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 ¼ 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
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The Best Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour OR bread flour¹ divided (250-295g)
- 1 packet instant yeast² (2 ¼ teaspoon)
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛-¼ teaspoon garlic powder and/or dried basil leaves optional
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil + additional
- ¾ cup warm water³ (175ml)
Recommended Equipment
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 ⅓ 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.
Notes
Making in Advance:
To make in advance, let the dough rise covered at room temperature as indicated in the recipe, then deflate it, wrap it tightly so it doesn't dry out, and store in the refrigerator for up to several days or it will freeze for up to a month. Top your pizza off with my favorite, easy, homemade pizza sauce!Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Shelby
Can you bake this on just a normal cookie sheet? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Shelby! As long as it fits on our cookie sheet that will work just fine you may just have to roll it out in a rectangle instead of a circle. 🙂
Carmen
If I need to double or triple recipe how much yeast do I use?
Thanks
Sam
Hi Carmen! You will want to scale up the yeast the same as you scale up everything else. 🙂
Courtney
Perfect pizza crust recipe! I searched for a recipe that was the perfect amount of sweet, salty, and seasoned and this is it! I added a quarter tsp of garlic powder and some Italian seasoning and also prebaked for about 8 minutes. Definitely helped the crust hold up after it was loaded with toppings! I don’t think it would have cooked through without burning the toppings if I didn’t prebake though so I think there should be some sort of recommendation for that in the directions. Otherwise, thanks for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Courtney! 🙂
Heather
I love this recipe. So easy and works every time. I prefer to pre- roast my veggie toppings a little then top the pizza and bake as instructed. It works every time. I am quite boring with my preferred pizza toppings though!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy it so much, Heather! 🙂
Peter Sears
Had this for the first time. Really good. Will try bread four next time cause I like a more crisper crust. Great recipe. Big help!!!!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Peter! 🙂
Marcy
Second time making this pizza dough and it seriously never fails. Even my husband who is probably one of the pickiest people that ever lived loved it! Thank you ❤️ I also love how easy and fast this too. With twin babies and a toddler I need easy and delicious and you got me covered!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy it so much, Marcy! 🙂
Caffedicted
Absolutely fantastic! My little girl was craving for a pizza. She’s allergic to dairy and we don’t get any dairy free pizza where we live, so was looking for a recipe to try at home. Yesterday, I came across this recipe and made it for her today. Trust me she loved it. She says thanks to you, Sam!
Sam
I am so glad she enjoyed it so much! 🙂
GAIL
You state in the instructions we could watch the video to see what is was supposed to look like- but you cut away before we can see the dough (after you have added the water). Seeing it would have helped- ours was very dry at first and we thought we had made it wrong!
Sam
Hi Gail! I’m not sure what you mean here. You can see the dough after I add the water and mix it together before adding the additional flour and then you can see the flour being added to reach the proper consistency. I hope your pizza dough still turned out. 🙂
Ashley M
I kinda agree with the comment. Just looking at the dough in a ball didn’t help much with really understanding the texture. I think maybe if you did a closeup while pulling the dough a little bit longer, it would have helped, as there are varying degrees of elasticity.
Amanda
So easy and absolutely delicious!!!! My husband said we’re never ordering pizza again! =)
Thank you for the recipe!!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Amanda! 🙂
Joe Catoir
Made it several times came out great every time!
Jerry
Excellent recipe .. made it twice so far. I did not use instant yeast so bloomed the yeast, sugar and warm water before adding all the ingredients. I raise it in a bowl over warm water … excellent results!
Bob
I live at 7000ft elevation and used whole wheat flour. I had some trouble with the amount of water. I doubled the recipe to make two pizzas. I kept adding water almost twice the amount in addition to doubling from the recipe. My children really liked it and it was very bread like crust. Maybe it was the flour I used for the increase in water ? It definitely rose fast once mixed. I definitely will make it again.
Sam
Hi Bob! Yes, whole wheat flour is much “thirstier” than all purpose or bread flour, so it makes sense you would need more water. I’m so glad to hear it was such a success, still!
Ingrid
First time making homemade pizza first time. Already have it in the oven along with some homemade hot wings. Thanks for the recipe!!
Sam
You’re welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed, Ingrid! 🙂
Ana G
This will be our first home made from scratch pizza !! so excited to try… Thank you Sam for making it look so easy.! Short and sweet video, right to the point of the matter !!! Happy holidays 🙂
Sam
I hope everyone loves it, Ana! 🙂
Kira McSweeney
Im making this now so wont get it in time. But for future, how thick should the crust ideally be?
Sam
Hi Kira! That’s really a preference thing. Some people like a thin crust so they roll it really flat some like a thick crust so they don’t roll it as flat. It’s the really nice thing about this dough. 🙂
Hey girl
*garlic powder/salt do not kill the yeast!! just try it and you will see*
This is a great recipe! I’m always wary of “the best” recipes, however the glowing real reviews intrigued me. This was my very first time making pizza crust and if I made this work with my blunders, then it’s foolproof!! I used less flour due to high altitude (very dry here, I used ~1 3/4 cup) and I just stopped when the dough seemed the right consistency. I quadrupled the spices i.e I added like 2 TBSP of garlic powder LOL and some other junk and it was great. Perfect texture regardless of spices. Thanks Sam!!
Will be sharing this with others!!
<3
Sam
Woohoo! So glad it was such a success for you! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how it turned out! 🙂
Calli
Hi Sam!
I was planning on using this recipe to make calzones. Do you know if this makes 2 pounds of pizza dough?
Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Calli! I’m not sure how much it weighs but I would think you probably need to double the recipe to get enough for 2 calzones unless you are making smaller ones. If you have any leftover dough you can always turn it into some garlic knots. 🙂