Low Calorie Pepperoni Pizza

If you’ll allow me to slightly exaggerate, I’ve made low calorie pizza a thousand different ways in my lifetime. Since the crust is the usually the first modification, cauliflower, ground chicken, low carb pitas and flatbreads, and even straight parmesan cheese have graced my table as pizza crust. 

But none hold a flame to the pizza crust in this recipe. Largely because it’s a flour based crust that’s like real-deal thin and crispy pizza crust. 

Top that crust with a pink sauce, turkey pepperoni, and your choice of toppings (read: pineapple, crushed red pepper, and jalapeño), and you have an amazingly delicious low calorie pizza with 135 calories per slice! 

How to Make Low Calorie Pizza Crust

Okay, to be honest, the crust isn’t a terribly novel idea. It seems like almost everyone and their mama have tried a variation of 2-ingredient dough whether it’s in bagel, pretzel, or crust form. 

And this crust uses the same combo of all purpose flour and fat free Greek yogurt. Though I’ll include a mixed variation of all purpose and almond flour below. 

The real magic of this crust recipe is in the baking method. You’ll mix the dough (by hand or in a food processor), roll it out, and bake it in a super hot oven with oil brushed on top to get a crispy bottom and golden brown top before adding the toppings. 

If you’d like a short cut, simply add the flour and Greek yogurt to a food processor for 10-15 seconds until crumbly. Then you can use your hands to press everything together.

I use a small hand roller that makes holding one end of the dough easy. You can find the hand roller on my Amazon tools list if you’re interested. It’s worth all 400 pennies. 

Mixing the Dough by Hand

If you don’t have a food processor, you can start mixing everything together with a fork and finish with your hands. Check out the video of my air fryer pizza below for an example of this and pressing the dough with your hands instead of using a rolling pin. 

An Important Pizza Crust Note

You’ll notice the recipe card has a range of flour to use. I originally published this pizza crust recipe with the higher end. But after making my buffalo chicken empanadas, I wanted to update with the option for both. 

There’s only a 1/4 cup or 30 gram difference, but the lower end makes a slightly softer crust (still crispy on the outside) and the higher end makes an extra crispy crust. It’s also worth noting the lower end is a bit easier to roll.

This crust is meant to be thin and crispy but if you wanted a bit more rise, you could add a little baking powder like in my cheesy garlic air fryer bread or copycat Domino’s bread twists recipes (pictured above). 

Low Calorie Pizza Toppings

This low calorie pizza crust is truly a blank canvas, but I’ve taken the liberty of showing you one of my favorite pizza topping combos of all time. 

If you’ve never tried a pink sauce, you’re in for a treat! It’s a mixture of a tomato sauce and, in this case, a lower fat alfredo sauce. You’re left with a creamy, tangy sauce that goes perfectly with the saltiness of pepperoni and spice of jalapeño should you go that route. 

For the cheese, I like using a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan. The mozzarella melts really well and creates that stringy cheese pull you’d expect from pizza. And the parmesan, especially the top layer, gives a slight crunch and crisp texture difference. Yum! 

Feel free to add any veggies or other toppings you’d like. Keep in mind, however, the crust will be baked ahead of toppings going on. So if you use completely raw veggies, you’ll want to cook them a bit in advance or pull the crust out early to add the toppings.

If you want some more protein topping ideas, check out the creamy egg mixture in my breakfast pizza or my pulled pork pizza. My Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken would go great on a pizza, as well as the Calabrian balsamic chicken from my chicken flatbread pizza.

For more topping ideas, check out my Facebook group. There are over 15,000 pizza loving home cooks sharing their creations every day. They especially love my cast iron pizza recipe.

Final Low Calorie Pizza Recipe Notes

Okay, that’s about it! You’ll find the full recipe card below, and the almond flour crust variation below that. 

If you make this low calorie pizza and get creative with your toppings, I want to see it! Take a photo of your creation and tag me on Instagram @mason_woodruff. 

4.55 from 97 votes

Servings: 8 slices

Low Calorie Pepperoni Pizza

By Mason Woodruff

A thin and crispy pizza crust topped with a pink sauce and turkey pepperoni. 

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 40 minutes mins

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Ingredients

Low Calorie Pizza Crust

• ▢ 1-1 1/4 C 120-150g All Purpose Flour, depending on crisp preference
• ▢ 2/3 C 150g Fat Free Greek Yogurt
• ▢ 2 tsp 10g Olive Oil

Toppings

• ▢ 2-4 Tbsp 30-60g Marinara or Pizza Sauce
• ▢ 2-4 Tbsp 30-60g Light Alfredo Sauce
• ▢ 17 slices 30g Turkey Pepperoni
• ▢ 1/4 C 28g Shredded Mozzarella
• ▢ 1/4 C 28g Shredded Parmesan

Instructions 

Pizza Crust

• Preheat an oven to 500F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick mat. 
• Mix the flour and Greek yogurt together to form a dough and transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper or nonstick surface. (You can mix by hand or in a food processor.)
  
• Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 12×8).
  
• Brush the crust with olive oil and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Reduce the heat to 350F after removing the pizza crust.

Toppings

• Mix the sauces together and coat the crust in sauce.
• Add a layer of mozzarella, half the parmesan, the pepperoni, and any other toppings you’d like. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top.
• Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and the pepperoni begins to crisp. 
• Cut into 8 slices and enjoy! 

Notes

• Macros per slice are with the 150 grams version.
• Every slice has 4 Smart Points.
• For a softer (still crispy around the edges) crust, use the 120 grams of flour. And if you’d like an extra crispy crust, use the 150 grams of flour. 
• Macros for 120-gram flour crust only (with olive oil brushed on): 639 calories, 25g protein, 93g carbs, and 17g fat
• Macros for 150-gram flour crust only (with olive oil brushed on): 750 calories, 28g protein, 115g carbs, and 18g fat
• For light sauce, go with the smaller end of the sauces range. For lots of sauce, go with the higher ends.
• Nutrition facts do not include the pineapple or jalapeño. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 135kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 5g

Like this? Leave a comment below!

The Almond Flour Pizza Crust Alternative

I mentioned an almond flour crust above. It’s a larger crust that will reduce the carbs a bit and create a larger pizza. Here’s what I used: 

• 3/4 C (90g) Almond Flour
• 3/4 C (90g) All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 C (168g) Fat Free Greek Yogurt
• 1 Tbsp (15g) Olive Oil

Follow the same steps and bake at 500F for 14-16 minutes. It won’t get as crisp as the all purpose only version, but it should definitely be crisp around the edges and golden brown on top.