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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I baked for 15 minutes on a large pizza stone and the middle is doughy but the outside is done. What do you recommend?
Hi Joy! Are there lots of topping on the pizza? If so you may need to prebake the crust to get it to cook evenly and all the way through.
The only topppings were pepperoni and peppers. I pre baked for 5 min and then baked with toppings for 20 minutes. What would you recommend I do next time?
My husband thought maybe I didn’t cook it close enough to the heat in our oven- does that affect it? It was on the middle rack.
Hmmm I typically bake it in the center rack. Did you preheat your pizza stone before adding the dough? If not this could be your issue as the stone won’t eat perfectly evenly.
I really like this recipe, I would have thought of adding spices to my flour. This makes a really great pizza.
Thanks for the review, Sue! 🩷
Has been my first pizza I cooked and turned out great!
Easy to follow and rich in taste
I’m currently making this and while mixing the dough it has become extremely tough and only seems to have taken 1 1/2 cups of flour the only thing I did differently from the recipe was use dry active yeast instead of instant, I don’t know what I did wrong and if the yeast yeast difference would affect it that much
I’m so sorry to hear this, Bradleigh! Are you at high altitude by chance? Sometimes that can change the amount of flour you need but 1 1/2 cups is pretty short of what it should be. I hope you were still able to roll out the dough and enjoy! 🙂
good one
Pretty great Pizza dough. My family uses it for thin pizzas, I used it for a Detroit style square – I also put ghost pepper seeds in mine for a kick – came out exceptional. Well done recipe
My dough is flaky and falling apart. Hopefully it still rises. Any idea what I did wrong?
I’m so sorry to hear that, Kellie! If it can’t be worked together, there is likely just a touch too much flour in the dough. 🙁
Do we have to add sugar?
The sugar helps the dough rise faster and brown a little bit more when baking but you could likely omit it here if you choose.
I’ve been making pizza dough for a long time. I know when the yeast is old. the pizza dough won’t rise or the water is too hot. the hot water kills the yeast.
I know I killed the yeast and the dough didn’t turn out that great. 🙁
What about pre-baking the crust to avoid sogginess?
Hi Stephanie! You can certainly par-bake this if you’d like. 🙂
Hello! I love this recipe and have been using it for years… however I have a question. I can almost NEVER use the full 2 cups of flour. I feel like I am doing something wrong as the recipe calls for AT LEAST 2 cups and sometimes even more… I have used regular flour, bread flour and even pizza flour and it does not seem to make a difference… I do use fast rise yeast as indicated and I add in the garlic powder and basil as well. I use a thermometer for my water to ensure accuracy. I do hand mix the recipe with wooden utensil as I do not have a mixer capable of doing so. Does anyone have any insight on why I can barely get the 2 cups of flour to absorb? I love this recipe and will continue to use it, but always feel like I am doing something wrong since my flour amount is always different from the recipe. Any insight is appreciated, thanks!
Hi Morgan! Are you weighing your flour? If not, you may be accidentally packing more into the cup. This really isn’t a huge issue as long as it turns out. 🙂
Hi Morgan,
The amount of flour you use could also be dependant on your elevation and the humidity in your area. I like at sea level in an area where average humidity is around 80% and I always have to add extra flour to recipes, or decrease water, including for this recipe. If you live at a high elevation and a dry area the opposite might be true!
The title isn’t wrong! This IS the best! Thanks for sharing!
I love this recipe. it never fails me!
Does this recipe work if you let it rise for 3 hours?
Hi Rose! You could potentially over-proof the dough if you let it rise that long.
Would it work if you let it rise for 3 hours?
Hi Rose! It would likely overproof if you let it rise for that long.
Very simple and effective recipe! I used bread flour and marjoram and everything else you listed in the ingredients list. Much love from New Zealand.
Very easy, delicious pizza dough, thank you!
Nice