These gluten free calzones, packed with all your favorite fillings and flavors, are the ultimate comfort food. They even reheat beautifully.
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What makes this gluten free calzones recipe special?
Once you have a reliable recipe for gluten free pizza dough, there's an argument to be made that you don't need a separate recipe for calzones.
But if you've ever seen most of the glutenfree calzones recipes out there, you'll notice that they're too pale, and the dough is just too thick.
I make calzones for my family with a just-right crust, in the just-right way. It browns deeply, and the filling shines.
When the crust is too thick, the filling gets overwhelmed. That's just not the way I remember calzones from the pizza place.
This is the way I remember calzones were. The way they should be…
The gluten free pizza crust that works best
If you're interested in the science of gluten free baking, read this section. Otherwise, keep scrolling for the recipe.
Like any bread-based recipe, using a pizza crust recipe with the right hydration ratio is super important. The hydration ratio is the ratio of water to flour weight in bread.
(Remember that 1 fluid ounce (volume) of water is equal to 1 ounce (weight) of water. And 1 ounce = 28 grams.)
The higher the hydration number, the more water is in the dough, and (typically) the softer it will be. Gluten free baking typically calls for higher hydration values overall, since our flours soak up more water in general. But there's still a range.
Our recipe for basic gluten free pizza crust would work, of course, but it would make a crust that is slightly thicker than perfect—and still drier. That recipe has a hydration ratio of about 60%.
Remember that we're making a pizza pocket. Calzones are like a whole pizza, folded in half, so the crust is doubled in every bite. You don't want just a mouthful of dough.
Our recipe for NY style pizza crust is lovely, but it's way (way) too soft to shape into a calzone. Its hydration ratio is 84%. That's high.
The pizza recipe here is in the middle, at 70%. It's just right. We can shape it, and it rises beautifully in the oven—but it isn't doughy.
Adding tapioca starch/flour and sweet white rice flour to the gf pizza crust
I've always loved baking with tapioca starch/flour. Its only flaw is that it is sometimes referred to as tapioca starch, other times tapioca flour, indiscriminately.
But tapioca starch is unique among starches, as it gives gluten free baked goods stretch and bite. It also helps them crisp in the oven.
Plus, it's inexplicably Paleo, so it makes all my Paleo recipes better. By the way, yes that seems ridiculous, but I don't make the rules.
What is sweet white rice flour?
Sweet white rice flour is also known as glutinous rice flour, but as long as it's milled properly and not contaminated, is gluten free. It's made from short grain white rice.
Traditional white rice flour is milled from long grain white rice. It's the basis of all of our all purpose gluten free flour blends.
When you ask if you can eliminate it in my recipes, the answer is always no. Removing rice is like removing gluten. It turns everything completely upside down.
But sweet white rice flour, since it's made from short grain white rice, behaves a bit like tapioca starch. I've been making homemade rice noodles, and tapioca starch and sweet white rice flour seemed nearly interchangeable in that application.
Cheers to a sometime substitute for tapioca starch. Tapioca starch, I still love you very much.
Gluten free calzone ingredients and substitutions
Yeast
You cannot make this pizza dough without yeast. Try using our recipe for yeast free gluten free pizza dough in its place.
If you'd like to replace the instant yeast with active dry yeast, you'll need to use 25% more yeast (multiply the amount of instant yeast by 1.25) and hydrate the yeast separately. Then, add it to the rest of the dough ingredients.
GF Flour/tapioca starch
Be careful, as always, when selecting your all purpose gluten free flour blend. Please click the link in the ingredients list and familiarize yourself with what works and what doesn't.
I highly recommend using Better Batter (or my mock blend) in this recipe. But my other all purpose blends should work.
I've tested this recipe with superfine sweet white rice flour, gram for gram, as a replacement for tapioca starch/flour. I'm happy to report that it works quite well. Please see the full discussion above.
Gluten free, dairy free calzones
There is quite a lot of dairy in the filling, but none in the pizza crust. You can try using dairy-free versions of all the ingredients, if you have access to them.
I really like Violife dairy free cheeses, especially since they have so many available varieties. Their smoky cheeses actually taste quite similar to their conventional counterparts.
Gluten free, egg free calzones
I include an egg in the filling because it really helps hold the ricotta cheese together in the oven. Otherwise, the cheese is more likely to leak out.
If you can't have eggs, try using much less ricotta, and less filling over all. Eliminate the egg. For the egg wash, just use cream.
How to make the best gluten free calzones, step by step
Authentic Gluten Free Calzones
Equipment
Ingredients
For the pizza crust
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (Better Batter highly recommended)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (36 g) tapioca starch/flour plus more for sprinkling (See Recipe Notes)
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) instant yeast (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ½ teaspoons (6 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces) warm water (about 95°F)
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) extra virgin olive oil
For the filling
- 1 cup (248 g) ricotta cheese
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg beaten
- 1 ounce grated Parmesan Cheese
- 6 ounces part skim mozzarella cheese freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon ground dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Egg wash 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten
Instructions
To make the pizza crust.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or your food processor fitted with the metal blade, place the flour, xanthan gum, tapioca starch, yeast, and sugar. 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 for about 2 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled container with a tight-fitting lid or a greased bowl and cover tightly. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour and up to 3 days.
To make the calzones.
- When you’re ready to make the pizza, place a pizza stone or overturned rimmed baking sheet in the oven and preheat it to 425°F.
- In a medium-size bowl, reserving a generous pinch of the grated Parmesan cheese and of the dried oregano, place the filling ingredients and mix well. Set the filling and the reserved ingredients aside.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, uncover it, and divide it into two equal portions. Work with one at a time, and place the other back in the container and back in the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle the dough lightly with tapioca starch, and knead it a bit until it’s smoother. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper.
- Sprinkling with more tapioca starch as necessary to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a round about 10-inches in diameter. Keep the dough moving frequently, sprinkling lightly as necessary to prevent sticking. Dust the parchment free of any excess flour.
- Place half of the filling ingredients on one half of the 10-inch round of dough in a half-moon shape, leaving a 1-inch clean border along the edge.
- Lift the clean half of the dough from the edge and carefully place on top of the filling. Pinch the edges to seal, pressing out any air trapped in the pocket. If you’re fancy, crimp or twist the edges like a pie.
- Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice three vents in the top of the calzone. Using a pastry brush, coat the top and sides of the shaped calzone liberally with the egg wash. Sprinkle evenly with half of the reserved grated cheese and herbs.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough, remaining filling ingredients, egg wash, etc. Using a pizza peel or other large, flat surface, transfer the two calzones to the hot oven (on top of the hot pizza peel or overturned baking sheet).
- Bake for about 25 minutes, or until puffed and lightly golden brown all over. Remove from the oven, allow to set for a few minutes, then serve hot.
Make-ahead instructions
- You can cool the baked calzones completely, wrap very tightly in freezer-safe wrap, and freeze for about a month.
- Defrost mostly at room temperature, unwrap and sprinkle lightly with water, and warm in a 300°F oven before serving. Do not freeze the unbaked yeast dough, as freezing may kill the yeast.
Notes
I’ve tested this recipe with superfine sweet white rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour), gram for gram, in place of tapioca starch/flour. It works quite well. For the instant yeast.
If you only have active dry yeast, you’ll need 25% more yeast. Just multiply the grams of instant yeast called for in the recipe x 1.25 You’ll have to hydrate the active dry yeast in some of the water in the recipe first. Then, add it to the remaining water and proceed with the recipe as written.
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Ginger says
This recipe looks amazing but I don’t have a paddle mixer. Can I whisk the ingredients together and knead the dough the same way I used to (before celiac) when I would bake conventional yeast bread?
Thank you! Your GF recipes have been a lifesaver!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Ginger, I’m afraid you can’t “knead” gluten free bread dough with your hands the way you used to with conventional dough. A paddle attachment on a stand mixer is unfortunately the only way I’ve found to create the smooth texture on yeast bread dough that is necessary to shape and get a proper rise out of a cohesive dough. The recipes in my yeast bread cookbooks, Bakes Bread, use a dough hook attachment and you can make those using a handheld mixer with dough hooks attached, but that requires special ingredients, and you to buy the cookbook. I have tried so many other methods for this style of dough using these more common ingredients, but I’m afraid a stand mixer is the only way I’ve had success!
Joann Rex says
Wow I haven’t had a calzone in ten years! These were super and so easy. I added some turkey pepperoni. They came out perfectly. Thank you so much. Joann
P S I have two of your books and you are my go to source for gluten free recipes.
Nicole Hunn says
You’re so welcome, Joann. Thank you so much for the kind words, and for your trust and loyalty. That means so much to me.
Wanda Toth says
Freezing doesn’t kill yeast. I keep my yeast in the freezer and put it directly in my recipes without bringing to room temperature. It works beautifully every time! If you notice, you can buy frozen bread dough in stores and they thaw/bake perfectly without any problems.
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Wanda, it generally doesn’t, but if your freezer takes a dip in temperature, it might. I have run into problems freezing raw yeast dough, so when anyone asks my opinion, I give it to them, based on my experience.
Heidi Carpenter says
Absolutely delicious!! I haven’t had a proper calzone since being diagnosed with Celiac. This dough is PERFECT (and easy!). We don’t have a stand mixer, so we used a ninja blender dough blade and it worked seamlessly! Thank you so much for all your recipes– we try a new one each week and they’re all perfection
Nicole Hunn says
That’s interesting about the ninja blender having a dough blade, Heidi! I don’t think ours does, but I’ll have to check that out. So glad you enjoyed the calzones, and thank you for the kind note!
Cynthia says
Made the calzone dough last weekend, I didn’t have any of the fillings needed (and couldn’t go to the grocery store). Sorry I went rogue, but they came out so well. I’m in awe of your ability to develop the perfect dough 👏🏻
Nicole Hunn says
I promise I’m not the baking police! Food bloggers routinely get blamed for recipes that don’t work when the recipe isn’t made as written. So glad it all turned out well, and that you enjoyed the dough!
Mimi says
Amazing! I repurposed gf pizza dough to make calzones in the past but I ended up wishing I had just made more pizza instead. I’m glad there are professionals out there who solve the problems us hobbyists are sometimes too lazy to tackle! I used violife smoked provolone and ricotta made from crumbled pressed tofu, cashew cream, lemon juice, and a little tapioca starch to keep it together and add a bit of stretch.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s exactly what I’m here for, Mimi! I’m so glad you enjoyed your calzones. Thanks for sharing your dairy free fillings!
Amelia says
Just to check, the dough should get warm water but then be refrigerated without a rising time at room temperature? Is the “rising time” the “prep time” refers to the same as the chilling time? I went ahead and tried it this way but, of course, there was little effect from the yeast in either rise or flavor development, even though I chilled the dough for a little over a day. I just wanted to make sure that this is intentional before I go tinkering.
We aren’t having cheese so I used cooked ground beef tossed in a bit of tapioca to fill them, so I guess they’re more like stromboli, but my whole family loved the idea, thank you!
Nicole Hunn says
The rise outside the oven is in the refrigerator, for the purpose of allowing the flours time to absorb the liquid. There’s no error in the recipe. If you’d like significant flavor development, you’ll need to leave it in the refrigerator for longer. There’s nothing different about gluten free yeast, Amelia. Flavor development takes time.
Jenna says
I tried this just now and followed the recipe to a T, my dough was not manageable unfortunately. I couldn’t roll it out, it was more like paper maché.
Any idea where I could have gone wrong? I even used your flour blend.
I was soooo excited for this! Hopefully you have some magical formula for me 🙂
Nicole Hunn says
The magical formula is the recipe, Jenna. I can’t possibly know where you deviated from the recipe as written. I’m sure you believe you followed the recipe “to a T,” but I’m afraid you deviated somehow. You say you used “my” flour blend, by which I assume you mean Better Batter (it’s not mine, I just use it!). But did you measure by weight? Did you use the other ingredients as directed, measuring by weight, including the tapioca starch, instant yeast, etc.? And did you let the dough sit in the refrigerator in a sealed container before proceeding? There are many parts to the recipe, and they’re all essential.
Rosemary says
Nicole,
I made these for these yesterday and they were a huge hit! (I added a little pepperoni to the filling for the meat/salt lovers in the house.) Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
R
Nicole Hunn says
That’s awesome, Rosemary! I can’t argue with those meat/salt lovers. :)
Sherrie Lynne says
Calzones were one of my favorites before j was diagnosed with Celiac – I have really missed them! I’m so excited to try these, thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Nicole Hunn says
I think you’ll love them, Sherrie!
George G says
Thanks for mentioning the Violife vegan cheeses. They have changed our eating habits. I’ve tried making the substitute cheeses with almonds and nutritional yeast and they are, as you like to say, “better than nothing”. These cheeses don’t feel like that at all. They taste as the Brits say, “near as makes no difference” These are two great looking recipes that I am definitely going to try.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s so great, George. Vegan cheeses have come a long, long way, and it’s really a great thing. Even some of the original brands, like Daiya, have improved their product so much.
Maggie says
Nicole, I noticed you have another recipe in your bread book. Out of curiosity, which one do you like better?
Nicole Hunn says
I prefer the dough in that recipe a bit more, since it’s made with bread flour, Maggie. But I also really love this one!
Janice says
Look for tapioca starch where your store has cornstarch. I found out I was looking in the wrong place on the shelf. I thought it would be with things like rice flour, but no…it’s with cornstarch.
Maggie says
I’m surprised there is no red sauce. Would it still work if included? Is this a New York thing? Chicago likes its sauce!
Nicole Hunn says
I don’t like including sauce in a calzone, Maggie, since a thin liquid is almost certainly going to leak out during baking. You can try adding some tomato paste, or just dip!
Candice says
I noticed on another recipe’s (french bread) you said corn starch isn’t an ok substitute for tapioca starch and referred the commenter to your substitution list, which didn’t include any mention of a sub for tapioca starch. Is there a reason it won’t work? I’ve never seen tapioca starch in the grocery here, and Google says it’s pretty interchangeable.
Nicole Hunn says
Candice, I’m very clear about substitutions. If you’d like to follow anonymous advice on Google, then you’re going off on your own, and it’s no longer my recipe. I can only share the products of my experience and 16+ years of gluten free baking.
Gail says
Have you tried this recipe with meats like pepperoni or ham and onions and peppers? Would it bake the same way?
Nicole Hunn says
I have in the past made calzones with meat and/or vegetable fillings. If you add anything that gives off moisture when heated, like vegetables of any kind (including onions), you need to sauté them first. Fatty meats also make leak out during baking.