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!
It tasted great!
Unfortunately my family didn’t really like this pizza. The texture was fine but not great, (crispiness was only middling and the edges weren’t chewy at all past the initial crunch, just felt like bread) and it was fairly tasteless, similar to the Pillsbury pizza dough that you can buy in a pouch or out of a refrigerated can. I am a novice though so I’m not sure how to improve it, we even tried resting the dough overnight in the fridge to allow the yeast to mature the taste and it still came out relatively tasteless. You could add tons of garlic powder perhaps to solve the problem but it definitely doesn’t have any sort of authentic pizza dough taste.
Depending on where you’re at, tap water vs bottled purified water can actually make a difference. Im assuming you used tap water, since chlorine in tap water can affect the yeast.
So you can either try to use purified bottled water, or let the tap water itself stay out overnight to let the chlorine dissipate.
Hello! I have a question. I just made this for the first time and both batches could not take all of the second cup of flour. It looked like it was getting very dry and pulled apart. The first batch has risen. Is it common to not need the whole second cup?
Thank you
Hi Stacey! That’s a bit odd. You should need at least close to 2 cups of flour. Did you weigh your flour? Did you make any substitutions or additions? Ultimately as long as it turns out well that’s really all that matters. )
Hi!
I also didn’t need the full 2nd cup, but I didn’t weigh the flour so I’ve chalked it up to that. The dough was absolute perfection though!
Hi! When freezing the dough do you let it come to room temp prior to using or just thaw enough to roll it? Anything special that needs to be done when it’s being made from frozen dough?
Hi Jess! You will just want to let it thaw so you can roll it out. It will likely be room temperature or close to it. 🙂
Can this recipe be doubled or quadrupled? I saw one commenter say they doubled this recipe and it appears to have worked for them. Are there any tips for doing so?
Hi Bethany! You shouldn’t have any issues doubling this recipe. You will just want to double all of the ingredients. I may not goes as far as quadrupling it as it could potentially get tough to mix together. 🙂
I made this dough in my 6 qt stand mixer. I did need to add a little extra water, as the dough was very tough and too dry. I let my stand mixer knead the dough for about 10 minutes and once the dough felt elastic, not sticky, I coated the bowl and allow the first rise. if anyone has issues with the amount of flour they can always incorporate a little warm water.
Just made this today, I added Basil and garlic powder to the dough as you said, I made 2 double doughs. We let my grandkids cut a dough in half and they made there own pizzas on there own, they loved it! Now have two other pizzas going for the adults, we all loved this dough recipe. Will keep this for next pizza making. Thank you for your yummy recipe!
Just finished my first piece of the pizza I made. Love the crust! I’ve used a recipe for many years, which is good, but takes time. This one is so quick and easy and tastes better! My new go to for pizza!!
I’ve tried a few of your recipes and love them …..im excites to try the pizza dough recipe my question is ….can this dough be thin and work out well ?
I’m so glad you have enjoyed everything so much, Thomas! You can roll this out as thin as you’d like and it will be fine. 🙂
This is really the best pizza dough ever!! I’m usually a Trader Joe’s refrigerated dough type of girl but I tried this today and it came out SO good and it was SO easy! I can’t justify buying pizza anymore. I also love how I know it’s all clean ingredients and I know exactly what I am consuming. I would definitely recommend giving this recipe a try. I tried first doing the King Arthur pizza flour recipe that is on the back of the flour package and it did not work for me. I love how this recipe only requires 30 min of resting. I usually put it in my oven with the light on and it does the trick but to be fair my apartment runs warm
Does par baking prior to adding some sauce and toppings help it get a bit crispier? My family likes the pizza that you can hold straight out without drooping. This recipes sounds great but didn’t know if anyone had tried that! Thank you in advance!
Yes, that will absolutely work! We hope you love it 🙂
I always par bake the crust before adding toppings. Helps avoid any sogginess, and ups the crisp factor.
Hi Emily
Can make this pizza dough 1 day in advance? Also when should I keep the dough in the fridge?
Thanks🙂
Yes! We cover how to make it in advance in the recipe notes 🙂
good starter recipe. it was helpful for re-familiarizing myself with pizza dough ratios. I went with some spelt and vital wheat gluten, and a little corn meal on the 4th pizza. Added a little onion powder in the dough and cooked it in an oversized cast iron skillet. Plenty of olive oil and perhaps a little butter in the pan. Delectable.
Sounds wonderful, Philip! We are so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I made this dough with whole wheat flour… it didn’t rise an inch, but I rolled it out anyway and precooked it… for 15 mins…looked alright. I topped it with sautéed onions, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, spinach, marjoram, thyme, and garlic… with cashew cheese on top… and baked for an additional 10 mins at 500, turned out great. Thank you.
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Amber!
It IS the best pizza dough; I thought that was an exaggeration at first. I’ve made pizza dough for years and this is now my favorite recipe. Better than dough than dough I’ve had to proof for 12 hours or more. 30 minutes Is nice and fast and the recipie is easy to put together.
I doubled the recipie and made it with 1 cup of bread flour that I’m trying to finish up. It’s a nice soft dough, pillowy but not heavy. Worked great with califlower and olive pizza, and a more traditional one with sauce, cheese, onion, peppers and pepperoni.
I like the idea of flavoring the crust too. I use garlic power and basil; next time I’ll add oregano too. Probably could have used more garlic than the recipe suggested.
Thanks for the kind review, Paul! We really appreciate you giving our recipe a try 🙂
Dear Emily,
The best pizza dough recipe, I’ve ever tried. So crispy and delicate crust, full of garlic and basil flavor. Excellent!
Greetings and best wishes from Poland 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🩷
Hi! Will this recipe make a nice thin crust pizza? Thanks
Hi Maryann! You can always roll it out to be as thin as you’d like 🙂