I made a pizza yesterday. Like, A REAL Thin Crust PIZZA! With one bite I died and went to pizza heaven. Seriously, it blew away all expectations I had for this pizza. It is that good! And EASY! And VEGGIE-BASED (no cauliflower:))! Only 4 INGREDIENTS! Seriously! Can you tell how excited I am? This pizza is for everyone. Your traditional eaters will LOVE it, I swear. Best of all this thin pizza crust secretly is grain and gluten-free, paleo, vegan, dairy-free and healthy. No eggs. No yeast. You’re gonna love it!
What is your all-time favorite pizza? I originally hail from the NYC area (CT to be exact) and NY pizza was where it’s at. I mean it’s world famous right? But I happen to love a little pizzeria in New Haven, CT the most! I’ll get to that in a sec….
As a child I wasn’t much of a pizza fan. I’ve always had a hot and steamy love affair with fresh bread so at the many pizza parties of my youth you could find me peeling off the cheese and eating the bread and crust alone! My friends, on the other hand, would peel off the cheese, and eat that all alone! Haha. The cheese was always so greasy and when the pizza wasn’t super hot and fresh from the oven, the cheese would be a solid gummy and chewy mess, yuck!
Then one day I discovered New Haven pizza- the famous Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana. Now this was the real deal! The crust is intoxicating. The sauce is flavorful and fresh and topped with just a bit of the perfect kind of cheese for the ultimate flavor. Check out their website and if you happen to be in the New Haven area, do yourself a favor and stop (if you can eat wheat occasionally of course), but if you can’t for dietary reasons that is A-OK because I have the perfect grain and gluten-free alternative for you!!
This crust is just like the authentic Italian thin crust pizza. It’s crispy, light, flaky, and has a nice bit of chewiness. Even Cricket, who isn’t a big fan of baked goods (she prefers her meat served straight-up, no fillers!), likes this crust. She stood at attention in front of the oven while it was baking, the wonderful smells wafting in her direction. Unfortunately it was so good I could only sacrifice a small crumb, which she swallowed without chewing and glared at me as to say “where’s the rest mom!?”
When you make the dough it will be sticky, and that is ok! It should look something like this:
And I’ve added a personal-size crust option too in the recipe!
So the main ingredient in this pizza crust is yuca, aka cassava. It’s a starchy root veggie that happens to be the star of this crust. And it’s also healthy, packed with vitamin C and has a low glycemic index of 46 (a white potato is 85). Best of all, cassava bakes up light and crispy, but still has a wonderful chew. You can even fold your slices just like real pizza!
NY Style Thin Crust PIZZA {Easy, 4 Ingredient Veggie-Base Crust}
This AMAZING crisp, flaky, light and chewy NY Style Thin Crust Pizza is intoxicatingly delcious! And it’s super EASY! And VEGGIE-BASED (no cauliflower:))! Only 4 INGREDIENTS! Seriously! Can you tell how excited I am? This pizza is for everyone. Your traditional eaters will LOVE it, I swear. Best of all this thin pizza crust secretly grain and gluten-free, paleo, vegan, dairy-free and healthy. No eggs. No yeast. You’re gonna love it!
LARGE PIZZA CRUST:
- 1 cup yuca (cassava, boiled and mashed)
- ¼ cup light olive oil
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coconut flour (sifted)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
PERSONAL PIZZA CRUST:
- 1/2 cup yuca (cassava, boiled and mashed)
- 2 tablespoons light olive oil
- dash of sea salt (optional)
- 2 teaspoons coconut flour (sifted)
- 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F,
- Peel the yuca and cut into chunks.
- Boil the yuca for 15-20 minutes, or until very fork tender.**
- Mash the yuca in a bowl with the olive oil, use a hand blender or food processor for best consistency (should be smooth and sticky, no lumps).
- In a small bowl mix the coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly into the mashed yuca and form a ball (will be sticky!).
- Place the ball of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place another piece of parchment on top.
- Use your hands to smooth out the dough until it’s about 1/8″ think or less. (very important to get it very thin to ensure crispiness. Dough should be somewhat transparent when it’s thin enough.)
- Remove the top sheet of parchment and place in the oven.
- The large crust will cook for 15-20 minutes and the personal-sized crust for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. I baked it on the middle rack then moved it one rack lower the last few minutes.
- Remove the crust, add toppings such as tomato sauce, pastured-raised cheese (if you eat dairy), veggies and/or meat.
- Place back into the oven for a few minutes until toppings are cooked to desired temperature.
- **note: make sure to drain yuca well before mashing to ensure dough isn’t too wet, and mash while it’s hot otherwise dough isn’t easy to work with.
Hi Kelly! Can’t wait to try your yucca pizza crust. Question…I don’t have coconut flour. Instead, I have Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 baking flour. Will this substitution work? Thanks for your help!
Hey Cheryl! I haven’t tried gluten free flour but I think it should work. You have have to experiment with the amount because coconut flour is very absorbent, and behaves differently than gluten free flour. Make sure to mash your yuca while it’s hot, because as it cools it becomes like more glue-like and is very tough to work with! Add you olive oil to help you mash it up, so it has no lumps, then add the flour at the end and mix it in. I would add a small amount and make a “mini” pizza crust to test it, then add more if needed. Let me know how it works!
I tried this recipe the other night with my husband and it was awesome!! We’ve had some trouble in the area of GF pizza crusts because we are also vegan and most GF crusts also call for eggs! So I was excited to give this recipe a whirl. When I went to Whole Foods to get the yuca they were out, but one of the produce guys told me that taro is really similar. So I decided to give taro a try! I prepared it the same way, chopping it up, boiling it, and mashing it. I also used Bob’s all purpose GF baking flour instead of coconut flour. It turned out so delicious!!!! Thank you for this recipe and next time I will try yuca!! (:
Hi Shelby! I am thrilled to hear you tried it with taro and it worked- awesome!!! So glad you loved it!! K
Can you use Cassava flour instead of cooking the veg and mashing? I have flour but can’t get the veg here.
Hey Mary! Thanks for reaching out! Here is a recipe using cassava flour:http://www.ottosnaturals.com/recipe/2015/12/27/ottos-cassava-ny-style-pizza. I haven’t tried it myself but it looks great. I just found yucca/cassava in the freezer section of my local ALDI, already peeled and chopped in a large bag, so if you have one near by check it out 🙂
I tried your recipe today, but my crust didn’t turn out crispy. The taste was good though.
I don’t know what I missed, but gone try it again.
Hi Marijke! Thanks for reaching out. Was your crust very golden brown in color or more white with golden areas? My best guess is you have to cook it longer, and possibly turn up the temperature a bit. My oven runs quite hot. The larger your crust the longer you should bake it for until it is nicely golden throughout like the picture in the post. You can also flip it over 1/2 way through to ensure both sides are crispy and golden brown. Let me know how it works out (or doesn’t) and I will find a solution. It does have excellent flavor for a veggie-based crust!
This looks awesome! Going to give it a try. Do I NEED to use coconut flour or can I just use regular white flour?
I think regular flour would work… hope it well, and sorry for the late reply!
Hey I’m trying to cook yucca now can dough sit in fridge a couple hours before cooking it? How would I go about this?
Hi! I think it may be difficult to work with the dough if you let it sit. The yucca will get super sticky and dense, which is why I recommend working with it right away. I would say you should at least form the pizza crust, and then chill it. If you chilled it in a ball, you can try to let it come to room temperature and it may soften some, but I am not sure. Thanks! Kelley
This pizza crust is the best! Finally a vegan and gluten free pizza crust! No eggs! And it is exactly the way I like my crust without that awful feeling afterwards. For those who are having trouble finding yucca…look for it in the frozen Latin foods (made by GOYA) and then you don’t have to worry about peeling it! So much easier and always tons in the freezer for multiple pizza nights!
Yeah! I am so happy to hear you love my pizza crust! K
Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe 🙂 Currently boiling yucca! Question though, the recipe calls for baking powder, but the directions say to add baking soda. Which one should i use? I’m going to guess baking soda and go for it, hope it’s right! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Jen. Yes, baking soda, although baking powder would likely be fine as well 🙂 K
I can’t find coconut flour where I am (developing country) but they have almond flour. Do you think that would work?
I do think that should work! Let me know how it turns out 🙂 k
Hi Kelley! I’m so excited to try this recipe. If I use frozen cassava do I need to drain it or do anything else to it before using?
Nope, just boil it, then drain the excess water. I’ve used frozen before and it came out great! K
How long do you need to boil the cassava/yuca so it’s no longer toxic? Thanks!
Hi Julie,
Once it is soft, you can easily stick a fork in it (like a boiled potato) you are good to go! Kelley 🙂
Would it be possible to use white or sweet potatoes in place of the yucca.
Hi Milllie! I’m not sure, as I have not tried it, but do let me know if to turns out! K
I have yuca already peeled and mashed frozen in one pound bags at our local Asian market. Could I use those in place of boiling the yuca from scratch? Would I need to cook it in some way since I won’t be boiling it?
Absolutely! Just make sure you drain it well after boiling 🙂 K