Finally, an easy gluten-free pizza crust that actually holds up well, bakes up crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside! No rise needed, no kneading required, and ready in less time than it takes to order a pizza. This is the perfect base for our gluten-free caprese pizza or any pizza toppings you love!
The Quest for Proper Gluten-Free Pizza
When my husband Juan was first diagnosed Celiac in 2015, we went on a search for gluten-free pizza – but unfortunately the options that were available in restaurants or delivery in Buenos Aires were far from what real pizza should feel or taste like.
Now when I say real pizza I mean pizza made with wheat flour that could hold up on it’s own and wasn’t soggy or too thick or felt like stiff sheet of cardboard. I’m talking about pizza that is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. You know, basically the pizza of pizza dreams.
We tried making our own pizza at home as well, but unfortunately the gluten-free pizza mixes we found never really quite cut it. They were either too dense, never cooked up properly on the bottom, or easily fell apart. Let’s just say that that our gluten-free pizza adventures during those moments were more disappointing than exciting. For a couple of years we simply gave up on making gluten-free pizza. That is, until I started baking bread again.
The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
In the last few months, I found myself reacquainted with my kitchen. Once again, as when this blog was first started, I found myself overcome with the passion of testing and experimenting with recipes, going to bed with ideas to try and waking up inspired to cook and bake.
On one of those days, just after I made this beautiful loaf of gluten-free no knead bread, it occurred to me that maybe it was time to attempt making a gluten-free pizza crust. Especially since we were craving pizza, and were getting sick of eating the one we would order in (which frankly was only so-so).
After googling and researching online and testing out this recipe a few times, I’m so happy to tell you that we’ve finally got our gluten-free pizza crust down pat. It’s simple, easy, doesn’t require any rise time nor kneading, and honestly yields a pizza crust so close to the real thing you wouldn’t realize it was gluten-free.
In fact, we’ve been eating pizza at least once a week since we’ve perfected this gluten-free crust. YAY to pizza dreams coming true!
How to Make This Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
I’m pretty sure you already have all, if not most, of the ingredients required for this pizza crust. You’ll need warm water, sugar, instant yeast, gluten-free all-purpose flour, brown rice flour, salt, an egg, vegetable oil, and apple cider vinegar.
Tip: I like using brown rice flour in addition to the gluten-free all-purpose flour to give the crust a bit more fiber, and to give it more of a whole-grain feel. However, if you don’t have brown rice flour, or just prefer to leave it out, simply replace the brown rice flour with the same quantity of gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Testing the Yeast
Start off by mixing the warm water (approximately 105F to 115F in temperature) , sugar, and instant yeast in a small bowl and let it sit in a warm place for five minutes until it turns foamy.
This step is important for you can check if the yeast is working. If the yeast mixture doesn’t foam up, it means that the yeast is expired. Throw it away and start again with a new packet of yeast. The sugar is food for the yeast to feed on and be activated, so don’t worry about the sugar making the crust sweet. Once the yeast has fed on the sugar, the crust will not taste sweet.
Preparing the Gluten-Free Pizza Dough
Next, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, brown rice flour, and salt together. Whisk well to combine. Now add in the beaten egg, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, and yeast mixture. Stir well until you get a thick and sticky pizza dough.
There’s no rise needed, so you don’t have to wait for the pizza crust to double in size – the rising gets down in the oven. There’s also no kneading required, as with most gluten-free bread dough, which is perfect.
Transfer the pizza dough onto a silpat-lined or parchment lined round pizza pan, and use oiled hands or an oiled spatula to spread out the dough into a 12-inch round or 2 smaller 6-inch rounds (If making two rounds, bake one at a time).
Place the pizza pan on the lowest rack of your oven and bake at 450F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and crusty at the bottom.
Once the bottom is crusty, remove the silpat or parchment paper and place the crust directly on the pizza pan.
Spread it with tomato sauce and place whatever toppings you like on top. Cook for another 15 minutes until cheese (or dairy-free cheese) is melted, and enjoy!
A super simple recipe for pizza.
If you’ve got a bit of tomato sauce, some mozzarella cheese (we use a vegan version made with almonds), grape tomatoes, fresh garlic, chili flakes, and olive oil, you’re just a few minutes away from your own homemade pizza.
This is pretty much the base for a lot of the pizzas we eat at home. I like to spread out the tomato sauce and let it dry slightly in the oven for 5 minutes before placing the cheese and halved grape tomatoes.
Then I let it cook for another 10 minutes until the cheese is all melted and gooey and delicious, sprinkle on the fresh chopped garlic and chili flakes, and drizzle a bit of olive oil over. There you go! Homemade pizza in less than the amount of time you’d take to order one! Buon Appetito!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you’ll also love these other recipes:
- Easy Caprese Pizza (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
- Easy Gluten-Free Naan Bread (No-Yeast, Dairy-Free)
- Easy Gluten-Free No Knead Bread (Dairy-Free)
- Easy Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread (Vegan)
- Gluten-Free Honey Oat Quick Bread
- Gluten-Free Flaxseed Coconut Bread (Paleo, Dairy-Free)
- 10 Easy Gluten-Free Bread Recipes to Make on Repeat
Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust (Dairy-Free)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 large crust or 2 small crusts 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
The simplest, gluten-free pizza crust that actually holds up well, bakes up crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. No rise needed, no kneading required, and is ready in less time than it takes to order a pizza! This is the perfect base for our gluten-free caprese pizza any pizza toppings you love!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm water (approximately 105F to 115F)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F and line a round pizza pan with parchment paper or a silpat.
- In a small bowl, mix the warm water, sugar, and instant yeast together and let it sit for 5 minutes until it turns foamy (if the mixture doesn’t turn foamy, it means the yeast isn’t working so throw it away and use a new packet of yeast).
- In a large bowl, whisk the gluten-free all-purpose flour, brown rice flour, and salt together.
- Add in the beaten egg, oil, apple cider vinegar, and the yeast mixture. Mix very well together until you get a thick sticky dough (note that gluten-free dough will be much more wet and stickier than normal wheat flour dough, and that’s perfectly fine).
- Transfer the pizza dough to silpat or parchment paper on the prepared pan, and spread the dough out into a 12-inch round (or divide into 2 smaller rounds).
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes on the lowest rack until pizza crust is golden brown and crusty on the bottom. Once the bottom is crusty, remove the silpat or parchment paper and place the crust directly on the pizza pan. Add pizza sauce and toppings of choice and bake for another 15 minutes until toppings are ready.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: the flour blend I use has xanthan gum in it, and it’s important for the binding function. If the blend that you’re using doesn’t have xanthan gum, make sure to add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the flour mixture.
Brown Rice Flour: I like using brown rice flour to add a bit more fiber to the dough, but if you don’t have brown rice flour on hand, or don’t want to use it, simply replace it with the same amount of gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Sugar: The sugar is necessary because the yeast needs to feed on the sugar to be activated. Don’t worry about the sugar making the dough sweet, because the once the yeast is done feeding on it, the dough will not be sweet at all.
Egg: If you want to make this dough completely vegan, swap out the egg for a chia egg for binding purposes.
Adapted from: Gluten-Free Palate
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
