Easy Quinoa Pizza Crust

Quinoa makes a nice gluten free foundation for a pizza when you first soften it up a bit by soaking in water, then blend with garlic, olive oil and Italian seasoning. After baking, you end up with a sturdy, gluten free crust that has a light crunch on the bottom. Rich in protein and fiber, I love that I can enjoy this pizza without feeling any guilt.

I just love quinoa and pizza too (like just about everyone else!), so when I saw this recipe for a quinoa pizza crust from Moon and Spoon and Yum and also from Simply Quinoa and Cooking Light too, I was VERY intrigued and wanted to give it a try. I really wanted to make it yesterday, when I was craving pizza, but it requires a little advance planning … you need to soak the uncooked quinoa for 8 hours first. So start your quinoa soaking if you want to make this tomorrow!

How is this recipe different?

Mine is not quite the same as all the other “quinoa crust” recipes you might find on the web. As usual, I just HAD to tinker with the recipe a bit … I added garlic and Italian seasoning, and then I also had some super flavorful cooking water I saved after making beans the other day (a.k.a, aquafaba), so I used my bean cooking water in place of plain old water. I always say to myself, “why use water when you can use something more flavorful?” and I was ecstatic that I found a good use for my “bean juice”! (Hey, it’s the little things. I really try not to waste anything!) … Honestly, I was tempted to throw a bit of cheese INTO the crust as well, but refrained this time. After I blended up the “batter”, I gave it a little taste and knew right then it would be good.

What you’re doing with this recipe is basically making a sort of crispy edged, oven-baked pancake. You blend up the crust ingredients, smooth them out onto oiled parchment paper, bake, flip it over, bake a little more to crisp up the other side, then start adding the sauce, cheese (or vegan shreds) and whatever toppings you like.

Does it taste like real pizza crust?

I’m going to be a little honest with you here, folks. Others claim that this tastes just like the real deal … it doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it works, it tastes good, and yes, it’s easy, but it does not have the same flavor or texture of a real yeast-based (or sourdough) pizza crust. BUT it is healthier for your body, it’s gluten free and it’s even vegan (as long as you use vegan toppings).

This pandemic has had a weird effect

Since COVID, I’ve latched onto a couple easy recipes that I just want to repeat over and over again (like my Triscuit tuna melts … I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made them! I told myself I’d quit once I was out of fresh garden tomatoes, but that didn’t happen until mid-December) …. and now, lately it’s tostadas oh man how I love a good tostada! I could eat the same dang tostada every single day forever. Okay, maybe not for EVER, but for as long as my body is okay with it. And it has been WEEKS of tostadas every day and still I do not tire of them, although I am finding my body telling me to move on to something else already.

So yeah, COVID has fundamentally changed how I cook, how I interact, how I eat. I used to see other people many times a week and I had so many opportunities to share food, so it wasn’t such a big deal if I cooked up something we didn’t have the capacity to eat in our home … I would just share or give it away. But since COVID began, I’ve become so much of a hermit … I’m still connecting with friends and family, but it’s just not the same as it used to be. We aren’t meeting for lunch or going out for coffee or a beer anymore, we’re (at best) chatting on the phone or (at least) exchanging thoughts on facebook or via text messages. I no longer want to cook up a big batch of something, like I used to when I could share with friends/family when I see them. I hate wasting food and our freezer (and pantry) is overflowing with things I’ve made that we just can’t keep up with.

Back to the Pizza …

I made this quinoa pizza crust, and I ate about a quarter of it, because yesterday pizza sounded good. And it was good. It didn’t weigh me down, either, and I love that. It’s healthy with a bit of crunch on the bottom … but, once the crust was finally ready for me, it just wasn’t quite what I wanted. I saved the rest for later. I’ve since eaten most of it … sticking leftovers in the air fryer for just a few minutes for a quick, hot, satisfying meal.

Pluses of this quinoa pizza crust:

• Easy blender batter
• Healthy, with good fiber and protein content IN the crust
• Gluten free
• Good taste
• Not too heavy

Minuses of this quinoa pizza crust:

• That 8-hour soaking time. Unless you’ve planned ahead and you have a sudden pizza craving, you’re really out of luck.
• If your crust is thicker, there’s a bit of a pancake-like texture that IMHO doesn’t adopt well to pizza.
• The crunch on the bottom is light.

Still, all in all, I think it’s worth a try! You might find you love it just like it is.

Just in case you find this quinoa crust thing isn’t your jam or you’re looking for topping inspiration, I have many many more beloved pizza recipes … try some of these lovelies:

Crust options:

• Spinach Pizza Crust – it’s a beautiful vibrant green, gluten free and no squeezing required!
• Zucchini Pizza Crust – great for when you’re inundated with zucchini, and also, gluten free.
• Sourdough Pizza Crust – super flexible recipe that adapts to your preferences. Many whose bodies don’t like gluten CAN tolerate sourdough. (NOT for celiacs, though.)
• Whole Wheat Cracker Thin Pizza Crust – my personal favorite because it has a SERIOUS crunch factor! I love me a good crunch.
• New York Style Pizza Crust – a nice yeasted pizza crust that has a great chew.
• Italian Garlic Pizza Crust (Boboli style) – leave the store-bought crusts at the store. This is so much better!

Pizza recipes:

• Colcannon Pizza ~ the Perfect Pizza for St. Patrick’s Day!
• Butternut Alfredo Pizza – roasted butternut squash with proscuitto ribbons with alfredo sauce.
• Eggplant Caprese Pizza – the eggplant is the crust for this healthy, gluten free pizza
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza – because bacon
• Wild Mushroom & Sausage White Pizza – the star of this pizza is the mushrooms, but make sure you have good quality sausage to compliment them
• Mushroom Artichoke Sundried Tomato Ranch Pizza – the name says it all. This combo of toppings is kinda magical
• Breakfast Pizza with Herbed Garlic Veggie Crust – who doesn’t love pizza for breakfast?
• Black Bean, Corn & Avocado Confetti Pizza – a vegetarian take on a taco pizza that’s SO good

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Nutrition information is a calculated estimate that does not include the protein and other benefits of using aquafaba. Adding toppings will affect the nutrient content of your pizza.