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
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)
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.
Elyn
How many days can the dough be kept recrigerated before using? I may want to make several smaller pizzas over time. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Elyn! I wouldn’t keep it in the refrigerator for much longer than a week. 🙂
Zoe
Made it today and had it for dinner, it’s AMAZING! Highly recommend ❤
Adela
Hi,
I did it, I did it. I made my first pizza dough using your recipe. I used bread flour and followed your directions almost to a T. I forgot to add the olive oil to the water. I thought it was for the second bowl, I guess I really didn’t read the instructions correctly. Anyway when I added the water and the rest of the flour, it didn’t look right. I re-read the instructions and “Oh No” I forgot the oil. Long story short, I added the oil and massaged it onto the flour by hand. The pizza came out little crispy and delicious. This is a keeper. Thank you.
Sam
I’ve made this pizza hundreds of times and I actually did EXACTLY the same thing last weekend when I was making dinner (I’m blaming it on lack of sleep because of the baby), so don’t be too hard on yourself 😅😂 I’m glad to hear it worked out so well for you, thank you for commenting!
E
My husband has made an art of pizza making and I used this to make pizza for my second attempt. He loved it, kids loved it! Your video was very helpful. This is now my go to for pizza and even my husband is modifying his to some of your technique. Thank you!!!!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you so much for commenting 🙂
Scott Bullock
This has been our friday night pizza dough recipe for the past few weeks. I used half white flour and half wholewheat flour, and the result is a real artisan texture and taste 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
You’re very welcome, thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Nicole Bielawa
Do you have to use parchment?
Sam
Nope you will be fine without 🙂
Pooja Shrestha
Tried the recipe out today…it worked so well!! Thank you 😊
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Pooja! I am so glad that it turned out well. Enjoy! 🙂
Aaron
I am trying to make this later tonight but I just found out I don’t have plastic wrap, which sucks. So I was wondering if I would be able to use like a storage bag, reuseable bowl top, or aluminum foil instead.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Aaron! Aluminum foil or a clean dish towel will work too. You just need it covered, but not sealed. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Aaron
Thank you this recipe was AMAZING it was so great that I made another batch of dough and I wanna now how to store it.
Sam
Hi Aaron. You can store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Beyond a week you would want to freeze it. 🙂
Paula K. Dalke
I made this yesterday and I covered the bowl with the bottom side of a plate, I set the glass bowl behind a kettle of grown beef I was browning for the pizza and the dough raised nicely. My husband really liked the crust of the hamburger/onion/cheese pizza. I did one thing different after I spread the dough on an olive greased pan I flipped it, paper toweled excess olive oil off, used the fork to keep the dough from bubbling up and then I sprinkled the crust with Parmesan cheese. I had so much topping on the pizza I had to cook it longer. This is a good recipe, I liked it and thank you for sharing.
Sam
That is a delicious sounding pizza! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Amanda
Super easy! Can I make in the morning and refrigerate until dinner time?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amanda! Yes, you can. You’ll make it, allow it to rise completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. I hope that it is a hit at your pizza night! 🙂
Juliet
Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe for my first time making pizza dough. We loved this dough. I added a little more salt to the dough and took your suggestion of adding garlic powder. I didn’t realize I had active dry yeast and just added it in to the flour (first time using yeast) but it still rose and doubled in size. Will use the water method next time. We also baked ours about 20 min in a convection oven at 400 degrees. So delicious.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear it was such a success, Juliet! Thank you so much for commenting and letting me know how it turned out for you!
Dennis M
Can you use active dry yeast, if you can what is the amount
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Dennis! Active Dry Yeast will work fine. Another user who used active dry yeast (same amount listed on the recipe) proofed the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water + 1 tsp sugar before putting it in the flour mixture. Then added the rest of the wet ingredients and flour. After about 45 mins it should double in size! I hope that you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Anjana
Since your recipe calls for 1-1/2 Tsp of sugar and 3/4 Cup water, once the dry yeast is “proofed” in 1/4 cup tepid water and 1 Tsp of sugar, does that means that when adding the rest of the wet ingredients, that would mean only 1/2 Tsp sugar and only 1/2 Cup water ?
Dawn
If you do this (proof the active dry yeast), do you have to adjust the amount of water in the original recipie?
Sam
Nope 🙂
Ivelisse
Can I use self-rising flour? During this difficult times I can’t find dry yeast in the stores.
Sam
I’m sorry, Ivelisse, but I am not sure how that would work. I know the pizza dough won’t turn out the same as it would with yeast and having not tried it myself I really can’t say, it’s just too different for me to be sure. I’m sorry, I wish I could be more helpful but I would hate to have you waste your flour on it if it doesn’t work out.
Ana Monteverdi
Can I use this recipe to make a calzone? Or just pizza?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ana! You can use it to make Calzone, Stromboli, or Homemade Garlic Knots. 🙂
Donna
Could I double this recipe to make two pizzas ??
Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! 🙂
D
Hi,
I have a stupid question.
So If I want to double the Qty. I would just double the ingredients?
Sugar Spun Run
That is correct, D! You just double all items listed. 🙂
Vibha
Hi! A friend recommended your recipe and I can’t wait for the weekend to try it.
Just one question: don’t I need to cook the base a wee bit first and then put the toppings?
Does the base get a chance to cook if the sauce is put on it straight away? Doesn’t it get soggy?
Look forward to a reply – then I’ll be ready to roll – out the dough!
Sugar Spun Run
I am happy that your friend recommended this recipe to you, Vidha, welcome to my site. You do not need to prebake the crust prior to adding sauce or toppings, it does not get soggy. If you like a crispier crust I recommend using bread flour as it will give the best results. If you don’t have that on hand you can also pre-bake your crust for 5 mins or so then apply toppings. This recipe is really versatile. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
vibha
Thank you for replying about prebaking the base. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, so I made them today. I didn’t prebake the base and the pizzas turned out very well, better than ever before! My friend Reeta, who first pointed me to this site, and I are eternally grateful for this great recipe!!
Thank you Sam!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that it turned out well and you enjoyed it, Vibha! Thank you both for trying my recipes and for being supporters of my blog. I greatly appreciate it. I am excited to see what recipe you try next! 🙂