Easy 30-Minute Gluten Free Pizza Crust Recipe

Try this super easy and fast gluten free pizza crust recipe next time you’re tempted to order pizza (I’m talking to you, college students and busy humans).

Two weeks ago during Finals Week, I finally caved.

Besides those cookies (nuf said), I’d been good all semester at staying pretty much gluten-free. I didn’t stop at that burger truck that afternoon, even though I could smell it from a mile away and my stomach yearned for some. I didn’t buy that burrito that one very hungry day I forgot lunch. I didn’t even eat (much) chick-fil-a at the student union building.

But then came Finals Week. I was mentally and emotionally weak. I couldn’t resist.

I ordered pizza. Gluten pizza. I could have ordered gluten-free, but decided not to do things by halves.

I wish I could say I regretted it, but I actually don’t. Sitting at my desk, buried in economics homework, pizza crunchy and cheesy and magical in my hands, it was worth every single bite.

But that was a one-time thing.

I can’t go back next semester and order pizza whenever I’m feeling exhausted and hungry. So here’s my alternative.

I imagine you’ve gone through the same thing. You’ve hit that moment of weakness. You need pizza, you need it soon, and you’re willing to die (literally) to get it.

Well, can I offer an alternative? Don’t slowly eat yourself into oblivion with that nasty gluten pizza when you can have gluten-free pizza ready in the same amount of time it would take you to get it delivered. It’s cheaper, by the way. You can make it however you want. And it’s pretty darn low-mess.

So here you go. A yasty gluten free pizza crust recipe ready in 30 minutes.

I know what we’ll be eating next semester.

Oh, and did I mention? I made a video! Check it out below the recipe.

Ingredients
½ cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup rice flour (brown or white works)
½ cup cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 tablespoons warm water (as needed)

Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the water, yeast, and honey. Stir.
Turn the oven to 450 degrees F and put two pizza stones or a baking pan on the bottom rack.
In another bowl, as the yeast proofs, combine the flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder. Stir.
Prepare your toppings so they’re ready to go on the pizza. I used tomato sauce (from a jar, it’s so much easier than making your own), mushrooms, olives, peppers, sliced summer sausage, spinach, and grated cheese.
Add the yeast and water mix to the flour mix, then add the olive oil (before stirring). Stir well. The mix will come together but will be dry and crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons of water and stir until combined. The mix should become fairly wet but not so wet it’s impossible to handle. If you think it could get a bit wetter but still be manageable, add the remaining tablespoon water. It’s always better to have the dough wetter than dry.
Spread a piece of foil on the table and sprinkle lightly with cornstarch or rice flour. Divide your dough into two and place the two chunks on top of the foil. If you want to make just a one-person pizza (I understand), you can refrigerate the other half of the dough for a day or so before cooking. It will have a slightly sourdough-ish taste, but who could complain about that?
Coat the dough lightly with flour by rolling around on the foil, then flatten each dough ball slightly.
Cover the dough balls with a sheet of saran wrap.
Roll the dough as thin as it can go (about 1/8 of an inch thick) with the saran wrap between the dough and rolling pin.
Peel off the saran wrap. Sprinkle on the toppings.
Move the whole sheet of foil onto the baking pan or split in two and place on the pizza stones.
Put the pan/stones back into the oven on the bottom rack. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges peel up slightly and the bottom of the crust is brown.
Enjoy.