Deep dish gluten free pizza dough is so easy to make and tastes just like you remember. Load up your pizza with your favorite toppings!
I've been making this deep dish gluten free pizza dough, in one form or another, since 2012. It's the sort of pizza that you really sink your teeth into. Maybe it's the bit of cornmeal in the crust. That crust has a lot of work to do in deep dish pizza!
I love to bake these deep dish pizzas in 6-inch round baking pans, but of course it's not necessary. You really just need something, well, deep. It is deep dish, after all.
The recipe includes cornmeal as an ingredient because it helps make the crust a little more sturdy and gives it the bite you want. The cornmeal does make the crust delicate to work with, as opposed to your standard gluten free pizza crust, but it's worth it!
I've included two versions of the recipe for the gluten free pizza crust below, in case you don't have the bread flour ingredients. If you use my no-bread-flour recipe below, you'll find that it is more difficult to handle.
The idea is to get the crust into the bottom of the pan however you can, as the pan will help it keep its shape during baking. You could probably even just press the crust into pan without rolling it out, but you'll end up with thicker and thinner spots that will bake unevenly.
Deep dish pizza is unique in more ways than one. Not only is it baked in a round pan, but most of the cheese is actually on the bottom of the pizza.
Just line the crust with thick slices of a semi-hard cheese. I really like provolone here, but asiago and Gruyere are also really nice. You don't want a cheese with a lot of moisture, though, as the tomato sauce will have more than enough.
I always add cubed pancetta next, but you can leave it out entirely or add ground beef or pork for texture and flavor. Then, simply cover generously with tomato sauce and a layer of finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
It's deep, baby.