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!
I’ve always had a hard time making pizza but this recipe turned out really great!
Makes an awesome and easy pizza dough! Always compliments when I make this pizza!
Can you use active dry yeast?
Yes, that will work fine. Enjoy!
Always the best, Sam!!! Thank you for providing this busy mom with easy recipes that are simple and healthy plus it’s just so fun to involve the kids! I made pizza today (doubled it!) I rolled half into pizza rolls for the small kids, and the pizza is a sauerkraut and kielbasa pizza! It’s in the oven looking beautiful. Thank you for always providing the best recipes!!!
Can you make extra and freeze the dough so it’s quicker for busy nights?
Sure thing! 🙂
Would you recomend to pre cook the dough if you wanting it crisper?
Hi Nat, you certainly could, that would probably help 🙂
Baking the dough before toppings would keep the sauce from infiltrating the dough, leaving it soggy.
I don’t think so; par-baking is often used to keep a crust from becoming soggy from the toppings so you should be fine to do that here and your end result should be a crisper crust.
I am so happy I found this recipe, i have experimented with alot of pizza dough recipes and this one is my favorite!!! My family loved it!! So easy and sooo good! Thank u for sharing! It’s a keeper in our household!
We appreciate your review, Adriane! So glad our recipe was a hit ❤️
Wow, I have used this recipe twice and a hit each time!!! I follow the recipe exact the first and the second time I made it with a cheese crust. Hands down one of the best recipe I have ever used. This will always be my go to recipe for pizza.
Great pizza dough! Our family loved it. Delicious!
Recipe was easy to follow with your video.
We make this every week,have even subbed veg oil, and forgot to knead all together.always excellent no matter what chaos we’ve caused to it. Haha highly recommend thanks for the infallible pizza dough recipe!
Hello Sam, if I use actual pizza flour (00 Style) for this recipe are there any tweaks that I need to do? Thanks!
Hi Cathy! I haven’t personally tried it, but I know others have made it with 00 flour without any alterations. Of course, you only want to add flour until you reach the desired consistency for the dough. 🙂
Thanks Sam, it turned out great. Will definitely be keeping this recipe, so easy. We have a wood stove so I had no issues with the dough rising beside it! 🍕🍕
When my grandkids come over they love for grammy to make pizza and I’ve been using this dough. It’s so easy and delicious and comes together easily. Yep, pizza and peas is what they always want🤦🏽♀️😂😂 Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for using our recipe, Pam! Pizza and peas doesn’t sound too bad to us 😉
Just to clarify… the peas are not ON the pizza 😂😂😂
Delicious and easy pizza dough. I tweaked it a little replacing 75 gms flour with semola and the result was very satisfactory.
So glad it was a hit for you, Joseph! Enjoy 🥰
I bought the yeast new today and the water was 105° so I don’t think either was the problem. My kitchen should be around 72° so do you think that’s too cool? What do you suggest I do maybe heat my oven then turn it off and put my dough in there too rise? Thanks
72 degrees should be totally fine so that shouldn’t be it, either. You could turn the light on in your oven and leave it in there or place it in another warm place in the kitchen. Just a note that if you turn your oven on, I would make sure it isn’t above 115 degrees before you place your dough in there.
I will try it again next week. Thanks for your help. I have made bread using active yeast and it rises every time. I have never used rapid rise instant yeast.
This is my go to dough recipe! Fun Fact: It works like charm in my food processor with the dough blade.
If you are new to making homemade pizza… STICK WITH IT! The first time I tried to make my own pizza it was a disaster! What a mess. However, It’s like anything else it will just take a little practice and patience. I have learned so much about how everything plays its part. Whether the flour in the dough, or the sauce, to the type of cheese… even the style you bake it make significant impacts to the overall pie. I have refined these elements over time. (I still have a lot to learn!)
So if f your first few pies have you stressed and wanting call for a 30 dollar pizza delivery, remember that homemade pizza from scratch yields pies that are 10x more delicious and *extremely* cost effective. I think I can produce pies for a few bucks a pop. and that’s on the pricey end because I use the *really expensive* boar’s head cheese (bought in a block and shredded in a food processor) and boar’s head pepperoni.
I’ve gotten pretty good at it. I can make pies quickly enough to easily cater our large group of friends on game nights! (they love it!) After a trip to NYC I came home and played with some specialty flours aiming for that New York Style crust (it turned out alright!) Friends coming to visit us in Florida get my breakfast pizza as a treat. It saves a lot of money and time vs dragging everyone to the diner.
Soon you realize that the home oven has limitations and you start eyeballing that expensive pizza oven. That’s where I’m at on my pizza journey. (It’s just really expensive and I probably shouldn’t be eating that much pizza, anyway.)
I’d be curious to know how you make the breakfast pizza.
Love this dough recipe! I have found I prefer baking this at 500 degrees for 13-15 minutes…yields a crispier exterior with a soft, chewy interior. At 425 degrees for 13-15 minutes, it was too doughy for my preference.
I’ve yet to find any of your recipes difficult. I love to cook for my large family. We have 9 grandbabies in the house. Your recipes are so helpful even though I usually have to quadruple them. But I find that quite easy. We all love your pizza dough. Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Just made your dough around 10am, proofed in my oven and a short time later I am enjoying pizza at 12:20 pm. Easy to follow recipe, delightfully light and fluffy crust. I will make this my go to pizza crust recipe. Thank you so much for sharing! Love it!!!
We’re so happy you loved the pizza dough, Mary! Thanks so much for using our recipe and coming back to leave a comment ❤️
I have made this dough twice now and it did not rise either time. I am very upset. What could be going wrong?
The yeast may be bad, the water may be too hot and killing your yeast, or your kitchen may be cooler and could just take longer for the dough to rise.
Really good recipe! It’s my first time making a pizza dough, I usually buy the fresh dough from the Kroger bakery, but wanted to try making it from home for convenience and I’ve used a lot of baking recipes from this website 🙂 it was super easy and came out great! My family liked the consistency and all. I doubled the recipe to make 2 pizzas total and I had no issues. I made it all in one bowl then after mixing I divided it in two and let it rise in two separate containers. I also was a bit nervous because my dough wasn’t sticky at all by the end of me mixing the ingredients, but still despite that, it turned out great in flavor and texture!