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.
Carlene
Can this be used in a pizza oven?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Joan
Have made this a few times now and it always turns out great. I used to buy the pre-made fresh dough at the grocery store but this is so easy that I will be using this recipe going forward. Thanks for sharing!
May
Can I omit the sugar?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That should be fine. Enjoy, May!
Emily
PERFECT – my family was surprised that I made it myself 🙂
Heather
My dough is in the rising stage as I write, but just wanted to see if I did something wrong. I had little pieces of dough left in my bowl and my dough when I put it out to rise looks more like a brain instead of a nice smooth texture, did I do something wrong? I used the exact amounts of the ingredients.
Sam
Hmmm it may have needed a little bit more flour. When working with dough sometimes you need a little bit more than a recipe calls for and sometimes a little bit less. You really need to go until the consistency is the desired consistency. I hope that helps and your dough still turns out great for you. 🙂
Ana
mine looked like this too ! I added more olive oil and water (only a little) and it came out perfect !
Heather
Excellent…will try that next time! In the end all turned out well!
DaddyChef
This was great and fun to do with the family! If it’s too doughy and sticky.. DONT FORGET TO WASH YOUT HANDS IN DRY FLOUR POWDER so that it covers your hands before you toss or handle dough. I added a little basil and nice amount of garlic powder . The dough alone smelled great and is in the oven as we speak with our veggie pizza 🙂 Thanks for this recipe
Cristina
Perfect recipe! Thank u for sharing.
aetw
cCan I doubel this recapee?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Enjoy 😊
Martin Dineen
Why not ?
Julie Hoezee
Not sure what I did wrong but we did not love this. The only thing I did differently was to use organic flour. It was super easy and came together well but it was too biscuity and dry. Not my style of crust.
Timbo
I think you should try it again! I’ve made this pizza using King Arthur unbleached white flour so many times I can’t even remember how many times, and it has never been a failure. I do add a bit more salt to the recipe but it has one of the nicest textures when making bread or pizza that I have ever worked with! I make mine in the cuisinart and it is perfect, If it’s too wet add a bit more flour, but this is about as perfect of a pizza dough that I have ever made! Give it one more try. I’m making 4 pizzas for July 4! That might be a challenge! Good luck!
Teri Patterson
If we want to use a pizza stone that you heat in the oven before putting the pizza on it, how do you suggest transferring the pizza to the hot stone? I stuggled with this this past weekend and had to use my silicone mat and a regular cookie sheet.
Sam
Hi Teri! Unfortunately I am not terribly familiar with using a pizza stone and transferring the pizza. Unless you have one of those really big spatulas like a pizza shop does I think your cookie sheet trick is probably the best option. 🙂
Jean
Place the dough on parchment paper. Transfer parchment paper (and dough) to heated pizza stone.
Rane'e
Perfect crust! I added garlic powder and herbs de provenance. I didn’t proof the dough ( didn’t see that part until the end) but it turned out wonderfully. Definitely a keeper! Thanks!
Krista
Hi Teri! We use a pizza stone and love it. We toss/shape the dough with our hands. We have a wooden pizza peel, which we then put cornmeal on before transferring the shaped dough onto. With the corn meal, it usually slides off easily onto the pizza stone (which was preheated with the oven). To remove it, we generally use the pizza peel or just two spatulas.
Deborah
I have been searching for the perfect pizza dough recipe–you wouldn’t believe the doozy I worked with last time, it took 2 days! We live out in the middle of nowhere with no pizza delivery, so good homemade pizza is way essential. This recipe is the one–easy, quick and perfect resutls! We use a pizza stone on the grill at 500 degrees, this recipe adapted very well.
Debbie
I’ve used this dough so many times,it never disappoints;) tried many but this is my go to. Thanks for sharing<3
Aly
I was genuinely surprised at how perfect this dough came out! I went ahead and used bread flour because we love a good crispy crust, then added a half teaspoon of garlic powder and a half teaspoon of Italian seasoning. I definitely had planned on doing the dried basil, but I grabbed the wrong bottle out of the pantry and had already measured and dumped it in before I thought to read it. It worked out though!
My whole family loved it, and today I am making more to stick in the freezer for easy meal nights! Thank you for the awesome recipe 🙂
Stacy
Came out just perfect. This is my go to recipe every single time
Karla
I’ve been perfecting my homemade pizza game this year and usually do the 18-24 hour Neopolitan style dough made with 00 flour. But sometimes I don’t want to plan that sad ahead . So I tried this recipe last night and honestly, it’s so good and quick that I likely won’t go back to how I was doing it. Thank you for my new go-to dough recipe.
Cinthya
Oh my gosh, this pizza dough was so easy and so yummi. Thanks for sharing!
Chris
I’ve made lots of pizza dough using several recipes. This is the best recipe one. I highly recommend it
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much, Chris! We are so happy our recipe was a winner for you 😊
Shelly Patel
Easy recipe and the tastiest crust I’ve had. I added some garlic powder, Italian seasoning to the dough and it turned out amazing!
Morgan
This has become my go to pizza dough recipe…it’s so simple and it tastes amazing!! I add the garlic powder and oregano to my crust and it gives it the best flavor!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy to hear that, Morgan! Enjoy ❤
LeAnna Meador
I just made your recipe. I used bread flour. It turned out like a charm!! Thank you so very much for the great recipe, wise one ☺.
I was confused about the amount of flour i needed. I measured 2 1/3 cups of flour into two different bowls. Equaling 4 2/3 cups of flour total. If I could suggest possibly rewording the flour amount entry. Again, many many thanks for this fabulous recipe!