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
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)
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.
Matthew Felton
I use this recipe for my pizza dough every time I make pizza, last time I cooked as a deep disk and cooked it in a cast iron pan and it was perfect.
Chrissy
If I’m wanting to make this a 15” or 16” pizza what would my measurements be looking like?
Sam
Hi Chrissy! I would probably just double the recipe and if you have too much dough, just don’t use it all. 🙂
Diana
Great recipe! I just made it plain, in my bread machine. I used 2 cups of flour. Came out perfect. Thanks!
Orel
A tip from a guy who used to make pizza for work, if you fold the crust do it after putting the sauch and cheese, this way you won’t get the crust dirty.
Tootie
Great recipe! Nice to have a recipe that is not only great, but also very tasty!
Linda
Loved this pizza dough! It’s quick and tasty, the directions and notes were very helpful. I added 1/4 tsp of garlic powder as suggested and it did add a little more flavor to the crust. Will add a little cornmeal to the crust dough next time for flavor.
Adrienne Law
I had to add up to another 3/4 cup of water in order to incorporate the 2nd cup of flour. So that would be a total of 1 1/2 cups of water. Did anyone else have to make that tweak?
Jacque
I have made this recipe four times and have had the same problem, so I decided to read old comments and found one that talked about the same thing. The author of the recipe talked about measuring the flour. Tonight I read what she said and I sifted the flour and then measured the flour, the dough turned out perfect not dry at all and I did not have to and anything more. Hope this helps.
Adrienne
It is my new favourite pizza dough recipe, with the extra water. I will try with sifting the flour. I’m guessing it essentially is less flour than I have been adding. So long as the water to actual flour ratio is right and the texture is correct, I think it’s probably fine either way.
Caroline
Yes. Me too. I probably added one third cup water. It is still a very dense ball. I should’ve added what you did. It smells delicious. We’ll see how it works.
Bee
No, but at the same time, I didn’t use all the flour.
I used bread flour… not sure if that made a difference or not.
Erica L Whitfield
I proofed mine with 1/4 cup of water and then I added the other 1/2 cup during the other part. But I was also checking to see if my active dry yeast was still good too.
Kanwal Farhan
best dough recipe of my life ❤️
Aitza
I wanna make at least 2 large pizzas. What would the instructions on that be?
Sam
You will need to double the recipe. 🙂
Angela
I have tried numerous pizza crust recipes and this is by far the best!! I add Garlic Plus with the dry ingredients. My husband loves it!
Blake
I have made this several times, absolutely excellent
Sandy Warawa
If I double the recipe do I also double all ingredients, including yeast?
Sam
Hi Sandy! Yes, you will need to double all ingredients. 🙂
Denise
Can you use zero flour
Sam
Others have done so with success. 🙂
Melissa Burns
I accidentally got distracted and screwed up with my husband’s pizza and didn’t put enough flour in his but mine turned out awesome! Nice thin, crispy crust and actually I wanted it thin so I stretched the dough out and made two pizzas out of every batch. i saved it in my recipe box! This is a must try recipe!
R Easter
My kids love this pizza crust. I make the crust, and each kid makes a topping and they clean up. They appreciate it more than anything we could have delivered. I leave out the sugar and add in 2T honey because my son recommended honey. Curious if anyone else has heard of honey instead of sugar in pizza crust, but he reads more than I do and is probably more professional than I am. Easy and delicous!
Laura
Most delicious recipe ever! I’m a novice and was so nervous about working with yeast, but I made two pizzas using this recipe right off the bat. I felt the pizza was a bit uncooked at 15 minutes (no doubt it’s due to variations in ovens and the fact that I overloaded it with delicious toppings and cheese), but I made sure to keep a close eye on it and cooked it for 5-10 minutes more and I have never in my life eaten such a soft and delicious pizza bread in my life! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Donna Morgese
Just prepped this pizza dough. Came together nicely. Cant wait to bake it later.