Last Updated on June 16, 2026 by Deliciously Organic Editor
Gluten-Free Deep Dish Pizza. Do I really need to say more?
It’s very important to use a cast iron skillet or enameled cast iron skillet for this recipe – I tried to make it with a stainless steel skillet and the crust didn’t bake evenly.
You can pick whatever toppings you’d like – cheese, meats, onions, olives, bell peppers, etc. Enjoy!
PrintDeep Dish Pizza (Gluten-Free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6-8
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Units
- 2 cups tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning Blend
- 1 tablespoon of palm shortening, lard, or tallow
- Toppings of your choice: cheese, marinara, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, olives, etc.
Instructions
- Place a 12-inch cast iron or enameled cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 425ºF. Let the oven preheat and then keep the skillet in the oven for 10 minutes after the oven has reached 425ºF.
- Place the tapioca flour, coconut flour, eggs, sea salt, Italian seasoning, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor or blender (do not try this in a small food processor or mini blender – the mixture will be too thick). Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and immediately process until smooth. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes (if it sits for longer than 10 minutes, it will be totally fine).
- Remove the skillet from the oven. Add 1 tablespoon of palm shortening, lard or tallow and swirl to coat (I don’t use olive oil here, because the oil will burn and oxidize due to the high heat). Pour (or spoon) the dough into the hot skillet and spread evenly with a spatula. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the crust from the oven and put your toppings on top. Place the pizza back in the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the toppings are hot and the cheese is bubbling and just turning golden brown. Let the pizza sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
I only test the recipes on my site with the listed ingredients and measurements. If you would like to try a substitution, you are welcome to share what you used and how it turned out in the comments below. Thanks!
Wow. I will try it right now for lunch.. Hopefully my vitamix is not too strong for the dough? Thx a lot!
Yum! Will vitamix work for the dough?
This is the best! I come back to this recipe again and again. The crust is delicious and comforting, making excellent pizzas. Thank you!
Would butter or ghee work as a sub for the palm shortening?
I used ghee and it came out great! No sticking or burning at all. Delicious, easy recipe. My family loved it.
Are tapioca flour and arrowroot starch interchangeable? Or is arrowroot more dense? Ive noticed that your recipes always specify which to use but my husband really hates tapioca flour 🙂
The other night I was making Carrie’s brownie recipe (a favorite here!) and realized too late that I only had 1/2 of the amount of tapioca flour needed to finish the recipe. So, after a Google search I learned that arrowroot and tapioca can be interchanged at a 1:1 ratio. And the brownies turned out just as awesome as always!
Can you use less dough to make a regular “thin” crust pizza?
Can I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 baking flour, oat or almond flour instead? I really don’t like coconut flour and not sure about tapioca. Thank you.
I only test the recipes on my site with the listed ingredients and measurements. If you would like to try a substitution, you are welcome to share what you used and how it turned out in the comments below. Thanks!
Where do you find organic pepperoni for the deep dish pizza recipe?
We buy Hormel pepperoni, I am not sure it is “organic” but is natural and nitrate free.
My family was so excited about this recipe!! So I just made it for dinner…..I used my Vitamix to mix the dough. I waited 10 minutes, like you said and it was still liquid. I put the exact ingredients listed! So I decided to add another cup of tapioca…and 1/2 cup coconut flour…still liquid…so I ended up adding yet another cup of tapioca…which doubled the flour of the recipe. I’m wondering…Is 2 cups of boiling water too much? Was it suppose to be 1 cup?
I didn’t add extra eggs….I followed the rest of the recipe exactly and it came out great. I ended up making 2 pizza’s. We enjoyed it. But I am wondering….should it have been 1 cup of boiling water instead of 2? I am curious and want to know what you think….why it was still liquid?
Shortly after posting this, I realized I had put 2 cups of water instead of 1. I’m so sorry! I made the edit quickly, but for some reason it didn’t show up on the front of the blog for a while. So, it was totally my fault. Sorry about that!
Thanks for your reply about the 2 cup water mistake. Got it in my email. It’s okay….we ended up with 2 pizza’s, and the family liked it so much they and said they would like me to make it again! =) Love your blog. Keep up the sharing!
Can I use avocado oil instead of the palm shortening? I also might try using Buckwheat flour instead of tapioca flour. Have so many difference flours in my pantry …….
I only test the recipes on my site with the listed ingredients and measurements. If you would like to try a substitution, you are welcome to share what you used and how it turned out in the comments below. Thanks!
Made this last night. After I started measuring I only had 1 cup of arrowroot so I halved the entire recipe. It was the perfect size for my two kiddos with me and dad getting a small taste. It was DELICIOUS! My kids, who were skeptical, took one bite and both screamed “more please”. Definite winner in my household! Thanks Carrie. I love your site! Can’t wait to replenish my arrowroot and make a full-size pizza!
I’ve never thought to make deep dish pizza at home, but why not?!! This looks amazing!!
I made the pizza this afternoon. It tastes wonderful. HOWEVER, while the outside of the crust was nice and crispy, but the inside of the crust was gummy, uncooked, and rubbery. No matter how long I cooked it, (I cooked it an extra 25 minutes until I gave up), it just wouldn’t get done. I followed the recipe to the letter and used my LeCreuset 12 inch enameled cast iron pan to cook it in. Do you think the extra cup of water had anything to do with it coming out like that?
hmm…Did you add 1 cup or 2 cups of water?
I tried it both ways. The first time I used 2 cups and the second time one cup. Is that just the nature of using tapioca flour? (That it will be kind of gummy?) The flavor of the pizza was so good that I just want to get it right so I can make it for my family on a regular basis. Every time I’ve tried it, the inside doesn’t fully cook. Thanks for any pointers!! You have a wonderful website 🙂
I had this same problem. Wondering if next time I use half the batter in the pan and try that. So it’s thinner?
This looks delicious! I shared it as my pick for Recipe of the Day today on Twitter and Facebook. We’ll make a vegetarian version at our house, and I know we’re going to love that crust! Thank you.
Do you think I can make the crust and bake. Then seal and freeze for future pizza? My husband says this is the best pizza I’ve ever made by the way.
Definitely!
Very good. I used coconut oil in place of palm oil and sea salt in place of the cultic sea salt. We would probably not use all the dough mixture next time to make the crust a little thinner.
I tried this as written the first time. It was very good but I wanted more toppings with the amount of crust that I was getting and it was a little gummy on the inside (just the nature of tapioca flour). So, this time, I preheated my pizza stone and then poured the mixture on there and it was great… it made it regular crust and not deep dish but it was SO easy and delicious and a great ratio of crust to toppings for me. I may try it again on the pizza stone and not spread it out all over the stone to try an in-between thickness. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it! Did you preheat your cast iron skillet the first time? I tried this recipe without cast iron and the dough didn’t cook all the way, so that’s why I specify what skillet the use.
I am SO glad you made this recipe. I’d try it right now but it’s almost 11 pm at the moment, so I’ll have to make this in a day or two and let you know how it turned out! I haven’t had a deep dish pizza (or, a GOOD deep dish pizza) since I went gluten-free, which was a few years ago.
I’ve made this crust about 6 times now, and it’s perfect every time. I usually make it as a thin crust on my pizza stone, but the cast iron version is amazing too. Seriously, my mind is blown by how good it is! Last year I discovered that I’m intolerant to all grains, so I thought I’d have to say goodbye to pizza for good (or at least nice crusts). But this crust is so doughy and tasty. This recipe has been such a blessing and has provided me with a great dinner I can make any time! Thank you SO much for sharing it with us!
This recipe is the best because we make it every Friday night for our pizza night. We love the recipe add it is easy and swaps out easily with other paleo flours. Thank you for bringing pizza back into our hashimotos diet.
You’re welcome!
FYI I just made this tonight with King Arthur All Purpose GF flour and it worked! I added some extra water (didn’t measure) because my blender was struggling (didn’t use a high powered blender, so maybe it’s not necessary if you do). Anyhow it turned out well and the family approved! Easiest gf pizza I’ve ever made!
So glad you enjoyed it!
It worked! And made for a delicious pizza, I’m shocked at how simple this was! Next time I will spread the dough thinner and have it go up the sides of the pan more, as the center was a bit too thick for my liking. I let the dough sit in the blender until I was ready to spread it in the hot pan, and next time I will take the dough out of the blender to make it easier to transfer to the pan, as it was quiiite sticky and messy to deal with. But it turned out wonderful and literally all I will change next time is my methods (have the dough ready to go on a plate, and spread thinner in the pan). Thanks for this awesome recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is amazing and so easy and delicious! My husband and my daughter loved it too.
I have celiac and graves and have to eat gluten free so we’ve been making Bob’s Red Mill GF crust and this is definitely tastier and I love how it’s a deep dish in a cast iron 🙂
Will be adding this recipe to my regular favorites.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!!
This is the best pizza crust we’ve ever had! I have been making this recipe for years now– I had it jotted down on an index card. Was planning to make pizza for lunch and panicked, thinking I lost it. I searched the internet for ages looking for this recipe. Finally found the index card (tucked away inside another folded up recipe card, oops!) and came to bookmark this page. This crust is so easy and so delicious. Thank you from our whole family for this recipe!!!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!!