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
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 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)
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.
Joyce
Best pizza dough I’ve ever made. Super easy. Mine wasn’t as pretty or perfect looking as yours but tasted great. My kids loved it!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Joyce! 🙂
Kayleigh
I’m 12 and this was awsome food for the time of the month comfort food! I’m made your merengues too! They were awsome, this is the only place I will be getting recipes from!!
Sam
Thank you so much, Kayleigh! I’m honored! I’m so glad you have been enjoying everything. 🙂
Kayleigh
Hi, I’m 11 and I loved this recipe! I’m a really advanced cooker, and this was awsome and easy to make!I did your merengues too, those were awsome.
Sam
Thank you so much, Kayleigh! I’m so glad you have been enjoying everything. 🙂
Amber
Delicious recipe!! If you make the dough in advance, how much time should you allow to defrost and/or come to room temp before kneading and shaping?
Sam
Hi Amber! It’s going to vary depending on how frozen or cooled it is. As long as the dough is workable you should be good to go. 🙂
Bethany
If I make these into little heart shaped dough pizzas for Valentine’s Day, would the cook time change fo you think if smaller? I am just going to cook it for the normal 13-15 minutes and see but we love this dough recipe for our normal pizza!
Sam
Hi Bethany! If smaller then the cook time may be reduced by just a few minutes. I hope everyone enjoyed!
Kayleigh
The time won’t need to be lowered, I did heart pizzas and they were awesome cooked for 15 mins! Have an lovely time cooking! Happy V day!
Laura
Hi Sam,
I just stumbled on your recipe this morning, and since I have all the ingredients in my pantry, I tried it for lunch! It is an easy recipe to follow, I used bread flour instead of APF, and you are right, it is super crispy. I also used garlic powder in the dough. My husband and I both loved it. Thank you for this recipe.
Sam
Hi Laura! I’m so glad to hear it was such a success, thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out for you! 🙂
Ashwinie
Finally made pizza successfully thanks to this recipe! Followed the recipe and it came out perfectly! Thank you for this it’s so easy to follow <3
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Nandita Chandanani
I want to double this recipe. Do I have to double all the ingredients?
Sam
Yes, Enjoy! 🙂
Rebekka
I did this last week abs doubled it! It was great
Annie
This is the best recipe ever! We now have a new family favorite!
I made cinnamon rolls with the recipe and they turned out delicious!
Thank you for this fun and easy recipe!!!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Annie! 🙂
Liz
I put all bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast in bowl and mixed
I heated the water to 110-115 and added that to the flour with the olive oil mixed for another 6-8 min them put in oiled bowl let rise about 45-60 min and had wonderful , tasty pizza dough
Jen
Hi! In the end, the crust turned out great the first time I made it. I’m making it again today, but I’ve had an issue both times where the dough after mixing is very, very crumbly and not at all smoothe and elastic. The only thing I did slightly differently, but according to the notes, was that I proofed my yeast in the 3/4 cup of warm water instead of adding it right in. But I shouldn’t think that would matter as far as the consistency of the dough? When I made it last weekend, I ended up being able to kneed the dough and flatten it out just fine after letting it rise, but the consistency of the dough just didn’t work to easily form it into a ball. Any thoughts on why I had this problem? thanks for your thoughts!
Sam
Hi Jen! It sounds like you may be adding too much flour to the dough. You need to add it slowly until it reaches the proper consistency. 🙂
Brock
I’m having the same issue. Just made my ball but the dough was pulling away from the side with only the 1st cup of flour incorporated. Thought to myself well I must have read 3/4 cup of water when it should have been 1 3/4 cups. Double checked recipe and nope I followed it properly. I was able to get it into a ball but I had to knead it quite a bit to incorporate everything. Wonder what’s going on? Could it be the dry winter weather? Should I have added more water when I originally noticed it seemed dry? Will kneading it make it tougher? I’ll update everyone when it’s cooked of the outcome.
Deepika
Amazing recipe!
Morgan
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! One of the easiest dough recipes I’ve ever followed. It was so easy to roll out too. My whole family loved it- It will be my new go to pizza/calzone recipe! Thank you for creating and sharing this wonderful recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Morgan! 🙂
Lauren
I have tried 3 times now doing exactly as described and it fails every time. I don’t know if it’s because of my altitude or something but the dough won’t rise, using the instant yeast. I’m very disappointed.
Sam
I’m so sorry this is happening, Lauren! Is it possible all of your yeast is dead? It should rise if your water is warm enough to activate it but not too warm.
Bella
Hi! I haven’t yet tried the recipe but I’m very excited to! I would like to know if using a damp cloth in place of plastic wrap would work?
Sam
Hi Bella! That should work fine here. 🙂
Mary
I really loved this recipe and would like to use it for cinnamon buns, what do you think?
Sam
Hi Mary! I would actually recommend making my cinnamon rolls recipe. 🙂
Mama Duck
Oh my gosh, this pizza dough is by far my favorite recipe! It’s the best!!! I came specifically to your site because I have made your amazing biscuits in the past, and my whole family loved them! This pizza dough similarly never fails!! We all loved it so much! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with the world because it has created a new tradition in our house: Friday night is homemade pizza night thanks to your dough!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much! 🙂