Cali'flour. Cauli-power. Yup, cauli, as in, cauliflower. Not exactly an ingredient most people find all that interesting, but the basis for products made by Cali'flour Foods.
The product range is fairly small: pizza, pizza crust, and flatbread. The crusts even come in different flavors, plain, but also Italian, sweet red pepper, and even spicy jalapeno. And um pumpkin spice and cinnamon spice, for all your holiday sweet or savory cauliflower crust needs.
I received coupons to review some pizzas, so I picked up a bunch of them, stuck them in the freezer, and to be honest, forgot about them. I had zero enthusiasm for trying them. My partner got to them first, shared with friends when they were over, and ... they all gave rave reviews.
This happened several times. He started mentioning how great they were to have on hand. And then I realized, my stock was getting quickly depleted.
Once I finally tried the products, I understood why. They are on to something here.
I really, really was impressed.
Pizzas are sold in the frozen foods aisle at grocery stores, alongside traditional pizzas, same style of box, attractive packaging.
We unboxed the frozen pizza to reveal ... yup, a frozen pizza. A bit icy on top, likely my fault as someone with bad freezer habits that involve keeping the freezer door open as I graze ...
Cooking instructions were pretty simple, 12-14 minutes, 450* oven, yadda yadda.
"Most people are tired of sacrificing flavor for health. That is why we developed low carb, gluten free, grain free cauliflower based food that actually satisfies your cravings so you can maintain your healthy lifestyle! "Cali'flour strives to create healthy, but, tasty foods, comfort foods even. Side benefits (at least to me) are that they are also low-carb and gluten-free. And they all revolve around cauliflower.
The product range is fairly small: pizza, pizza crust, and flatbread. The crusts even come in different flavors, plain, but also Italian, sweet red pepper, and even spicy jalapeno. And um pumpkin spice and cinnamon spice, for all your holiday sweet or savory cauliflower crust needs.
I received coupons to review some pizzas, so I picked up a bunch of them, stuck them in the freezer, and to be honest, forgot about them. I had zero enthusiasm for trying them. My partner got to them first, shared with friends when they were over, and ... they all gave rave reviews.
This happened several times. He started mentioning how great they were to have on hand. And then I realized, my stock was getting quickly depleted.
Once I finally tried the products, I understood why. They are on to something here.
Pizza
I stuck with the pizzas, available in 4 varieties, all vegetarian besides the pepperoni. They also have a bunch more exciting flavors coming soon (sriracha veggie! buffalo chicken! italian sausage & kale!)"America's favorite cauliflower pizza crust company just made your life, and dinner, even simpler! Introducing low carb pizzas made on a cauliflower and cheese crust! "I tried two of the four, skipping the pepperoni (although my partner had it when I wasn't home, and it was his favorite). I never found the "Supreme Veggie" with peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and black olives in stores, otherwise I would have tried it.
I really, really was impressed.
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| Packaging. |
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| Frozen Margherita Pizza. |
Cooking instructions were pretty simple, 12-14 minutes, 450* oven, yadda yadda.
We put ours into our giant toaster oven, and were quite pleased with the results.
Note: one time we had convection on, which I don't recommend. It did not come out as crispy. But otherwise, so ridiculously easy.
"Our better-for-you spin on the classic margherita pizza. Diced vine-ripened tomatoes, a generous helping of mozzarella & parmesan cheese top the #1 cauliflower pizza crust to make margherita pizza perfection."
The pizza comes out looking like most other frozen pizza, to be honest. It certainly didn't look very special.
I cut off a tiny slice, ready to move on to something else, and let my partner enjoy the pizza.
I took a bite. And another, and another. And grabbed the pizza cutter, and demanded more. It was interesting. It was tasty.
The cheese, mozzarella, was nicely melted, just a bit crispy on top, and well distributed. Every bite had cheese. The sauce, equally well distributed, you could taste it in every bite, but not too thick, not too thin, not too sweet, but a bit tangy, good seasoning, lots of basil. Since this was the Margherita pizza, it had additional bits of tomato on top.
Clearly, a very well assembled pizza, quality toppings.
But my doubt wasn't with the toppings. It was with the crust of course. The crust, made from cauliflower (and cheese, egg whites, and plenty of Italian seasoning). I had no idea what to expect, and, once I did taste it, I had no idea what to make of it. It was ... well, unlike anything I've ever had before. It was thin, nicely crispy, had a slight chew. It was a good eating experience.
It clearly didn't taste like normal pizza crust. Nor did it taste like an odd gluten-free attempt. Nor did it taste like cauliflower. The texture too - not normal pizza crust, not strange cardboard, not cauliflower ... But ... what was it? My partner describes it as more like a "cracker", which I don't quite agree with. It was flavorful, it was crispy, it worked great as a base. I liked it.
Overall, this was actually just really quite good. It wasn't a decadent pizza, it wasn't a lofty crust. It did, indeed, feel kinda healthy, but also entirely satisfying, and entirely like comfort food at the same time. I really enjoyed it, ditched my other dinner plans, and went for more pizza. I wished I hadn't given away the others before!
I also got my hands on one of the Three Cheese, the last one in our stash.
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| Margherita Pizza - Baked. |
I cut off a tiny slice, ready to move on to something else, and let my partner enjoy the pizza.
I took a bite. And another, and another. And grabbed the pizza cutter, and demanded more. It was interesting. It was tasty.
The cheese, mozzarella, was nicely melted, just a bit crispy on top, and well distributed. Every bite had cheese. The sauce, equally well distributed, you could taste it in every bite, but not too thick, not too thin, not too sweet, but a bit tangy, good seasoning, lots of basil. Since this was the Margherita pizza, it had additional bits of tomato on top.
Clearly, a very well assembled pizza, quality toppings.
But my doubt wasn't with the toppings. It was with the crust of course. The crust, made from cauliflower (and cheese, egg whites, and plenty of Italian seasoning). I had no idea what to expect, and, once I did taste it, I had no idea what to make of it. It was ... well, unlike anything I've ever had before. It was thin, nicely crispy, had a slight chew. It was a good eating experience.
It clearly didn't taste like normal pizza crust. Nor did it taste like an odd gluten-free attempt. Nor did it taste like cauliflower. The texture too - not normal pizza crust, not strange cardboard, not cauliflower ... But ... what was it? My partner describes it as more like a "cracker", which I don't quite agree with. It was flavorful, it was crispy, it worked great as a base. I liked it.
Overall, this was actually just really quite good. It wasn't a decadent pizza, it wasn't a lofty crust. It did, indeed, feel kinda healthy, but also entirely satisfying, and entirely like comfort food at the same time. I really enjoyed it, ditched my other dinner plans, and went for more pizza. I wished I hadn't given away the others before!
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| Three Cheese Pizza: Frozen. |
It looked much the same as the other, just no tomato bits on top, and luckily not freezer burnt.
"A mouth-watering trifecta of mozzarella, parmesan, and white cheddar top our cauliflower pizza crust. That's three good reasons to say yes, yes, yes to CAULIPOWER Three Cheese Pizza."
I volunteered to make the final one, so I take all blame for poor turn out. I should have left the cooking duties to my more experienced partner!
This one definitely suffered from the way I did it - I was lazy, and cooked on foil instead of a pizza pan. It stuck to the foil and bit, but more importantly, didn't quite crisp up the way it should.
I knew how crispy it *should* be, so when I pulled it out and it wasn't crispy, I put it back in. Which of course, just meant that it overcooked, and the edges got more brown than we wanted, and the cheese was definitely overbaked. All fault here is with me.
This one let me down, as the crust wasn't nearly as good when not crispy, the cheese not nearly as good when less melty.
I think this one is likely just as good as the other, when properly prepared, just, sans the tomato chunks, and with a bit more depth to the cheese on top since a blend that also includes cheddar.
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| Three Cheese Pizza: Cooked. |
I volunteered to make the final one, so I take all blame for poor turn out. I should have left the cooking duties to my more experienced partner!
This one definitely suffered from the way I did it - I was lazy, and cooked on foil instead of a pizza pan. It stuck to the foil and bit, but more importantly, didn't quite crisp up the way it should.
I knew how crispy it *should* be, so when I pulled it out and it wasn't crispy, I put it back in. Which of course, just meant that it overcooked, and the edges got more brown than we wanted, and the cheese was definitely overbaked. All fault here is with me.
This one let me down, as the crust wasn't nearly as good when not crispy, the cheese not nearly as good when less melty.
I think this one is likely just as good as the other, when properly prepared, just, sans the tomato chunks, and with a bit more depth to the cheese on top since a blend that also includes cheddar.
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