Keto Crustless Pizza Bowls
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These Easy Pizza Bowls are freshly baked crustless pizza with your favorite toppings like pepperoni, veggies, and cheese. This recipe is low-carb, flavorful and ready in just 15 minutes, just like Marco’s pizza bowl.
In March 2020, Marco’s Pizza launched a new menu item called crustless pizza bowls! Much like the burrito bowl, it removes the carbs and allows the delicious fillings to take center stage.
The crustless option allows you to enjoy the best parts of the pizza by baking meat, cheese, sauce and toppings together in a bowl. This amazing invention is perfect for low-carb diets too!
Marco’s is a national pizza chain in the U.S. with locations in the Caribbean and overseas as well. This restaurant has surged in popularity thanks to its signature dough, three-cheese blend and signature pizza sauce.
What is a Pizza Bowl?
A pizza bowl is pretty much a pizza without the crust. Imagine you ordered a pizza and scraped all the toppings into a bowl and discarded the crust. This ingenious invention offers a low-carb solution for pizza lovers to enjoy on a ketogenic diet.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Italian Sausage: Use a raw mild Italian sausage (or hot Italian sausage if you want it spicy).
- White Mushrooms: Use basic button mushrooms or similar.
- Onion: Yellow or white onion is ideal.
- Bell Pepper: The original Marco’s pizza bowl uses green bell pepper.
- Pizza Sauce: Use your favorite store-bought or homemade pizza sauce.
- Pepperoni Slices: Use your favorite pepperoni here (note: mini-pepperoni for smaller ramekins).
- Shredded Cheese: A three-cheese blend including cheddar and mozzarella is ideal.
- Romesan Seasoning: This Marco’s seasoning is most closely approximated by combining grated parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning blend from the spice aisle.
How to Make Pizza Bowls
Step 1: Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the sausage and fry until browned, about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break up large clumps and stir the meat from the time to time. Remove the cooked sausage to a plate.
Step 2: Add the onions, mushrooms and green peppers to the pan and fry for several minutes until softened slightly.
Step 3: Place the ramekins on a baking sheet. Brush the bottoms with pizza sauce. Add a layer of cheese. Then add a layer of cooked sausage and a layer of onion mixture.
Step 4: Finish by brushing with more sauce and topping with more cheese. Then sprinkle parmesan and Italian seasoning. Finally add pepperoni slices on top.
Step 5: Place the baking sheet with the pizza bowls into the preheated oven. Bake at 450°F for about 8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Remove the ramekins from the oven. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
Pro Tips
- You can customize the toppings with your favorite ingredients: The best part of making your pizza bowl at home is your ability to customize it. Do you have a favorite sausage or cheese? Go ahead and add it to the bowl.
- Use ovenproof ramekins with a flat bottom for the best results: By baking in ramekins, you’ll have ready-to-eat bowls straight out of the oven. Just double-check that they’re ovenproof.
- You can store leftover in the fridge covered with foil for up to 2 days: Pizza bowls are perfect for meal prep. Store them in the fridge for up to two days by covering with foil.
Who Makes Pizza in a Bowl?
Marco’s Pizza debuted the crustless pizza bowl in March 2020. Since then, other restaurant chains have begun experimenting with crustless pizzas too.
Does Pizza Hut Make Pizza Bowls?
Nope. Pizza Hut does not yet have pizza bowls on its menu. For keto folks who visit the restaurant, their best bet is to order a pizza and scrape the toppings off.
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Pizza Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 mild Italian sausage, casing removed
- 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced
- ½ medium onion, yellow or white
- ½ green bell pepper
- 2 cups pizza sauce, or marinara sauce
- 8 pepperoni slices, or 4 oz mini pepperoni slices
- 2 cups shredded cheese, three-cheese blend (see note)
Romesan Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450°F. Set aside 4 ramekins or similar oven-safe dishes. Get all your ingredients ready.
- Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the sausage and fry until browned, about 5 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break up large clumps and stir the meat from the time to time.
- Remove the cooked sausage to a plate. Next, add the onions, mushrooms and green peppers to the pan. Fry for several minutes until softened slightly.
- Place the ramekins on a baking sheet. Brush the bottoms with pizza sauce. Add a layer of cheese. Then add a layer of cooked sausage and a layer of onion mixture.
- Finish by brushing with more sauce and topping with more cheese. Then sprinkle parmesan and Italian seasoning. Add a few pepperoni slices on top of each pizza bowl.
- Place the baking sheet with the pizza bowls into the preheated oven. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and golden, about 7 to 9 minutes.
- Remove the ramekins from the oven. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Spicy Variation: Use spicy Italian sausage instead of mild Italian. Top with red pepper flakes before baking.
- Three-cheese blend: You can use a cheddar-mozzarella pizza blend, Tex-Mex blend or similar.
Please read our nutrition disclaimer.
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This is a great idea! Do you find the veggies cook enough? I love all things sausage, I bet a sausage, pepper, and onion one would be yummy. Maybe even add a little spoon of pesto. Ha! Now my mouth is watering.
Hi Hanna, The veggies will come out just fine as long as your oven is hot. Let me know how it goes and thanks.