Portobello mushroom pizza is low-carb pizza that is quick, easy to make. It has all the delicious pizza toppings on large mushroom caps which are used as pizza crust. Enjoy pizza night with this delicious healthy low-carb pizza.
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Portobello pizza
A quick and low-carb pizza. These pizza-stuffed mushrooms don’t disappoint! Everything you expect in your pizza – sauce, cheese, toppings, and seasonings, you’ll get in Portobello pizza.
Portobello pizzas are essentially mushroom crust pizzas, a large mushroom cap is used as a pizza crust which is topped with the pizza staples – sauce, cheese, toppings, and seasonings.
With Portobello pizza crust you can enjoy a gluten-free, low-carb, veggie-loaded dinner that comes together pretty quickly. A delicious way to use large mushrooms.
It’s essential to use large mushrooms like portobello mushrooms (sometimes spelled portabella or portobella). The mushroom cap has enough concave space to hold the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Using mushroom caps as pizza crust speeds up the process of getting your pizza ready. No more kneading dough and waiting for the dough to prove.
Pick your mushroom caps and get filling all those delicious pizza staples. These portobello pizzas are baked twice. First with sauce and vegetables filled in, second bake with cheese. Essentially, it’s baked mushrooms filled with pizza staples.
I recommend baking twice helps mushrooms cook through along with the vegetables used, however, you can bake it for only 10 minutes depending on your vegetable fillings. If using only pizza sauce and cheese along with salami or pepperoni slices, just add them all and bake once until the mushrooms are cooked and soft and the cheese is bubbly. If using vegetables like mushrooms, onion, and bell peppers I’d recommend baking veggies filling then adding cheese and baking again until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s what you’ll need –
- Portobello mushrooms
- Pizza sauce
- Red onion
- Bell peppers
- Mini salami slices or pepperoni slices
- Black olives
- Mozzarella cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Italian seasoning
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- Fresh basil
All ingredient’s exact measurements are mentioned in the recipe card below.
- Portobello mushrooms – choose large portobello mushroom caps so it has enough concave space for sauce and toppings.
- Pizza sauce – use homemade pizza sauce or store-bought. You can also use marinara sauce.
- Veggie toppings – I used red onion, yellow bell peppers, and the stem of the mushroom as topping. Feel free to use any vegetables of your choice. Cherry tomatoes, sweet corn kernels, broccoli florets, and even zucchini slices can be used.
- Cheese – I use mozzarella cheese, which is great when it melts and gives the stringy cheese pull that everyone enjoys in a pizza. Always buy cheese block and great it when needed. Pre-grated cheese from the store has potato starch as fillers that help prevent cheese from clogging to each other and cheese with addictive does not melt well. Avoid using watery cheese topping like fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese, this will make mushrooms very soggy. You can use goat cheese, gruyere cheese, or creamy gouda cheese.
- Seasonings – pizza is best enjoyed with a generous amount of seasoning on top. I use Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and a few pieces of fresh basil leaves for taste and flavor.
- Olive oil – this is used to brush the mushroom caps. Canola oil can also be used.
- Salt & pepper – to season mushroom caps.
How to make portobello mushroom pizza
Preheat oven to 350F.
Clean mushrooms using a pastry brush or damp kitchen towel.
Carefully cut or break the stem apart. You can also scoop out the dark gills from the mushroom using a small spoon (I left the gills on). Discard the gills, and chop the stem, will be using it as filling.
Place mushrooms on the chopping board with the stem side down. Using a small paring knife gently cut a small ‘x’ in the middle. This will help drain excess liquids from the mushrooms.
Place the mushroom on the stem side down on a baking tray. Brush olive oil on top, and quickly sprinkle salt and pepper so it sticks to the mushrooms.
Flip mushrooms and brush with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.
Fill mushroom caps with thick pizza sauce. Add chopped mushroom stem, diced red onion, and chopped bell peppers (any color). Add half of the salami sliced and half of the black olives (sliced).
Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
Remove the mushrooms from the oven, and drain all the liquids from the tray that were released from the mushrooms. Fill it up with shredded cheese, remaining salami sliced, and olives.
Bake for 7-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Remove mushroom pizza from the oven, and immediately sprinkle it with Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil leaves.
Serve immediately. It’s best enjoyed right away, nice and hot from the oven.
Helpful tips to make the best portobello pizza
- Make a small ‘x’ cut. Mushrooms can release a lot of water. A small cross on the mushroom cap will help drain excess liquids from the mushrooms. A further step would be to place mushrooms on an oven-safe wire rack on top of the rimmed baking tray, this ensures mushrooms don’t sit in the water while it bakes.
- Best shaped portobello. Look for best shaped large portobello mushrooms that are concave so it has space to hold sauce and toppings.
- Clean mushrooms using a brush or damp kitchen towel. Do not rinse mushrooms under water, as they can absorb water and turn soggy while baking.
- Use a thick sauce. The pizza sauce that you use should be thick. A thin sauce will make mushrooms soggy.
How to serve mushroom pizza
I serve this low-carb pizza as a light meal with a salad or protein on the side. Any salad like simple chopped salad, panzanella salad, or strawberry salad is great.
Storage & reheat
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat in the microwave, I found reheating in the oven takes longer thus mushrooms may turn soggy.
Variations
Portobello mushroom pizza is easy to customize. You can change the toppings, cheese, or sauce according to your preference.
Use different sauces like marinara sauce.
Change the cheese, use any or a mix of all – goat cheese, gruyere cheese, creamy gouda cheese.
Add your favorite protein like Italian sausage, grilled chicken (chopped), pepperoni, ham, or thinly sliced chorizo.
Common questions
While you can use small mushrooms like button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, it’s difficult to work with small mushrooms. The space to fill in the sauce, topping, and cheese on small mushrooms is very little so it’s a tedious job to fill in the small concave space.
Do not rinse mushrooms under water, as they can absorb water and turn soggy while baking.
Mushrooms can release a lot of water. A small cross on the mushroom cap will help drain excess liquids from the mushrooms. A further step would be to place mushrooms on an oven-safe wire rack on top of the rimmed baking tray or drain the liquids from the tray after the first bake. This ensures mushrooms don’t sit in the water while it bakes.
Use thick pizza sauce. Avoid using thin sauce and cheese like fresh mozzarella and burrata as they have a lot of liquids.
I won’t recommend freezing mushrooms.
OTHER PIZZA RECIPES TO TRY
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📋Portobello Mushroom Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 portobello mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 30 mini salami slices or pepperoni slices if you can’t get mini salami slices, get the regular salami and cut into small cubes
- ¼ red onion
- ¼ bell pepper either red or yellow
- â…“ cup black olive slices
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1-2 fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Clean mushrooms using a pastry brush or damp kitchen towel.
- Carefully cut or break the stem apart. You can also scoop out the dark gills from the mushroom using a small spoon (I left the gills on). Discard the gills, and chop the stem, will be using it as filling.
- Place mushrooms on the chopping board with the stem side down. Using a small paring knife gently cut a small ‘x’ in the middle. This will help drain excess liquids from the mushrooms.
- Place the mushroom on the stem side down on a baking tray. Brush olive oil on top, and quickly sprinkle salt and pepper so it sticks to the mushrooms.
- Flip mushrooms and brush with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper.
- Fill mushroom caps with thick pizza sauce. Add chopped mushroom stem, diced red onion, and chopped bell peppers (any color). Add half of the salami sliced and half of the black olives (sliced).
- Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 10 minutes.
- Remove the mushrooms from the oven, and drain all the liquids from the tray that were released from the mushrooms. Fill it up with shredded cheese, remaining salami sliced, and olives.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Remove mushroom pizza from the oven, and immediately sprinkle it with Italian seasonings, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil leaves.
- Serve immediately. It’s best enjoyed right away, nice and hot from the oven.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes
- Make a small ‘x’ cut. Mushrooms can release a lot of water. A small cross on the mushroom cap will help drain excess liquids from the mushrooms. A further step would be to place mushrooms on an oven-safe wire rack on top of the rimmed baking tray, this ensures mushrooms don’t sit in the water while it bakes.
- Best shaped portobello. Look for best shaped large portobello mushrooms that are concave so it has space to hold sauce and toppings.
- Clean mushrooms using a brush or damp kitchen towel. Do not rinse mushrooms under water, as they can absorb water and turn soggy while baking.
- Use a thick sauce. The pizza sauce that you use should be thick. A thin sauce will make mushrooms soggy.
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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