This is the easiest, best pizza dough recipe. With just 6 ingredients and no fancy flours required (I’ve included instructions for using all-purpose or bread flour), this pizza crust requires just one bowl (no stand mixer, though you can use one if you’d like), about 3 seconds of kneading, and just 30 minutes to rise.
If you’re uncomfortable working with yeast or making your own pizza dough at home, I’ll walk you through every step of the process in my video just below the recipe. You’ve got this!
It’s a little silly how excited I am to share this recipe with you today. It’s pizza dough, not exactly glamorous or sexy and it was honestly pretty boring to photograph (how do you make a ball of dough look fun and appealing in pictures, please tell me!).
But as someone who has struggled with baking even the most simple recipes with yeast, perfecting this pizza dough was definitely a triumph for me and I’m really happy to announce that there’s nothing to be afraid of! Yeast baking isn’t all that scary or hard, and you too can make your own super simple pizza crust at home in a matter of minutes, no fancy ingredients required.
I kept this pizza dough recipe as simple and approachable as possible. It’s made with all-purpose flour (and notes on how to substitute that flour, in case you want to get fancy 😉), no stand mixer needed, and only the most minimal amount of kneading required.
Below I’ve tried to ask some of the most frequently asked questions about making your own pizza dough. Let’s get to it.
What is the best flour for making homemade pizza dough?
Many pizza-making-pros will likely argue that bread flour is best for making homemade pizza. However, I rarely keep any flours in my pantry that are more exotic than all-purpose flour, so when I was working on this recipe I first and foremost made sure that it worked perfectly with regular old all-purpose flour.
I did make a point to test this recipe (repeatedly, we ate a lot of pizza last week) with bread flour and it works very well when made that way, too. I find that the biggest difference is that using bread flour gives my pizza dough a crispier crust, while the all purpose flour yields a softer one.
Can I flavor my Pizza Dough?
Pizza dough on its own is obviously important as a base for your favorite pizza, but it’s also kind of… bland. Shockingly, something made primarily of flour and water isn’t super exciting to the taste buds, and most of the flavor will come from whatever toppings you add.
I do usually try to spice up my crust just a bit, though, by adding a dash of garlic powder (usually around a 1/4 teaspoon) and sometimes dried basil leaves (dried oregano could also work for you but I absolutely loathe oregano) into the dough before you add your oil and water.
How do you stretch out pizza dough?
You can use a rolling pin or you can use your hands. If you’re especially skilled, you can toss it up in the air and spin your dough like an Italian pizza artist, but I definitely lack the ability to tell you how to do that one.
I prefer to use a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a circle (or more like an amoeba-shape, since I can’t roll a perfect circle to save my life). Alternatively you can use your hands to flatten and stretch the dough until it reaches the desired width.
Then use your hands to pinch the edges to make a crust or fold over the edges (I always fold mine over because it gives me a thicker crust, which I love), brush the entire surface of the pizza generously with olive oil, and then use a fork to poke holes over the center of the dough to prevent any bubbles from forming while it bakes.
How do you make Homemade Pizza?
You can use this pizza dough recipe to make your own homemade pizza using any toppings you’d like (I love making Margherita pizza and have even made a BBQ chicken version using my BBQ pulled chicken).
I included instructions in the recipe, but once you’ve prepared your pizza dough, just add your favorite toppings and bake in a 425F oven for about 15 minutes (you may need longer if you add a lot of toppings). Do make sure you let your oven preheat properly and use an oven thermometer as possible, my oven takes a while to reach that temperature and usually “tells” me it’s ready when it’s not even close.
OK, are you guys sick of hearing about my beloved pizza dough recipe yet? In case you just can’t get enough, I also made a video just below that you can watch so you can see exactly how your dough should look in every step.
How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough
If you enjoy watching these videos, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel to be notified every time I publish a video!
The Best Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour OR bread flour¹ divided (250-295g)
- 1 packet instant yeast² (2 1/4 teaspoon)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and/or dried basil leaves optional
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional
- 3/4 cup warm water³ (175ml)
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup (125g) of flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. If desired, add garlic powder and dried basil at this point as well.
- Add olive oil and warm water and use a wooden spoon to stir well very well.
- Gradually add another 1 cup (125g) of flour. Add any additional flour as needed (I've found that sometimes I need as much as an additional 1/3 cup), stirring until the dough is forming into a cohesive, elastic ball and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see video above recipe for visual cue). The dough will still be slightly sticky but still should be manageable with your hands.
- Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with olive oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the sides of the bowl.
- Lightly dust your hands with flour and form your pizza dough into a round ball and transfer to your olive oil-brushed bowl. Use your hands to roll the pizza dough along the inside of the bowl until it is coated in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place.
- Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. If you intend to bake this dough into a pizza, I also recommend preheating your oven to 425F (215C) at this point so that it will have reached temperature once your pizza is ready to bake.
- Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth (about 3-5 times).
- Use either your hands or a rolling pin to work the dough into 12" circle.
- Transfer dough to a parchment paper lined pizza pan and either pinch the edges or fold them over to form a crust.
- Drizzle additional olive oil (about a Tablespoon) over the top of the pizza and use your pastry brush to brush the entire surface of the pizza (including the crust) with olive oil.
- Use a fork to poke holes all over the center of the pizza to keep the dough from bubbling up in the oven.
- Add desired toppings (see the notes for a link to my favorite, 5-minute pizza sauce recipe!) and bake in a 425F (215C) preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until toppings are golden brown. Slice and serve.
Edward says
Is salt an essential ingredient? My wife has high BP and we need to avoid salt as much as possible. Thanks in advance.
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Ed. In this case the salt is used for taste. You can omit it. I hope that your pizza. 🙂
Edward says
Thanks for quick reply, cheers 🙂
Brian says
What a great recipe – so easy to follow and my pizza turned out great. I made the dough and the 30 mins resting time was enough to make a quick sauce and prepare toppings.
Thank you so much for sharing – this is a keeper for sure
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so happy to hear that it came out perfectly and you enjoyed it, Brian. Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Dennis baldocchi says
Thanks. Simple, easy and produced delicious pizza crust. I upped the temperature to 475 F as your video showed a pizza not so crusty.
Of all the recipes i have used this worked best for me in time,effort and quality
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed the dough and other recipes of mine that you have tried, Dennis! Thank you! If you like a crispier crust I reccomend using a bread flour next time. I would love to know how it compares if you do try it. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Julisa says
Very easy, simple steps, not a lot of ingredients to which you probably have most at home! Very yummy!!! 100% recommend it!
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you so much for the 5-star review, Julisa! I am happy to hear that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Faith says
I found this recipe some time ago and have been meaning to use it but have not found an opportunity until now to do so. Unfortunately I only have active dry yeast. Assuming I can use it in this recipie, how long should I let it rise, and are there any more tweaks I should make other than a longer time to rise?
Sam says
Hi Faith! You can use the active dry yeast without issue. Most people like to proof the yeast in the warm water before adding it to the flour, but either way will work fine. It will probably take about twice as long to rise, but it’s not really about time. You want the dough to be about doubled in size. 🙂
Faith says
Okay, thank you! I will let you know how it turns out!
Dr Jayanti says
This is the most fantastic recipe that I have followed .. so simply done and superb every time ….my daughters have loved it every time …!!!
Thank you so very much 💕
Sam says
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Shereen Anis says
Hi Sam, I’m going to give your recipe a try because of all the 5 star ratings, but wanted to ask you, if I left the dough to rise for 24 hours, would it make it better?
Sam says
Hi Shereen! I don’t know that it will make it “better” but you can do that if you’d like. It’s a really good dough as you can see from all of the comments. 🙂
Lena Huberman says
This dough recipe is so great- my pizza I made came out like Sicilian style and was just so pillowy and soft with the right amount of golden crust on the bottom. It was devoured quickly. I can’t wait to try it “thin crust” style and with more seasonings.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Lena! 🙂
Brenda says
Fabulous recipe! I’m an experienced cook, but I’ve always had trouble making a pizza dough with which I’m happy. They are always too bready or not crisp enough or too hard. And I struggled to get that good chewy bite. I tried a million things, special flours, overnight rises, different cooking methods, and eventually I just gave up and started buying a dough ball from the shop down the street when I want to make pizza.
Followed the recipe and the video exactly. I broke the resulting dough ball down into four equal balls and baked two of them into medium sized, thick crust pizzas, freezing the remaining two dough balls.
I don’t have a pizza stone currently, so I just formed the pizzas on a thin cutting board lined with parchment and slid them onto a preheated, upside down cookie sheet. They came out GREAT! No more buying dough balls for me! My new pizza stone is on it’s way from Amazon and I cannot wait to pull out the frozen ones and try it out. I’m also looking forward to making the dough ahead and letting it ferment in the fridge a day or two before making the pizza. I love the tang long rises give bread products.
Thank you for a perfect recipe! I was doubting you when I was trying to deal with the wet dough, but I know it works great for chewy artisan loaves, so I stuck with it, and it didn’t fail! Bravo!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Brenda! It’s great when you finally find that perfect recipe. I hope you love it for years to come and it gives your new pizza stone a good workout!: )
Jacob Phillips says
I love this recipe. This is amazing! I am making a buffalo pizza version of one famous dish in France: Confit byaldi known as ratatouille. I’m calling it Buffalo Pizzaouille! Thank you so much😁😁
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoy it so much, Jacob! I love the sound of Buffalo Pizzaouille. It has quite the ring to it. 🙂
Ralph says
I’ve used this dough for pizzas, calzones, stromboli, cheese/garlic bread, cinnamon twists to name a few.
Tweak the dough as needed and by all means have an adult beverage and be creative.
That is all!
Sam says
I am so glad you have enjoyed it so much, Ralph! 🙂
Favour says
Can I use butter in place of olive oil?
Sam says
That should work, but the crust won’t be quite as chewy as it should be.
weiss says
can i keep this in the freezer for future use? tnx 😉
Sam says
Yes that will be fine. 🙂
Iva says
Absolutely perfect!
Simple, basic recipe that tastes yummy and will always turn out great!
I love baking and I’m always looking for basic recipes. My theory is that you have to learn the basics to be able to tweak later and create even better bake-goodies!
Sam, my dear, this one is a winner! Thanks for sharing your tips and experiences with it! 👌😋☺️☺️☺️💕
Sam says
Thank you so much, Iva! I am so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Anne says
I made this just now and by golly it is soo good! I made two batches,coz the first one i made didnt rise as much as i thought it should. I made both doughs into pizza and i should say there ismt much difference.haha. im gonna make it again this Sunday and on the next Sundays to come. Thank you!!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Anne! 🙂