Gluten-free Deep Dish Pizza
This gluten-free deep dish pizza has the perfect crispy, cheesy edges with a light and fluffy inside. It's the best of Chicago-style pizza but gluten-free.
Equipment
- Dark baking pan. This recipe makes enough for a 9x13 pan.
Ingredients
For the gluten-free deep dish crust.
- 1 ¾ Cups 1:1 Gluten-free Flour 273 grams
- 3 Tablespoons Corn Starch
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Yeast You can use quick rising or instant.
- 1 ¼ Cups Warm Water
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil Plus oil for the baking pan.
Toppings
- You can add cheese, pepperoni, sauce, and vegetables you desire.
Instructions
Make the gluten-free pizza dough.
- Bloom the yeast with the warm water and sugar.2 Teaspoons Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Yeast, 1 ¼ Cups Warm Water
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the gluten-free flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt.1 ¾ Cups 1:1 Gluten-free Flour, 3 Tablespoons Corn Starch, 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder, 1 Teaspoon Salt
- Once the yeast has bloomed, add it to the dry ingredients and mix until all the dry flour is no longer visible.
- Add the olive oil to the dough and turn the mixer on medium-high and let it mix for about 4-5 minutes. The mixure will start off looking thin and will look like a thick cake batter after the time is up.2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
First rise.
- Once you've mixed the dough, cover the bowl and place it in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.
Transfer to a baking pan.
- Add a few tablespoons more olive oil to the pan and move it around to coat.2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- Scoop the risen pizza crust to the center of the baking pan.
- Gently spread the pizza crust dough out towards the edges of the baking pan.
- Place the baking pan back into the warm place and let it rise, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
Top, bake, rest, and enjoy.
- Move the racks in your oven. You want one rack on the very bottom of the oven and one rack on the very top of the oven.
- Once the dough has fully risen, preheat your oven to 375 °F.
- Add a layer of cheese to cover the top of the crust, making sure to take it all the way to the edges.You can add cheese, pepperoni, sauce, and vegetables you desire.
- Spoon your sauce on top of the cheese, and make sure to keep it away from the edges.
- Top with pepperoni and other toppings if desired.
- Place the pan with the pizza on the rack on the very bottom of your oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes. At this point, if your outer edge is looking crispy, transfer it to the top of the oven. If it's not, give it another 2-3 minutes.
- Once the outer edge looks crispy, transfer it to the top and bake for about 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and slightly golden.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes.
- After it has rested, carefully break the crust around the top edge of the pizza with a flat spatula.
- Slide the spatula underneath the pizza and carefully remove it from the pan onto a flat cutting surface.
- Use a large knife to cut the pizza into slices and enjoy.
Notes
Tips and tricks to get the best deep dish pizza.
- Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. - This gluten-free pizza dough must be mixed well to get the right texture. It does not work well to be mixed by hand.
- Whip the dough before letting it rise the first time. This is NOT your typical dough that is stretchy. It will look thin at first, but whipping it makes it thicker and helps to create bubbles which make the crust rise more. You want to whip on high with the paddle attachment for 4-5 minutes.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place. - This pizza dough has two different rise times, once covered and uncovered, for 30-minutes. I always like to turn my oven on and then place the dough on top of the stove, so it has a warm spot to warm up. If your oven has a proofing setting, you can also use that.
- Oil the pan well. - Be generous with your olive oil in the pan. I like to add a good two tablespoons and move it around to get a nice coating on the pan. This helps the bottom not only not stick to the pan, but also get really crispy.
- Add the cheese FIRST. - Adding a good layer of cheese over the top of the crust before adding your sauce helps to keep the crust from getting a soft layer on top by blocking some of the moisture in the sauce. Trust me, do this.
- Keep the sauce away from the edges. - Keeping the edges with just cheese allows the outer crust to get super crispy and crunchy, which is what we love about a good deep dish pizza. Also, when it comes to sauce, less is more.
- Bake in the right places. - You will start baking this gluten-free deep dish pizza at the very bottom of your oven. This might sound strange, and you're probably thinking, my pizza crust will burn. It won't. This helps the crust bake and get that beautiful crispy layer that helps to hold up all your toppings. Once the crust bakes on the bottom, it will be moved to the top of the oven to give the cheese extra melty goodness.
- Let it rest. - I know the urge to want to dig right in as soon as it comes out of the oven but trust me, it gets better if you wait. Letting the pizza rest about 10 minutes before cutting into it helps the cheese and toppings stay in place better but also enables it crisp up even more. Cutting it quickly, your crust will be softer.