I’ve been following a lectin-free diet for years in an effort to reduce inflammation and feel my best. It’s been particularly difficult to find truly lectin free options when eating out or with convenience foods. Pizza is one of my all-time favorites, but the crust always contains lectins. Determined to create a tasty, lectin-free pizza crust that doesn’t compromise flavor or texture, I tested several alternative flours and binders. Follow along as I work towards perfecting the Lectin-Free Pizza Crust!
What Are Lectins and Why Avoid Them?
Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins found in grains, legumes, and nightshade vegetables. While they protect plants in nature, they cause inflammation when consumed by humans. This inflammation can lead to gut lining damage and other health problems. Originally promoted by Dr. Steven Gundry, people began adopting the lectin-free diet as a way to eat fewer foods high in lectins to promote gut healing and reduced inflammation.
Some people are more sensitive than others to lectins—and symptoms can range from mild bloating to severe digestive issues or autoimmune disease flare-ups. Being on the more sensitive side of the spectrum motivated me even further in finding true alternatives for foods that I love like pizza crust.
Lectin-Free Flours as Pizza Crust Base
Summary of Alternative Flours
Flour Type | Characteristics | Best For |
|---|---|---|
Cassava Flour | No lectins, neutral taste, great structure and binding | Structure and binding |
Coconut Flour | High absorption, mild sweet flavor, good texture and binding | Texture and flavor |
Almond Flour | Nutty aroma, slightly dense and oily texture | Nutty aroma and texture |
Sunflower Seed Flour | Gritty texture, good binding ability for nut allergies | Nut allergy safe binding |
Tigernut Flour | Digestive resistant starch, creamy nutty flavor, gut healthy | Gut health and flavor |
When trying to recreate something like pizza crust without using wheat, I first had to research different alternative flours:
- Cassava Flour: Made from starchy cassava tuber root containing no lectins., it’s become popular within many grain-less recipes providing great structure and binding ability while remaining neutral in taste.
- Coconut Flour: Coconut flour tends to soak up a lot since it contains lots of natural fiber—so balance is key! With its mild sweet coconut flavor it adds nice texture while helping bind together.
- Almond Flour: With its pleasant nutty aroma and slightly dense texture from the skins of sweet almonds, it tends to be a bit heavy and oily on its own.
- Sunflower Seed Flour: For individuals with nut allergies looking for lectin-free options, sunflower seed flour is a great alternative. While having more “gritty” texture, it provides nice binding ability.
- Tigernut Flour: Although its price tag may be higher than others, tigernut flour provides digestive resistant starch while remaining gut healthy. Made from a tuber it has a creamy, nutty flavor.
In addition to alternative flours, I explored many binders and egg replacements so that the lectin free crust could also be made on its own. These necessary ingredients help hold the pizza dough together without any gluten properties from wheat. We can use psyllium husk powder, chia seeds, flax meal, or xanthan gum to achieve a similar stretchy texture that gluten has. Then as for eggs? Apple sauce, banana, and chickpea liquid from canned garbanzos can replace them too. This is how the recipe becomes vegan.
A lot of oils, nut butters, nut milks, coconut products and starches add moisture and fat to balance drying flours.
Perfecting Ratios
At first, my attempts focused on simple flour swaps with only single ingredients. But after one bite I quickly realized this didn’t do much besides change a burnt taste into something else unpleasant. Instead of a tenderly chewy crust like regular bread filled with gluten it was bland like cardboard but sandy in texture.
Cassava flour crust came out too brittle and biscuit-like. Coconut flour alone turned dry and fell apart. Almond flour tended to be heavy and oily.
So after being frustrated at how simple swaps weren’t enough I soon learned I need to perfectly balance everything by combining multiple flours instead of just one so that they can replicate what each other lacks.
As for wetness you need to measure by weight since volume isn’t always accurate when it comes to food measurements like flour or water due to density differences some will naturally take up more space than others which then leads us further away from exact numbers resulting in off results.
Below is an example of adjustments I slowly made over multiple lectin free pizza crust experiments:
Summary of Recipe Attempts
Attempt | Combination | Result |
|---|---|---|
1 | Cassava flour only | Too delicate, crumbles easily |
2 | Cassava + coconut flour | Better binding but very thick, dry texture |
3 | Cassava + coconut flour + psyllium | Improved flexibility but psyllium gives odd flavor |
4 | Cassava + coconut flour + flax meal | Nice tender texture but won't stretch, cracks while rolling out |
5 | Cassava + coconut flour + xanthan gum + applesauce | Starts to mimic stretchy glutinous properties |
- Attempt 1: Cassava flour only – too delicate, crumbles easily
- Attempt 2: Cassava + coconut flour – better binding but very thick, dry texture
- Attempt 3: Cassava + coconut flour + psyllium – improved flexibility but psyllium gives odd flavor
- Attempt 4: Cassava + coconut flour + flax meal – nice tender texture but won’t stretch, cracks while rolling out.
- Attempt 5: Cassava + coconut flour + xanthan gum + applesauce – starts to mimic stretchy glutinous properties!!
I have a good half dozen trials in the books and that’s what it took to find the right combinations of flour, binders, and moisture. If you don’t reach your ideal crust then just keep going as true success is out there.
Best Lectin Free Pizza Crust Recipe
After lots of experiments finally producing mediocre to decent results I was so happy when I stumbled on the following winning recipe for lectin free pizza crust. Being someone who doesn’t like making things too complicated I made sure this didn’t contain any strange ingredients so you should already have them stocked in your pantry.
Yield: 10-12 inch crust
Dry ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups cassava flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- 2 eggs (or 2 Tbsp apple sauce for vegan)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil (or melted refined coconut oil)
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly coat a pizza pan with coconut oil.
- In one bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients together.
- Add wet mixture to dry and stir with rubber spatula to form very soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Place the dough ball on floured parchment and top with another sheet of parchment. Gently roll out to desired crust thickness, 10-12 inches wide.
- Carefully transfer rolled crust to the prepared pizza pan, removing top parchment layer first.
- Use a fork to poke holes across the raw crust. Bake for 10-12 minutes until starting to look set but not overly browned.
- Remove the semi-baked crust from the oven and add desired toppings. Return to the oven and bake for another 12-15 minutes, until the toppings cook through and the crust forms a nice golden color underneath.
- Allow it to cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can freeze the baked crust and the topping separately then reheat to serve later.
This lectin free pizza crust recipe strikes a nice balance with protein from egg and almond flour, tender but sturdy texture from cassava flour, coconut flour binding properties, and xanthan gum adding that stretchy “gluteny” quality to mimic traditional pizza texture. The liquid mixture keeps things moist without getting soggy.
Baking the crust pre-toppings allows moisture to gently escape, preventing a gummy center layer while still keeping outside tender. This also mimics takeout pizza textures more closely. The base holds up nicely to piling on sauces, cheese and low lectin toppings like mushrooms, onions, peppers, Italian chicken sausage, bacon, etc.
I like rolling the crust out on parchment paper for easy transfer to the pan versus trying to stretch dough directly into shape. Troubleshooting tip: If dough cracks while rolling or transferring, just pinch it together after lining the pan. Imperfections get covered once you load on toppings!
While this lectin free pizza crust recipe works excellently for classic Italian pies, I’ve also experimented with crossover flavors.
Some winning combinations I’ve done include:
- Thai chicken pizza with peanut ginger sauce
- Mexican ranchera with beans, corn, peppers
- Greek style with tzatziki sauce, artichokes, spinach
- Barbecue sauce base with chicken, red onion, cilantro
The mild flavor lends itself well to customization once you get the basic method down.
Troubleshooting Lectin Free Pizza Crust Challenges
As with traditional glutinous dough, atmospheric factors beyond your control can throw off results batch to batch. Here are some common challenges I’ve faced in my lectin free pizza quest along with troubleshooting tips:
1. Problem: Wet, gummy textured crust
Fix: Add a bit more flour and reduce baking pan size to increase thickness
2. Issue: Dry, cracked crust
Solution: Spritz with oil spray and wrap well with foil while pre-baking to retain moisture.
3. Dilemma: Sticks to baking pan
Help: Avoid over-flouring pan, allow to cool before removing, use parchment to prevent sticking.
4. Concern: Doesn’t crisp up enough
Trick: Broil 2-3 minutes after baking to crispen exteriors.
5. Problem: Falls apart when transferring parchments
Fix: Use pizza peel equipment instead to smoothly slide onto oven hearth.
While usually an absorbent paper, I’ve had occasions where parchment bonded fiercely to particularly moist pies. This required exasperating scraping to serve nice slices. Metal pizza peels solve this elegantly. Beyond equipment considerations, weather can really impact lectin free dough consistency day to day. I notice significantly drier crusts baking during cold low humidity months compared to hot humid summers where moisture gets trapped despite matching recipes. Don’t hesitate to tweak liquids slightly batch to batch for best results!
Serving and Storing Lectin Free Pizza
One of the great advantages of making your own lectin free pizza crust is enjoying it perfectly fresh minutes after emerging hot from the oven! That said, life often calls for shortcuts, so properly storing leftovers ensures grabbing tasty convenient meals later without wasted ingredients.
Here are my best practices for serving and saving lectin free pizza:
For prettier presentation, garnish the crust edge with olive oil and chopped parsley. Use a rocking pizza cutter for the cleanest cuts.
- Let the slices cool at least 5 minutes before eating to avoid mouth burns.
- Individual slices should be wrapped well in parchment paper to keep it fresh and prevent soggy fridge exposure.
- To achieve a crisp reheated texture, place single portions on small pans and reheat in the oven at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
- Freeze sliced pies in single layers separated by parchment sheets for easy grabbing later. They won’t stick together.
- Defrost frozen slices still wrapped in the fridge overnight before reheating to avoid moisture shock.
If properly stored, this lectin free crust will stay fresh for 3-5 days refrigerated. It can also be kept frozen successfully for about two or three months until noticeable flavor or texture declines. With that being said taking extra steps is necessary if you’re trying to make a quick lectin free pizza all week without the sogginess!
Final Takeaways on My Lectin Free Pizza Journey
It took some genuine effort to find a lectin free crust alternative as good as wheat! But after deep digging through literature and extensive kitchen experimentation friends and family agree this recipe produces an edible pie with light crispy edges that are soft yet firm once bitten into – it mimics the real deal closely enough.
I hope my detailed experimenting process helps inspire you to find your own alternatives too! Most food cravings can be quelled with homemade recipes that cater specifically to your allergies without sacrificing much flavor and texture along the way – just takes creativity and persistence. Grab your lab coats and let’s get baking! Best of luck finding your own lectin free gems!
