It is not only people with gluten intolerance who need a varied diet. Sometimes people also abstain from gluten because of stomach upsets. A gluten-free diet does not mean that the choice is monotonous; you can prepare practically any recipe as a gluten-free variant. Of course, this also includes a delicious pizza.

What is gluten-free pizza dough made of?

Ready-made gluten-free dough is usually made from various ingredients with the addition of agar-agar, xanthan gum (a thickening agent), starch and powdered pulses. When mixed and baked, the starch and gelatine form a bond that holds the dough together, but is very easy on the stomach and well tolerated by people with coeliac disease.

There are ready-made dough mixes for preparing pizza dough at home, which are used in the same way as for conventional baking with flour. However, you can also make your own gluten-free pizza dough completely and easily at home.

Is gluten-free pizza dough healthier?

There is no doubt that gluten-free dough is healthier for people who suffer from gluten intolerance. For people without an intolerance, allergy or other stomach upset, it doesn't matter from a health point of view which dough you use, provided you use wholemeal flour for conventional pizza dough. Some believe that gluten-free is generally better for everyone, as the stomach doesn't have to work as hard. 

Gluten-free pizza dough recipe

Ingredients for gluten-free dough:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

2 tbsp milk powder

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum (available from Amazon, for example)

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup of warm water

4 tbsp olive oil

Instructions for gluten-free pizza dough

Mix together the rice flour, milk powder, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum and sugar. Mix half a cup of the flour mixture with the warm water, sugar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the yeast, cover and leave to stand for half an hour.

Using a hand mixer, mix the yeast mixture with the dry mixture until a smooth and sticky dough is formed. Now leave the dough to stand for a further half hour, preheating the oven to 250 degrees.

Spread the remaining olive oil on a pizza tin and flatten the dough with wet fingers. 

Now you can bake the pizza dough for 8-10 minutes until the dough is firm. Then top the pizza as desired and finish baking.

Make your own brown rice flour

You don't necessarily have to buy ready-made rice flour; if you have a coffee grinder or moulinette, you can grind brown rice until it is fine enough.