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.
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.
Zaina
I’ve always wanted to make pizza perfectly and now I can finally do it, thanks to this recipe!
Penneye
Love this recipe! I have it bookmarked and I make it frequently! I usually add more than a pinch of garlic and Italian seasoning to mine though. My husband and I enjoy it so much, I don’t remember the last time I ordered a pizza for delivery! We prefer this! ❤️
Shelly
Best softest pizza dough I ever made !!
Shannon
Excellent recipe! Was able to make 2 individual pizzas out of this. Question: if I want to double the recipe, do I need to double the amount of yeast? Or is 1 packet of yeast enough for, say, 4 cups of flour + 1.5 cups of water?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Shannon! You will want to double the yeast if doubling this recipe. 🙂
Kim
Amazing!
Tiffany D
I tried the pizza crust a couple a of weeks ago. I was very impressed with the turnout of the pizza. It was excellent and really delicious. My family loved it so much. I’ve made it 3 times since. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Tiffany! 🙂
Erica
I add a little bit more garlic powder, because I absolutely love garlic, and then I mix garlic powder and butter for the crust… I absolutely love this recipe so much. It’s the only pizza dough recipe I’ve ever used! And it has worked perfect every time. Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe! I’d definitely recommend it.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Erica! 🙂
Rawan
Soft pizza dough , but I think I need to add more garlic powder next time wasn’t seasoned enough since I didn’t measure it. Thanks for the recipe family loved it
Kristina
Very easy and so much better than frozen! I also took cubes of mozzarella cheese, wrapped the dough around them and brushed with garlic butter. Baked right with the pizza. So yummy!
Juliet
This was amazing! I have 2 boys and one asked for pizza for breakfast. Never one to disappoint, I was open to the idea but didn’t have enough energy pre-coffee to make our normal recipe. I tried this one and it was great. We love thin crust so I rolled out 5 nine inch pizzas and cooked them in the toaster oven at 375 for 8 minutes. I froze the 5th rolled out crust for a quick lunch for one of my boys. If you have kids, this dough is great because you can make it really quickly and the fact that I can easily make 5 personal pizzas that can be frozen and made in the toaster oven by my kids when they are having a craving is amazing. Thank You!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Juliet! I love the idea of freezing personal sized crusts. 🙂
R
Easy recipe. If you like a thin crust, needs to be rolled big and very thin. Also found a longer rise will give you a thinner crust. Good flavor, on the cakey side.
jenny smith
In response to R. Made it for the first time today doubling the recipe and liked the garlic addition.. However, I think I should have kneaded a second time and gone for a second rise because the crust was too thick. First time I ever used parchment paper. I will go back to directly onto the pan because the bottom came out too white. It was fun to let all my guests put whatever topping on their section of the dough: steak bits, sausages, pepperoni, mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, spinach, artichoke, black olives, provolone, broccoli,
Will try again.
Nicole
Excellent recipe and very easy! Thank you for sharing! I did not have instant yeast so I had to let mine soak in the warm water for five minutes. I think I ended up adding around 2.5 cups of flour total. I did it in the ninja on the dough setting and it turned out perfect.
Janet
I did everything as written and got to adding the 3/4 of water and oil but the dough would in no way stir to be creamy like shown. When I added the 2nd cup of flour, it wouldn’t mix so I had to add another 1/4 or more of water. It never stuck to the sides of the bowl as it was just too stiff. What did i do wrong?
Sam
Hi Janet! I would recommend watching the video if you haven’t already. It’s best to add the flour gradually until you reach the consistency you want. It could be more or less than called for in the recipe.
James W
This recipe was my first foray into active yeast baking and it’s so easy and foolproof not only have I made it tons, I’ve started making other things with active yeast! Thanks for helping me overcome the mental obstacle! I make this recipe a couple of times a month now!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, James! 🙂
Cindy Altenbaumer
This was very easy and so good! Thank you for a great recipe. I took pictures but no place to upload them.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Cindy! Unfortunately there isn’t a way to upload them here, but you can tag me on Instagram @SugarSpun_Sam, or join my Facebook group and post them. I’d love to see them. 🙂
Frank
Followed the instructions and added oregano and garlic just before I put it in the oven and it is great, thanks for sharing the recipe.👍
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Frank! 🙂
Brandon
I’ve been using this recipe for the dough. Love it. I want to add use 450 instead of 425. Especially for Marguerite
Lynn shavit
The best dough I’ve ever made. So easy. I doubled and froze part of the dough. It turned out perfect after defrosting
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Lynn! 🙂
Anjali K
Hi Sam!
Just wanted to say how awesome this pizza recipe is. My husband and I have made it every Friday for the whole. Entire. Year. Yup, I’m talking 52+ Fridays. We managed to find a big bag of yeast early in the pandemic and honestly made this crust every single Friday for an entire year. I have the recipe memorized now and that’s how good this pizza crust is.
Thank you, Sam, for making recipes easy but tasty! If anyone is debating about making this crust, take it from me: this is the best, easiest pizza dough you will ever make and it will come out well every single time. This pizza dough got us through the pandemic and my whole family has been making it also.
I can’t say enough good things about this recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! Thank you for the kind comment. 🙂