What’s Healthier: Cauliflower Pizza Crust or Whole-Wheat Pizza Crust?

Nowadays you can find a cauliflower substitute for what seems like every carb-containing food. One of the first available swaps we saw was cauliflower pizza crust in place of regular or whole-wheat crust—and then came cauliflower rice, buns, English muffins and more. Geared at lowering carbs and calories, these cauliflower swaps seem to be used more than the wheat flour-based originals. But is one really better than the other?

Let’s look at the original cauliflower swap—pizza crust—next to whole-wheat dough and see how they compare.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Nutrition

While you always have the option of buying a cauliflower crust to use for your pizza, we think our super-easy low-carb recipe for Cauliflower Pizza Crust is worth the short amount of time it takes to make it.

Per serving (1/6 of the crust), our Cauliflower Pizza Crust contains:

• Calories: 131
• Carbohydrates: 7 g
• Fiber: 2 g
• Protein: 11 g
• Total Fat: 7 g
• Sodium: 321 mg

Ingredients include: Cauliflower, garlic, part-skim mozzarella cheese, eggs, parsley, salt

Whole-Wheat Pizza Crust Nutrition

Here at EatingWell, we opt for whole-wheat pizza crust more often than pizza crust made with refined white flour for the extra fiber it provides.

If you look at our recipe—or the nutrition label for store-bought dough—you’ll notice that whole-wheat pizza dough isn’t made with only whole-wheat flour but rather, a combination of flours. Our example here uses whole-wheat flour and enriched all-purpose flour, which is refined or white flour that has had the nutrients that get stripped during processing added back in—niacin, iron, thiamin, riboflavin and folic acid. The whole-wheat flour in this recipe helps keep the dough healthy, while the all-purpose flour keeps the texture from being too dense.

Per serving (1/6 of the crust), our Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough contains:

• Calories: 127
• Carbohydrates: 24 g
• Fiber: 0 g
• Protein: 4 g
• Total Fat: 0 g
• Sodium: 292 mg

Ingredients include: Enriched unbleached flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid), water, whole-wheat flour, salt, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, yeast.

So, Which One Is Healthier?

It depends.

Per serving, cauliflower crust is lower in carbs. So, if you’re looking to eat fewer carbs, going gluten-free or simply trying to eat more veggies, then cauliflower crust is for you. Eating a slice of this crust delivers close to a cup of cauliflower per serving.

Both the cauliflower crust and the whole-wheat crust offer fiber and protein—which play a key role in weight loss by helping to keep you feeling full and satisfied after a meal.

But if you’re not trying to cut carbs and are looking for that traditional pizza pie flavor, the whole-wheat crust is what you want. While it offers less protein than the cauliflower crust, you can make up for that—and the veggies—with your toppings.

The Bottom Line

Pizza can certainly be a healthy choice, whatever crust you choose. What can matter more are the toppings you use, especially if you want to keep calories or carbs low—add lots of veggies, just the right amount of cheese and go light on the sliced meats. In the end, go with the crust and flavor combo that speaks to you the most—and above all, enjoy your pizza.