This healthy gluten-free oat flour pizza crust is quick to make and sturdy enough to hold all the toppings your pizza-loving heart desires. You only need 7 ingredients and one bowl, and you can have homemade pizza on the table in the time it would take to wait for delivery!
I know I share mostly sweet recipes on this little 'ol blog, but if theres anything I love to eat as much as dessert, it's pizza.
My friends, I am a proud pizza slut.
I mean, how could I not be? Bready goodness topped with hella veggies and cheese? Sign me the f*ck up.
Whether it's super refined white flour and greasy packaged vegan cheese, or a nutrient-dense, oil-free, healthy pizza like this one, I. WILL. EAT. THAT. PIZZA.
All (vegan) pizzas are welcome in my belly.
I'm basically telling you all this to say... I've eaten a lot of pizza. I know pizza. I know good pizza. You might say I am a damn pizza connoisseur. So when I tell you this oat flour crust is legit, I mean it.
It isn't overly flavorful, so it takes a backseat and lets the toppings stand out, but it isn't bland or cardboardy.
It's a nice mix of soft and firm (lol 🍆). Not crumbly or dry or cracker-like, and not too soft to support a full load of toppings. This part actually took a lot of work to get right.
The combination of oat flour, tapioca starch, and ground flax seeds is key. On its own, the oat flour doesn't firm up or hold together and you're left with a floppy (flaccid? 🤣) slice of pizza. I ate A LOT of pizza while I was tweaking and testing this recipe, and I'm happy to say I finally came up with the perfect combination of ingredients to make a delicious, supportive crust that has no problem standing up to your favorite pizza toppings.
(Speaking of toppings, if you need a creamy, delicious homemade vegan mozzarella to use on top of this pizza crust, you'll love this nut-free tofu cheese recipe!)
Okay, that's enough for now. I could talk about my love of pizza all damn day, but let's get to the pizza crust recipe!
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Recipe Highlights
- This oat flour pizza crust recipe has no eggs, no dairy, and no oil.
- It's vegan, yeast-free, nut-free, soy-free, wheat-free, and gluten-free (just make sure you use certified gluten-free oats, if necessary).
- Oat flour makes the crust whole grain, higher in fiber, and low-glycemic.
Ingredients
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here's a quick look at the ingredients you'll need to make this oil-free oat flour pizza crust.
- oat flour - make sure you buy certified gluten-free oat flour, if necessary (or certified gluten-free oats if you're making your own oat flour)
- tapioca starch - oat flour is a bit crumbly on its own, so we're using tapioca starch to help the crust hold together and crisp up nicely on the bottom
- ground flax seeds - this also helps the dough hold together and gives it a nice hearty, chewy texture
- baking powder - to give the crust some rise
- salt - to bring out the flavors in the oat flour, flax, and tahini
- water - because you can't make dough without some moisture 🤷♀️
- tahini - replaces the olive oil that's usually in pizza dough, but you're welcome to use oil, if you're not oil-free
(If you love oat flour like I do, be sure to check out all of the recipes that use oat flour, including oat flour carrot cake and oat flour baked pancakes.)
Recipe Steps
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the warm water and tahini.
Stir until a dough forms. Cover the bowl and let it rest.
When the dough is done resting, use your hands or a silicone spatula to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the parchment-lined baking sheet and evenly press it out into a circle. Fold the edges up and over to form a thicker crust along the outside of the pizza.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take the crust out of the oven and add your toppings.
Put it back in the oven to finish baking. When it's done, let it rest for a bit, then slice it up and enjoy.
Substitutions and Variations
The tahini in the recipe is used to replace the oil, so if you're not avoiding oil, you could use an equal amount of olive oil in the tahini's place. You might even be able to use applesauce instead of tahini for a lower fat crust, but I haven't tried this substitution. If you give it a try, leave a comment and let me know how it goes!
If you want to add some flavor, you can add ½ teaspoon of dried Italian herbs and ½ teaspoon of garlic powder for a garlic and herb crust.
Helpful Tips
- The dough shouldn't be too sticky to handle after you've let it rest. If it is, add more oat flour one tablespoon at a time until the dough is easy to work with.
- Because we're pre-baking the crust and adding the toppings after, we'll broil the top to help cook the toppings. Just to be safe, trim the parchment paper around the pizza crust so there's not any parchment sticking out. I've never had the untrimmed parchment catch on fire, but most brands are only approved for use under 400°F and I'm paranoid, so I like to trim it as a precaution.
So tell me, what's your favorite pizza topping combination? My usual is mushrooms and black olives, but I usually try to sneak some greens in there, too. Finely chopped kale is surprisingly good on pizza! I also love caramelized onions. And fresh basil. And broccoli, when it gets all roasty and toasty under the broiler. Ooh, and smoked tofu! (Okay, okay, I'll stop.)
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a rating and comment below, and share a picture on Instagram and tag me @thethrobbingeggplant.
Oat Flour Pizza Crust
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet or pizza pan
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) oat flour
- ¼ cup (28 g) tapioca starch, also called tapioca flour
- 2 Tablespoons (14 g) ground flax seeds
- ½ Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 4 ounces (120 g) warm water
- 2 Tablespoons (30 g) tahini
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, making sure to break up any clumps of oat flour or tapioca starch.
- Add the warm water and tahini to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until it’s thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel and let it rest for 10 minutes while your oven preheats.
- When the dough is done resting, use your hands or a silicone spatula to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the parchment-lined baking sheet and evenly press it out into a circle measuring about ⅜” thick and 9-10” in diameter.
- Working your way around the edge of the dough, fold the edges up and over about ½” to form a thicker crust along the outside of the pizza.
- If your oven has a broiler, trim the parchment to just outside the crust (this step is optional, but recommended). Bake the crust for 15 minutes. While it’s baking, prepare your pizza toppings.
- After 15 minutes, take the crust out of the oven and add your toppings. Put it back in the oven and bake it for an additional 10 minutes (or an additional 15 minutes if you’re not going to use the broiler for the next step).
- After 10 minutes, switch your oven to broil. I use 500°F, if your broiler only has a “low” or “high” option, use high. If you don’t have a broiler, skip this step.
- When your pizza is done baking, remove it from the oven and let it rest on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before cutting it. It’s quite crumbly and delicate right after coming out of the oven, but it holds together wonderfully if you let it rest.
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutrition Disclaimer*
Nutrition information is an estimate. If you are concerned about the accuracy of nutrition information, I encourage you to weigh your ingredients and use a tracking app like Cronometer for more accurate nutritional data.