Eating keto at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) might sound like a reach, but it is possible. The casual dining restaurant specializes in hand-tossed California-style pizzas, but also offer other meal options.
Although they’re making strides toward a gluten free, lower-carb diet by offering a cauliflower crust, it is not a keto friendly food since it contains rice flour and too many carbs. You can eat low-carb here by opting for a salad or a meat and vegetable dish instead.
This guide will show you how to eat low carb at California Pizza Kitchen. Here are the best California Pizza Kitchen keto options.
Petite Wedge
CPK offers a “small plate” section where you can get a petite wedge that comes with iceberg lettuce, blue cheese dressing, bacon, egg, and tomatoes.
It contains 270 calories, 26 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbs (4 grams net carbs), 1 gram of fiber, and 6 grams of protein.
Order this with a side of grilled meat, such as grilled chicken breast or steak (0 grams net carbs), for a complete meal.
What to order: a petite wedge salad with a side of grilled chicken breast or steak.
West Coast Burger (WCB)
This burger is made with a beef blend of Wagyu, Chuck and Brisket. It is topped with American cheese, smoked bacon, caramelized onions, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, and sauce.
The burger comes with a side of potatoes. You’ll have to hold the potatoes, sauce, and the burger bun. However, doing this makes for a great keto option.
What to order: a West Coast Burger minus the bun. Ask to replace the potatoes with either broccoli or salad.
California Cobb
The California Cobb salad contains bacon, avocado, chicken, tomatoes, eggs, and Gorgonzola cheese with either an herb ranch or bleu cheese dressing. You can also get it with beets.
A full-size order with ranch dressing contains 950 calories, 74g fat, 21g carbs (12g net carbs), 9g fiber, and 51g protein.
You can also get a half-size portion for 480 calories, 37g fat, 11g carbs (6g net carbs), 5g fiber, and 26g protein.
What to order: a full-size California Cobb salad without beets with ranch dressing.
Gluten-Free Pepperoni Sausage Pizza
CPK makes a gluten-free pizza crust from cauliflower and rice flour. It’s not approved for strict keto dieters, but you can enjoy one slice for 200 calories, 10g fat, 15g carbs (14g net carbs), 1g fiber, and 9g protein.
You can further reduce the carbs (and eat more than one slice!) if you only eat the toppings and do not eat the crust.
What to order: a slice of gluten-free pepperoni sausage pizza made with cauliflower crust. If you eat only the toppings, you can order several slices!
Italian Chopped Salad
The Italian chopped salad comes with roasted turkey breast, sliced salami, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and Mozzarella cheese with a house-made mustard herb vinaigrette.
A full-size portion contains 1010 calories, 82g fat, 24g carbs (19g net carbs), 5g fiber, and 48g protein.
A half-size salad contains 500 calories, 41g fat, 12g carbs (9g net carbs), 3g fiber, and 24g protein.
You can reduce the carbs by holding the garbanzo beans and opting for oil and vinegar dressing instead of the vinaigrette.
What to order: the Italian chopped salad without the garbanzo beans and California olive oil and vinegar instead of the house-made vinaigrette.
Caesar Salad With Grilled Shrimp
A full-size Caesar salad with grilled shrimp contains 650 calories, 48g fat, 27g carbs (19g net carbs), 8g fiber, and 29g protein.
You can reduce the carbs by holding the croutons.
What to order: a full-size Caesar salad with grilled shrimp. You can also get this salad with grilled salmon for the same amount of net carbs.
Chicken Milanese
The chicken Milanese appears to be breaded. However, this would be an excellent low-carb dish if you can get it grilled instead. It’s topped with wild, house-made Checca, olive oil and Parmesan.
This dish contains 1010 calories, 75g fat, 31g carbs (26g net carbs), 5g fiber, and 58g protein.
You can reduce the carbs to 10 grams or fewer by asking for grilled (and not breaded) chicken.
What to order: the chicken Milanese with grilled chicken instead of fried. Add a side of roasted veggies!
Cedar Plank Salmon
The cedar plank salmon is served with white corn and spinach succotash. It contains 650 calories, 34g fat, 35g carbs (31g net carbs), 4g fiber, and 52g protein.
You can reduce the carbs by asking to swap out the corn and spinach succotash for steamed broccoli, which is offered on the kids menu only.
If they cannot accommodate your request for broccoli, then hold the succotash and ask for a side Caesar salad minus the croutons instead.
What to order: the cedar plank salmon with steamed broccoli or a side Caesar salad (minus the croutons) instead of the corn and spinach succotash.
Roasted Garlic Chicken and Seasonal Vegetables
As an alternative to the classic crispy chicken sandwich, the roasted garlic chicken and steamed vegetables dish includes potatoes, cauliflower, Mediterranean herbs and other vegetables in a lemon-garlic sauce.
It contains 1080 calories, 67g fat, 38g carbs (31g net carbs), 7g fiber, and 75g protein.
However, you can reduce the carbs by asking to hold the sauce. As the in-season vegetables may vary, you can also inquire about starchy vegetables (like carrots, potatoes, peas, beans, or squash) and have them switched out for lower-carb veggies (like Brussels sprouts or broccoli).
What to order: the roasted garlic chicken and seasonal veggies minus the dressing. Swap out potatoes and other starchy veggies for low-carb options.
Fire-Grilled Ribeye
The 12-ounce fire-grilled ribeye is topped with a house-made Pinot Noir sea salt and blue cheese compound butter. It comes with potatoes and an arugula salad tossed in a lemon vinaigrette dressing.
It contains 1160 calories, 74g fat, 42g carbs (37g net carbs), 5g fiber, and 80g protein.
You can reduce the net carbs to 10 grams or fewer by holding the potatoes and just eating the steak and salad.
You can also ask for oil and vinegar dressing instead of lemon vinaigrette. Many house-made vinaigrettes or dressings contain sugar and this adds to the carb count.
What to order: the fire-grilled ribeye with no potatoes. Ask for oil and vinegar as your salad dressing instead of lemon vinaigrette.
California Club
This sandwich is made with fresh avocado, smoked bacon and either roasted turkey or grilled chicken.
You’ll need to order it without the bread. They can either serve the ingredients in a bowl or they might be willing to put it in a lettuce wrap instead.
What to order: a California Club sandwich without the bread or sauce.
Conclusion
California Pizza Kitchen serves mostly pizza dishes, but you can keep it keto diet friendly here by ordering a meat and vegetable dish.
CPK offers a gluten-free pizza crust made with cauliflower and rice flour. One slice contains about 14 grams of net carbs. But you can reduce this number by eating the toppings only.
They also have several salad options and a power bowl that you can get if you hold some of the starchier components.
For more keto diet fast food options, check our guide here!
*Photo by Sheilaf2002/depositphotos
