Fat Head Pizza with Pepperoni & Jalapeños

4.1 stars, average of 69 ratings

By Martina Slajerova, updated June 5 201946

Pepperoni and jalapeños are some of the most popular pizza toppings and taste amazing on this thin-crust mozzarella dough base. This is an all-time favourite based on the original Low-Carb Mozzarella Pizza Crust, also called the "fat head pizza" by Tom Naughton. If you prefer an equally delicious veggie pizza, check out my Fat Head Pizza with Mozzarella, Tomato & Rocket.

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0 hours, 15 minutes

Hands-on 10 minutes Overall 20-25 minutes

Nutritional values (per 2 slices, ¹/₄ pizza)

Net carbs6.7 grams

Protein28.3 grams

Fat41.3 grams

Calories507 kcal

Calories from carbs 5%, protein 22%, fat 73%

Total carbs9.3 gramsFiber2.6 gramsSugars3.4 gramsSaturated fat14.9 gramsSodium1,252 mg(54% RDA)Magnesium87 mg(22% RDA)Potassium413 mg(21% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)

Fat Head Pizza Base:

1 ¹/₂ cups grated mozzarella cheese (170 g/ 6 oz)
2 tbsp cream cheese (56 g/ 2 oz)
1 large egg
¹/₂ tsp salt
³/₄ cup + 1 tbsp almond flour (85 g/ 3 oz)
extra virgin olive oil for flattening the dough

Topping:

¹/₄ cup sugar-free Marinara sauce (60 g/ 2 oz)
¹/₂ cup grated mozzarella cheese (58 g/ 2 oz)
¹/₃ cup grated parmesan cheese (30 g/ 1 oz)
3 oz pepperoni (85 g)
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced (28 g/ 1 oz)
fresh basil

Instructions

Start by making the pizza crust. Place the grated mozzarella cheese into a bowl and add the cream cheese. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Mix with a spatula and microwave on high for another 30 seconds. Mix again.
Add the egg and combine well. Add salt, almond flour and mix until well combined.
Place the dough on a heatproof baking mat and use your hands to flatten ...
... until ¹/₄ - ¹/₂ inch (¹/₂ - 1 cm) thick. Spray some olive oil on your hands to prevent the dough from sticking. Alternatively, you can use a piece of parchment paper on top and roll the dough out until thin. Dock the dough with a fork and bake in the oven preheated to 220 °C/ 425 °F for 12-15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and spread the marinara sauce on top.
Add grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and top with pepperoni slices (2 at a time) and sliced jalapeño peppers. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil. Slice and serve hot or cold. Enjoy!

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per 2 slices, ¹/₄ pizza)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Mozzarella cheese (low moisture, for pizza)
2.4 g	10.1 g	8.4 g	125 kcal
Cream cheese, soft (full-fat)
0.5 g	1 g	4 g	35 kcal
Eggs, free-range or organic
0.1 g	1.6 g	1.2 g	18 kcal
Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal)
1.9 g	4.6 g	11.2 g	125 kcal
Marinara sauce
0.7 g	0.2 g	2.4 g	25 kcal
Mozzarella cheese (low moisture, for pizza)
0.8 g	3.4 g	2.8 g	42 kcal
Parmesan cheese
0.2 g	2.7 g	1.9 g	29 kcal
Pepperoni, salami, pork or beef
0 g	4.8 g	9.4 g	105 kcal
Peppers, Jalapeno, fresh
0.3 g	0.1 g	0 g	2 kcal
Basil, fresh
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per 2 slices, ¹/₄ pizza
6.7 g	28.3 g	41.3 g	507 kcal

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Petra 6 months ago #

Hi,
instead of microwaving, I put creamcheese, salt and the egg into a mini food processor and pulse ist. Then I add the mozzarella and pulse until smooth and creamy. Just because I don’t like the coconut taste, I use half flaxseed flour and half almond flour. Mozzarella cream and the flours will be mixed by a hand mixer.
Thanks for this amazing recipe. Even my picky husband likes ist.

Martina @ KetoDiet 6 months ago #

I've never thought of blending it - thanks for the great tip!!

Jenny (https://www.favorspalace.com/) 8 months ago #

I love colorful recipes indeed, and this pizza is absolutely flavorful!
Love this so good, our family really enjoyed it… saved it to one of my pins for pizza night! thanks! 🍕

Martina @ KetoDiet 8 months ago #

Thank you Jenny!

Kate (https://www.seo-lah.com/) 9 months ago #

Oh my heavens. I cannot believe I found this site and this recipe. You have made my day. I too lived in Italy with so many fond memories. I was a child when my father took a job with Pirelli. Then there were the Detroit days and a lot of waiting in line at Buddy’s for the best pizza ever. You have sparked a lot of interest for me. Thank you.

Thank you for your kids words Kate! ❤

Brendan 9 months ago #

Hi Martina. Can’t find any pepperoni without dextrose and alike. Tried the internet. Any suggestions. Thanks

How about Spanish chorizo (sliced)? Dextrose is sugar and although it is not recommended on a low-carb diet, small amounts won't be an issue (same with eg 85% dark chocolate). The best thing would be to check the carbs per serving (I assume they won't be more than 1 gram).

Maria (https://www.babypalace.pk/) 10 months ago #

Absolutely love this pizza recipe. It’s the only one I use. I make it every Friday night, my husband and kids love it. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I’ve also done it for other members of the family and they can’t believe how amazing and authentic the pizzas turn out 🍕
I’ve been using a shop bought pizza sauce but would love to make my own.

Martina @ KetoDiet 9 months ago #

Thank you Maria!

Janene one year ago #

The recipe says 1 serving is 5.7 grams but when I add it to the app it comes up at 6.7. When you’re eating only 20 grams of carbs a day each one really matters. Should it be counted as 5.7 or 6.7 for one serving (1/4 of the recipe)?

Martina @ KetoDiet one year ago #

Hi Janene, you are right, I just checked the carbs per serving and they should be 6.7 grams - I will update it. The reason this happens is that the USDA releases updates of their food database which may affect nutrition facts in some meals when they make changes. This is actually very rare and it is completely out of our control.

Paul one year ago #

Started keto 8 days ago, down 4 lbs. Even though I thought the dough components were a bit odd, I made this pizza and ate the whole thing over 2 1/2 days. As sugar free sauce is bland I will add a tsp or two of sevia when I make it again. I used a spatula to stir the dough into shape so I didn't need it to cool down to use my hands. Placed the semi cooled dough on a grill pad, covered it with parchment paper and smoothed it out with my hands - no problem - didn't need extra EVOO. I did make it about 1/8th inch and next time will make it closer to 1/4 inch. My dough was made with 3 cheeses - mozzarella, mild cheddar and monterey jack, together with the rest of the dough list items.

Diane one year ago #

I made the Pizza base with coconut flour, according to your guidelines, and I made your Marinara Sauce recipe....it was all perfect, and delicious. I will freeze the sauce and the next one (which will be soon) will be even quicker and easier! Oh yes, it is very filling...normally 1/4 of a Pizza wouldn’t touch the sides, but that was allI could manage of this! Very good. Thank you!

Thank you for your lovely feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed! ❤

Amy one year ago #

How many calories per serving?

Hi Amy, it's listed as "kcal".

Debora Camargo Silva one year ago #

This dough just rocks!!! Love you forever!!!

greg thow one year ago #

Hands down the best low carb pizza I've ever had. Goodbye Cauliflower pizza.. wow, what a crust! (flipped it before topping it as I read as a hack and yup, it worked great.
Can't wait to make it again. Well done!

Thank you Greg!

Sukienow 2 years ago #

I made this today , it was so yummy . Thanks for the recipe

Levi 2 years ago #

I made this awesome recipe tonight. For some reason it was a little soggy in the middle. But still tasted great. I'm 6 weeks into the keto diet and have lost 17 lbs thanks to people like you who make amazing recipes like this. I will continue on this path and plan on losing another 30 lbs. Thank you for all the hard work. It makes this lifestyle so much easier.

Martina @ KetoDiet 2 years ago #

Well done Levi and thank you for your kind words!

Mollie 2 years ago #

Wow!! What an awesome recipe!!! This is so simple to make and absolutely delicious! Thank you so much!
(I didn't have a rolling pin so I put the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper and rolled it out with a cup)

Thank you Mollie, I'm glad you liked it!

James 2 years ago #

Just tried it and... Well my results are terrible. I didn't have a baking mat and tried using foil instead. I didn't use any nonstick spray or coating before flattening the dough out so everything stuck to the foil. I'm not familiar with using a baking mat and was unaware of how important it is to following this recipe and directions. I guess it's time to invest in more kitchen tools

Hi James, you could try heavy-duty parchment paper. I use it all the time and it's fantastic - no sticking at all. It has aluminium foil on the other side which makes it very strong and non-stick.

Andrew 2 years ago #

Wow! This was the first keto meal I tried, and I am hooked! Fantastic!!!

Thank you Andrew!

Jennifer 2 years ago #

This looks really good and really easy. I don't have cream cheese in my fridge but I have everything else, so I am going to try it with whole milk ricotta instead (similar fat and consistency), so we'll see how that works. I'm sure it will be just as good.
Thanks for this recipe.

I think it should work but I haven't tried it. Let me know if you do 😊

Tina 2 years ago #

Could you make this without using a microwave? I don't own one. 😊

I think you could melt the cheese in a regular oven while you are preheating it to bake the pizza 😊

Samantha 3 years ago #

I stumbled upon this site sincej was looking just for the crust and couldn't fun my original one.
I must admit it was my first time making day head and it was so amazing. Best low carb thing I've tried yet.
Now I didn't use suggested toppings. My base was burascetta, than I added feta and grilled chicken. When I baked that for 5 min I than added fresh basil.
So amazing

Martina @ KetoDiet 3 years ago #

Thank you! 😊

Bobby Stryker 3 years ago #

How long can this pizza be kept? Should it be stored in a fridge or at room temperature?
Thank you =)

After it cools down, store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days 😊

Jane 3 years ago #

This looks wonderful! Do you think grated semi-hard goat cheese would work in place of the mozzarella? I have used grated goat cheese on top of pizza before, but not sure how it would work in the crust. TIA

Yes, it definitely would, I've tried it with hard goat cheese before and worked perfectly! 😊

Manuela 3 years ago #

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I made this today and my husband was so impressed. We both can't believe how amazing this crust is. This is certainly the best keto recipe ever!

Shelli 3 years ago #

Oh my word! I have been wanting pizza and this was such a good recipe. It worked out great--tasty and super filling.
Do you think adding some ground flax seed to the crust might help crisp it more? I'd like to add a little more fiber to the recipe.
Thanks for the great video. I am excited to see more of them.

Some people flip it in the oven half way through to better crisp it up so that should work. I haven't tried flax but Janice listed a recipe in the comment below if you want to give it a try 😊

Janice Manson 3 years ago #

Hi Martina
I wanted to share how I modified this crust recipe given I did not have cream cheese in the house and was not interested in running to the grocery store.
I made this crust with the following for a single pizza crust, which I then cut into 4 slices.
Ingredients:
180 g Kraft Mozzarella cheese, grated
2 eggs
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
2 tablespoons Great Lakes Gelatin Collagen Hydrolysate
I combined it all and flattened it out onto a parchment lined pizza pan and baked it at 450 F for 10 minutes before removing it from the oven and topping it. I then put it back in the oven for a further 7-10 min to get the topping cooked and browned to my liking.
I liked that deeper flavour that the flax contributed to the crust and the texture had a nice chewiness.
Thanks

Thank you for sharing Janice, I'll have to try that! Just to confirm, there is no almond flour?

Hi , That is correct--no almond flour.

Fat Head Pizza with Pepperoni & Jalapeños

Hands-on 10 minutes Overall 20-25 minutes