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This paleo pizza 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!

A whole paleo pizza recipe crust with a slice cut out

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I feel like this recipe is the food blog equivalent of a mic drop.

It’s real damn pizza. It’s not even that: it’s real damn Italian-style pizza. It’s what we ate at the little pizzeria by the Duomo on our honeymoon in Italy; it’s what we fed Leo at that little Italian-owned restaurant on the plaza in Barcelona. It’s that pizza in our minds, with the crust, crisp on the outside and tender on the outside, layered with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, by which we judge all other pizzas.

And it’s paleo. What! How!

A slice of paleo pizza with an airy crust

I’m pretty sure it’s sorcery. And if this perfect paleo pizza is wrong, I don’t wanna be right. There, I said it!

It occurred to me when I was writing my article about how to use cassava flour the other day that, though cassava flour can get a bit sticky on the inside when used in volume, it could make the perfect pizza crust. But I wanted to bloom some yeast and let the paleo flour blend rise, adding to the depth of flavor of the crust, plenty of air pockets, and a tenderness that you wouldn’t get from an unrisen dough.

How To Make It

Essentially, I took my perfect food processor pizza dough recipe and made a few small changes: swap out the all-purpose flour for a paleo blend, focused around cassava flour, add eggs for binding, and a bit of sweetness for the yeast to really bite into. The result was perfection. A crust that was crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, soft but firm, and really relatively easy to work with. I plopped a ball on parchment paper, pressed it out into a thin circle, and slid the parchment paper onto a preheated baking sheet in the oven. Tada!

Paleo pizza crust with dairy free mozzarella and basil leaves

I really hope you try this perfect paleo pizza recipe, so you can share in the excitement! Make sure, in your dumfoundedness, you snap 6-7 different angles of the crust and tag me in them. I’m right there with you! How is this real life?!

What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • The paleo pizza dough creates a crust that’s light and airy yet chewy. Just like regular ol’ gluten-laden pizza!
  • It uses yeast to create a paleo pizza dough that really rises, and it smells amazing.
  • The dairy-free “fresh mozzarella” is easy to make and melts and stretches like real mozzarella.

Variations

  • Top this paleo pizza crust with dairy-free “mozzarella” shreds, if you prefer, or you can leave the cheese off entirely!
  • Use real mozzarella if you tolerate it well. Raw if you can find it. It’s an amazing combo!
  • Finish the pizza with whatever creative toppings you’re into. We like anchoves, pepperoni, and pickled jalapeño slices. Or crack on egg on it – so good!
  • Grill your pizza: preheat a pizza stone or baking sheet on the grill. Make the pizza as directed but cut the parchment paper down to close to the pizza dough’s size after topping. Slide the prepared pizza onto the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet and cook with the lid closed about 7 minutes, or until the crust has risen and there are dark spots on the “cheese.”
A slice of paleo pizza with an airy crust
A slice of paleo pizza with an airy crust

Tips

  • This paleo pizza dough recipe will not look like a regular ball of pizza dough. It’s going to look like a thick cake batter, but that’s totally OK!
  • Make sure you sprinkle lots of cassava flour on top of the paleo pizza dough when you’re forming the crust. It will be very sticky otherwise.
  • Preheat a baking sheet in the oven then carefully slide your paleo pizza, with the sauce, cheese, and toppings, from parchment paper on one baking sheet to the preheated baking sheet. Check out my video below to help understand that process. Baking on a preheated sheet makes all the difference in that authentic taste!

How To Make It

Bloom your yeast: stir the yeast and honey into the warm water and let sit until foamy and fragrant, about 10-20 minutes.

Bloom yeast with water and honey

In a food processor fitted with the dough blade, combine flours and salt and pulse to combine. Then stir in the bloomed yeast and olive oil and pulse until combined. Add in eggs and process until smooth like a cake batter, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary. Transfer mixture to a medium or large mixing bowl; cover with a clean dish cloth and let sit in a warm place 60-90 minutes.

Combine flours, olive oil, salt, yeast mixture, and eggs in food processor
Process until smooth like cake batter

Meanwhile, make your dairy-free fresh mozzarella: combine all mozzarella ingredients in a high-speed blender, preferably a personal blender container, as this makes it easier to get a very smooth texture. Blend on high speed then transfer to a saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly. It will become clumpy and might even appear to seize up, but keep whisking! It will turn into a thickened, gooey texture. When this happens, continue to whisk for another minute. Transfer to a jar and chill.

Blend together mozzarella ingredients then heat and whisk constantly

Preheat oven to 500º F with a baking sheet, turned upside down, in the bottom 1/3 of the oven.

After 60-90 minutes, your paleo pizza dough should have risen a bit, but it will not be doubled in size. Divide the dough into two equal parts and, working with one half at a time, scrape out onto a piece of parchment paper about the size of a baking sheet. Sprinkle with plenty cassava flour and pat into a disc, about 1/2 inch thick.

Pat out half of paleo pizza dough

Using the back of a spoon, spread tomato sauce onto paleo pizza crust, leaving about 3/4″ inch for crust. Using a disher, scoop out little balls of “mozzarella” and place evenly around the crust, or sprinkle liberally with shredded cheese. Sprinkle with dried oregano and freshly cracked black pepper then place fresh basil leaves around.

Spread sauce on paleo pizza crust
Use a disher for dairy-free cheese on top of paleo pizza crust

Slide the prepared pizza, on the parchment paper, onto a baking sheet, turned upside down.

Slide prepared pizza onto overturned baking sheet

Open the oven and gently slide the prepared pizza with parchment paper onto the preheated baking sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes or until cheese has a couple dark spots and crust has risen a bit.

Slide pizza on parchment onto preheated overturned baking sheet

Carefully remove, leaving baking sheet in to retain heat for the remaining pizza, and use a pizza cutter to cut into slices after a few minutes of resting time. Repeat with remaining paleo pizza.

Cut paleo pizza into slices

What If the Dough Is Too Runny?

It’s important that you follow the recipe exactly and use the exact amount of arrowroot, almond flour, and cassava flour specified. That said, it will not look like a ball of dough. Instead, the dough, prior to rising, will look like soft serve or a thick cake batter. Gluten is what makes regular pizza dough ball together, and we ain’t using any of that! So it will not be a ball, but it should not be like soup, either. If your is like soup, you’ve almost certainly included the wrong measurement of an ingredient. I’ve tested this recipe multiple times and have the same result each time.

Perfect paleo pizza dough

It’s also important to bloom the yeast properly. It will take about 20 minutes, but this will help with the consistency and taste, too.

Can I use any kind of cassava flour?

I’ve only used Anthony’s but I’ve heard it works well with Otto’s, too! That said, I love Anthony’s in general and think you should stock up on their cassava flour. It’s affordable and consistent in my experience.

Other Recipes You’ll Love

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik
4.99 from 53 votes

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

Prep 30 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Rise Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total 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! 
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

Dairy-Free Fresh Mozzarella

Paleo Pizza

  • extra cassava flour for dusting
  • cup tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • fresh basil leaves
  • pepperoni or other toppings
  • 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 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 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

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 Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1sliceCalories: 154calProtein: 4gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 432mgPotassium: 131mgTotal Carbs: 22gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gNet Carbs: 20gVitamin A: 91IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 41mgIron: 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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114 Comments

  1. Hello
    I am excited to make this crust, is this crust supposed to be thin or thick? Also, have you tried adding apple cider vinegar to this recipe for a higher dough rise

    1. Mine comes out nice and thick! It’s quite bubbly and puffy but not like “thick,” which I don’t love. You could stretch it however you like for sure.5 stars

  2. For the cheese can I use arrowroot powder instead of the tapioca flour? If so what are the sub measurements for that? Thanks ?

  3. Had anyone this with omitting almond flour? I have but allergy so I need to sub the almond flour. Curious if the suggestion about adding to the other two flours worked?

  4. This is a good pizza recipe! I used a homemade pizza sauce and put buffalo chicken and spinach on my pizza and it was yummy!5 stars

  5. Hi. I didn’t see your response until I decided to make this a second time. I did bake them partially ahead of time and then topped and baked fully Later. I also froze some and then finished later. They were terrific. I don’t have any to compare with the other way but I’m doing this again. Allows me to be very ready for the next pizza night. We love this recipe. I think I baked the first time for 4 minutes.5 stars

  6. I am wondering about par-baking the crust so it is ready for the full baking in the evening? I won’t have time to prep it for guests….so a make ahead version is what I’m considering. Have you attempted this?

    thanks!5 stars

    1. Hi Anna, I wouldn’t necessarily parbake the crust BUT you could prep it all the way to the baking stage ahead of time, I’d think going even so far as to form the pizza shape, then keep it in the fridge. Let me know how it works for you!5 stars

    1. Hi! I would not sub coconut flour for the almond flour, since that would make it quite dry and grainy. However, you COULD try adding 1/3 cup to each of the other flours and leaving the almond flour out altogether. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t guarantee it’ll be just as good, but it’s definitely worth a shot 🙂5 stars

      1. I have succesfully substituted ground cashews for almond flour…. as well as cornstarch/potato starch in place of arrowroot with awesome results!

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