This is an incredibly easy gluten-free Mashed Potato Pizza Crust that will suit almost anybody with allergies. Yes, you can make pizza out of a potato pizza base! It has a slight, cheesy and nutty flavor and a crispy edge that bakes up beautiful and golden!
POTATO PIZZA CRUST
This is the ultimate gluten-free pizza crust. Why? Because I created it to basically adapt to any dietary need. It is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free option, egg-free, egg substitute-free, gum-free and sugar-free and of course, only 7 ingredients! All of those are usually listed in a pizza crust recipe or especially, a gluten-free pizza crust. It also does not contain 3-4 different flours and gums like pretty much all gluten-free pizza crusts contain! You only need to purchase 1 flour!!
POTATO PIZZA DOUGH
The magic for this potato pizza base…….is potatoes!! A delicious potato pizza dough that is just 4 easy steps: Boil, Blend, Spread, Bake! I love using potatoes in recipes that you wouldn’t normally think to use them. This idea came to me after the amazing success of my Sweet Potato Caramel Muffins. I just had to try potatoes again, but instead in a pizza crust. I have been using Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free pizza crust blend, which is great, but it has 6 flours, 2 gums, sugar, yeast and oil and also requires egg/egg substitute! It is fine for an easy fill-in, but I wanted to create something healthier, easier and much more flavorful. THIS IS IT.
HOW TO MAKE A MASHED POTATO PIZZA CRUST
Here are some images and details to show you what the dough should look like before/after blending and before baking, etc.
WHY THIS POTATO PIZZA CRUST ROCKS
- no bakers yeast or rise time
- gluten-free
- oil-free
- only 7 ingredients (+salt)
- healthy
- sturdy and firm
- holds its shape well thanks to the starchy potatoes
- it’s the perfect potato pizza crust base for my Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce!
OTHER AMAZING VEGAN RECIPES USING POTATOES:
- Vegan Cream Cheese Alfredo
- Low-fat Smoky Broccoli Potato Soup
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Smoky White Bean, Potato and Poblano Pepper Stew
- Sweet Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup
Potato Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 6 medium red potatoes, unpeeled (740g)
- 3 tablespoons (48g) creamy almond butter (or tahini for a nut-free version, sunbutter is not recommended)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (130g) potato starch, not potato flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) superfine oat flour
- Optional for a kick: 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- I use this scale.
NOTE
- This is not a wheat crust and is made without yeast, so don't expect it to rise the same way or have the same light/airy texture of a wheat crust. It is made with mainly potatoes, after all, but so delicious! It is a more dense, thin crust, so, it's not a thick, fluffy type of crust. It is kind of like a giant hashbrown, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside!
Instructions
- It is important to follow each step for the best results. First, add the potatoes to a large pot covered with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 25-30 minutes, until completely tender when pierced. Add them to a large bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Papertowel off any excess water.
- While the potatoes are boiling, combine the dry ingredients into a medium bowl well with a whisk: salt, baking powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, potato starch & oat flour. If you grind your own oats, make sure to only measure out 1/4 cup oat flour. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a pizza pan with parchment paper, do not use foil! Roughly chop the potatoes in the bowl and add them to a food processor and blend until completely smooth. Note: you will likely need to do this in 2 batches, if you don't have at least an 11 cup food processor, otherwise it will overflow. Once smooth, scrape out the potato and measure only 3 cups, in case you have excess. Make sure to level the potatoes off with your finger. Add the almond butter/tahini and prepared dry ingredients to the potatoes and mix very well with a spoon until it all comes together. The dough will be VERY STICKY-it is blended up potatoes, afterall!
- Add the dough to the lined pizza pan and using the back of the spoon, spread it out into a pizza shape around 12 inches or so. Drag the spoon around, focusing on pulling from the center. It will be tricky and sticky, but the key to this pizza is spreading the dough out thinly and evenly, no more than 1/4 inch in thickness, so it bakes properly and cooks evenly. Drag the spoon around the edges to create an indention of sort, so it creates a nice crusty edge. (see photos) Alternatively, you could place a piece of parchment paper on top and press the dough that way, it will look flatter and have less of an edge that way, but it's up to you.
- Bake for 15 minutes (this is the 1st bake). It will be very golden and still soft, but will crisp up at the 2nd bake, so don't worry about it sticking to the paper still at the first bake.
- Now that you've done the 1st bake of your pizza crust, let's add some yummy toppings! If you add veggies, make sure they are partially precooked. I pre-baked my bell peppers at 400°F for 10 minutes. I added BBQ sauce, bell peppers, field roast veggie sausage and olives on top.
- Now, for the 2nd bake! Bake once more for another 10-15 minutes until the crust is very crispy and a dark golden color. Enjoy!
I love the idea of this recipe. Seems a great way to make a crust…not too wet, pre-bake for structure then rebake for YUM!
QUESTION…what is the function of the nutritional yeast in this? It’s a migraine trigger for me. Just wondering if it is for a nutritional boost or more as a binder? What might be a good substitute or alteration in this recipe?
Hi Scott! You can leave it out, it is only there for flavor! It should be fine without it.
OMG, this worked out AMAZING! I did not use any nutritional yeast and didn’t substitute in its place. I used tahini. It was the bomb! The crust made quite a large pizza, and I used the method of putting parchment paper on top to push out the shape. I didn’t get it thin enough, but this didn’t matter and it literally was like deep dish pizza bread. I had pre-baked veggies for about 15 min in a 400˚ oven (tomato slices, red peppers, red onion, tiny fresh button mushrooms and eggplant wedges) before loading on the toppings. I also put some finely diced fresh red onion and fresh minced basil on it after taking it out of the oven. We could only eat half, and then reheated the other half the next day (300˚ for about 20 min) and it was great again. Now I am wondering what else could be made with this crust?!?
Forgot to mention, I used russet potatoes 👍
Thank you Jody for such an incredible review!!
I made the base exactly to your recipe and it came out perfectly. The best texture gf pizza ever. I used mashed sweet potato instead of tomatoes and put peppers and vegan feta on top.
Thank you 🙂
Be aware that some people with Celiac disease are cross-reactive to oats… any other potential substitutes?
I’ve never tried it with anything else, so I can’t say without knowing the results. You could try a gluten-free flour I suppose, not sure.
Buy and use gluten free oats (certified gluten free/not made in factory with gluten, so no crossover)
I’m allergic to oats. Do you chickpea flour or tapioca flour would work?
Tapioca definitely won’t and chickpea will make it much more chewy, so not sure that will work either.
I tried it with chickpea flour and it worked great! Just an update for anyone else needing alternatives.
This was delicious! Definitely something I’ll make again.
Hi – this recipe sounds yummy! Do you know if there is a sub I can use instead of the nutritional yeast and potato starch? Both are forms of MSG and bad for your brain health. Just thought I would ask…thank you!
Hi! I use the Sari brand, it is non-fortified and does not contain msg. As far as potato starch, I’ve never tried with anything else as a sub, so I really don’t know! It’s a big part of the recipe for texture, so changing it probably wouldn’t work out as well. I just can’t say thought without having tested it!
I cannot thank you enough for this recipe. I have had a very extreme version of IBS for 15+ years and am extremely limited in what I can eat. The usual low-FODMAPS diet often prescribed for IBS doesn’t work quite well enough for me – it seems I have to eat no FODMAPS at all, not just “low” FODMAPS. I’ve been working with a dietician; at the beginning, she asked me what was my goal, and I replied immediately that my goal was pizza – the food it turns out, to my great surprise, I miss the most. So now I have achieved my goal! This is the only pizza recipe I have found that includes only ingredients I can eat (except the garlic powder which I’m just leaving out). The first time I made this, I left out the nutritional yeast and the nut butter because I’d never tested either in my diet and both almond butter and tahini have a small amount of FODMAPS, and I used potato starch. I can eat regular tomatoes and cheese so made my own tomato sauce and used mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheeses. It came out great but with a thick crust, which my husband loved, but I prefer a thin one. So the next time I made it with the nutritional yeast, tahini, and corn starch and then it was the perfect thin crust pizza I love and it turns out my colon can handle that small amount of tahini. You have no idea how happy this has made me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I used this brilliant idea/ techniques again: my mom used to cook so called “zrazy” – sort of pies with beef wrapped into fried mashed potatoes. Those were very tasty but too laborious to make.
Tried your approach (lower crust, beef, upper MP layer) . 30 mins and I am done. Almost as good as moms’ for a fraction of effort!
Thank you!!!
Loved this recipe! I substituted the red potatoes for russets, gram flour instead of oat, and chia seeds instead of nut butter (equal parts). It worked out amazingly! Thank you!!
So awesome your subs worked great, thank you Rose!
Second time making the recipe with a few tweaks; I used regular flour, corn starch, and peanut butter as substitutes; and I also replaced a few russet potatoes with sweet potatoes. I really enjoyed the extra flavor dynamic of the sweet potatoes. Very delicious recipes.
That is amazing Nathan! Thank you so much for the wonderful review! Love
I am not a vegan, but I love the idea of using mashed potatoes as a dough. I put normal pizza topping: cheese, salami, pasta sauce…
The result was really yummy… Believe me!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this crust Alex, thank you!
This was absolutely amazing! Made this tonight. Didn’t find the crust too sticky and was able to roll it out without parchment on top. Topped with crushed tomatoes and Miyokos mozzarella….sublime! Thank you so much, Brandi. This one’s a keeper!
Awww this feedback made me so happy, thank you Lauren!
This was absolutely amazing! Made this tonight. Didn’t find the crust too sticky and was able to roll it out without parchment on top. Topped with crushed tomatoes and Miyokos mozzarella….sublime! Thank you so much, Brandi. This one’s a keeper!
Hi Brandi, I made your recipe here with russet potatoes because that is what I had in my kitchen. My crust edges got slightly crispy after 10 extra minutes past the 30 minutes described, but the rest of the pizza crust (bottom of crust) did not get crispy. Is the bottom of crust to be crispy? I would call my crust flexible and soft. The flavor was delicious. I have been looking for a GF crust. Thank you for posting this one.
Hi Patricia! Yeah, that sounds about right, it doesn’t get very crispy on the bottom. If you’d like it to get more crispy, I would lightly brush or spray it with some oil! Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m in Europe and struggling with some of the ingredients. Could potato starch be substituted with corn starch and coconut and almond butter be used?
You can try cornstarch, but it won’t be as fluffy in the middle. Potato starch yields the fluffiest result. Since cornstaach and potato starch weigh differently per tablespoon, the amounts are different. If using a scale (recommended), use the same weight amount of starch. If using cups, the cornstarch would be 1 cup. Are you asking to sub coconut butter for almond butter or a combo of the 2?
Can I substitute russet potatoes for the red potatoes?
I’ve never tried it but think it will work. Let me know if you try it!
Hi Brandi. I used russet potatoes and they worked great. I ended up with extra that I used on some of the pizza as a topping.
I also substituted coconut flour instead of potato starch and had amazing success.
Thanks for this recipe!
Wonderful to hear Jodi!
Made this crust and it was perfection! Substituted yukon gold potatoes instead of red potatoes and brown rice flour instead of oat flour due to available ingredients – everything turned out great.
Thank you for creating this recipe!
Hi,
Can we use regular butter instead of almond butter? I know its not vegan..but I am okay with using butter.
Thanks
Sanny
Hi Sanny, I don’t know, but almond butter, since it is pure nuts, is much thicker and heartier, meaning it doesn’t melt the way butter does, so I don’t know if it would affect the texture or not. You can always try it, I just don’t know if it would work or not.
Brandi, I’ve beem searching for a good crust I can make to use to top a vegetable pot pie- I thought of this one! Any thoughts? Would it work ok?
Hi Allyson! I’m afraid it would be a mess since the batter is like mashed potatoes and very sticky. It also requires two bakes. It’s not a flaky type of crust either, so I don’t think it’d work well here for that case. I am however trying to perfect a basic all-purpose pie crust, so stay tuned!
Hi Brandi! Unfortunately I have developed an intolerance to Nutritional Yeast lately! Is there anything I should sub that with or just leave it out?
Thank you!
Brenda
Hi Brenda, I would just leave it out! It will make the crust a bit more bland, but just load up on toppings and maybe add another pinch of salt to the dough 🙂
your ‘rescue’ pizza is really good, 2 avid potato lovers here an getting things we love in 1 dish
So glad to hear that!
I am allergic to yeast. Can anything be substituted for the nutritional yeast?
Thanks!
Just dont use it and add different kinds of seasons! You can just make it and cook it and it works great for me without butter and all this. I like to have less fat in my diet because to much fat hurts me even if it’s natural.
This turned out perfectly. I was surprised the recipe does not call for peeling the potatoes, but it works!It’s funny you mention the crust doesn’t rise like a crust with yeast because mine came out “puffier” than I like – I think because of the moisture in the potatoes. It wasn’t a “thin and crispy” – and of course it does have a potato-ey taste.These aren’t criticisms! It was a nice change from my usual choice 🙂
I didn’t have any trouble spreading it onto parchment and the times listed worked. I’ve tried replacing the oat flour with an equal amount of brown rice flour with great results.
This also keeps very well for 4 days (maybe more, but mine was gone by day 4), even with sauce and toppings. I topped it with your 5-minute pizza sauce, spinach, and some homemade sausages.
Awesome, so glad it turned out perfectly! Yes, for sure, as I mention above, it definitely tastes like potatoes of course since that is the main ingredient, haha, definitely isn’t meant to be like wheat crust which is what I mean about thin, because it isn’t that same super soft fluffy texture like traditional yeast crusts. Glad it all worked out well and you enjoyed it, thank you Laura!
HOLY MOLY!!!! I was craving pizza and my good friend Estee posted photos of this on Instagram sooooooo I tried it and it’s the BEST vegan pizza I’ve ever made! This crust is freakin AMAZING!! Others tried it and couldn’t believe how good it was and I’m SUPER excited I can satisfy any future pizza cravings!! 😃 👍👍 Who needs gross dairy cheese?? NOT ME!!! ☺️
Awww this comment is like the best ever Penny, thank you so much for leaving this review! It is SO appreciated and your video of the pizza made me laugh so much, I absolutely loved it on Instagram! Thank you so much for making it!!