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.
Renee
We recently found out that my
Husband has a gluten sensitivity. We tried frozen GF pizza that was just awful! (and pricey) I used your recipe and substituted all-purpose gluten-free baking flour and 4tsps of xanthan gum. (2 tsps per I cup of flour) It was perfect!! The whole family could have delicious pizza again. Thanks!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Renee! We’re so happy to hear this recipe worked with your substitution. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out!
Chrystal Hargett
Always awesome pizza dough I’ve made it 20 or 30 times. Never disappoints. I am confused about the nutritional value, just because I have to keep my calories is it like 1130-1356 calories per pie depending on 10-12 slices?
Sam
Hi Chrystal! It is 113 calories for 1/12th of the pizza dough 🙂
lydia
hi sam !! for the macros is it for a single slice or the entire dough? love how easy it was to make by the way !!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lydia! The nutrition information is for one slice. So glad to hear you like this recipe!
Erica
Can I use butter instead of olive oil for the actual dough itself?
Sam
Yes, that will work, enjoy!
Lucy
Hi! Will this pizza turn out to be brown and crispy like the ones in the restaurant? Because I’ve tried a lot of recipes and every time my pizza isn’t as brown as the shop one.
Sam
Hi Lucy! The crust stays pretty pale, which is fairly common with homemade pizza. You can brush it with olive oil to help encourage some browning.
Stephanie M Anderson
Lucy, I do my crusts on a hot iron griddle that can go into the oven and start them on the stovetop so the bottom gets more brown and firm then put it in the oven to finish.
Cori
My family loves this recipe! I add the garlic powder AND the basil 😋 very good!
Carla
Can I put this on a pizza stone to bake in a pizza oven?
Sam
Yes you can! Enjoy 🙂
Clori Ley
Hello Zoe, Would it be possible to prepare the dough and put the toppings on it (whatever – cheese, sauce, pepperoni, veggies…) and freeze it like that. If so, what would be the method used to thaw and cook it. Thank you.
Carol B
This is the best pizza crust I have ever made. My family loved it! Thanks for the recipe.
Osh
Tried and tested, came out fab!! Super easy to make and I made the crust extra thin!
Kristyn Sharp
This recipe was a hit with my family. It was soft and flavorful. I will be using this for any pizza I make!
Belinda
Life-saving recipe. really simple and easy. love the marinara recipe too! had to stop myself from eating all yum yum yum.
Alex
I made the dough as described, let it rise, punched it down and then wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for next day, but it exploded out of the plastic wrap overnight. So quick though I’ll try again. No other kneading needed to develop the gluten?
Sam
Hi Alex! You will need to put it in a bowl that allows room for it to rise, if you just wrap the dough tightly with the wrap it will explode. No additional kneading required other than listed 🙂
Britney
Hi Sam!
I’ve made this the other day and we absolutely loved it! I’m going to make some for friends tomorrow and want to make in advance. So after storing in the refrigerator, do I need to let it rise more or can I just roll it into crust?
Thank you in advance!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Britney! You can just roll it out at that point. Enjoy! 🙂
Lejla
It exploded because the yeast kept on helping the dough grow. Next time try puting it in a bigger bowl and then cover it with plastic wrap.
Pat Veale
I’ve been buying balls of fresh pizza dough whenever I wanted to make stromboli or pizza. Sometimes, I’ve frozen a couple, just to have on hand. I didn’t have any nor did I want to go to the store so I looked for a recipe. Your’s was the first one I read. Easy,
quick. It was mixed and had time to rise long befor one would have thawed , if I had a frozen one to use. It came out perfectly and tasted great! I even doubled the recipe to make 2. No problem. Its a winner.
Thank you.
Pat
Zoe
I haven’t baked mine yet, but I just made the dough (I tripled the ingredients as we are making 3 large pizzas) and I didn’t add any extra flour as suggested but the dough ball itself feels a bit dry. Is this normal? Did I overmix it? I also used a stand mixer until it just came together. It’s proofing right now so we will see how it turns out in 1 hour.
Sam
Hi Zoe! When making a yeast dough the amount of flour can vary. That number is really just a guide. You may need a little less flour, or you may need a little more flour. You should stop adding flour before it gets dry and when it’s still slightly tacky to the touch. I hope it turns out for you! 🙂
Zoe
Thank you! Turned out amazing after all. So yummy! Next time will only make 2 batches for 3 pizzas for a thinner crust style. So easy to make and big hit with the family!
Glen A.
This pizza dough recipe is working out really good for me. I make my pizzas and a 10-in cast iron skillet so I cut the dough into threes and freeze two of them for later use which works out really good. Best pizza dough recipe so far.