The one thing many low carbers miss is pizza. I was no different. Craving one of my former favorites – I tried over a half a dozen low carb pizza doughs/crusts. I shredded fresh cauliflower. I made dough from melted mozzarella cheese. I made dough using almond flour. You name it, I tried it. It was expensive, super time consuming, some were better than others, but to be honest – they all tasted like fake dough.
I tried just as many low carb frozen pizzas and/or pizza crusts. I’m sorry, but a low carb 9 inch pizza shouldn’t have 15 carbs per 1/3 of the pie. And I didn’t really like any of them. I knew there had to be a better way. Then, I saw a someone making pita bread pizzas with their kids (it wasn’t a low carb oriented post) so they could each choose their own toppings.
I thought, there are low carb pitas on the market, but, every time I’ve had a pita bread pizza, it was always a soggy mess. I wanted a slice I could hold, even if it was small, not something I needed to spoon into my mouth.
About the same time, I came across a recipe for pita chips. Wait, what? Pita bread will crisp up enough to make chips? What if you baked them just enough that you don’t have chips, but a pizza dough? The search was on for a low carb pita bread. I only needed to venture as far as my local Walmart. I found the Joseph’s brand. The net carb count was low for a potential pizza crust. I tried it. We liked it. We have these quite often.
You don’t have to use the pita breads I chose, but it should go without saying that not all pita breads are created equal. Read the labels, adjust accordingly. For example, these which were right next to the ones I chose, triple the carbs of your personal pizza, before you even add your sauce and cheese.
Ingredients
Joseph’s heart friendly pita – Oat bran and whole wheat
6 net carbs per pita
1/12 jar or 1/8 cup of Prego Pizzeria style pizza sauce
2.5 net carbs
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 carbs
Italian seasoning
Olive oil
Total net carbs 10.5
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°
Prepare your pitas
Prepare pitas by pricking with a fork to reduce bubbles and spreading olive oil lightly on both sides. I use a misto sprayer. Brushing the oil on works equally well.
Prebake your pitas so you don’t have a soggy crust, turning once midway thru baking. About 7- 8 minutes total. You may need to adjust this, depending on your oven. If you end up with chips, they were in too long.
Remove pitas from oven, spread sauce, sprinkle the Italian seasoning over the sauce, and add cheese to each pita. Put back in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
Tip: I divide the sauce up into individual servings in small 1 oz jars that hold exactly 1/8 cup right away to cut down on future measuring and cleaning, as well as keeping the carb count honest. If you are a heavy sauce person, you may want to try a different brand or make your own.
Tip 2: I bake mine on parchment paper. I don’t worry about it sticking and clean up is a breeze.
You can add toppings you want that keep you within your allowed daily carb count. If I added other toppings, I’d probably cut back on the cheese a bit.
This is only slightly more time consuming than a frozen pizza, probably a lot healthier and definitely less time consuming than those low carb pizza dough recipes.
Total net carbs in a Pizza Hut 6” personal pizza is 66 (69 – 3 fiber) according to their nutrition guide and that’s fairly typical for most places. This 7” pita bread personal pizza is 10.5 net carbs (15 – 4.5) according to the labels of the brands used.