The Best Pizza Dough Recipe
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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
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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)
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!
Hi Sam! I made the dough and followed your steps, I placed it in the fridge as I wasn’t going to be using it for a couple days. After Saran wrapping it, the dough keeps popping out of the Saran Wrap. Do you know why this is? And am I able to still use it, perhaps just re roll it and transfer it into an air tight container?
Hi Madison! The dough will continue to rise because of the yeast. You could just put it in an air tight container and when you want to use it you can just deflate and roll out. 🙂
Best pizza dough recipe I’ve made so far! Super easy and fast to make and it baked up beautifully. This recipe is a keeper!!
We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Denise! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🙂
I don’t mean to come off gruff, but this was not the recipe for me. It went together super easy, but the end product was not tasty, nor was it much like a pizza crust. It had an odd texture and and was surprisingly bland. Maybe brush crust with a garlic herb butter? I would not recommend, or make a second time.
This is my go to recipe,I have never used another dough recipe since finding this one!! So delicious and easy. I add dried oregano and basil in the dough for extra flavor!
Thanks for this amazing recipe!!
We love hearing that, Lexie! Thanks so much for giving our recipe a shot 🙂
Can you use same recipe with a wheat flour? If not do you have a really good wheat flour recipe?
Hi Victoria! Because whole wheat flour tends to be a bit “thirstier” we don’t recommend substituting all of of the flour; instead we recommend substituting about 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour for whole wheat. Hope that helps! Let us know how it turns out for you 🙂
Any idea how to sub a gluten-free flour? Would it require any other changes to recipe? I have made this numerous times and it is soooo good that I don’t want to use any other recipe but need gluten-free for a friend! Thanks!
Hi Amika! Honestly I have not tried it with gluten free flour so I’m not sure how it would turn out. If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
I love this recipe. It is the pizza builders fault if it doesn’t come out right.
I am a pepperoni lover. Best I have ever had. I never thought that the dough was the key!
Do you think this would work if devided into smaller parts A hot pocket type recipe?
Hi Ryan! That should work just fine. 🙂
I’m going to make it exactly like you have it here first. Make a pizza with your sauce and then try experimenting with it once I get it right. 😊
We hope it turns out beautifully, Ryan!
It turned out perfect! It was my first time making homemade pizza dough, and it came together so well! I’m in shock at how easy this truly was. Thank you! I will be making a lot of pizza in the future!
We’re so happy you gave it a shot, Lacey! Enjoy your pizza 🙂
I never comment on recipes, but I have made this for the third time in a few weeks. It is so so so good and if you come across this specific recipe just trust me and make it. You can’t go wrong with this it is so good thank you for this!
We’re so happy it’s a winner for you, Kat! Thanks for coming to leave a review 😊
The pizza flour I bought wanted a 24 hour ride time with its recipe so was on the search for something same day. Came across this and couldn’t be happier. Made the dough. Let rise for 90 minutes. Used active yeast. Dough was manageable and made two pizzas out of it. Smoked on my grill came out perfect. Good texture and didn’t puff up huge like other coughs I’ve tried. I wish I could include a picture.
Your pizzas sound like they turned out perfectly, Rachel! If you’d like to share a picture with us, you can always tag us on Instagram @sugarspun_sam or share in our Facebook group 🙂 We’d love to see it!
I’m the video it looked like more then 3/4 cup of water. Is that the correct measurement for water or no?
Hi Sam! You will want to use the measurements listed. Sometimes camera angles can do tricky things. 🙂
This is a perfect quick pizza dough recipe. Made it tonight with my 8yr old and the family loved it! We didn’t intend on making this for dinner, just had all the right ingredients that needed to be used up. We will definitely make again! Next time we plan to melt some butter and minced garlic with the olive oil and brush it over the dough before adding all the fixins!
Used the recipe tonight. Made an error however, used wrong measuring cup, used 3/4 instead of 1 cup. Dough turned out great with 1 3/4 cups of flour, made for a thin crust. Used cookie sheet, greased with olive oil, and instead of flouring it used corn meal. Really great crispy thin crust pizza. LOL Thank you for recipe!
We’re glad it still turned out for you, James! Thanks for your review 😊
The best pizza dough recipe! I’ve made this several times, and its turned out super every time.
Made this dough for the Forth of July, the best recipe so far!
Details: 1. I quadrupled the recipe. Yeast was regular Fleischmann sold in small glass jars. Ended up using only 7 cups of flour for 3 cups of warm water. Half the flour was Bread flour, the other half – organic AP. Cut the salt by about 25%. The Dough consistency was just right, sticky but manageable, easy to roll. I think what makes this recipe so good vs. others is almost no kneading, and the little kneading that is done, is done after rising, not before it. This results in chewy consistency, which I could not achieve with typical recipes where a 10 min kneading before letting it to rise creates a too-soft crust.
2. Made 2 large pizzas right away, froze the remaining dough (about 1/4 of the dough ) in a tight fitting plastic bag. Defrosted it in fridge on upper shelf 2 days later, took 24 h to fully defrost Made 3 small pizzas with it and the dough was still excellent. Probably wouldn’t be as good if frozen for long periods, but worth experimenting to determine max freezer time.
Thank you, Sam! Pizza dough problem solved!
We’re so happy to hear that our recipe was a winner for you, Sue! Thanks so much for your review 😊
We’ll definitely be using it again! My husband likes to make homemade pizza, but when I made this one, said he definitely prefers it to a lot of others he has tried. It was a hit with my 4 year old as well- I didn’t spread it too thin, so it was a nice thicker crust, which he loves.
Wonderful! Thanks for letting us know how you liked it, Jay 😀
We love this dough. I have made pizza with the recipe a couple times now the only difference is that we cook it on our pellet smoker! It turns out absolutely wonderful. My picky son says this is his favorite pizza; which says a lot about this recipe.
Its the best pizza ever
We’re so happy you think so, Omar! ❤
Thanks for the recipe. First attempt last night. The pizza was VERY tasty but the dough turned out quite brittle and dry. I think I needed to add more water than the recipe calls for. I may have ended up using more flour than I thought. Or it’s possible the dough got over-kneaded either initially or while I was rolling out the dough. I’m going to try hand stretching next time. I’m not much of a baker yet so I have to get a feel for the dough.
Hi KG! It sounds like too much flour was added; just add it until you have a smooth, elastic ball, and you should be good 🙂
This crust turned out perfectly. Chrisp on the bottom, not at all soggy, I had a can of sauce so I doctored that up a bit and used it
I lightly sauted my mushrooms and green peppers so they were well cooked when the pizza was done. I used a pizza stone and preheated as suggested. This was the best homemade pizza I have ever made and even better than the pizzas we can buy locally. This one is a keeper!
I tried this for the first time tonight. Am so excited – it was the best pizza crust I ever made and will continue to use it. My husband said “it’s a keeper”! The crust was light and fluffy (I used bread flour)
and cooked though with a beautiful light brown color underneath. I put it on a parchment paper on a round pizza pan and it was perfect!