Dairy Free Paleo Pizza with Cassava Flour Crust

The Ultimate Paleo Pizza: A Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Revelation

Craving authentic pizza while adhering to a paleo lifestyle? This revolutionary paleo pizza recipe delivers! Crafted with a unique blend of almond flour, cassava flour, and activated yeast, the crust achieves that sought-after airy, chewy texture with a delightfully crisp exterior, mirroring the experience of traditional, gluten-laden pizza. To elevate this masterpiece, we’ve included instructions for a homemade dairy-free fresh mozzarella that melts beautifully and stretches like the real deal, transforming your paleo pizza into an unforgettable culinary delight.

A whole paleo pizza recipe with a slice cut out, showcasing a perfect crust and dairy-free mozzarella

Why You’ll Fall in Love with This Paleo Pizza Recipe

For those of us who have embraced the paleo lifestyle, the dream of a truly satisfying pizza often feels out of reach. We’ve tried countless crusts – some too dense, others too crumbly – always yearning for that perfect balance of crispness and chew that defines a great pizza. Prepare yourself, because this recipe isn’t just good for a paleo alternative; it’s genuinely great pizza, period. This isn’t just another grain-free compromise; it’s a culinary triumph that will make you question everything you thought you knew about healthy eating.

Imagine biting into a slice that transports you back to a quaint pizzeria in Italy, where the crust is perfectly thin and crispy, yet tender and airy on the inside. This is the exact sensation this paleo pizza delivers. We’re talking about a crust that holds up to generous toppings, boasting a delightful yeast-risen flavor that’s both complex and utterly craveable. Paired with our incredible dairy-free mozzarella, which mimics its traditional counterpart in melt, stretch, and flavor, you get a pizza experience that rivals the best, without any gluten or dairy guilt.

What makes this recipe truly revolutionary is its ability to defy expectations. It’s the kind of dish that makes you exclaim, “How is this paleo?!” It’s a testament to thoughtful ingredient pairing and technique, proving that you don’t have to sacrifice taste or texture to eat healthily. Whether you’re fully paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, or simply looking for a delicious and wholesome pizza option, this recipe is a game-changer. Get ready to experience true pizza joy, reimagined for a healthier you.

A close-up of a slice of paleo pizza, highlighting its airy and chewy cassava flour crust

The Magic Behind This Grain-Free Pizza

The secret to this incredible paleo pizza crust lies in the masterful combination of flours and the power of yeast. While developing recipes with cassava flour, I noticed its unique sticky quality when used in volume – a characteristic that struck me as potentially perfect for a pizza dough. Unlike many grain-free flours that can result in dense or brittle crusts, cassava flour offers a fantastic base for chewiness. By blending it with almond flour and arrowroot powder, we create a balanced texture that is both pliable and robust.

But the true magic comes from incorporating yeast. Blooming the yeast and allowing the paleo flour blend to rise is critical. This process doesn’t just add a beautiful depth of flavor to the crust; it creates countless air pockets, resulting in a tender, light, and airy interior that you simply won’t achieve with an unrisen, gluten-free dough. This commitment to traditional pizza-making techniques, adapted for paleo ingredients, is what sets this recipe apart, delivering a truly authentic pizza experience.

Paleo pizza crust topped with dairy-free mozzarella and fresh basil leaves, ready to bake

What Makes This Paleo Pizza So Good

  • The Paleo Pizza Dough is Unparalleled: This innovative recipe yields a crust that is both light and airy, yet wonderfully chewy – a texture often elusive in gluten-free and grain-free baking. It truly rivals the experience of traditional, gluten-laden pizza.
  • Real Yeast, Real Rise, Real Flavor: Utilizing yeast allows this paleo pizza dough to achieve a significant rise, creating a crust with an incredible depth of flavor and an irresistible aroma that fills your kitchen.
  • Melt-in-Your-Mouth Dairy-Free Mozzarella: Our homemade “fresh mozzarella” is surprisingly easy to prepare and, most importantly, melts and stretches just like genuine mozzarella, providing that essential gooey topping for your pizza.

Creative Variations for Your Paleo Pizza

  • Choose Your Cheese: If you prefer a ready-made option, top this paleo pizza crust with store-bought dairy-free “mozzarella” shreds. For those who tolerate dairy, authentic mozzarella (raw if possible for maximum flavor) creates an amazing, rich combination. Of course, you can always enjoy it cheese-free!
  • Customize Your Toppings: Unleash your creativity with toppings! We adore classic pepperoni, savory anchovies, and a kick from pickled jalapeño slices. For a gourmet touch, crack an egg directly onto the pizza during the last few minutes of baking for a runny yolk masterpiece.
  • Grill for Perfection: Elevate your pizza experience by grilling! Preheat a pizza stone or baking sheet on your grill. Prepare the pizza as directed, then trim the parchment paper close to the dough’s edge after topping. Carefully slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or sheet, close the lid, and cook for about 7 minutes, or until the crust is risen and the “cheese” shows delightful dark spots.
A slice of paleo pizza with an airy and chewy crust, topped with fresh basil and dairy-free mozzarella
A close-up of a paleo pizza slice, emphasizing the perfect rise and texture of the gluten-free crust

Essential Tips for Paleo Pizza Success

  • Dough Consistency is Key: Don’t be alarmed! This paleo pizza dough recipe will NOT resemble a traditional ball of wheat-flour dough. Its pre-risen consistency will be more like a thick cake batter or soft-serve ice cream. This is perfectly normal and expected due to the absence of gluten.
  • Flour for Easy Handling: Cassava flour can be quite sticky. When you’re forming the crust, be sure to generously sprinkle extra cassava flour on your hands, the parchment paper, and the dough itself. This will prevent sticking and make the dough much easier to manage.
  • Preheat for the Perfect Crisp: The secret to an authentic, crispy crust lies in a blazing hot surface. Always preheat a baking sheet (upside down) in the oven at 500°F (260°C) for at least 30 minutes before baking. Carefully slide your prepared pizza, still on the parchment paper, from a cool baking sheet directly onto the preheated one. This crucial step makes all the difference in achieving that desired authentic crispness.

How to Make This Perfect Paleo Pizza

Creating this paleo pizza involves a few key steps, each contributing to the exceptional flavor and texture. We start by activating the yeast, a process known as “blooming,” which ensures our grain-free crust will rise beautifully. Then, we combine our special blend of paleo flours with the bloomed yeast and other wet ingredients to form a batter-like dough. While the dough rises, we prepare our fantastic dairy-free mozzarella, ensuring it’s ready to top our masterpiece. Finally, we assemble and bake on a preheated surface to achieve that perfect crispy crust.

Yeast and honey blooming in warm water for paleo pizza dough

This method, while slightly different from traditional pizza making, is surprisingly straightforward and incredibly rewarding. The inclusion of eggs provides necessary binding in the absence of gluten, while a touch of honey feeds the yeast, enhancing both the rise and the depth of flavor in the crust. The result is a paleo pizza that is crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and remarkably easy to work with once you understand its unique consistency. You’ll be amazed at how simple it is to transform these wholesome ingredients into a truly satisfying pizza.

Combining flours, olive oil, salt, yeast mixture, and eggs in a food processor for paleo pizza dough
Paleo pizza dough processing until smooth like cake batter
Blending dairy-free mozzarella ingredients and heating them until gooey
Patting out half of the paleo pizza dough onto parchment paper
Spreading tomato sauce onto a paleo pizza crust
Using a disher to place dairy-free cheese on paleo pizza crust
Sliding prepared paleo pizza onto an overturned baking sheet
Gently sliding paleo pizza on parchment onto a preheated overturned baking sheet in the oven
Cutting the cooked paleo pizza into slices after resting

Paleo Pizza Dough FAQs

What If the Dough Is Too Runny?

It’s absolutely critical to follow this recipe with precise measurements, especially for the arrowroot powder, almond flour, and cassava flour. These specific ratios are what give the dough its unique, workable consistency. Remember, this dough will *not* resemble a traditional ball of wheat flour dough. Because it’s gluten-free, it won’t form that elastic, cohesive ball you might be used to. Instead, the dough, prior to rising, should look like a thick cake batter or soft-serve ice cream – that’s the correct consistency for this paleo crust. If your dough is significantly thinner, like soup, it almost certainly means there was an incorrect measurement of an ingredient. I’ve rigorously tested this recipe multiple times to ensure consistency. Also, ensure your yeast is properly bloomed and very foamy, which usually takes about 20 minutes, as this contributes to the dough’s texture and flavor.

Perfect paleo pizza dough with a soft, batter-like consistency

Can I use any kind of cassava flour?

While I’ve primarily achieved excellent results using Anthony’s brand cassava flour, I’ve heard positive feedback about Otto’s Naturals cassava flour as well. Cassava flour brands can vary slightly in their absorbency and texture, so consistency is key. I personally recommend stocking up on Anthony’s cassava flour; in my experience, it’s consistently reliable and an affordable option for all your paleo baking needs. If you choose to experiment with other brands, you might need slight adjustments to the liquid content to achieve the desired batter-like consistency.

Other Paleo & Whole30 Recipes You’ll Love

  • Perfect Grilled Pizza (non-paleo)
  • Whole30 Zuppa Toscana
  • Bruschetta Chicken (Whole30, Paleo)
  • Whole30 Caesar Dressing
  • 40 of the Best Paleo Recipes Around
  • Paleo Chinese Chicken Salad (Whole30)
  • Breakfast Egg Roll in a Bowl (Whole30, Paleo)
A whole paleo pizza recipe crust with a slice cut out
Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
4.99 from 53 votes

Perfect Paleo Pizza (Cassava Flour Pizza Crust and Dairy-Free Mozzarella)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rise Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
A paleo pizza and dough recipe tastes just like the real thing! Made with almond flour, cassava flour, and yeast, the crust has an airy, chewy texture, and it’s surprisingly easy to make. This paleo pizza recipe is topped with a dairy-free fresh mozzarella that melts and stretches!

Cheryl MalikCheryl Malik

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16 slices

Equipment

  • Medium bowl
  • High-speed blender
  • Medium saucepan
  • Whisk
  • Jar or other container
  • Food processor with dough blade
  • Large bowl
  • Baking sheets (2)
  • Disher
  • Parchment paper
  • Tongs
  • Pizza cutter

Ingredients

Paleo Pizza Crust

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 ¼ cups warm water
  • 1 ⅓ cups cassava flour
  • ⅔ cup almond flour
  • 1 cup arrowroot powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Dairy-Free Fresh Mozzarella

  • ½ cup raw cashews (soaked in hot water 4 hours if not using a high-speed blender)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons tapioca starch
  • 1 cup water

Paleo Pizza Toppings

  • Extra cassava flour (for dusting)
  • ⅔ cup tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Pepperoni or other toppings (optional)
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in warm water. Let stand until super foamy, doubled in size, and very fragrant, about 20 minutes.

For the Dairy-Free Mozzarella

  • Combine all mozzarella ingredients in a high-speed blender and process until completely smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly. The mixture will become clumpy and will possibly seize up, but keep whisking! It will become smooth again. When it does and is thickened, whisk another minute, then transfer to a jar and chill while you continue with the recipe.

For the Pizza Crust Dough

  • Once your yeast has fully bloomed, make the pizza dough. With the dough blade fitted on your food processor, combine almond flour, cassava flour, arrowroot, salt, and olive oil in the food processor bowl. Attach lid and pulse a couple times to combine.
  • Pour in yeast-water mixture and process until smooth and well combined. Add eggs and process until combined, scraping down the sides occasionally, if necessary. Process for 60 seconds to knead dough, then scrape out into large bowl.
  • Let rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until increased in size (It will not double). While dough is rising, prepare any pizza toppings.

For the Pizza

  • Once dough has risen for 60-90 minutes and has increased in size, preheat oven to 500º F (260°C) and insert a baking sheet upside down on the lowest rack.
  • Divide dough into equal halves. Scrape one half onto a sheet of parchment paper and cover with cassava flour. Pat out into an even circle about ½” thick.
  • Spread half of the tomato sauce on the pizza dough, leaving a thin crust. Remove your paleo fresh mozzarella from the fridge and drop spoonfuls onto the tomato layer as shown. I use a small disher and it works perfectly. Grind fresh black pepper over the mozzarella and sprinkle with dried oregano.
  • Slide the parchment paper (with the pizza) onto an upside-down baking sheet then carefully slide the parchment paper (with the pizza) onto the preheated upside-down baking sheet in the oven.
  • Bake for 6-8 minutes or until crust begins to brown. Remove from oven by carefully pulling parchment with pizza onto a cool baking sheet using tongs. Repeat process with remaining pizza crust.
  • Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves randomly over entire cooked pizza. After resting a few minutes, slice into 8 slices per pizza and serve.

Video Tutorial

Recipe yields 2 pizzas with 8 slices per pizza. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving out of 16 using the ingredients listed, not including any toppings besides the mozzarella. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

Approximate Nutrition Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1slice
Calories: 154cal
Protein: 4g
Fat: 6g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 31mg
Sodium: 432mg
Potassium: 131mg
Total Carbs: 22g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 2g
Net Carbs: 20g
Vitamin A: 91IU
Vitamin C: 1mg
Calcium: 41mg
Iron: 2mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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