Low-Carb Chicken Taco Pizza (with a Low-Carb Crust!)

I crave pizza all day, every day. I love a skillet pizza when I'm feeling lazy, but nothing beats having a real, crispy crust underneath all of those gooey toppings. I made this recipe one day with some alterations and found that what emerged from the oven was taco pizza that satisfied all of my pizza desires.



INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

For the topping:

1 pound diced chicken breast (about 3 average-sized breasts)
1/4 cup tomato sauce (I like Monte Bene, because there's no sugar added)
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
4 ounces shredded pepperjack cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

To begin, beat the cream cheese, eggs, heavy cream, and taco seasoning with a hand mixer until there are no lumps.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9"x13" baking dish if you prefer a crispier crust, but it's not necessary.

Spread the 4 ounces of shredded cheddar evenly around the bottom of the dish, and then pour the cream cheese mixture over it until the entire dish is covered.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the diced chicken in a saucepan with a little oil or butter.

Mix in the tomato sauce and taco seasoning.

Remove the crust from the oven and let rest for five minutes so it can cool and deflate.

Spread the chicken mixture evenly over the crust and top with cheddar and pepperjack cheeses.

Lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.

the cheese on the bottom of the pan, covered evenly with the cream cheese mixture

the crust fresh from the oven; it looks more like an omelet at this point but will become crispy later

the crust topped with chicken and two types of cheese

the finished product

just like pizza

no, really, just like pizza!

You can pick it up with your hands and everything. I LOVE this pizza and have since used the same crust (taco seasoning and all, because I love that flavor) to make a regular pizza with mozzarella and pepperoni that even my non-low-carbing boyfriend thought was delicious. It seems like the crust will taste eggy or be too soft with all of the creamy ingredients, but that second baking in the oven somehow turns it from a cheesy-looking omelet to something I might actually mistake for bread. I can't believe how well this satisfies my pizza cravings.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

In the past, before I had a fully stocked kitchen with every spice I'd ever need, I used to look longingly at the taco seasoning packets in the grocery store. I wanted to make my own low-carb taco dishes so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to buy the pre-mixed stuff full of sugar, starch, flour, artificial color, and preservatives.

Finally, I moved out of my Manhattan studio and into my Brooklyn two-bedroom with a whole kitchen shelf I could dedicate to spices, and taco seasoning was one of the first things I made for myself. If you make your own already, you probably use this one from allrecipes.com, because it has thousands of positive comments. And for good reason: it's perfect.

The recipe on AllRecipes is great, but it only makes one ounce of seasoning. I quadruple the recipe so I can keep a jar of taco seasoning on hand all of the time.


INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix!


I store mine in this huge honey jar my boyfriend finally emptied, but any airtight container will do.

The most basic thing I do with it is brown a pound of ground beef in a saucepan,
drain the fat,
add 1/4 cup water,
mix in 3 Tablespoons of the seasoning,
and simmer it on the stovetop until the water has dissolved.

I'll post some of my favourite recipes that use taco beef and taco chicken in separate posts soon.