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.
Sam
I used half bread flour half ap flour with this recipe. It came out fluffy yet a great crust. I will make again!
Cindy Hanna
Hi! Your pizza dough is excellent and we’ve been making it regularly for over a year. Just wondering if we do choose to make it ahead and freeze some, how would you recommend thawing the dough, and how long is it likely to take? Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We love hearing that, Cindy! Defrosting overnight in the fridge should do the trick 😊
Jolene
So easy and quick! We will never order pizza again!
Grace
Very nice dough recipe! I can see how versatile this could be so I’m excited to try it out on more recipes! I will be making a BBQ chicken version for sure!
I made this twice in the bread maker, even doubled it, and it consistently gives great results – I used prepackaged quick yeast and I added all the flour at the beginning (I cut back on it – only 2 cups and then I need in extra as needed.) I went from wet to dry as always with the ingredients for my breadmaker and it worked out great! Thanks for sharing a great recipe.
jason b
It gets better as it sits in the fridge in a zip lock bag. Day 3 it seems to make the best, authentic, rustic, tasting pizzas. Pairs well with red wine based tomato sauces and sweet tomato pizza sauces. I use APF and the crust comes out super indulgently crispy on the edges and soft toward the middle.
Ethalfrida
Recipe lives up to its name. I did mine in the breadmaker.
Mary Maxwell
really like this recipe, quick, easy and very good. I find that the dough is pulling away from sides of bowl after about 1/2 cup of additional flour….is that right?….I wind up adding two cups altogether as I’m afraid there won’t be enough crust with only 1 1/2 cups flour >>>>>
Sam
With a dough like this you should really stop when it’s still slightly tacky to the touch but not too dry. It’s always best to touch it to see if it needs more or not. It may be slightly smaller but you don’t want a really dry dough.
Nicole
Best Pizza dough I have Made
John Corwith
I’ve tried countless pizza crust recipes, we have pizza every Friday (and make all our bread.) This recipe makes a decent pie. I’ve often read it’s best to refrigerate dough for a day or two so the dough can develop more flavor. I can’t say that I’ve noticed 24 hrs make any difference so I’ll try longer next week. With this recipe I tried 24 hrs, I’m not sure how tightly wrapping with plastic wrap to refrigerate is supposed to work with so much yeast. It is fortunate I wrapped it several times as it kept expanding. I’m an Alton Brown fan and he swears by weighing ingredients so I measured a cup of Gold Medal APF and weighed it for this recipe. I was surprised volume measure weighed 165 gr, not 125 gr. I ran it through a sifter and it still weighed 140 gr. measured in a cup so I finally just went with the weight. I had to use a little more than the 2 cups so that it wouldn’t stick to the plastic wrap. It worked fine 24 hrs later. I let it come up to room temperature and then rolled it out to create my very own ameba. I rolled it fairly thin hoping for a thin crust pizza. I like it doughy but the wife has been hoping for a good thin crust. This came out about 1/4″ thick and crusty on the bottom but not crisp and not thin enough for the wife so I may try bread flour or adding wheat gluten to APF. The wife just came home from Trader Joe’s and handed me a 1kg bag of “00” flour. I hear this is good for crisp thin crust pizzas, I think she is trying to tell me something.
Hannah M Reynolds
I made this crust for chicken Alfredo pizza. It was amazing.
Ginette
This is the best pizza dough recipe I have come across. Excellent !
Thanks for sharing
Shikha
Your Recipe just made our Anniversary day extra Special.
Thank you Sam for this super easy and indeed the best pizza dough recipe. The base came out perfectly, I also made the sauce as per your recipe and overall we had the most tastiest pizzas to celebrate . Can’t wait to try your other recipies.
Sam
That’s so wonderful to hear! Happy Anniversary to you! 🙂
Ashley
Does this dough freeze well?
Sam
Hi Ashley! Many people have frozen it with success. 🙂
Bonita
Could this recipe be doubled or should we do 2 separate batches, since we usually make 2 pizzas at a time? Thanks! 🙂
Sam
Hi Bonita! Many people have reported doubling or even tripling this recipe without any problems. 🙂
Rob
I just did a nice 16″ pizza by doing this recipe times 1.5 . It came out delicious.
Sydney
Made this dough for a pizza to use instead of the Trader Joe’s pizza dough. The texture is amazing! Super easy to make and tastes delicious.
Jodi
By far the best and easiest pizza dough recipe I’ve come across. We made two pizzas one regular and added onion powder and garlic powder to the dough. Huge hit with the dough flavor. Our second pizza was a dessert pizza. We added cinnamon sugar to the dough and topped it with peaches (When almost cooled down we drizzled a confection sugar icing over it). That dough was also a huge hit!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jodi! I looovvvee a good dessert pizza. 🙂
ola
Hi can i use a different oil or it must to be oliv oil?
Sam
Canola or vegetable oil would also work. 🙂
Michell
If you absolutely love peanut butter and jelly use this to top your dessert pizza. Just use butter to cook the plain dough when done squeeze peanut butter and jelly on top with powdered sugar. So delicious!!
Susie
The best pizza dough recipe that I’ve ever tried. I live in Portugal (I’m originally from California) and was really disappointed at what they call “pizza” at local restaurants. My family agrees, no more overpriced so called pizzas at restaurants ever again. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.