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!
I have made home make pizza before but this one (made it last night) was the best one I have ever made. I used 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat and it still turned out great. Awesome recipe thank you much.
I’m so happy to hear the pizza dough was such a hit for you, Natalie! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂
Thanks for this! I’m allergic to all spices so I can’t eat takeout pizza. This is a great recipe for me to eat pizza still that I can make easily at home with your recipe:-)
I’m so glad you enjoyed the pizza dough, Valerie! thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Hello! Would I be able to make 4 personal pizzas with this recipe? If so, how long should the cooking time be? Thank you 🙂
Hi Katie! They would probably be pretty small pizzas, but you could certainly make smaller pizzas. I’m not quite sure how long you would need to bake them. I would just keep an eye on it. 🙂
Hello, can I use active dry yeast and if so what do I need to do differently? Thank you
Hi James! It should work, it just may take a little longer for it to rise. 🙂
Can you freeze this dough and if so, for how long? How long will it keep in the fridge? Thank you
Hi Olga! I know others have frozen the dough with success. I wouldn’t recommend keeping it frozen longer than a month. It should keep in the refrigerator for about a week. 🙂
Hello. just learning about pizza dough and most recipes state that you need absolutely to knead the dough until easily stretched. Why didnt you do this in your recipe thanks
Barb
Hi Barb! It just really doesn’t need to be kneaded. It’s a great dough. 🙂
This is totally a myth!! Warm water and cold water come in same pipe. Then division is made for how ever many gallons go to water heater. Of some have installed hot. Which water does not sit in heater. But heats as flows thru. So unless you have a well and bypass your water softener to heater. Same water. Basics dude
Very nice recipe! Wonder, though, why you show pizza cut inyo 8 pieces, yet serving size (“nutrition”) is for 1/12 th pizza?
Thank you so much! It’s a little easier to show the pizza off when the slices are a little bigger. 🙂
Hi! You don’t have to post this, but I laughed when I read the comment about warm tap water – I think I might know what he means… My husband’s mom told him that only warm tap water goes through the water softener. So they think that you should never drink or cook with warm tap water because it has softener salt in it and will make you sick. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but they are both adamant that it is unsafe to drink warm water from the tap… Anyway, I’m trying your pizza crust recipe tonight LOL
😂 I have never heard that and it doesn’t make any sense. Enjoy your pizza! 🙂
I’ve made this pizza several times I the past 2 weeks and it is my go to recipe. It bakes up crispy and soft and chewy it is just perfect. I sauté grated garlic in butter and spread it on the pizza instead of olive oil. I also bake it on a pizza stone. It is super easy and makes a quick dinner. Thanks so much for the recipe. I love it!!!
Hi Pearl! I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza dough! The sauteed garlic and butter spread sounds INCREDIBLE!!! 🙂
Wow! You deleted my message just because you didn’t like my advice? You can get people sick by using warm tap water and you just don’t care. You should be thankful when you get advices. You’re young and still have many things to learn in life. You’re stubbornness and attitude of I know better than others will not help you in life. Good luck in life then!
Hi Ramo! I did not delete anything. All comments need to be approved so misinformation is not spread. That being said, I am not really sure what you mean by, “warm water from the tap is not treated the same.” Warm water from the tap at my house is just cold water that goes through a heater and warms it up.
I was curious so I looked this up. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html
Well that certainly is interesting. I can imagine it’s not a huge problem since I’ve never even heard mention of it. I would need to see a lot more research on it before I was ok with advising people this way.
Hi. Never use warm water from tap. It is not treated in the same way like the cold one. Always boil some cold water beforehand.
Hi Ramo! I’m not sure what you mean here.
Hi Sam,
I was hesitant to make my own pizza dough, but finally gave it a try. I looked at several recipes, and found yours to have the best (and easiest) directions. I followed the recipe exactly. To my surprise, it came out great! I like putting on my own toppings, but always just bought the ready made, plastic wrapped pizza crust This is so much better! I’ll make it from now on. I doubled the recipe and froze one, after it had risen. (As is – not rolled out) I let it thaw in the refrigerator, then spread it on the pizza pan. It worked just fine. This recipe is definitely a “keeper”.
I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza dough so much, Mary! Homemade is always better if you ask me. 🙂
Hi Sam! I made this the other day with some homeade sauce and various other toppings and it was delicious however, the dough didn’t seem to cook enough, possibly too many toppings. That being said, it really was fantastic. When I reheated the leftovers, I broiled it briefly and the edge crust tasted amazing.
Your recipe says to knead it 3 – 5 times after it rises. Your video says to knead it several times after taking it out. My question is, I’ve read in other places to knead the dough before it rises for about 8 minutes, and not to knead it after it rises, because you lose a lot of air/bubbles. Whats your take on this, as I didn’t see any steps to knead the dough prior to letting it rise, your instructions and video basically say to stir with the wooden spoon, then transfer it to the olive oil coated bowl. Thanks very Much!
Hi Chris! Glad you enjoyed the pizza dough! What I love about this recipe is that there’s essentially no kneading required, at least compared to most pizza recipes out there! There is no need to knead the dough prior to rising with this recipe 🙂
Dough comes out amazing every time! I do add about 2x the recommended amount of garlic though haha.
😂 I won’t judge when it comes to the amount of garlic! I am so glad you enjoy the pizza dough so much. 🙂