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!
My family loves this recipe. I use it several times a month.
I had never made pizza dough before but wanted to figure it out as I had bread flour that wasn’t getting used. I found your website and this recipe and it made me believe I could do it! I wasn’t sure if I had mixed it enough before I let it sit for the needed 1/2 hour as it was not completely “smooth” but it ended up just kind of smoothing out on it’s own I guess. Bottom line is the pizza turned out great and my husband, who is extremely picky, said it was outstanding. This will be my new Saturday night routine. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Stephanie. 🙂
This is really the BEST pizza dough recipe I’ve tried, I’ve always had small issues like the dough not rolling out properly and shrinking back up. I didn’t even have an entire packet of yeast and this recipe still worked out beautifully! My husband has eaten half the pizza as I type this. I ended up using 2 cups of flour & small hand full, & I mixed the yeast in the flour/dry mix, worked out amazing without proofing first! This will be my go to for pizza dough recipe forever now! I also added some cornmeal to sheet pan as I rolled it out, Turned out fantastic! Great job!!!
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out for you Carlota! What went wrong? I can likely help trouble shoot. 🙂
WOW!! My first time making pizza. Used this recipe to make pizza tonight. Topped with sauce, mushrooms, roasted peppers, onions and tomatoes. Used a combination of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. IT WAS DELICIOUS!! My wife NEVER eats the crust but she did tonight!!
I made your pizza dough recipe. It turned out fantastic!!! I didn’t have instant yeast so I had to activate the yeast I had. The recipe was so easy to follow 🙂 I’m definitely adding this recipe to my favorites👍
I am no baker and was nervous but gave it a try. How wonderful to see the dough rise and everything turned out great. I’ve made Pizza 4 since then and each time it came out fine. It took just under 2 cups of flour to get to the elastic stage.
I have been making pizza for years and this is the best recipe I have ever used. My son says trying to make pizza again, maybe you shouldn’t. I did anyway using this recipe. He says “the best pizza ever, mom this is really good, will you make it again. awesome!!
Awesome- I’m going to give this a try . It sounds really good and I’m looking forward to making it. Appreciate the recipe.Thanks 😄
amazing I followed. The instructions worked perfect.
Made this dough tonight and my boys LOVED the pizza. Definitely an easy recipe, I’m not a baker and was able to follow along with no issues. It came out perfect! Thank you.
Just baked this and WOW—the crust, the texture, everything! Thank you for making sourdough approachable.
What an I do to be able to make 3 different pizzas?
If you split this dough into 3 parts they would be rather small pizzas. You would want to increase the recipe to make 3 pizzas. 🙂
I’ve made this recipe dozens of times for our weekly homemade pizza night. the dough is great for pizzas, Bosco sticks, garlic breadsticks, and calzones. This recipe is easy, dependable and forgiving. Winner!
Cook temp needed to be higher and for longer than 15 minutes with this recipe’s proportions.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, Paul! 🙁
Don’t forget, altitude will affect cook time and temperature. Whether you’re low mid or high altitude.
Your oven may need calibrating. Thermoworks has a tutorial video on YouTube that is very helpful.
The amount of flour listed was entirely too much. I used only two cups and ended up having to add water to the dough because of how excessively dry it was. I also wish the instructions had been more specific at the part where you add more flour, because I feel it would have been best to use a standard mixer dough hook or simply hand-knead the dough, instead of using the implied wooden spoon to mix. Also, using flour to coat the dough ball, and then immediately coating it will oil is unnecessary and can create a gooey texture on the outside, so I would just put oil. And finally, baking this over parchment paper on a baking sheet is not really the best option. It should be placed on an oiled and floured PIZZA pan. I managed to pull off this dough recipe, but not without plenty of annoying issues.
I’m so sorry you had issues, Azie! You can actually watch me make it in the video with the listed ingredients. Of course when making a dough, the amount of flour each person needs will vary slightly, which is why a range is given. As with any yeast dough it’s best to add the flour gradually, as stated in the recipe. If you don’t it can make it hard to combine. The dough should be easy enough to mix by hand so you shouldn’t need a stand mixer, unless there is too much flour added. 🙁
if I wanted to double or triple this can I just double or triple all the ingredients?
Sure thing! 🙂
Love the recipe! I used bread flour, then fashioned as Margarita pizza with pepperoni. Baked in Ooni Pizza Oven for about 6 mins at 650 degrees. Perfect!! Probably the best and easiest pizza dough recipe I’ve ever used. One suggestion: don’t brush or drizzle your Olive Oil on sides of bowl or final crust. Get an Olive Oil sprayer! It will pay for itself in short order, and is the Bee’s Knees!
Can I use less yeast? A tablespoon instead of the entire packet? What will the difference be?
Hi Jak! I haven’t tried it, but it could potentially work. It will probably take longer to rise and would likely change the final texture of the dough.
a packet is only two and a quarter teaspoons which is less than a tablespoon
Oh , silly me ..I should know that . Thank you for info
Jak, I have seen recipes using bread flour that work with 1Tbs of yeast vs the full 2 1/2Tbs packets. As Sam followed up with you, the rise time would be longer. The rise time would also be longer when using active dry yeast vs fast-rising instant yeast.
An example I can give is a recipe I’ve used with success:
4 to 5 1/2 cups bread flour
1Tbs Dry yeast (same amount if using instant)
1/4 cup honey
2Tbs vegetable oil (your choice, olive oil is popular)
*salt to your desire (1-2 teaspoons)
This method takes about 1 1/2 hours to rise covered in a warm spot. Because Sam is able to use instant yeast and more of it, his method is much, much quicker.