The Best Pizza Dough Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
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
If you enjoy watching these videos, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel to be notified every time I publish a video!
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 use this every time i make pizza it works great
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you enjoy the pizza dough. 🙂
This has been my go-to dough since I found it a few months ago. I use it for pizza, garlic fingers, even deserts such as cinnamon roll pizza, etc. BY FAR the easiest dough I have ever worked with. I throw everything in my ninja with the hooks on, let it beat it up for a minute or so, then just sit it somewhere warm for 30. It has NEVER failed me, including the time where I let my 3 year old join in on the cooking.
Thank you so much, Katy! I am so glad that you enjoy this pizza dough recipe so much. I love that your child has even been apart of the process. I hope that you continue to enjoy it! 🙂
Can you use this recipe for pizza on the grill? How long do you cook it?
Hello, Faye! I personally have not used it on the grill, however, others have and have had success. I recommend just keeping an eye on it and remove it once the cheese has melted and crust is baked to your liking. I hope that you enjoy the pizza dough recipe. 🙂
Wonderful recipe. I’ve tried other recipes but this is by far the simplest and tasty one. Will be my go to from now on.
I am so happy that you enjoyed the homemade pizza dough, Barbara! 🙂
How many pizza cam I make with this recipe?
Hello, Lychelle! This Pizza Dough Recipe makes 1- 10″-12″ pizza. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
From now on, this is my go-to recipe whenever I make homemade pizza. The family absolutely loves it
Thank you so much, Rick! I am so happy that you and your family enjoyed the pizza dough! 🙂
I love this recipe… can you make it ahead of time and refrigerate the dough to use the next day? If so, what’s the best way to do so?
Hello, Jess! That will work fine. Make sure you let it rise first, then cover and place in the refrigerator. 🙂
How many pizza can be made with this recipe?
We usually split the dough in half and make two thinner-crust pizzas.
Hi Sam,
Have you ever experimented with letting the dough rise/sit for longer than 30 minutes? Curious what the maximum time we could leave this out to rise/ferment is.
Thanks!
Hi Ben! I don’t recommend letting it more than double in size. 🙂
Made the dough to directions. The dough was still tacky when I formed it by hand. Thinking more water than 3/4cup. It still turned out great. Had to use hands to form it on the parchment. I have great mountain water. What do you think?
Hello, Michael! If the dough was too sticky or wet to knead, I reccomend adding more flour. You will want to add little by little until the pizza dough is more manageable and no longer sticks to your hands. I hope that you enjoy the pizza dough. 🙂
I’ve been using this recipe for over about a year now and I just had to comment and say this is
by far the best recipe I ever could’ve come across, especially since I tend to be rather picky in
choosing recipes for any dish; this one tops em’ all in the pizza column! Also, I’m able to cut the dough in half and get two seemingly large thin-crust pizzas out of this, so that is definitely a plus.
*200g AP Flour and 95g Bread flour mix is my go to.
Thank you for this excellent recipe!
Oscar, thank you so much! I am so glad that my pizza dough recipe has become your go-to! Enjoy! 🙂
Yaa, it’s a great recipe
I took a cooking class back in 8th grade and “learned” how to cook basic foodstuffs, pizza included. I was never a cook (planning to learn to cook for my Chinese family though), but I always made pizza/pancakes for the family, kind of my thing. However, the recipe the teacher gave us always turned out bad or not to my satisfaction. But when I tried this, I was very surprised by the results. The crust finally tasted like a crust, and somehow, the rest of the pizza tasted better and even looked better. Though it’s a bit smaller, this is probably the best, easiest, and most flexible recipe I’ve ever used. Thank you very much! 🙂
I am so happy that you enjoyed the pizza dough recipe, Kane! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Great recipe!
Thank you so much, Angie! I am glad that you enjoyed the pizza dough. 🙂
I tried this recipe out because I wanted a quick pizza dough. I’m not sure what I did wrong but my crust smelled and tasted yeasty. I used all purpose flour and all the other ingredients listed.
So strange! I wonder if perhaps the yeast was bad?
I’m a pro baker, and watching the video all I could think was salt kills yeast. When combining ingredients always put salt on one side of your bowl, and yeast on the opposite side until ready to combine wet and dry ingredients. Otherwise your dough will not rise properly and you will have a yeasty taste to your dough. When trying to roll a circle use your rolling pin in an upward and then downward motion always starting from the middle of your dough. One, two, up, one, two, down. Then turn your dough 1/4 turn, and repeat the same thing until you have the desired dough size/circle. Fold/roll dough around your rolling pin when transferring to your pan to reduce shrinking once on the pan.
Fantastic basic pizza dough recipe that tastes great. So easy I can even let the kids help and it still turns out. Thanks!
I am so glad you enjoy the pizza dough so much, Loni! 🙂
I’ve made several different dough recipes and this one became my #1 go to! I don’t measure the herbs I put in.. just eyeball it. I use Penzey’s oregano, granulated toasted onion and granulated roasted garlic. I’ve not actually made pizza but calzones. The dough comes out perfectly!!! I just whipped up a calzone last minute tonight, and it is wonderful!!!!
Thank you so much, Marlene! I am so glad that you enjoyed the pizza dough. I often use the pizza dough to make calzones as well. One of my favorite dinners. Enjoy! 🙂