Gluten Free Manakish Za'atar (2024)

By: Sarah NevinsPosted: 2/7/20Updated: 8/27/24

Manakish (also known as manaqish, manaeesh or manakeesh) is a popular Levantine food that’s best described as a Middle Eastern Pizza. It’s often served topped with fresh herbs, cheese, ground meat or Za’atar. Our manakish is made with a simple rice and tapioca flour blend that makes for a soft and chewy base perfect for topping with our easy to make homemade za’atar spice blend. | Gluten Free + Low FODMAP + Vegan Option (just skip the cheese)

So what exactly is manakish?

Manakish is a popular Levantine food that’s similar to pizza or even focaccia. It can be sliced, folded and topped with a number of toppings, though za’atar is probably the most popular.

The word ‘manaquish‘ comes from the Arabic root word ‘naqasha‘ which means ‘to sculp or carve out’. This makes more sense as when you prepare the dough you pat and form the dough into small discs and press into it with your fingertips (as shown below) to create little dips for the toppings to settle into.

Manakish is traditionally served as breakfast or lunch & made from leftover dough from the previous days baking. Small portions of dough are rolled out and made with a variety of toppings like minced lamb, chili, za’atar and cheese.

You can enjoy these sliced and served any time of day. They also make a great appetiser served with a side of hummus and tabouli.

A few things to know about this Gluten Free Manakish

This dough is made from a blend of rice and tapioca flour.
- I haven’t tested it with any other flour blend so I can’t say for sure how substitutes would work. That being said I do think you would be able to use brown rice flour in place of white rice flour and arrowroot starch in place of tapioca flour without too many differences.
- You can use an all purpose gluten free flour blend instead of the rice and tapioca. This recipe is based on my (previous) go-to gluten free pizza crust where I opt to use a GF flour blend. I decided to play around with rice and tapioca because of how much I enjoy the two flours in my gluten free bread recipe. The rice + tapioca combo make for a much softer, pizza like dough. So while you can use a GF blend, I still recommend rice + tapioca.

The dough will look and feel wrong if you’re not used to gluten free bread baking.
- Gluten free baked goods can easily come out too dry. This is because you often make GF goods with a blend of flours. Some flours are more absorbent and require more moisture than others.
- If you try to make the dough more like a regular gluten based dough by adding more flour you’ll end up with a dry, crumbly, inedible bread.
- The dough will look and feel sticky and that’s normal! Oil up your hands while handling the dough to keep it from sticking to your hands.

Do yourself a favour and try making your own za’atar manakish! While they do take a little time and planning, they’re really not that hard to make. Most of the prep is spent waiting for the yeast and dough to rise. No matter the time, the end result is worth it!

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

Yield:5 manakish Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes Additional Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hour 42 minutes

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Manakish (also known as manaqish, manaeesh or manakeesh) is a popular Levantine food that's best describes as a Middle Eastern Pizza.

Ingredients

Dough

1 1/4 cup | 300 ml warm water (about 110°F/43°C)
3 teaspoons white caster sugar, divided
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, ensure gluten free (one packet)
1 1/2 cup |210 g white rice flour
1 1/2 cup | 170 g tapioca flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthan gum (See note 1)
2 tbsp | 30 ml olive oil

Topping

1/4 cup | 60 ml olive oil
6 tablespoons Za'atar Spice
1/2 Shredded Mozzarella (optional, see note 2)

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

Dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in the warm water. Once dissolved, whisk in the yeast until fully combined. Set aside the yeast-water mixture for about 10 minute until the yeast has foamed up.
In a large mixing bowl: Whisk together the rice flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, remaining sugar and salt until well combined.
Pour the foamed up yeast-water into the flour mixture along with the two tablespoons olive oil. Use a large spoon to mix the wet and dry ingredients together until a thick, smooth batter-like dough forms. Scrape down the sides and make sure no flour pockets remain. Your dough will look and feel sticky at this point.
Cover the dough with a kitchen towel, store in a warm, dry place and let rise for 45-60 minutes. The dough should rise in volume by at least 1/3 of its original size. (See note 3)
Preheat your oven to 400°F/205°C. Place a couple of large baking sheets inside your oven to heat up as well.
While the dough is rising, prepare the Za’atar blend. In a small bowl: whisk together the olive oil and Za’atar spice form a thick paste. Set aside until later.
Rip out a piece of baking paper, large enough to fit the baking sheet and lay out on a large, flat surface. Divide the dough between 5 or 6 portions. Scoop the dough portions out of the bowl and plop down onto your baking sheet. Leave about 5 inches in between each portion. You will likely need to divide the dough between two baking sheets.
Get a little bit of olive oil on your hands and pat the dough to form round discs, about 5 inches across. The dough will be very sticky so pat it down quickly to prevent it from sticking to your hands too much.
Once your dough has been formed, assemble the manakish. If you’re using cheese, sprinkle the cheese over the centre of each piece of dough. Spread the za’atar over the cheese (if using) or across the top of the dough. Leave about 1/2 inch around the sides, untouched.
To bake: remove the baking sheets from the oven. Slide the baking paper with the manakish onto the hot sheets and place in the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving and enjoy.

Notes

Note 1: I don't recommend omitting the xanthan gum. If you're intolerant to xanthan you can use guar gum in its place. The xanthan helps hold on to the moisture in this dough - without it the dough stays more like a batter making it hard to form.
Note 2: Skip the cheese if you need to keep this dairy free. You can also use feta or grated halloumi in place of mozzarella if you wish.

Note 3: To create a warm environment I turn on the oven for about 5-10 minutes before storing my dough. Just make sure the oven is off when your place your dough inside. You can also keep the dough stored in the microwave for a dry, draft free environment.

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

Course: MainsCuisine:Levatine

If you like this Manakish Za’atar you might also like my Za’atar Spiced Pasta with chickpeas and Spinach and my Gluten Free Feta Parcels as well!

More Za’atar Recipes:

Za’atar Spiced Pasta with Chickpeas and Spinach
Shirazi Salad (Salad-E Shirazi) – Sprinkle over salads like this for an extra boost of nutrition and flavor!
Mix into breads and biscuits
Sprinkle over roasted vegetables and roasted vegetable stews
Add to homemade crackers and dips
Crispy Roasted Chickpeas

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review!

Amy says
Posted on 8/27/24 at 7:18 am
When do I put in the 3rd teaspoon of sugar? It says divided but then doesn’t give the instructions for that last teaspoon.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 8/27/24 at 9:58 am
  My mistake! The remaining sugar goes in with the other dry ingredients – I’ve corrected the recipe to indicate that now. Thanks for pointing this out to me!
  Reply
Gary says
Posted on 6/4/23 at 3:06 pm
Followed the recipe to the letter but have not seen the dough rise as expected using new yeast. It is rising in the water sugar mixture so that seems ok. Just purchased a proofer to see if that helps reduce the crust on the final dough, maybe my oven was to hot. What happens to the 3rd tsp of sugar? Did I miss it?
Although not yet perfected my GF wife loves it.
As another treat you can mix the sesame seeds with sugar & butter or olive oil for a sweet treat called simsom.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 6/5/23 at 10:44 am
  Hi Gary! If the yeast-water mixture is rising but the dough isn’t, I wonder if it’s due to temperature/environment. If it’s not quite warm enough the dough would need more time to rise.
  One thing you could try: While you’re preparing the dough, set your oven to the lowest temperature to gently warm up for about 5-10 minutes. When you’re ready, let the dough rise in the warm oven. Just making sure it’s turned off first. I do this in the winter when my kitchen is freezing and that helps speed things up. You can also do this with a microwave – turn it on for 30 seconds then leave the dough in after.
  Hope this helps! Glad to hear your wife still enjoys it – so sweet of you to make it for her 🙂
  Also, simsom sounds amazing! Definitely trying that out ASAP!
  Reply
Nicola says
Posted on 12/3/22 at 9:47 pm
It works!
I used brown rice flour instead of white, and tapioca starch instead of tapioca flour (although those are apparently quite similar) and the recipe worked out just fine.
Not as tasty as using wheat flour, but I wanted my wife to be able to try some. And still delicious!
The dough was also very easy to work with. Just needed one hand on the dough and the other with a spoon to round the sides.
I followed the recipe and made 6 portions, around 10-15 cm wide and 1-2 cm thick each.
Reply
See Also
Guide to Gluten-Free Flours - Fork and Beans
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 12/5/22 at 9:05 am
  Yay! So glad to hear you and your wife enjoyed them 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know how it went!
  Reply
DD says
Posted on 7/1/22 at 8:41 pm
Hi! My dough (after mixing all ingredients) came out super dry. I’m concerned because you mention that it should and will be sticky.. I don’t use cups to measure, I use grams and ml.. Are you sure the conversion is correct? At the moment I’m waiting for the dough to rise, but so far it hasn’t.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 7/4/22 at 9:16 am
  Hi DD – That’s not great! I always record both the weight and cup measurements for my recipes when I develop/write them out so the grams and mililiters really should be right. I’m going to make this again today to see if maybe I made an error transcribing the amounts.
  One possible thing to consider that could have been a factor here – what type/brand of tapioca flour did you use? I almost always use Bob’s Red Mill which I have to buy online because our local grocery stores don’t usually carry it. I’ve noticed from reading the amazon reviews of tapioca flour that some brands/types get much worse reviews than others. In theory all flours should be the same if it’s the same thing, but there does seems to be quite a noticeable difference in the quality and outcome of certain brands depending on how and when the flour was processed. This might not be relevant to you if you typically use your tapioca successfully in other recipes, but I thought it might be worth mentioning.
  At any rate – I’ll take another look at this today to see if maybe I made a mistake writing down the recipe somewhere!
  Reply
Rahaf says
Posted on 3/14/22 at 5:33 pm
Wanted to ask if you’ve ever had an issue with the dough being too dry. I added more warm water and got it to the right consistency but when baked it was way too dry and crunchy. I couldn’t get any color on it either. Followed the directions exactly with no substitutions.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 3/15/22 at 11:16 am
  Hi Rahaf! When you say you added more warm water, do you mean you added more water in addition to the 1 1/4 cup (300ml) in the recipe? If so then that will almost certainly be main issue here. Too much water in a bread dough will often lead to hard and dense baked goods. There’s a few reasons for this – one is that it will render the rising agent (in this case yeast) inactive making it difficult for the dough to rise up in the oven.
  Reply
Breanne Cook says
Posted on 12/19/20 at 3:37 pm
Hi there! I don’t use tapioca flour because of its tendency for allergenicity, so could I substitute corn starch for it?
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 12/20/20 at 12:24 pm
  Hi Breanne! The closest substitute for tapioca that I’ve tried here is arrowroot starch. I think cornstarch will work but in my experience cornstarch as a 1:1 swap for tapioca can sometimes make for dryer baked goods. Hope that helps!
  Reply
Karam says
Posted on 8/31/20 at 11:20 pm
Hi Sara, I’m new to the gluten free living style and the first thing that crossed my mind is how the hell can I live without manakeesh. A bit silly. But my question is do they taste the same as the manakeesh made with regular flour?
Thank you.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 9/3/20 at 10:47 am
  Hi Karam! It’s hard to say – manakeesh wasn’t something I regularly had before going mostly gluten free so I don’t have anything recent to compare to. That being said, the flours used in this recipe don’t really give off any taste so it really shouldn’t be much different. Usually when it comes to gluten free adaptations it’s more the texture (and not the taste) that’s different. The flavours that you get from this will more so come from the toppings which are usually naturally gluten free anyway.
  Hope that helps!
  Reply
- Fadi says
  Posted on 4/20/21 at 8:45 pm
  I’ve eaten a lot of manakish in my time, and yes, it is different gluten free. But this recipe is fantastic, tried it once already & they came out perfect. Making it again tomorrow as I’ve just got some more zaatar. If I could choose to eat “real” manakish, I would. But we can’t, and this recipe is definitely the best alternative.
  Reply
Duha Fahmy says
Posted on 6/21/20 at 2:37 pm
I love this recipe. I use an already blended all purpose 1 to 1 flour from Red Mills that already has the xantham gum. The only issues I was having with it was I felt there wasn’t enough salt and the dough kept getting stuck to the parchment paper. So I just generously applied oil all over and removed the parchment sheet all together.
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 6/22/20 at 9:11 am
  So glad you enjoyed it! The salt is easy enough to fix because you can add more next time. As for the stickiness of the dough I’m afraid that’s just how it is before baking. I played around with adding more flour so the dough was easier to handle, but then it just made for drier bread in the end. Great idea with the oil!
  Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how it went!
  Reply
Lina says
Posted on 6/9/20 at 7:28 am
Looks amazing! Is this dough flexible? So if io freeze it then defrost or bake will it be soft?
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 6/12/20 at 9:39 am
  Hi Lina! The dough itself is pretty flexible, but I’m afraid I’m not sure without testing it out/freezing it first. I do think you’d be able to freeze it but I think you would probably need to let it defrost first before baking. I’ll be testing this out myself though as that would be a great thing to know!
  Reply
Yin says
Posted on 2/18/20 at 5:54 pm
Hi- thanks for the recipe . Would like to try it but can i replace xanthum gum or guar gum with something else, can’t seem to find it where we are. Thank you
Reply
- Sarah Nevins says
  Posted on 2/19/20 at 4:37 pm
  Hi Yin! I’m not too sure how comparable the end result would be, but you can sometimes sub guar gum, chia seeds OR ground up flax seed as a xanthan replacement. In this case you would need about 1 tablespoon to make up for the xanthan. That being said, the dough might not come together as well. When I tested this recipe I tried making it without xanthan and the dough looked more like a batter making it much more difficult to shape. You can always add more flour to the dough to make it less sticky, but adding too much flour will make the dough too dry in the end. Just something to keep in mind – sorry I don’t have an easier answer for you! As for where to buy it, Amazon is usually where I end up buying it because it’s not always available in stores near where I live.
  Hope that helps!
  Reply