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.
Xavve
Best pizza ever! But for stretchier pizza dough make sure not to add so much flour! And prevent it from puffing up as much use your fingers to poke the places you don’t want to dough to rise as much! Love this recipe! 100 percent would recommend!!!
Raoul
Super easy turns out great every time. I add a bit of finely grated parm.
Karen Jones
im making dough now going make barbecue chicken one and Italian sausage
Tonda
Very good pizza dough! Pizza was 🔥!
Gonna to make pizza for Christmas! I used my pizza stone and twisted my crust along the edges. It was beautiful!
Tina
😊LOVE this recipe! It makes perfect homemade pizza! Very easy and DELICIOUS! Thank you very much ❤️
Eva
This was delicious. I did add 1/2 cup sourdough discard (to use it up) and I went heavy handed with the herbs. Cooked beautifully. Thank you for a fantastic recipe. This was my first experience with your website, I look forward to trying other recipes.
Brian Kennedy
Your pizza dough recipe is awesome. I’ve been using it for a long time. I ran kitchens for 42 years and worked for a pizza place in high school ran a donut shop i’ve made a lot of dough over the years i’ve been using a large cast-iron pizza pan for 25 years. At least they’re awesome. Just can’t put it too close to the heat source in the oven because once it gets hot, it keeps on cooking.. I let it rise, one extra time so that it stays thin when I want a thin crust. Once the Yeast is used up. It won’t over rise that last time it stays nice and thin and crispy.. Thanks for your recipe
idalis
My kids love this recipe!!! I’ve been using it for 3-4 years!! My babies love the whole process; from prepping mixing topping baking and even waiting haha the fun they have doing it themselves and with each other is the best thing to see!! Food brings us together at home !!! Because we always make something from scratch .
Kaylee
I make this recipe about once a week! It’s so easy and always turns out delicious!
Susan Cristani
Came out perfect and tasty!
AAnahi
Came out great!
Lashonda honda
It was so delishiouso yummy!! My kids and hubby LOVED this recipe!! Will be making again!
Tonda White
I made this today for lunch. It was very good! Will be making it again
Camille V
Made 4 batches and prepared them 1 day in advance, in anticipation of a pizza party for 4 adults and 2 small children. I followed the suggestions and put it in the fridge after the 30-minute proof. Instead of wrapping it, I put them in a gallon-sized Ziplock. It continued to rise in the fridge, which was spooky at first but ended up completely fine. I recommend letting the dough come to room temperature before kneading it/rolling it out. Dough was a hit, soft and fluffly.
Lea Simsy
Was that enough dough for everyone? My husband’s birthday is going to be about 30 people 😬
Camille V
It did make enough for us, yes! I recommend having 2 guests share 1 pizza, so 15 dough balls total. That will take you some time and use a LOT of bowls, so be prepared. To keep things straight, I followed the recipe in stages to keep track. So, every bowl gets flour, then every bowl gets yeast, and so on. Good luck!
SIMON
Awesome 👌
Sarah Michal
Perfect!
Laura
whenever I need a recipe and I see sugar spun run I always click that on.