The perfect gluten free pizza crust that is chewy, crispy, my go-to pizza crust every week! Simple ingredients that come together in only a few minutes. Top 8 allergy variations included!
Pizza is delicious. Getting a gluten free pizza crust to taste right, can be a challenge. With the exception of bread, as it is all bread, pizza is a meal that is really all about the crust. No matter if you like it thick, thin, crispy, chewy, it doesn’t matter. A good gluten free pizza needs a really good crust.
Let’s look into the science of a gluten free pizza crust so you can have the gluten free pizza of your dreams.
Free from: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, soy, sesame, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, corn, celery, and more
Making Gluten Free Pizza Crust Elastic
The first thing we need to figure out is how to make a gluten free pizza have a certain amount of elasticity to the dough. This happens in a wheat pizza crust thanks to the gluten strands. As we can't use that, we have to get our chewiness from something else.
Binders in baking help to strengthen the protein structures, which results in a higher elasticity dough. They also help to trap air bubbles in the dough, making it rise. Without a binder, the dough will turn out more like a cracker than a pizza crust as the air just passes through the dough with nothing to trap it. While gluten is normally the binder, we have to do a few different things.
First, I like to add an egg to the dough. This is the best way of binding the dough together, adding protein, and providing structure. If you are allergic to eggs, a flax seed egg will work just as well. Just know that you’ll see little flecks of flax in your dough.
Hungry for more pizza recipes? Check these out!
Detroit Style Pizza Crust (gluten free) Tomato Free Pizza Sauce (top 14 free)
Make your Pizza Rise
Due to the lack of gluten, a gluten free dough will never trap the same amount of air that a traditional wheat dough can. To compensate, it is essential to have the dough produce more gas and thus get a better rise on the crust.
The majority of our rise will come from the chemical reaction of baking powder and apple cider vinegar. Just a small amount of each will help produce a great rise.
How to Give a Gluten Free Pizza Crust Chew
A good crust needs a certain about of chew to it. In a traditional wheat crust, this comes from the gluten formed by the wheat. A level of chewiness can also be achieved in a gluten free pizza crust and it comes from a surprising source: the potato.
Potato flour is made from peeled and ground potatoes. The starch in the flour attracts and retains moisture, making sure our dough remains moist, and it also provides that chew. This also helps our pizza crust achieve a more tender crumb.
If you can’t find potato flour, you can also swap in plain instant mashed potatoes.
But what if you are nightshade free and need to avoid potatoes? No worries, just omit the potato flour and add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum and about ½ tablespoon of psyllium husk to the dough when you are adding the other dry ingredients. It won’t have quite the same chew, but it is close.
There are a few other important things to note about making gluten free pizza crusts that I’ll just list here.
ALWAYS proof your yeast ahead of making the dough. By prepping the yeast, you give it a head start to rising in the dough, making for a better rise in your final pizza crust.
Because of the rice flour in most gluten free flour blends, your dough will not get as dark in color when baking. Therefore, you need to judge when it is done based on feel and look.
You can freeze these pizza crusts after baking them in the oven for the first 10 minutes and before putting your toppings on. They will stay good for about 3 months in the freezer.
Hungry for more pizza recipes? Check these out!
Detroit Style Pizza Crust (gluten free)
Tomato Free Pizza Sauce (top 14 free)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup warm water, 110° (divided)
- 2 teaspoon yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 egg
- 2 ½ cup gluten free flour blend
- 1 tbsp potato flour
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and half a cup of warm water. Stir and let rest 10 minutes to proof.
- After proofing, add your egg and olive oil as well as the remaining one cup of warm water. Add your flour in the center of the bowl. On opposite sides of your flour, add the salt, baking powder, apple cider vinegar, and potato flour. Gently stir to combine until a dough begins to form. Shape into a ball with the spatula, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm place.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F / 219° C. Prepare a baking tray or pizza tray by lining it with parchment paper.
- Turn out your dough onto the parchment covered baking tray. Using a piece of plastic wrap, or wearing a food safe glove, gently press the dough out to your desired size and shape. I usually press my dough to make a 10-12inch pizza.
- Bake the dough in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from oven, top with desired toppings, and place back in the oven for 15-20 more minutes, depending on how thick your crust and what toppings you added.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?
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Kassandra says
Can I substitute the potato flour with something that’s not a nightshade?
Laura says
Absolutely! I even have a nightshade free gluten free flour recipe that I made JUST for making pizza! I use this all the time when I make pizza. And of course, if you have a favorite nightshade free flour, you can swap it out for that. Just note that if you do use a different blend, you may need to adjust the amount of liquid you use as different flour blends have different ratios of ingredients that absorb water differently. Happy pizza making 🙂
Justine Ballan says
Excited to try this for the first time.
Justine Ballan says
Hi Laura. I'm keen to try this recipe, but it only says 2.5 cups of flour. Can you specify what type of flour should be used here for this recipe please? I can use Rice flour, buckwheat flour, tapioca flour. Thanks Justine
Laura says
Hi Justine! I recommend a good quality gluten free flour blend for the 2.5 cups of flour in this recipe. I've made this with Better Batter, King Arthur Measure for Measure, Pamelas Artesian Blend, and my own gluten free blend and had great results with it each time! But if you have a different gluten free blend that you love and can use safely, please try it with that. Let me know how your pizza turns out! I'd love to see it. 🙂
Justine Ballan says
Thank you Laura. I will definitely let you know how I go with it. I'm very excited.