The Best Zucchini Pizza Crust

Crispy around the edges. Chewy in the center. Golden and cheesy.

You’re about to discover how to make the best zucchini pizza crust of your life. The best part? It tastes even better than regular pizza dough. Still unsure? Check out the photos I took of my latest recipe and appreciate the beauty of this pizza crust, it’s unparalleled!

About three years ago, my neighbor gave me a bag (yes, a bag!) full of zucchini. According to her, they grow like crazy, and she didn’t know what to do with them! I took advantage and tried several zucchini recipes. Well, as you can imagine, some turned out better than others, but the best one I made was this pizza crust!

Besides being a different idea, it’s also a much healthier alternative to traditional pizza dough. So, it’s great for when we’re craving pizza but don’t want something too heavy.

If you follow my work, you know that I love making pizzas and that I’ve already tried some different ideas, like this pizza baguette recipe and this Greek yogurt pizza crust, but the truth is that the zucchini pizza crust was the one that excited me the most! Let’s move on to the recipe, shall we?

First of all, let’s look at the ingredients!

I divided the ingredients section into two parts. The first part contains just the ingredients for the pizza crust, and the second part contains the toppings. As you might imagine, I made the whole pizza so as not to waste this delicious crust. So if you want to make the same pizza as me, you’ll find everything you need below!

Pizza Crust:

• 2 cups grated zucchini (290 g) – You should choose firm, medium zucchinis with glossy skin. If the zucchini is too big, the pizza crust will be too soggy, because the bigger the zucchini, the more water it will have.
• ½ cup all-purpose flour (70 g) -It was the best flour I’ve ever tried. I tried this pizza crust with whole wheat flour, but the zucchini flavor practically disappeared. Plus, it wasn’t as crispy. Also try this pizza crust with Almond flour because it’s gluten-free and low-carb, but the pizza crust didn’t have the same structure, it was softer and fell apart with the toppings.
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (15 g) – I recommend that you use freshly grated Parmesan cheese over pre-shredded, this is because pre-shredded cheese usually contains anti-caking agents that affect melting.
• 2 large eggs – At room-temperature, please! I like using free-range eggs. My neighbor (the same one with the zucchini) has chickens and I often buy eggs from him for my recipes. Believe it or not, they turn out tastier, have a better color, and are definitely healthier!
• Extra virgin olive oil (for greasing the tray) – Extra virgin olive oil prevents sticking and helps the edges crisp. When I want a more golden crust, I usually brush a little over the top of the dough before baking, it always works!
• Salt, to taste – Salt is essential in this recipe! Besides adding flavor, it helps draw moisture from the zicchini so the pizza dough doesn’t get too soggy.

Topping ingredients

• ⅓ cup tomato sauce (80 g) – It’s important not to overdo it. I once added the same amount as in my Margherita Pizza recipe, and it was a bit much. The crust was too soft and fell apart.
• 1 cup mixed mushrooms, sliced (100 g) – Mushrooms are my favorite topping! I usually use organic mushrooms that I buy at a local market, but the flavor is much more intense, so if you don’t like intense-flavored mushrooms, buy white button mushrooms.
• 1 garlic clove, minced – It adds an incomparable flavor that’s delicious on pizza! If you want, you can replace it with garlic powder, but it won’t have as intense a flavor, so I don’t recommend it.
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced – I like to cut the onion a little thicker, but if you don’t like the intense onion flavor on your pizza, cut the onion as thin as you can.
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella (about 4–5 oz) – Avoid using pre-shredded mozzarella, as it won’t melt as well. I usually use fresh mozzarella from BelGioioso.
• Extra virgin olive oil, for cooking – Again, it adds flavor and gives the pizza crust that wonderful golden appearance!
• Fresh parsley, chopped (for serving) – Besides looking beautiful in photos, it helps to make the pizza more “fresh”.

How to Make This Delicious Zucchini Pizza Crust

If you’re like me, you place a lot of importance on images in a recipe. With that in mind, I photographed every step of this recipe so you can see the consistency of the pizza dough, how to cut the ingredients, and what the baked pizza crust looks like.

First of all, you can preheat your oven to 390ºF (200ºC). If your oven is one of those that tends to burn food (I’ve had one of those!), I recommend trying 375ºF first. Better to be safe, don’t you think?

Now for the most important step: prepping the zucchini. Grate it, sprinkle lightly with salt, and let it sit in a strainer for about 15 minutes. This resting period allows the zucchini to release excess water, it is an essential step that you should not skip.

Now squeeze the zucchini with your hands. Don’t skip squeezing! I know it delays the recipe a bit, but if the zucchini stays watery, the crust will be soggy and fall apart. I’ve made this mistake before, and when I added the toppings, the crust actually fell apart, making the pizza inedible.

Now that we have the zucchini well dried, add the eggs, flour, and grated Parmesan. Mix everything until you get a smooth batter. Lightly grease a baking tray with olive oil and spread the mixture out, shaping it into a round or rectangular base, whichever you prefer.

This pizza dough won’t be like traditional pizza dough; it will be stickier and harder to shape, but that’s normal. One trick I often use is to wet my hands a little so I can spread the batter more easily. When I don’t want to get my hands dirty, I simply wet a spoon and use it to shape the batter.

I shaped my pizza crust to be rectangular, as you can see in the image below.

Now it’s time to bake the dough! Yes, we’re baking the dough without toppings because we need to bake the dough twice, before the toppings and after the toppings. This is the part many people miss, so thank me later when you’re eating this delicious pizza!

Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust starts to turn golden.

Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a pan and sauté the garlic clove. Add the mushrooms and cook them over high heat for a few minutes. Don’t add salt until the end (this will keep them from becoming soggy).

Once the crust is ready, remove it from the oven and top it with tomato sauce, sautéed mushrooms, sliced red onion, and mozzarella cut into pieces.

It’s important not to overdo the sauce or toppings, as this pizza crust is slightly more delicate than a regular pizza crust. If you add too many toppings, the crust won’t hold together.

Jorge likes to load his pizzas with toppings. He once did this with a zucchini pizza crust, and he had to eat the entire pizza with a knife and fork because he couldn’t even get one slice!

Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden.

For extra crispiness, switch to broil for the last 1–2 minutes, but watch closely so it doesn’t burn.

Before serving, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and enjoy immediately!

As you can see, the pizza looked delicious (I can confirm that it also tasted incredible!). This is a great way to eat healthy, take advantage of my neighbor’s zucchini harvest (which never seems to end!) and have a different meal on my dinner table!

Avoid making these mistakes

I made a few mistakes while testing the best version of this pizza crust. There’s no need for both of us to suffer, right? If I’ve made these mistakes, I’d better tell you what they are so you don’t waste time and get the recipe right the first time!

• Not letting the zucchini drain – I made the mistake of not waiting the 15 minutes for the zucchini to drain to release the excess water. I couldn’t even finish the recipe because the dough was so wet… It was a disaster!
• Don’t bake the dough twice – Obviously, I tried putting the toppings directly on the dough, before pre-baking it. The pizza dough didn’t bake well, it was soft and had a soggy texture.
• Adding too many toppings – This pizza crust is more fragile than a regular pizza crust. Therefore, we can’t fill the pizza crust with too many toppings, as it will simply fall apart.

If you make any mistakes that aren’t covered in this section, please leave a comment below!

How to Store and Reheat Zucchini Pizza Crust

If you’ve been following me for a while and seen some of my other recipes, you’ve probably noticed that I hate waste! That’s why I always leave tips at the end of my recipes on how to store and reheat all my food.

• If you want to store the whole pizza in the fridge, let it cool completely and store it in a sealed container. It will keep well for up to 3 days.
• If you want to freeze the pizza crust for later use, bake it once, let it cool, and then freeze it. It keeps well for 2 to 3 months. When you’re ready to use it, just take it out, add the toppings, and bake it in the oven at 390ºF (200ºC) for 8–10 minutes. You don’t need (and shouldn’t) let it thaw before using.
• You can also freeze a topped pizza, but the texture will be a little different, softer. It can be frozen for a maximum of 2 months, and to reheat it you must place it directly in the oven (without defrosting) and let it bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 390ºF (200ºC).

As you’ve seen, there’s no need for waste!

Before I go, I’ll leave you with one more photo of this delicious zucchini crust pizza! I truly hope you enjoyed it. If you love pizza as much as I do, also try this delicious pizza bianca recipe.

I look forward to your comment and rating below. If you have any questions, just let me know!