This Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust is gluten free, low carb, and high in protein. It’s made with two main ingredients so you can have a tasty, satisfying, thin crust pizza alternative in no time!
Honestly, at this point, what CAN’T you make with cottage cheese?? It’s so versatile, naturally high in protein, and adds the perfect creaminess and flavor to any recipe whether it’s savory or sweet. I’ve been loving trying new recipes with cottage cheese either being the main or secret ingredient! My favorite and most popular so far have been my High Protein Quiche, Key Lime Pie Mousse, and Single-Serve Brownie. Like I said, there’s really nothing this can’t be added to – trust me, the desserts are some of the best I’ve had too!
This pizza crust has quickly become another one of my favorites and I know it will be one of yours too. The first time I took a bite, it seriously blew my mind how amazing it tasted for being made with only two simple ingredients! If you love thin crust pizza, prepare to be shocked at just how delicious, crispy, and doughy this is. It’s a great alternative that tastes like something you’d order out!
Watch how to make it HERE.
Why You’ll Love This
- Only TWO main ingredients – This recipe has two main simple ingredients for the crust, any other ingredients are your choice for toppings!
- High protein – With cottage cheese being the star ingredient in this recipe, it’s naturally higher in protein and lower carb than most traditional pizza crusts. Add more protein by adding turkey pepperoni or chicken sausage.
- Personal pizza – This is a single serving and the perfect size for a personal pizza. If you’re having at-home pizza night with friends and want to switch things up, make multiples of this recipe and each put your own toppings on your pizza – sharing optional 😉
- Dietary friendly – This crust is gluten free, low carb, keto, and high in protein.
What You’ll Need
- Cottage cheese – Full-fat cottage cheese like this one from Good Culture will work best for this recipe because as it cooks, the water gets absorbed and that’s what makes it crispy!
- Parmesan cheese
- Seasonings – You can use anything to add flavor – Italian seasoning, garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper are what I recommend.
- Pizza sauce – I used this organic one from Whole Foods.
- Toppings of choice – You can use different toppings every time you make this which is part of the fun. I love using shredded cheese and Applegate turkey pepperoni but you can add vegetables, chicken sausage, etc. too!
How To Make
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place one serving of cottage cheese (about half a cup) on top of the parchment paper. With the back of a spoon, spread it into a circle, pizza crust shape.
- Next, add some parmesan cheese and sprinkle it on top. Take the same spoon and gently spread it over the top of the cottage cheese.
- Sprinkle some garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper, or Italian seasoning. Add as much or as little as you like!
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for about 35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the water from the cottage cheese is fully absorbed. This is what makes the crust crispy!
- Once the crust is cooked, spread pizza sauce on top and add toppings of choice. (I love shredded mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni on mine.)
- Put the pizza back in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- After taking the pizza out of the oven, slice and enjoy! (Tip: if you have a thinner crust like mine, you’ll want to use a rubber spatula to carefully lift the edges from the parchment paper and maybe use two spatulas to lift it up onto a plate.)
Recommended Tools
- Large baking sheet – This one washes really well even after being used a ton!
- Rubber spatula
- Pizza cutter
- Parchment paper – I prefer to use unbleached parchment paper like this one.
- Stainless steel measuring cups – These have lasted me so long!
More Pizza Favorites
High Protein Breakfast Pizza (Gluten Free)
Cottage Cheese Pizza Bowl (Gluten Free, High Protein)
High Protein Pizza Toast (Gluten Free)
Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 serving cottage cheese
- grated parmesan
- seasonings – Italian, garlic powder, salt, pepper
- pizza sauce
- toppings of choice (mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, vegetables, greens, chicken sausage, etc.)
Note: there aren't specific measurements for ingredients other than the cottage cheese because you'll be adding the parmesan, seasoning, pizza sauce, and toppings based on what you prefer!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place on serving of cottage cheese on top of the parchment paper in a circle, pizza crust shape. Gently spread with the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top, gently spread. Add seasonings on top.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 35 min until crust is golden brown and crispy.
- Once cooked, spread pizza sauce and toppings of choice.
- Put pizza back in oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese on top is melted.
- Take the pizza out of the oven, slice, and enjoy!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Pinterest!
You can also make it with gluten free flour. 1-1 King Arthur is what I use. One cup cottage cheese and one cup GF one tbsp of baking soda. I also add garlic onion powder and Italian seasoning. Just mix to dough by hand until combined let sit while you preheat oven to 400 degrees I roll out on parchment paper and bake five minutes then remove added toppings and bake for 7 more minutes. I also use this dough for flat bread and cinnamon rolls you can use it sweet or savory.
Hi Theresa! Love that you’ve tried this dough for both sweet and savory recipes. You gave me a few ideas of my own 💕
Taste was excellent but not at pretty as yours. The cottage cheese spread out and took up 3/4 of the sheet, so would I be able to cook it in a pie tin to prevent the spreading. Also, I did use good culture! Thanks!
That’s a great idea to use a pie tin! Just make sure it’s coated well or lined with parchment paper to help take it out once it’s done. Hope that works better for you!
I would not call this a pizza crust…followed directions exactly and had poor results. Outer edges did crisp up but middle did not brown at all. Impossible to cut or remove the crust from the parchment paper…almost like it baked right into the paper. Ended up just scraping all off with a fork. Did not taste too bad but nothing like you would want a pizza to taste like…
Hi Barbara! I’m sorry to hear that this didn’t work for you. A lot of ovens can cook differently which may have impacted the bake of the pizza crust. If you try it again, I would keep the temperature the same, make the crust less thin, track the time, and maybe have it on the lower or middle rack? I hope that helps!
Big goopy mess of puke-looking stuff. The moisture didn’t cook out of it so the “crust” never formed into anything other than mush.
Hi Debbie! I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you. If you make this next time, you could try draining the cottage cheese of extra moisture first and adding a tablespoon or more of flour to absorb that moisture. You could also cook the crust at a lower temperature for a longer time if the outside is cooking but the inside is still mush!
I love this but I did a cup of cottage cheese to a cup of my Gluten free flour and Tbsp of baking powder then spices. Mix in to a dough ball I cut in to eight parts roll out for pizza crusts or flatbread I use it for tart crusts and pies of course I add sugar not garlic lol. It’s good for almost anything you want for a bread sub that’s cheap and gluten free
Hi Theresa! That’s such a great idea to use this base for other recipes too, I’ll have to try it myself 😋
Well, had little hope for this, but it worked lol. Thanks. easy breezy, few ingredients. Hit the spot.
Yay, glad you liked it!!
It tasted good, but I have trouble with part of the edges get brown (almost burned). You talked about a lower temperature for a longer time. What is your suggestion on that? Is it best to make the layer of cottage cheese just heavy enough that you can’t see through it?
Hi Joanne! I would recommend making the layer thick enough that you can’t see through it to ensure it doesn’t bake too quickly and burn. It will be thin but you want it to be a similar thickness to a pizza crust that you would make! For the temperature, each oven is very different but try lowering the temp to 325 and starting watching the bake around the 40 minute mark.