of being crisp I’m betting I won’t sacrifice much by using the cake pans, especially with the addition of the EVOO, but we’ll see. I also used a simple sauce of EVOO, garlic, and hand crushed whole tomatoes cooked down a bit w/oregano to taste to give a more pizza like flavor. I have high hopes for this pizza by golly; thanks for giving me something I can play with that may actually get me where I want to go.
Oh, and for anyone sans gall bladder who doesn’t think they can handle the pepperoni, a 30 second ride in the microwave between some paper towels will rid it of pretty much all its fat, but not its flavor.
Melissa Williams says
Hi! Thanks so much for this recipe! The first time I saw it I knew I had to try it and now it’s a staple in my house. I have a question. Originally, I ordered the recommended whey protein powder. I even used the pizza crust recipe and poured it into a loaf pan and made a fabulous loaf of bread. But the second time I went to order the protein powder I accidentally ordered whey protein concentrate 🙁 do think I could use it the same way as the isolate or no?
Carolyn says
I think in this particular soul bread recipe, it would be fine. In ones where you are trying to actually get bread or rolls, it may not work as well (I can’t say until I try it!).
Bill says
I’m guessing you don’t want to venture an opinion. 🙂
Don’t really blame you, but I’ll let you know how it turns out.
LuAnne says
I’m just getting started on Keto and I’m so glad I found your website. Your recipes look amazing and I’ve already saved a bunch of them. Does this crust get crispy like pan pizza? Thanks!
Carolyn says
The outer edge does. If you want it really crispy and thinner, do less of the crust. A 1/2 recipe works well for thin crust.