16 Foods To Use For Pizza Crust That Isn't Dough

Pizza is a takeout staple. Everyone has their favorite style and a trusty local joint that they think makes it the "best." But, it turns out that pizzas are easier to make at home than you may think. As long as you have a bottle of sauce and toppings, you can have a pizza. Wait ... are we forgetting something? 

Honestly, working with pizza dough can be a headache, and it's arguably one of the primary reasons why people don't want to dip their toes into homemade pies. While store-bought pizza dough can absolve you of the arduous task of mixing, resting, and proofing the perfect dough, you still have to know how to properly stretch, shape, and bake it. Luckily, there are tons of ways to satisfy your pizza craving without having to turn to pizza dough — in any shape or form. In order to offer some inspiration and ideas for your next DIY pizza night, we came up with this fun and creative list of the best pizza dough alternatives worth trying. 

While naan and pizza might be strange bedfellows, it's easy to see how they'd make a delectable pair. This Indian flatbread is made in a tandoor oven. The super hot cooking surface seals the moisture of the dough, yielding a bread with a slightly chewy bite and charred flavor. Naan is also super soft and pillowy thanks to dough conditioners, like yogurt and/or milk. 

Naan is a great pick for pizza because the flatbread is usually large enough to hold all your toppings, and it has the subtle chewiness of a classic pizza crust. Like several of the options on this list, the naan you'd buy from the grocery store, or repurpose from last night's Indian takeout, is already pre-baked, so you don't want to leave it in the oven long enough to zap all of its moisture out. Only bake your naan with your toppings long enough so that the cheese starts to melt. You can also switch out your basic, classic-flavored naan for a garlic one to upgrade the flavor of your avant-garde pizza. 

We have many fond childhood memories of English muffin pizzas. But it turns out than even as an adult, English muffins do come in handy — especially when you don't want to order takeout or are trying to make a meal out of the pantry staples you already have.

English muffins are relatively affordable, and there are many different brands to choose from — some of which are better than others. While you can stick to using your English muffins for their primary purpose, as a base for a breakfast sandwich or quick snack, their plush texture and sturdiness makes them a great fit for a ton of different other uses, including pizza. The nooks and crannies will soak up your sauce of choice and offer a little bit of textural diversity in every bite. 

Since English muffins are relatively small, you can make your pizzas in the air fryer, toaster oven, or conventional oven. They'll only need about five minutes to cook, and you can adorn them with almost any sauce, cheese, or toppings imaginable. 

The best part of getting a fast food breakfast isn't the iced coffee (that may or may not be made correctly) or the ho-hum breakfast sandwich — it's the side order of hash browns. These carby delights come in an array of shapes and sizes and are always crispy, salty, and all-around delicious. Though, you could also skip the drive-thru line and grab a bag of frozen ones at the grocery store. Pair these hash browns with some ketchup, and you have a crowd-pleasing side that no one will say no to. 

If you want to upgrade your hash browns, or give your breakfast a tasty spin, consider making a brunch pizza with them. You'll want to stick to the large, egg-shaped, or triangle-shaped hash browns instead of the little bites. It's also important to par-bake your hash browns before you add your toppings, as you want to give them a head-start so they can get super crispy. If you want to stick to the brunch side of things, consider adding bacon, chives, and cheddar to your patties. You can also add scrambled eggs, though you'll want to give them a soft scramble on the stovetop before finishing them off on your pizza in the oven. 

Crescent roll dough is one of our favorite ingredients to have on hand — and it's not just because it can be used as an easy side for a fancy-ish dinner. Crescent roll dough is buttery, puffs up slightly in the oven, and is super easy to work with. It's also versatile; you can bake your crescent roll pizza on a basic sheet pan, or try doing a deep-dish-style by tucking it into a pie plate. 

This Ree Drummond-approved shortcut for delicious breakfast pizza is not only ingenious, but it can save you a ton of time. You don't have to mix up, rest, and stretch out the classic pizza crust; all you need to do is buy a container of crescent roll dough, unfurl it, and pinch the seams closed so that it resembles a single sheet of dough. Since you have raw dough, you'll need to bake your crescent dough pizza a little longer than if you used one of the other suggestions on this list that's already pre-baked, like naan or English muffins. Depending on the vessel you're cooking in and how hot you're running the oven, you may only need to budget about 10 minutes of your time for baking to ensure your pizza reaches peak deliciousness. 

Breakfast toppings are a great place to start, but it's far from the only route you have to take with this handy hack. Try out a basic marinara and mozzarella-topped pie, or add your favorite thinly-sliced veggies to it. 

Portobello mushrooms aren't just a low-carb alternative to pizza crust; they also bring the umami richness in a way that normal dough could never. Granted, working with portobello mushroom caps will require some finessing — and an appreciation for the texture of these fantastic fungi. But once you get the hang of it, you'll have tasty mushroom "pizzas" in no time. 

The first thing you'll want to do when you get your mushroom caps is to clean them well. Dirt and grit can hide in the underside of the caps and impart a gritty texture to your pizzas, so make sure you rinse each one well. You should also pat them dry with a kitchen towel, as any extra moisture can lead to soggy mushroom pizzas. You'll also want to season and par-bake the caps, stem-side up before removing them from the oven, adding your toppings, and baking them again. The par-bake will ensure that your caps come out perfectly textured, while the second bake will help the sauce permeate down into the portobellos and impart them with flavor. Since the caps are relatively small, you can make this pizza alternative in an air fryer or a conventional oven. 

French bread pizza may bring back some memories from elementary and middle school cafeterias — and for good reason. Though the school version of French bread pizza probably isn't deserving of a Michelin star, you can zhuzh up this childhood classic at home by adding your own twist. 

The key to a good French bread pizza? Good French bread, of course. You want the bread to be sturdy enough to support your toppings, yet not so crusty that it hurts to bite into after it has finished its trip in the oven. Therefore, you should opt for a loaf-style French bread, which is sometimes marketed as "Italian bread," rather than a crispy and snappy baguette. Using this type of bread over a skinny baguette will also give you a little more surface area to work with. 

Once you have your bread, slice it, and leave it open-faced on a baking sheet before adding on your toppings. French bread is generally robust, so you don't have to be afraid to really layer on that classic pizza sauce, pesto, or whatever concoction you have in your pantry. Though, be sure to keep an eye on your bread once it goes in the oven (or air fryer, or other alternative cooking method), as the bottom may brown — and burn — before the top cooks. 

Puff pastry dough is one of the things we would never recommend making at home yourself. There is a lot of laminating, folding, and chilling involved — and it never turns out as good as you expect it will. Instead, pick up a box of store-bought puff pastry from the grocery store and use it to make a tasty and unique take on pizza. Once you unfurl the pastry sheets, you should be able to pop them on a sheet pan, add your toppings, and bake them.

Puff pastry is used for things like Danishes and turnovers, so don't expect that your puff pastry pizza will taste like something you'd get from your trusty neighborhood Italian pizza shop. Its texture will be far flakier and lighter than standard pizza crust — which can be both a blessing and a curse. As such, we'd recommend using light toppings, like an olive oil or pesto base, sliced veggies, and herbs, to uplift its flavor and not weigh down the dough. It would make a great, light appetizer for a dinner party. 

We're partial to pizza bagels, and we wouldn't be surprised if we're not the only ones. This humble food is in the same class as an English muffin pizza, but it has an elevated mouthfeel because the bagel is thicker and breadier. 

The biggest challenge for making bagel pizzas is working around the dreaded hole in the center. If you mistakenly plop sauce down in the hole, you will risk it dripping down to the baking sheet and burning. The simple solution to this bagel topping dilemma? Add a slice of pepperoni to cover it. Unfortunately, due to pepperoni's unique shape and thinness, there are very few plant-based alternatives that could work for this hack, though we supposed plant-based pepperoni may be worth trying. 

Bagels are sturdy, meaning that they can be a great vessel for an especially wet sauce and melty, gooey cheese. Pair it with a meaty trio of pepperoni, sausage, and ground beef, or opt for mini bagels with a simple cheese and pizza sauce combo to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. 

Polenta as a pizza crust is surely unconventional, but nonetheless delicious. For this unique swap, you're going to want to source out a tube of polenta — which is not the same thing as the dry stuff that comes in a bag. Tubed polenta can be sliced, cut, and used for a ton of different things in the kitchen, ranging from fries to casseroles. It retains its round shape once it's sliced, so you don't have to worry about it breaking apart when you go to work with it. The nutty, corn-y flavor of the polenta pairs well with a range of cheeses, as well as umami-rich toppings like mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. 

Cut your polenta into even rounds (½-inch thick should suffice) before transferring them to a sheet pan and par-baking them until they are crispy. It's important to cut them the same size, as you don't want some to come out raw and others to come out over-cooked. Once your polenta rounds are crispy, add your toppings and bake again until the cheese is melty and the toppings are cooked. 

Pita bread is one of the most versatile types of flatbread out there. Not only is it the perfect vessel for serving on a mezze platter alongside hummus, but it can also be a great base for shredded meat, veggies, and spreads, thanks to its unique pocket. And, it turns out that pita is a great alternative for pizza dough — especially if you are a big fan of thin-crust pies. 

Personal pita pizzas are a great meal idea for when you need to use up leftover pitas. Simply plop your pita on a baking sheet, add your spreads and toppings of choice, and slide it back into the oven until the cheese is melty and the toppings are primed for eating. Pita have a neutral flavor, so you don't really have any no-gos when it comes to toppings. However, it's easy to see why you might want to experiment with Mediterranean-inspired toppings, like salty Kalamata olives, crumbled feta, and chopped herbs.

Tortillas are easy to find, are super thin, and can be dressed up with almost any toppings that you would normally use on pizza. Not only does using a flour tortilla reduce the amount of time you spend making, stretching, and shaping your dough, but it offers perhaps the thinnest crust experience out of any of the selections on this list. 

Since tortillas are so thin and already pre-cooked, you'll want to avoid baking it on a pizza stone or saucing to the peel (an expression used in pizzerias, for the uninitiated), as you will risk the sauce and cheese burning onto it. The better solution is to bake this pizza in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet so that the edges have enough curvature to prevent the sauce from slopping off. You also may want to use excessively heavy toppings, on account of the tortilla's relative thinness. 

You probably don't look at the stack of Eggo waffles in your freezer and think "Huh ... pizza" — but you certainly can. Unsweetened, basic frozen waffles (meaning no blueberry, chocolate chip, or Lèige-style waffles here) can make a great base for pizza, as the cheese and sauce can melt down into the pockets, making for a delicious bite. 

You'll want to make your waffles according to the package directions before adding your accoutrements and placing them back in the oven to melt the cheese and fuse the toppings to it. While this would be a great opportunity to make a unique twist on breakfast — via toppings like bacon, crumbled breakfast sausage, and eggs — you can use any toppings you'd normally use for pizza here, including veggies, meats, and fruits like pineapple. 

You can enjoy pizza even if you're on a low-carb, high-protein diet. The secret? Make a pizza crust out of ground chicken. While it might sound weird, it actually is a great opportunity to add meaty flavor and get an umami boost from the poultry. 

To implement this hack, simply mix your ground chicken with a little bit of flour, an egg, and seasonings. Once you have a cohesive mixture, you can shape it into a large round on your baking tray. Since the chicken is raw, it's important to cook it through before adding your toppings and finishing your pizza in the oven. It's more fragile than other pizza crust alternatives on this list, so be sure to keep this in mind when you're selecting your toppings. 

Rice cakes are a love-it-or-hate-it kind of food. If you are in the former camp, chances are that you will love and appreciate how the crispness of the rice cake plays into the experience of eating this pizza alternative. Rice cakes are already crunchy on their own, meaning you won't have to par-bake them before assembling.

These low-calorie pizzas are a great afternoon snack and they come together in no time flat. Since the rice cakes are made with puffed rice, you'll want to avoid adding on too much — or too wet — of a sauce. Add a thin layer to your rice cakes with a sprinkle of cheese and your toppings and send them on a quick trip to the air fryer or oven until the cheese is melty and flavorful. The rice cakes themselves are quite bland, so you may want to use an especially garlicky or unique sauce to elevate their flavor. 

We've gone this long without mentioning one of the most well-known pizza crust alternatives out there: cauliflower crust. This cruciferous veggie crust gets a lot of attention, though it's far from the only veggie worthy of a spot in your pizza crust playbook. It turns out that other vegetables, like carrots, broccoli, and zucchini, can also be used in your crust. You just need to have a little know-how for how to prepare them — otherwise you could end up with a soggy mess on your hands. 

The key to making a grated veggie crust is to squeeze out as much moisture as possible before you mix up your base. You can squeeze zucchini, squash, or carrots by wringing them out with a kitchen towel after you grate them, or bake in the oven to pull some of that water content out instead. From there, combine the veggies with a binder, like eggs, and flour to create a low-carb crust that makes eating your veggies fun. 

Canned biscuits are a must-have for special occasions and weekday meals alike. Not only can you cover them in sausage gravy or use them as a base for breakfast sandwiches, but you can also turn them into simple, but tasty, mini pizzas. 

You'll want to start out by popping your can of biscuits and placing the piece of dough down onto your baking surface. From there, you can gently press and flatten the dough into a pizza-like shape, add your toppings, and bake it until the cheese and toppings and perfectly melded together. The biscuit dough is soft, yet has a pizza crust-like flavor, which makes it a great dough alternative. Since these "pizzas" are small, they're also a great food to make (and eat) with kids.