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This classic gluten free pizza recipe has only 6 ingredients, is easy to make and shape like “real” dough, only needs one rise, and no kneading.
I developed this recipe for my first cookbook in 2011, and I've been perfecting it ever since. It's a regular Friday night meal at my house, and many of yours, every week!
“This was the best pizza I’ve had since I was diagnosed with celiac six years ago. The gluten-eaters at my dinner said they could not tell the difference and loved the pizza. I was very proud and thankful for this recipe!”
“Other gluten free pizza recipes are like mud. This one is like dough! Loved it, thank you!”
my take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
- Authentic taste & texture: A light and crispy outside and chewy in the middle, this crust is full of yeasty flavor—especially if you let it rise slowly in the refrigerator.
- Quick & easy: Dump the 6 ingredients in this recipe (including water!) in your mixer bowl and beat well. That's all it takes to make the dough.
- Versatile: You can make a “regular” sauce and cheese pizza, or load up this crust with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers and 3 kinds of cheese. It's strong enough to hold it all!
- Make ahead: Make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, then shape and bake. Or parbake a shaped crust and freeze it until you need a quick dinner!
Recipe ingredients
- Gluten free flour: Any high quality, well-balanced all purpose gluten free flour blend should work here, including xanthan gum. No sourcing unfamiliar individual flours for this simple recipe.
- Instant yeast: Also called rapid-rise or breadmaker yeast, you add it right to the dry ingredients. No need to “proof” it first in water.
- Sugar: Just a touch helps feed the yeast without sweetening the dough.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor of the pizza, and without it, bread tastes bland. Also controls yeast production.
- Olive oil: Adds flavor, richness and tenderness to the dough.
- Water: Hydrates the flour and other dry ingredients, and brings the dough together. Using warm water makes the yeast more active.
How to make gluten free pizza dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum, sugar, and salt. Whisk in the yeast. Add warm water and olive oil, and mix with the paddle attachment until the dough starts to stick to the sides of the bowl and looks a bit whipped, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a sealed container that has a tight-fitting lid (or a bowl that you cover tightly with plastic wrap), and let it rise for about an hour or until it's about 50% bigger than when it started (it won't double), or let it rise in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If the dough rose at room temperature, refrigerate it for at least 15 minutes first. Divide it in half, sprinkle it with extra flour, and press it with floured fingers from the center toward the edges into a round about 10-inches in diameter.
Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper on a pizza peel, and use a pizza roller or rolling pin to roll it smooth from the center to the edges. Brush the top and edges of the dough with olive oil and bake for about 5 minutes at 400°F on a pizza stone or overturned baking sheet.
Top the blistered, parbaked dough with tomato sauce and shredded cheese, and bake about 7 minutes more or until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the crust is light brown. Let set briefly, slice and enjoy!
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Beat the dough well
The instructions in the recipe card refer to beating the dough in your mixer until it begins to look “whipped” in appearance. The dough will at first come together around the paddle attachment. Keep mixing on a high enough speed, and it will begin to stick to the sides of the bowl and look more aerated. Here's a short video to show you exactly what it looks like:
Rest the dough in the refrigerator
After you've made your raw pizza dough, let it rest in the refrigerator. That allows the flours to absorb the moisture of the water, leaving the dough still hydrated, but making it much less sticky. Cold dough is a lot easier to work with than warm dough, so it's best to work with it right out of the refrigerator.
Working with sticky dough
If your dough is still a bit sticky because you can't afford the time to let it rest more, or it's not cold enough, sprinkle it with more gluten free flour, and handle it with a light touch. You can also oil your hands.
For chewier dough
Try replacing 1/4 cup (36 grams) of the all purpose gluten free flour blend with Expandex modified tapioca starch or regular tapioca starch/flour. Add 1 1/2 fluid ounces more water if you use Expandex (but not if you use regular tapioca starch).
Parbake the crust
Try partially baking (“parbaking”) the risen, chilled and shaped crust at 400°F for 7 minutes. Let it cool, wrap tightly, and use it later in the day or even the next day.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
The pizza recipe itself is already dairy-free. For a dairy-free cheese to use as a topping, I like Daiya, Miyoko's Creamery, and Violife brands for nondairy mozzarella-style cheese shreds.
Olive oil
Olive oil adds a lot of flavor to the dough recipe, and when brushed on the shaped dough, helps it brown int he oven. You can replace it with your favorite oil, but it will change the flavor.
Yeast
You can't make this recipe without yeast, If you can't have yeast, try our gluten free yeast free pizza dough recipe instead.
If you prefer, you can replace instant yeast with active dry yeast, though. Instead of 9 grams of instant yeast, you'll need 25% more, for a total of about 11 grams, or 3 2/3 teaspoons active dry yeast. Dissolve the active dry yeast first in 1/4 cup of the warm water that the recipe calls for, then add it to the mixing bowl when you add the rest of the water.
Xanthan gum
If your all purpose gluten free flour blend doesn't already have xanthan gum and you'd prefer to avoid xanthan gum, try using an equal amount of konjac powder. You can buy it on Amazon.
If you're using Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free flour, you need to add at least another 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum (or konjac powder), since it doesn't have enough xanthan gum to hold yeast bread together.
To replace xanthan gum with psyllium husk, try 20 grams of psyllium husk powder. First, dissolve it in the water the recipe calls for and allow it to gel, then add it after adding the olive oil.
Easy Gluten Free Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or food processor with plastic blade
- Pizza stone recommended (or use an overturned rimmed baking sheet)
- Pastry brush for brushing raw dough with olive oil (or use your fingers)
- Plastic bucket for proofing (or use a bowl with plastic wrap)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (420 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes) plus more for sprinkling
- 3 teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 tablespoon (9 g) instant yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoons (6 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons (9 g) kosher salt
- 1 ⅛ cups (9 ounces) warm water, (about 95°F) (See Recipe Notes about chewier crust)
- 4.5 tablespoons (63 g) extra-virgin olive oil, (plus more for brushing)
- Your favorite pizza toppings
Instructions
Make the pizza dough.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or your food processor fitted with the plastic blade, place the flour, xanthan gum, (optional Expandex), yeast, and sugar, and whisk to combine with a separate, handheld whisk. Add the salt, and whisk again to combine well.
- Add the water and olive oil, and mix on medium speed in your stand mixer or pulse in your food processor until the dough begins to come together.
- Turn the mixer to high speed or your food processor on and process until the dough is no longer a ball but has begun to appear whipped (about 3 minutes). This is designed to add air to the dough, which will make it easier to handle after chilling, and rise better in the oven.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled container with a tight-fitting lid or a greased bowl, spray lightly with cooking oil spray, and cover tightly.
- Place in a warm, draft-free area to rise until it’s about 150% of its original volume (about an hour), or refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days.
- When you’re ready to make the pizza, place a pizza stone or overturned rimmed baking sheet in the oven and preheat it to 400°F.
- If you’ve refrigerated the dough, work with it straight from the refrigerator. If you haven’t, place the tightly sealed dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 15 minutes before working with it, as it’s easiest to work with when it’s chilled.
- To make pizza, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle the top lightly with a bit more flour. Knead the dough gently until it’s smoother and not sticky, then divide it into two equal portions. Cover the unused portion, so it doesn’t dry out.
- With floured fingers, roll the first piece of dough into a ball and then press it into a disk. Begin pressing the dough from the center toward the edges with floured fingers to create a disk with a raised edge.
- Continue pressing the dough with floured fingers toward the edge until you have about a 10-inch round. Move the dough frequently, sprinkling with more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
Bake the pizza
- Place a large piece of unbleached parchment paper onto the pizza peel or cutting board that you plan to use to transfer the pizza dough to the oven. Lift the dough gently onto the paper on top of the pizza peel.
- While the dough is on the paper use a small rolling pin or pizza roller to smooth out the dough where there are uneven marks from your fingers. The dough will end up about 11- to 12-inches in diameter.
- Use a pastry brush or your fingers to paint the top of the dough with olive oil, making sure to coat the edges generously.
- Transfer the dough to the pizza peel or baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake the dough plain for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the crust has begun to crisp on the underside.
- Remove the crust from the oven using a pizza peel or large spatula. At this point, the parbaked crust can be cooled completely, wrapped tightly and frozen for at least one month. Simply defrost at room temperature, and then continue with the recipe as written.
- To continue preparing the dough, add your favorite toppings to the parbaked crust, and return the pizza to the hot oven until any cheese is melted and the edges have browned and puffed (another 5 to 7 minutes).
- Remove the pizza from the oven using a pizza peel or large spatula, and allow it to set for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Instead of 3 cups all purpose gluten free flour, use 2 3/4 cups (385 g) all purpose gluten free flour and add 1/4 cup (36 g) Expandex modified tapioca starch. You will also have to increase the water by 1 1/2 ounces to 10 1/2 ounces (1 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon) water. Instead of Expandex, you can use 1/4 cup regular tapioca starch, without making any changes to the amount of water. Xanthan gum To replace xanthan gum with psyllium husk, try 20 grams of psyllium husk powder. First, dissolve it the water and allow it to gel, then add the mixture after adding the olive oil. You can also try replacing xanthan gum with an equal amount of konjac powder without making any other changes. Nutritional information. Nutrition information is an estimate, per pizza, without any toppings.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
The raw dough will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for at least 3 days. It's best to work with the dough cold, so you'll shape it right out of the refrigerator.
I don't recommend freezing raw yeast dough, since it can kill the yeast. Just parbake the shaped crust, let it cool, wrap it tightly, and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, top, and finish baking according to the recipe instructions.
Leftover slices of pizza can be wrapped tightly in freezer-safe wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Just unwrap, sprinkle with water, and place in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes at 300°F or until fully refreshed.
FAQs
I've only been able to make a smooth dough using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a food processor. That's how you mix the ingredients fully and get a smooth, aerated dough. Some readers have reported being able to make it really vigorously by hand with a Danish dough hook and then kneading it by hand with as little added extra flour as possible.
Yes! Place an overturned rimmed baking sheet in the oven to allow as much air circulation as possible. Or try a perforated pizza crisper.
No, almond flour can never be used as an all purpose gluten free flour blend, so you can't use it to make this particular gf pizza dough recipe, which has been developed to be made with a rice-based all purpose blend. Try our Paleo pizza recipe instead.
If you've added too much gluten free flour blend by not measuring by weight, used a different flour blend that isn't good quality, or overmeasured the oil you pizza crust can appear crumbly.
If it's dry and crumbly, try adding more water by the teaspoon until it's smooth. If it's dry and oily, try working in more gluten free flour.
This only means that the dough should be fully aerated, and stick to the sides of the mixing bowl as you mix it. It makes the dough much easier to handle, and allow you to roll it smooth when you shape it.
No, that isn't necessary. The only rise is for the yeast to become active and develop flavor. The rise of the pizza crust itself will be mostly in the oven during the first bake, before you add toppings. As long as your oven is hot enough, you'll see the crust puff and blister almost immediately.
HI. Thank you so much for this recipe! I am intrigued to try it but I am so confused. I was wondering why the Expandex and whey protein aren’t in this recipe for pizza. Do you add it if you want to. I am sorry if you explained this already, I don’t think I missed it but if you could let me know that would be great. Thank you so much!
For a discussion of the difference between this recipe and one made using our gluten free bread flour, with whey protein isolate and Expandex modified tapioca starch, Alison, please see the text of the post under the heading “What gf flours are in gluten free pizza crust?”
Hi Nicole
Can this dough be used to make cinnamon buns?
Hi, Teresa, no you’d use my recipe for gluten free cinnamon rolls for that! This wouldn’t make very fluffy cinnamon rolls at all.
This was the best pizza I’ve had since I was diagnosed with celiac six years ago. I followed the recipe exactly, which I think is important, except for two minor adjustments I made that I think are based on peculiarity of my oven.
Things I did that made the recipe work: I weighed my ingredients and took the temperature of my water to make sure it wasn’t so hot it would kill the yeast. I also followed the directions of the stand mixer and texture regarding the dough, as well as rising time, refrigerating time, and resting time, exactly. I also used a pizza stone that I preheated thoroughly in the oven.
The only minor adjustment I made was brushing some garlic butter on the crust between par-baking and baking with toppings, to get the crust to brown, and baking for 10 mins instead of 7 because the cheese and crust weren’t quite crisp at 7:00 exactly in my oven for whatever reason. I live in a pretty humid place and in my experience all ovens can be slightly different so you have to learn their timings and tendencies.
The gluten-eaters at my dinner said they could not tell the difference and loved the pizza. I was very proud and thankful for this recipe. Taking back baking in 2024!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Meg. Yes, precision is super important and I’m so glad you had such encouraging success with the recipe!
I’m not sure why mine didn’t rise! :( I followed the instructions to a T, using one-to-one GF flour with xantham gum already added and instant yeast as the instructions say. I got to the whipped stage of the dough, transferred it to a covered oiled bowl, and let it sit in a warm (about 79 degrees) no-air flow area of the house. The dough didn’t rise AT ALL. Very disappointed!
You mentioned using a “one-to-one GF flour,” Jack, but not which one. Other than making sure your yeast is fresh and measuring by weight, I have to guess that you didn’t use one of my recommended flour blends. Unfortunately, many if not most of the blends on the market are poor quality, which is why I only recommend a few very specific blends.
I made this recipe for my in laws that are NOT gluten free in the slightest and they couldn’t even tell. They LOVED IT. I was very nervous because GF things can be very finicky but I just trusted the process and went with it. I used a lot of toppings so had to cook it for quite a bit longer
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the pizza, Beth! I know how nerve-wracking it can be to make something gluten free for people who aren’t gluten free. Well done!
Didn’t turn out. I weighed ingredients, took the the temperature of the water. It was so crumbly I threw it out.
Since you didn’t provide any useful details, I have to imagine that you used a flour blend that is either one I recommend against, or simply not one of my recommended blends.
Marvelous guidance. Thanks a million. Re: food processor, I didn’t find any real temperature change in my dough (checking constantly with thermapen, dough remains around 95F even in our warm climate). The down-side to the food processor of course is that it cuts the dough’s protein strands too much. Having just moved and without my mixer temporarily, I thought I would give it a try and no real problems, but probably a better chew with dough mixed in a mixer. Quick hack, turn your rice maker on “keep warm” an hour or two ahead of time, and place the dough in a closed bowl right on top (checking occasionally with a thermometer so as not to pass 105F). Another hack: I’m also without my pizza oven at the moment, so I did the par cook on a very (really, use max heat) hot pan, covered, for around 4-5 minutes. After putting on toppings, I threw it in the air-fryer at 400F for about 4-5 minutes more. Turned out much nicer than any gluten-free pizzas I’ve ever tried.
I am interested in possibly making a pizza but I think it might not taste good at all since I can’t have: gluten, tomato,wheat, baker’s & brewer’s yeast, dairy and eggs.
Not just pizza but do you have ideas on how to know things (foods and recipes) I can have without just trying (trial and error). I hate having a painful reaction.
Thank you
You’ve been helpful already.
Joe
I’m afraid you simply can’t make this recipe without yeast, Joe, but you can make my yeast free pizza dough without yeast. Most of my recipes use dairy and many use eggs, and all I can really say is that you should read the text of each post for my suggestions on how to make each recipe without additional allergens like dairy and eggs. But I don’t specialize in those restrictions, so you may be better off with a resource that does.
Not sure if it helps, but one of our favorite pizzas at home uses pesto (instead of tomato passata), thinly sliced 3/4 boiled potatoes, small pre-cooked chicken cubes, black pepper, etc.). Another we love uses Peruvian aji paste with shrimp. I’m sure you could use a non-wheat based Indian curry as well in lieu of tomatoes. There are also some great vegan parmesan and mozzarella substitutes on the market (at least in Europe). Re: yeast, I think you could make a baking soda-based version, but the instructions would be very different. Think Indian flatbread as a basis.
I have a recipe for yeast free gluten free pizza, DJ. Baking soda or baking powder are not yeast substitutes, and that really requires its own recipe.
Can this dough be cooked in a pizza oven?
I’ve never used a pizza oven, Maureen, but I have made this dough on the grill with success. Since a pizza oven is just a very hot, small oven, I don’t see why not.
Did Better Batter change their formula recently? Across multiple recipes, I’m consistently having problems with the fat ratios in your recipes that use Better Batter. They keep turning out dense and very very greasy. I’ve made a couple shortbread cookies and now the pizza crust and had this problem. I’m baffled… Im an experienced gluten free baker, and am using weights and following the recipes.
Second question: I’ve retried this dough today, with less oil. Weirdly it’s still not rising. I used Fleishmann’s “rapid-rise” instant yeast and followed the recipe with one difference: the whipping process caused my food processor to smoke and die last time, so I mixed the dough well with a biscuit cutter and a bit of kneading. Is the processing in the food processor really important? How much of an issue is it if the dough doesn’t noticeably rise?
I’m afraid I wouldn’t know anything about a change in Better Batter’s formula, and I would encourage you to speak to them directly, Ian. I would guess that you have changed something in your routine without realizing it was at all important, which is very common.
For this recipe, I’m afraid I only think you can be assured of success using a stand mixer, not a food processor. It has a tendency to overheat and liquify dough, and to mix something thick like this quite unevenly. The rise is almost entirely in the oven, which is called oven spring. Any earlier rise is only for flavor development.