The Best Pizza Dough Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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 1/4 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
LOVE this recipe!
I doubled it in order to freeze some, and added garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning to the mix.
I only ran into one slight “issue” :
After deflating the dough, I wrapped it tightly in saran wrap and put them inside a freezer bag… maybe i didn’t deflate it enough (?) , because the saran wrap popped in the freezer lol!
I defrosted the dough by placing it in a bag and then into cold water for 1hr.
I also like thin crust better, so I made 2 thin crust pizzas (1 tomato sauce, bacon, onion and cheese. The other was pesto, turkey, bell peppers, onions and cheese)
YUM YUM YUM.
I won’t be looking anywhere else for a dough recipe, this one is PERFECT.
oh, and yes, this recipe is definitely easier by hand and NOT with a mixer and dough hook.
We’re so happy you love the pizza dough, Ariel! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review–it means a lot to us ♥
I just made this… very yummy and super easy. An hour start to finish. I already printed it to make it again
Thank you
We’re so glad you liked the dough, Barb! Thanks for coming back to leave a review–we really appreciate it 😊
Hi I’m new to baking I’m 18 my name is Shawn and it’s currently 11:30pm when I’m making this cause I can’t sleep idk if I did something wrong but when I made the recipe my dough was a little dry I actually had to add a little more water then the 3/4th cup like it said and it’s still not as sticky as I think it should be. Any help is greatly appreciated as I said I’m 18 so I’m just getting into this whole cooking thing 😊
Hi Shawn! I’m so sorry this happened! Unfortunately if you add too much flour, it’s pretty tough to come back from. My best tip is to slowly mix in the flour until you reach the right consistency.
Hi 🙂
I also thought the dough looked too dry at first but I just continued mixing a little bit more and when I formed it into a ball and then kneaded it, it was just the right consistency. And make sure to add the flour gradually.
I overbaked my crust by about 8 min and it came out a bit too hard so my suggestion is to stick to the recommended bake time.
Thanks so much for commenting, Liz. Hopefully next time will be better! ♥
Can this pizza dough be baked and then frozen to use later?
Sure thing! 🙂
Can I use my bread maker on “dough” setting?
Hi Steve! We haven’t tried it ourselves, but others have successfully prepared it that way. Enjoy 🙂
If i use a full 2 cups of flour mine turns out like that too. I have been using about 1 3/4 cup and it seems perfect! Good luck!
This recipe was delicious and easy. I used regular yeast and it was ready just as quickly as the quick rise called for in the recipe. Great recipe! What a quick and easy recipe to have dinner start to finish in about an hour.
Can we substitute olive oil for avocado oil.
Sure! Enjoy, Kelly 😊
Amazing flavor! I could make it a meal on it’s own! lol Thank you so much for sharing.
We’re so happy you like the pizza dough, Christy! Ha! We won’t tell if you do 🙃
This is the only pizza dough recipe I use now. I pay it out in a well oiled 10×15 pan for deep dish pizza.
That’s so nice to hear, Donna! Thanks for using our recipe ❤
I love this recipe! Thank you so much.
We’re so happy to hear that, Anna! Thanks for commenting ❤
My all time favorite pizza dough recipe!
That’s so great to hear, Erienne! Thanks so much for your rating ❤
Trying with Gluten free flour. Any tips?
Hi Nicole! We haven’t tried it with gluten free flour, so we’re not sure if there’s anything special you might need to do. We have had previous commenters use gluten-free flour and they’ve said it worked fine. 🙂
I just made this with gluten free flour. I use Pamela’s all purpose gluten free flour and use the exact recipe given. I just added 1tsp of baking powder to the flour mix. It raised very nicely. It turned out great!
This recipe is very easy and one of the best homemade crusts I’ve made. I like it because it is a thinner crust and is crispy. I also make this same exact recipe using gluten-free flour (I use Pamela’s all-purpose GF flour) for one of my celiac child. It turns out great (same exact steps but using GF flour). I also make this same recipe using 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 regular flour (or you can use GF flour) for lower carbs. Every time the crust comes out perfect. I proof the yeast for about 10 minutes. I brush melted garlic butter on the edges once it comes out of the oven. This dough is also good to make homemade calzones and pizza rolls.
We’re so happy you’ve had such success with our recipe, Cheri! We appreciate you letting us know how it turned out with those substitutions. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment and review ♥
I agree with the “best pizza dough” designation here! So easy and so good. I’ve made it right away, came out good, left it in the fridge for later, came out good. One time I made it and immediately froze, so I think it rose in the freezer and came out great. Always good and very, very flexible, meaning it needs no special handling. It’s the on-demand of pizza dough.
Thanks so much, Andy! We’re so happy it’s always come out so well for you 😊
It said one bowl!! Ha ha
Hi, could we substitue olive oil with sunflower oil?
That should be fine! Enjoy 🙂
I would like to know if you can freeze the dough in the raw state, defrost it and let it rise for later use? Love the recipe. Family enjoys homemade pizzas now
Hi Sally! Thanks so much for trying our recipe–we’re so happy you liked it. We actually provide instructions for how to do this in the recipe notes 🙂 Hope that helps!