Low Carb Pizza Casserole
Low Carb Pizza Casserole is a gluten-free, keto pizza casserole packed with all of your favorite pizza flavors without the carbs!
This Low Carb Pizza Casserole has solved all of my pizza-craving problems! Packed with all of the flavors of pizza, sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, and lots and lots of cheese this delicious pizza casserole skips the traditional pasta and substitutes it with cauliflower.
It’s a gluten-free, keto dinner casserole similar to our, Keto Chicken Alfredo Casserole, Keto Big Mac Casserole, Keto Taco Casserole, and Keto Buffalo Chicken Casserole. All are simple to make and so good that the whole family will love them, even if they aren’t cutting carbs.
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What is in Keto Pizza Casserole?
- Cauliflower
- Pepperoni
- Italian Sausage – You’ll want to use ground Italian sausage. If you have to buy Italian sausage that is in casings (sausage links) just remove the meat from the casings before cooking.
- Mushrooms
- Green Bell Pepper
- Mozzarella cheese
- Low Carb Pasta Sauce – We love Rao’s Homemade Marinara sauce. It has no added sugar and it’s only 4 grams of net carbs per 1/2 cup. Feel free to use whatever sauce you like. Just remember it may change the carb count of the finished meal.
- Parmesan cheese
- Italian Seasoning
As with any low carb recipe you’ll want to check the nutritional information on the products you use, especially the pasta sauce, and the Italian sausage.
As I mentioned we used Rao’s Homemade Marinara which is 4 net carbs per 1/2 cup. The Italian sausage we used was bought in the fresh meat section of the local grocery store and was approximately 1 carb per link (I removed the meat from the casings before cooking).
The great thing about pizza is that there are so many ways to make it. Feel free to customize this baked pizza casserole with any of your favorite pizza toppings (as long as they are low carb!).
Other Low Carb Pizza Toppings:
- Ham
- Bacon
- Chicken
- Ground Beef
- Genoa Salami
- Artichoke Hearts
- Spinach
- Jalapenos
- Pepperonicinis
- Black Olives
- Goat Cheese
- Blue cheese
How to Make Low Carb Pizza Casserole:
- Steam the cauliflower. I like to keep things quick and easy so I steam mine in the microwave. Place cut cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl with 1 cup of water. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave on high for approximately 3 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Don’t overcook it! You don’t want mushy cauliflower, you just want it to be slightly tender so it won’t have to cook so long in the oven.
- Drain the cauliflower pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the Italian sausage, approximately 15 minutes. When the sausage has finished cooking drain the excess fat. Set aside.
- In the same skillet add olive oil and saute the sliced mushrooms for 10 minutes. This will help remove some of the excess water. Set aside when done.
- Prepare a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish by spraying it with non-stick spray then spread ½ cup of pasta sauce on the bottom.
- In a large bowl add the cauliflower, cooked Italian sausage, mushrooms, and green peppers. Toss together until well mixed.
- Spread ½ of the mixture in the casserole dish. Top with ½ cup of pasta sauce, followed by ½ of the pepperonis (kind of press them down in between the other toppings), and finally 6 ounces of mozzarella cheese.
- Next spread the remaining toppings mixture over the cheese followed by the pepperonis (save 10 slices for the top of the casserole), remaining ½ cup of pasta sauce, and 6 ounces of mozzarella cheese.
- In a small bowl mix together the Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan mixture over the casserole and top with 10 slices of pepperoni.
- Place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes, or until the casserole is warmed through and the cheese is fully melted.
Looking for More Low Carb and Keto Dinner Ideas?
- Keto Tacos
- Keto Buffalo Chicken Cauliflower Casserole
- Big Mac Keto Meatloaf
- Low Carb Meatloaf
- Low Carb Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole
- Low Carb Jalapeno Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
- Low Carb Moo Shu Pork
- More Low Carb & Keto Recipes…
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Low Carb Pizza Casserole
Ingredients
- 14 ounces Cauliflower florets, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2.5 ounces Pepperoni
- 2 pounds Italian Sausage, if in casings remove from casing before cooking
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 8 ounces Mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Green Pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
- 12 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1.5 cups Low Carb Pasta Sauce, we use Rao’s Homemade Marinara
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, powdered
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
Instructions
- Steam the cauliflower. Place cut cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl with 1 cup of water. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave on high for approximately 3 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Don’t overcook!
- Drain the cauliflower pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the Italian sausage, approximately 15 minutes. When the sausage has finished cooking drain the excess fat. Set aside.
- In the same skillet at olive oil and saute mushrooms over medium high heat for 10 minutes to remove the excess water. Set aside when done.
- Prepare a 13×9 inch casserole dish by spraying it with non-stick spray then spread ½ cup of pasta sauce on the bottom.
- In a large bowl add the cauliflower, cooked Italian sausage, mushrooms, and green peppers. Toss together until well mixed.
- Spread ½ of the mixture in the casserole dish. Top with ½ cup of pasta sauce, followed by ½ of the pepperonis (kind of press them down in between the other toppings), and finally 6 ounces of mozzarella cheese.
- Next spread the remaining toppings mixture over the cheese followed by the pepperonis (save 10 slices for the top of the casserole), remaining ½ cup of pasta sauce, and 6 ounces of mozzarella cheese.
- In a small bowl mix together the Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan mixture over the casserole and top with 10 slices of pepperoni.
- Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the casserole is warmed through and the cheese is fully melted.
Absolutely delicious! Pizza on Saturday night…what heaven. My husband didn’t even know he was eating cauliflower and ate 2 servings. I did make pasta for him to eat with this casserole. We decided to add black olives and onions to our dish. This recipe is a keeper.
How big is a serving?
Hi Paula, There are 10 servings in this casserole so divide the casserole into 10 equal pieces.
I know there are 10 servings for this recipe, but what size is each serving? 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 2 cups? Since I cook for one I wouldn’t make this in a 9×13 dish, I’d have to cut it down. I’d like to know what the actual serving size is, not make it and, divide into 10 equal pieces.
Thank you
Ann, I just made and it’s about a cup per serving.
Great casserole! Definitely fills my Pizza cravings – my daughter and husband are both big fans of this casserole.
OMG. This recipe was fantastic. My picky 10 year old loved it too. Thanks so much for sharing!!
Oh my gosh made this for dinner last night and it tastes just like pizza!! I couldn’t believe how good it was and I certainly didn’t miss the crust. I don’t do well with gluten.
I used 1pd of sausage and added Canadian bacon and pepperoni and black olive. Quick easy and yummy!!!
Picky eaters loved it!!
I made this tonight and it was so good. I roasted the cauliflower instead of steaming it, seasoned it with salt/pepper, garlic and Italian seasoning. I did not have the problem of the dish being soggy as some others stated. Will make this again soon!
Roasting the cauliflower is so smart! I wish I would have read this before embarking on the recipe! I’m currently waiting for my cauli to dry before I assemble the casserole!
What would be a good low carb pizza sauce recipe to make at home?
Has anyone used steamable cauliflower? Just not cook it all the way??
Do you think you could use like steamed rice cauliflower?
Yes, I actually saw someone on Pinterest say that they used cauliflower rice. You will probably need to add more since it takes up less space. Or add more toppings and cheese instead 🙂
So you just use the chunks of cauliflower? Wondering how well it will go over with my family 🤔
I use bite size pieces of cauliflower but I have seen several comments from people who have used cauliflower rice (finely diced cauliflower). Either will work!
I loved this recipe. I didnt read it before but I started layering. Mine was not layered the same. The cheese ended up on top. But it tasted great just like pizza. I know I am new to keto great start. Thank you
This is spot on! It was delicious that the whole family liked it as well! This could make into the weekly meal plan with different ingredients. Mmmmmm!
As a mother of a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic teen who loves pizza but has to watch his carbs, this has been a fantastic replacment. Wondering if anyone has tried it in a slow cooker…
I totally understand. Pizza is my absolute favorite. I would not recommend using a slow cooker. It will be too watery.
This was really good. Add extra sauce though. And lots of extra toppings!
This was great! I can’t wait to try it out with different pizza topping too!
I wanted to share that this is amazing with chorizo instead of sausage. Also, I was worried this would stop being a weekly staple with the warm weather coming through- this can also be made in the crockpot instead of the oven if you want to keep your house cooler!
Do you think this could be made ahead and frozen or if not frozen how far in advance could it be made?
This last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. I have not tried freezing it. I think you could but obviously reheating the vegetables will make them softer and you might need to add a little extra sauce as you reheat it.
This was a very tasty alternative for the keto gang. My issue is that while Rau’s is a great sauce, when you cook it, or any other tomato sauce, it becomes very runny. I’m thinking for this recipe and others, maybe I need to heat the Rau’s up and boil off some of the liquid. Other than that, made this several times with a variety of pizza additions and all were well received!
I made this recipe tonight, and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Tried this recipe tonight. Delicious!!! Thank you for a wonderful, tasty recipe. My husband and I both hd seconds it was that good.👍
This was not as good as I expected. It’s Ok.
I made this tonight and it tasted good but was SUPER watery! Any thoughts what I might have done wrong
Hi Catie, cauliflower will always release come water as it cooks but if you cooked it ahead of time and patted it dry that should eliminate mot of the excess moisture. Mushrooms can also release a lot of moisture so if you included them you could try cooking them a bit longer before adding next time. Some people have commented that their sauce made it watery so that could be a factor too. We used Rao’s marinara and didn’t have that problem. Hope that helps.
That was one of the best recipes I’ve ever made, my husband and I love it!
Thank you for sharing!
I loved this recipe, I have to admit I didn’t do the cauliflower, not a fan, but did the layering as told, just used my homemade pasta sauce with red pepper flakes which added a little more bite and layered it just like a pizza, no Italian seasoning, my preference. It was just amazing! This is one of my favorites, so thank you so much for the recipe.
Oh my! I have tried numerous low carb pizza recipes during these past three years since I started keto and my search for the perfect pizza has ended. I LOVE this recipe! Thank you so much!
This was a fantastic recipe! I played with the ingredient amounts because I was using a cake pan that fits in my air fryer. Used about a 1/2 lb of sausage. Also added sauteed spinach and black olives. Used the air fryer and cut about 10 minutes off the cooking time (covered for the first 15 mins so the cheese on top wouldn’t burn). Perfect amount for two people!
Love the idea of making this in the air fryer!
Delicious
Has anyone tried this without the cauliflower? The recipe sounds great but why the cauliflower? What does it add?
It’s an easy way to add volume, but you can totally make it without cauliflower. I’ve made it with cabbage also.
Very Good and really easy casserole! I don’t like mushrooms so I used more green peppers in place of them. I also used frozen cauli and cooked it just til tender. The only thing I’d recommend is to cover the casserole for the first 20 min or so because the cheese got really brown. But it was very tasty and it was even better as leftovers.
Just made this for the first time today and it was a hit with the kids (and me)! Only problem we had was – like others – there was a lot of water on the bottom. When I put away the leftovers I actually strained them to get some liquid out. But – super yummy and nicely filling!
This recipe turned out pretty bad for me. I roasted the cauliflower to get the water out and sautéed the mushrooms. I followed everything to a T and it turned out to be a watery mess. It was like soup. I’m confused at how his could have gone so wrong. I’m glad others had success but this was a no go for me.
Hi Ann, I’m sorry you had a problem with yours. Cauliflower releases water as it cooks but if you roasted it beforehand I don’t know where all of the water could have come from. I suppose it is possible that the sauce you used had more water in it than ours. So sorry I can’t be more help.