Everyone needs an easy gluten free pizza crust recipe in their arsenal. I’ve tried so many gluten-free pizza dough recipes, and this dough makes, by far, the best gluten free pizza. We have it almost every Friday night because it’s also super easy to make. With just a handful of ingredients, you can have the best gluten free, dairy free, and egg free pizza ever.
Pizza.
I don’t know about you, but once I started eating a gluten free diet, this became one of my top priorities to figure out:
Find gluten free pizza. Find the best gluten free pizza.
For a date night a while back, my sweet husband took me to a pizza place that had the coveted gluten free pizza crust. I was thrilled. And extra thrilled that I didn’t have to bring my own dinner (which is a thing as a gluten-free person).
That experience, however, can be summed up in one word:
Disappointment.
(Not my date. My date was hot. My pizza was lame-sauce).
It was not good pizza. It was edible, sure. But it wasn’t good.
Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience?
The joy of seeing there’s a gluten free pizza option only to plummet to disappointment as you actually eat…whatever the heck that cardboard is (can you really call that pizza?).
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If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself
I don’t think this is a rule to always live by, but it’s very applicable here. Making my own pizza crust became a priority. I couldn’t find a good gluten free pizza spot.
But even if I had, I like to make pizza more often than I can afford to go out anyway.
I searched for years to find a half decent gluten-free pizza crust recipe.
Actively.
Weekly.
I wanted to find the best gluten free pizza crust recipe.
And after many soggy bottoms, disappointing mush, and cardboard replicas, I found our staple pizza recipe.
I seriously make this almost every Friday for our family movie night.
Easy is an understatement
This gluten free pizza crust recipe not only has fantastic texture, but it’s stinkin’ easy to make.
And did I say easy?
My kids can make this dough with me.
(Check out this course that empowers kids to bake more than cookies! So good).
You barely need any ingredients.
It’s eggless, dairy free, and gluten free (always).
I honestly don’t know the science for how it tastes so amazing. But it tastes Ah-MAZE-ing!
Related post: The Best Gluten Free Sandwich Bread Ever
Give it a try and let me know how your family likes it! Even my husband who doesn’t have to eat gluten-free loves this pizza crust.
Tips on how to make the best gluten free pizza crust
Gluten free dough is different than regular pizza dough. This “dough” is more like a batter. So to make the best gluten free pizza, you’ll need to shift your mindset.
You cannot toss this pizza dough.
There is no kneading.
Instead, you’ll want to make sure to do these following things for best results and the best experience (no cussing necessary).
Tip #1: Because this recipe relies on the use of xanthan gum, you’ll need to beat the pizza dough for 3 minutes. This activates the gum and gets them chewy.
Tip #2: Use silicone baking mats if you’re opting to not use corn meal and tapioca starch (these are the ones I have). This dough is sticky so you’ll need something helpful on the bottom!
Tip #3: When forming the pizza crust, you’ll want to scoop out the dough batter onto the center of the prepared pizza pan or silicone mat. Then use wet hands to press the crust out, working from the middle outward.
Keep re-wetting your hands as you work (I keep a bowl of water right next to my work area), and smooth out the top when you’re finished.
The Best Gluten Free Pizza Crust Recipe Ever (dairy-free + egg-free)
Best gluten free pizza crust recipe ever. Your search is over! This is the most amazing gluten free pizza crust recipe, and it also happens to be a dairy free and egg free pizza crust, too. Borderline magical.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 packet or 2 1/2 tsp of dry active rapid rise yeast
- 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or your choice of vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- Optional: 1 tablespoons corn meal
- Optional: 1 tablespoon tapioca or corn starch
Instructions
- In a glass measuring cup, combine warm water, cane sugar, and yeast. Quickly stir and leave it to sit for 5 minutes until it's frothy and foamy.
- In stand mixer, combine gluten free flour flour, salt, and xanthan gum (yup, extra from what’s already in the mix), giving it a quick stir.
- Add oil and yeast mixture to dry ingredients and stir on low until it starts to combine.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium-high for 3 minutes. Beating the xanthan gum helps with elasticity, which is very important for soft, chewy gluten-free pizza crust! The dough will be pretty wet and sticky, but don’t worry. It’s very different from regular dough until you bake it! Then it’s magic.
- Leave dough in the bowl and cover with a tea towel to rise for 25-30 minutes. When you scrape the top of the dough, it should have lots of little air pockets.
- Preheat oven to 400 degree F. If using silicone mats, put the pans you'll be using in the oven. If not, lightly grease the pizza pans and dust with corn meal and tapioca starch. #nosoggybottom
- If using, take two silicone baking mats and lightly dust them with corn meal and tapioca starch, if desired.
- Scoop half of the pizza dough onto the center of the prepared silicone mat or pan.
- Wet your hands with water and press the dough into circle or rectangle. It’s OK for it to be thin. I usually make mine about ¼- ½ inch thick.
- Continue wetting hands and pressing out dough until desired thickness and size is reached. Smooth with wet hands.
- Repeat with the other half of the pizza dough.
- Pull out one hot pan from the oven and very carefully slide the silicone mat onto the sheet and then into the oven. Repeat.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the top is opaque and dry to the touch.
- Add desired toppings, while cranking the oven temp up to 450 degrees F. Put topped pizzas back in the oven for 5-8 minutes
- If you like, crank the oven again to broil and broil pizzas until tops are to your liking. I really like those dark brown spots on my cheese, so I broil ours for about 4 minutes. But keep an eye on it! Broilers are finicky ad varying. So, check it every minute, at least! It can get burned if you try to wash a bowl right now. Seriously. Ask me how I know.
- Take pizzas out and let them cool on the pans for 5 minutes so you don’t burn your face off.
- Enjoy!
Notes
These gluten free pizza crusts can be made in advance and frozen for later use! To just freeze the crusts, bake them at 400 degrees F for 12 minutes and allow to fully cool. Wrap them in cling wrap, and then a layer of tin foil. To use, thaw in the fridge before topping, or go straight from the freezer to the oven. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F before topping. Bake another 8-10 minutes, and broil if desired.
To create a fully prepared frozen pizza, bake for 8-10 minutes, create the pizza, and then freeze for two hours before wrapping. To bake, heat oven to 425 degrees F and cook for 12-16 minutes. Broil if desired (do not thaw before baking).
If your gluten free flour has xanthum gum in it do you need to add it?
Hi Annie! It is best with the added xanthan gum, even if your flour does have it. The xanthan gum makes it chewier and softer. That being said, I have totally forgotten to add it or have been out of it, and the pizza crust is still delicious.
This was so easy and so good. I don’t even have a stand mixer, I just mixed with my hand for a few minutes and it still turned out great. I won’t use store bought gf mix again. Thanks!
Sabrina, I’m so glad to hear it! Yay! Thanks for letting me know it worked by hand, too. That’s fantastic and I’m sure helpful for other readers 🙂
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Do you have any experience baking this dough in a 700 degree pizza oven?
Hi Beth, I hope you like it! I have no experience with pizza ovens, to be honest. And I don’t have access to one. But please let me know how it turns out if you try it!
This is AWESOME!! Crispy and cheesy and easy to make. I highly recommend this recipe and will definitely make this again.
I’m so glad! Thank you for taking the time to comment, Aimee 🙂
This calls for too much water and I ended up with batter, not crust. I have enough flour to fix it, but I took you at your word on these proportions. Live and learn.
Hi Llane, I’m sorry this didn’t work well for you! I make this almost weekly and the proportions work perfectly for me. Did you add the extra xanthan gum? The xanthan gum helps bind it really well. And this recipe IS definitely a batter, not a rollable dough. It remind me of the thickness of muffin batter. After it rises it’s scoopable and then you press it out with wet hands.
If it was even too watery to do that, I’m curious what flour you used with it? I want my readers to have a good experience and account for various flour blends 🙂 Thanks for your help!
The outside of the crust was amazing but the middle didn’t crisp up. Any idea what I could have done wrong?
Hi Kristen! Hmmm, there are a couple things I can think of…It’s possible it was under cooked and just needed a few extra minutes. I had some texture issues a couple times with a different recipe and actually found my oven wasn’t working and the temp was too low. That’ll do it! Might be worth putting an oven thermometer in to make sure your oven is hot enough. ?? Another possibility is using a flour blend that contains a high percentage of starches or one that has a high gum percentage. If a flour blend has TOO much xanthan gum, the extra gum can be reduced or omitted.
And the last thing I can think of is perhaps it was too thick? (just spit balling with the details I have haha). If you like a really crisp crust, you might want to press it thinner.
I hope this helps narrow things down! I’m happy to continue brain storming with you so you get the perfect pizza crust…because I seriously want that for you 🙂