How to Make Gluten Free Homemade Pizza Dough

Lately, we have been exploring different ways to make pizza dough. We looked at how to make low-carb pizza and yeast-free pizza dough, and now we are researching how to make gluten-free pizza dough. We tried four different ways to make gluten-free pizza dough and want to share them with our readers.

There are so many dietary restrictions that we want to make sure no one ever has to go without pizza in their life. You know the famous Nietzsche quote,

“Without pizza, life would be a mistake.”

Ok, he didn’t really say that. He was referring to music, not pizza, but we think the quote is still meaningful and sums up how we feel about pizza.

So with solidarity for those with dietary restrictions, we set about to find the best gluten-free pizza dough recipe so nobody has to go without pizza in their lives.

What is Gluten?

So, you have probably heard a lot of talk in the last few years about gluten and seen gluten-free labels on products but may not know what exactly gluten is.

Gluten is a protein found in many grains like wheat, barley, and rye. It’s what makes pizza dough stretchy and is found in a lot of products, from crackers to cereals to pasta to bread to pizza dough. Some pizzaiolos even recommend high gluten pizza dough manipulation.

But we understand there are many reasons why people choose to go gluten-free. Gluten can be hard to digest and even make people sick. Some people have a gluten intolerance or sensitivity to gluten.

Others are allergic to gluten or have a serious auto-immune condition called Celiac disease and cannot eat gluten in any form.

With more and more people eating a gluten-free diet, it’s a good idea to have a gluten-free pizza dough recipe to make sure everyone in your circle can eat pizza.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

We put together a collection of four different gluten-free pizza doughs. We tried them all and shared our notes below each one. A couple of the recipes have ingredients you may not have heard of, one has eggs, and another uses almond flour which can be pricey.

So our recipe list is the four best ones we tried, and we tried several. We sacrificed our tastebuds in the name of science and for the love of pizza.

All of these recipes have the same instructions combine the wet ingredients and the dry separately and then mix them together. The three recipes with yeast require mixing the water, yeast, and sugar first to proof for about ten minutes and then adding to the dry mix. The yeast doughs need to rise for about one hour before baking.

All four doughs need to be par-baked for around 10 minutes, depending on your oven and the thickness of your crust. That time could be a bit more or less. And if you want to freeze any of the four, it’s important to par-bake first, let them cool, and then freeze.

And feel free to play around with different ways to add flavor to your dough without adding gluten.

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough #1

• 2 3/4 cups  gluten-free bread flour 
• 1/4 cup  Expandex (modified tapioca starch) 
• 1 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon water
• 1 Tbsp instant yeast
• 1 ½ tsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 ⅛ cup warm water 
• 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

This recipe came out well, but it was a bit crumbly. We had to learn about and buy Expandex, but we had all the other ingredients. The Expandex gave it a chewy crust that we liked. Have you ever used that before and do you have any better advice?

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough #2

• 1 1/3 cup almond flour 
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
• 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil 
• 7-8 Tbsp water

To be honest, we didn’t want to like this one because the ingredients list is so long, but the final product was a good crispy crust.

So if you are gluten-free and use almond flour and potato starch regularly, then this is a good one for you. If you just make gluten-free pizza dough sometimes, then it’s a lot of extra things to buy and store.

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough #3

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
• 1 ¼ cups gluten-free bread flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp psyllium husk powder
• 2 tsp olive oil

We liked this one a lot, even though we also had to Google psyllium husk powder. The texture was nice, and it held together well.

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough #4

• 1 packet instant yeast
• ¾ cup + 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 ½ cups gluten-free bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

This last one is the only one that had egg; it was by far our favorite. The egg held everything together, and it kept its shape well. The texture was chewy and crispy but soft in the right places.

We also love that we already had all the ingredients in our kitchen, so it was convenient and inexpensive. So for us, this was the clear winner that we will make again and again.

Pro Tips

• Invest in a digital scale. Gluten-free bread flours vary, and using a scale lets you get the amounts just right. Using a pizza calculator can help a lot, actually.
• Gluten-free pizza dough is sticky, so to make it easier to work with, put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes after it has risen but before you make the pizza.
• Get a separate dough proofing box and clearly label it – you don’t want it mixing with the gluten-filled ones!
• Gluten-free dough is more like cookie batter than regular pizza dough, and you have to press it into the pizza pan. To keep it from sticking, use parchment paper or non-stick spray.

Have you made gluten-free pizza dough? What’s your favorite way to make it?

For more fabulous gluten-free recipes, check out https://eatwithclarity.com/…