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.
Patrick
Truly the best dough recipe I have found.
Cat
love ❤️
Nk
Bellesimo! Used measurement to the T. No stress pizza or pizza rolls. Easy peasy dinner and Funtime food in my household. May the good Lord bless you for sharing your knowledge. Even made the pizza source, due to being broke I had tomato paste, so I drained my canned tomato before blending and viola!
JaneDough
Wow! I followed the recipe exactly with great results! Will double it in the future. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you a fantastic holiday!
Holly Weber
Very good! I made a Detroit style pizza! Very good! Pizza crust olive oil, pepperoni, white slivered onions, portobello mushrooms, Parmesan all over and crust, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan again, then pizza sauce on top!
Daryl
great recipe
Hope
Wow wow wow!! amazing crust! whole family is loving these! I tripled the recipe and made 4 crusts out of it 12in pizzas! Thank you for the recipe!!
Mary-Lou Rosengren
Easiest, quickest and best homemade pizza dough. Never fails.
Micaela
This is our go to! Absolutely the best and easiest pizza dough!
Amanda
I found this recipe in 2020 and have used it ever since. It’s simple and easy. My 3 year old loves helping me make the dough and my 14 year old step son absolutely loves it. Says it’s one of his favorite things I make. I will likely use this forever. I had shared it with many friends!!
Sam
This is so wonderful to hear, Amanda! Thank you so much for trusting my recipe, and for this sweet comment!
Susan
I love this recipe quick and easy to make! I use 2 cups of flour, 1/4 tsp of garlic & onion powder and any additional flour needed I substitute with grated parmesan cheese gives it more flavor.
Holly Weber
I can get two more 12 inch pizza crusts out of this recipe
Joann Nativo
I love this pizza recipe
thank you
joann
Benjamin Johansen
Just finished making my first 3 pizza’s and decided to use this recipe for them. I am not disappointed at all. The family loves every bite!
Lee van Driel
Hi there I’m planning to make this recipe today but have it for dinner tomorrow, do you have any tips of how I can make sure the dough is still perfect tomorrow?
Sam
Hi Lee! I have instructions for making in advance below the recipe. 🙂
Ann Paul
Easy and delicious. The video was very helpful.
Jon
Your recipe must be off. I did flour by weight as I prefer bakers measures. I dont have packages of yeast either. I have bulk. The dough was extremely wet and I ended up throwing it out. I was at over 300 grams of flour and it was like soup. Normally I make a different recipe but didnt have time today (it needs overnight) and thought I would try this one. I wondered when I saw a 20% range for the flour. You never see this in baking recipes. You should convert everything to weight. This way there are no problems with baking, just ask a baker. Packages of yeast also vary by weight!
Sam
Hi Jon! The recipe is correct. Weights are listed in the recipe. I am wondering if you commented on the wrong recipe by mistake or just misread it, this one is quite sound (as a baker, I make it weekly here, using weights, without issue). Hope that helps!
Anna
Jeez we’ve been using the recipe for 2 years and have never had an issue. Just use it as written? Pizza dough isn’t science like cake or pastry, weights aren’t necessary
Laurie Hohisel
This was pretty simple. I added garlic herb butter seasoning and basil leaves to the dough. I followed the recipe as written using all purpose flour, I used my favorite pizza stone with parchment paper. My crust turned out a bit thicker than I prefer even though I rolled it out, shaped it and poked it all over the center and brushed the whole surface including crust with olive oil. The bottom was just right and crispy, so was the outer crust. The center was soft like bread. I used a store bought pizza sauce and shredded Monterey Jack and Colby cheese since I didn’t have mozzarella. I cut up some onion, green pepper, tomato, Canadian bacon, I also sprinkled real bacon bits and pineapple tidbits and more cheese. It was fun to find toppings and be creative. It didn’t take much of each topping since I had a variety. My husband liked it too! Better than a frozen pizza for sure!
Holly Weber
I have had trouble with yeast not this recipe!