How Many Carbs In A Slice Of Pizza

Pizza is the most popular takeaway food in the world. It’s not really a surprise because a slice of pizza ticks all the boxes: tasty, quick to make, simple to deliver in a box, easy to eat in front of the TV, and above all, you can put on it any possible topping.

There’s just one question left. How many carbs in this slice of pizza?

Let’s find out whether a slice of pizza can be low-carb and how to make keto-friendly pizza slices!

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What’s a Classic Pizza?

Pizza is originally an Italian dish traced back to the 10th century. Yes, your pizza is more than 1,000 years old! It was originally a word describing a mouthful of bread, not the flatbread with toppings it is today.

The classic Pizza is made of wheat flour dough, topped with tomato paste and mozzarella.

The best pizzas are cooked in a woodfire oven to get the perfect crisp and melted cheese. This is the traditional Margherita Pizza.

How Many Carbs In Pizza Slices?

To compare various pizza slices, we’ll have a look at similar Margherita pizzas, all with comparable toppings and sizes (10 inches, cut in 8 slices).

Carbs In Homemade Wheat Flour Pizza Slices

If you make your own Margherita Pizza at home, you will use all-purpose flour, sugar, many tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan.

you can expect the following macronutrients per slice (1/8 of a 10-inch pizza):

• 21 grams of net carbs
• 7.3 grams of fat
• 8.3 grams of protein
• 188 kcal

This is, of course, not keto-friendly at all!

In fact, a single slice of such classic Pizza can take you out of ketosis.

It is so high in carbs because it contains:

• All-purpose Flour: 4-6 times higher in carbs than keto-friendly flours.
• Sugar: when it’s not used to proof the yeast, it stays in the dough.

How to make homemade pizza keto-friendly?

If you want to turn your homemade pizza into a keto-friendly one, make the following changes:

• Opt for a low-carb dough like my Almond Flour Pizza Crust or my Thick Keto Pizza Crust.
• Reduce the quantity of Tomato Paste.
• Make sure to pick a zero-carb cheese.

Carbs In Take-Away Pizza Slices

Takeaway Pizza is the most commonly ordered meal in the world. There are so many Pizza restaurants that it’d be impossible to list them all, so we’ve put together a list of the most popular ones to compare their Margherita Pizza.

Papa John’s

A Pizza Margherita from Papa John’s is quite similar to a homemade pizza in terms of its macronutrient content.

• 25 grams of net carbs
• 4.5 grams of fat
• 5 grams of protein
• 180 calories

Now, if you want to eat low-carb at Papa John’s, there are a few options:

• Order a pizza, but eat just the toppings
• Buy sides like un-sauced wings
• Order a breadless sandwich

Papa John’s have a wide range of pizza, and the highest-carb pizza slice you can get (The Works) will give you, per slice:

• 48 grams of net carbs
• 9 grams of fat
• 11 grams of protein

Domino’s

Domino’s have a classic Margherita pizza on their menu in some regions, but in others, you’d have to order a custom one. For a classic, medium-sized Domino’s Margherita, you get:

• 26 grams of net carbs
• 4 grams of fat
• 7.7 grams of protein
• 171 calories

If you want to order a keto-friendly meal at Domino’s, opt for:

• Bread-less 8″ Bacon Cheeseburger Feast (Alfredo Sauce, Light Cheese): 7g Net Carbs.
• Bread-less Philly Cheese Steak Pizza (Alfredo Sauce, Light Cheese): 6g Net Carbs.
• Bread-less Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich: 7g Net Carbs.
• Bread-less Chicken Bacon Ranch Steak Sandwich: 5g Net Carbs.
• Bread-less Italian Sandwich: 5g Net Carbs.
• Classic Garden Salad: 7g Net Carbs

The worst Domino’s Pizza you can take (Big Ham & Pineapple) has about twice the carbs per slice:

• 51 grams of net carbs
• 11.6 grams of fat
• 13.9 grams of protein
• 370 calories

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut doesn’t have a Margherita on its menu. The closest they have is the Cheese Only pizza – their simplest option.

One slice (1/8) of a Cheese Only pizza at Pizza Hut will bring:

• 26 grams of net carbs
• 4.5 grams of fat
• 11 grams of protein 
• 240 calories

You can eat keto-friendly at Pizza Hut by choosing sides (salad, wings) or one slice of a relatively low-carb pizza (not available in all regions, though):

• One slice of Garden Chicken Pizza: 5g Net Carbs (yes with the bread!!)
• Zesty Italian Side Salad (remove Tomatoes & Croutons, Blue Cheese Dressing): 7g Net Carbs.
• 6* Naked Wings: 5g Net Carbs.

To compare, the highest carb pizza slice at Pizza Hut (Ham & Pineapple Garlic Parmesan) has the following nutrition:

• 39 grams of net carbs
• 9 grams of fat
• 14 grams of protein
• 300 calories

Sbarro

Sbarro is known for their very large pizzas, so it won’t be a surprise if their net carbs are far higher than other takeaway pizza restaurants!

A single slice of their most Margherita-like Pizza (NY Cheese Pizza) brings the following macros:

• 48 grams of net carbs
• 15 grams of fat
• 21 grams of protein
• 430 calories

To find a keto-friendy option at Sbarro, you have to opt for side dishes – and luckily, they have many options:

• Greek Salad: 5 grams of Net Carbs.
• Mushroom and 3-Pepper Salad: 8 grams of Net Carbs.
• Scrambled Eggs: 3 to 4 grams of Net Carbs.
• Side of Sausage: 1 gram of Net Carbs.
• Side of Bacon: 0 grams of Net Carbs.

Carbs In Frozen Pizza Slices

There is a virtually infinite number of frozen Margherita Pizzas you can find. But we gathered half a dozen choices and averaged them out for you to compare.

As a result, the average frozen Margherita pizza slice would bring:

• 13 grams of net carbs
• 6 grams of fat
• 7 grams of protein

Frozen Pizzas, on average, contain about half the net carbs as takeaway pizzas per slice – which is quite significantly less.

Keto-friendly Frozen Pizza options

Luckily, there are some keto-friendly options in the frozen aisle of your supermarket:

• RealGood Foods Margherita Pizza: 3.5 grams of net carbs per 1/8 slice (though you might need to eat more than that to feel full!).
• Capello’s Margherita Pizza: 4.75 grams of net carbs per 1/8 slice.

Now, you might know that you can make delicious Keto Cauliflower Pizza crusts like my low-carb cauliflower crust, which comes down to 2 grams of net carbs per 1/8 slice (3.7 grams with toppings). Don’t be fooled by the Frozen Cauliflower Pizza marketing, though. They are not all low in carbs.

Take Caulipower, for example. Their pizza comes at 11 grams of net carbs per slice. They are barely lower in carbs than regular frozen pizzas. This is because they add rice to the cauliflower crust to give it some texture when reheating, a problem you don’t have when making fresh 3-ingredient cauliflower crust!

Carbs in Keto Pizza Slices

If you want to make your own low-carb pizza, I have many different options!

For a Thick Crust

For a Thin Crust

For a Simple Fathead Dough

For Pizza Bites