Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

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This is the best pizza dough recipe ever. It’s easy to make with 5 ingredients and doesn’t need to rise – which means you can have a fresh hot homemade pizza on the table in 30 minutes.

homemade pizza dough recipe before being rolled out


I got my very first job when I was 14, answering phones at our favorite local pizza place in the suburbs of Chicago.

Working there caused me to have incredibly high pizza standards. I grew up and moved away from Chicago to a state that does not have great pizza, so we always make homemade pizza.

We make this easy pizza dough recipe (paired with this homemade pizza sauce) at least once a week. Truly great pizza requires an outstanding crust. And that is what you get with this homemade pizza dough.

This recipe is easy to make because the dough doesn’t have to rise, although rising is an option. Which means you can have fresh, hot, homemade pizza on the table in 30 minutes flat!

a pizza made with this pizza dough recipe

Homemade Pizza Dough: Ingredients & Substitutions 

overhead photo of the ingredients in this Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
  • All-purpose flour. You can use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose baking flour to make this pizza dough gluten-free. If you’re looking for a whole wheat pizza dough recipe, this one is the best.
  • Sugar. honey works very well in place of sugar.
  • Olive oil. Any neutral tasting oil works perfectly in this recipe, I suggest olive oil, avocado oil or canola oil.
  • Toppings: The unanimous pizza topping of choice for my family is pepperoni. My hubby prefers turkey pepperoni. But you can top your dough with anything. My personal favorite is a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar, spinach, green peppers and goat cheese!

Note: The crust is vegan, so you can make delicious dairy-free/vegan pizzas using this recipe, and save yourself lots of money buying vegan options at the store.

a baked pizza using this Best Pizza Dough Recipe

How to Make Pizza Dough

Since we make this easy homemade pizza dough recipe weekly, I have many tips and tricks to ensure it turns out perfectly every time. So we’ll walk through the process step by step, and don’t forget to watch the video.

Note: you can mix this pizza dough by hand or use a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Preheat a Pizza Stone

If you have a pizza stone – I highly recommend using it to bake your homemade pizzas. You can also preheat a baking sheet.

We love baking our pizzas on a stone because it crisps the bottom perfectly. Put the pizza stone in the oven and let it preheat with the oven. For the best results, let the stone preheat at 500 degrees F for at least 10 minutes before baking the pizza.

a pizza stone in an oven

Proof the Yeast 

To make this pizza dough recipe, begin by proofing the yeast, which means mixing together water, sugar and yeast and letting it sit until it becomes foamy and bubbly (about 5 minutes). It’s important that you use warm, but not hot water. Ideally around 105 degrees F.

two photos showing yeast proofing for pizza dough

If the water is too warm it will kill the yeast and it won’t proof (become nice and foamy and activated). You can use a thermometer to measure the temperature, but it should be warm to the touch but not feel hot.

proofed yeast in a bowl

Make Pizza Sauce

While the yeast is proofing, take 5 minutes and make this homemade sauce to use on your homemade pizza dough. It truly is the best.

Sauce being spread onto this pizza dough recipe

Make the Pizza Dough

Once the yeast is proofed, add the olive oil and stir to combine.

two photos showing How to Make Pizza Dough - stirring in olive oil

Then add 2 cups of flour and salt and stir to combine. 

two photos showing How to Make Pizza Dough - adding flour and salt

The dough will start to form a sticky ball, add more flour as needed until the dough is only very slightly tacky and smooth.

two photos showing How to Make Pizza Dough - adding more flour and forming a ball

Knead the Dough

Once the dough is only slightly sticky, transfer it to a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, or until a smooth ball forms. If necessary, add 1 Tablespoon of flour at a time until it’s smooth and not sticky.

hands kneading pizza dough

I make this recipe by hand, but it can easily be made and kneaded in a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. It’s so fast and simple that I prefer to save some dishes and not pull out my mixer for this one.

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe after it has been kneaded and formed into a ball

Optional – Rise

If you have more than 30 minutes, you can let this dough rise for 10 minutes or up to it doubling in size (90 minutes)

Letting the pizza dough rise results in a softer, more tender crust but rising is not necessary for a great pizza.

two photos showing pizza dough before and after rising in a glass bowl

Roll out the Pizza Dough 

Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form it into your desired shape. We usually make a circular pizza because that is the shape of our pizza stone. However we have made them in fun shapes too, including a football for the Super Bowl and a heart for Valentine’s day.

a woman rolling out pizza dough with a wooden rolling pin

Roll it out on a well-floured surface until it’s about ½” thick.

Transfer the rolled-out dough to a piece of parchment paper before you begin adding pizza sauce and toppings.

hands rolling out pizza dough with a wooden rolling pin

Add Sauce & Toppings

Once the dough is rolled out and on a piece of parchment paper, slather on the sauce.

pizza sauce being spread on homemade pizza dough

Then, add your desired toppings (try this pepperoni pizza recipe).

Tip: Add a little cheese before the toppings. This was a trick I learned working at a Chicago pizza restaurant.

Starting with a very thin layer of cheese, then adding the toppings, then finishing with another layer of cheese helps keep the toppings in place when the pizza is cut.

two photos showing cheese being sprinkled over homemade pizza douigh

Bake

Once the pizza is assembled, transfer it to the preheated stone in the oven using a pizza peel. If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a flat baking sheet to transfer the pizza to the oven.

a pizza on a pizza peel before

Bake the pizza on the preheated pizza stone for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Tip: Watch the pizza carefully. The pizza goes from almost done to too brown fairly quickly. So be careful!

two photos showing pizza during and after being baked in oven

Then, use the pizza peel to remove the pizza from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

a baked pizza on a wire cooling rack

Serve

We use these pizza scissors to cut our pizzas and it’s so easy!

I love serving homemade pizza with a huge salad (especially this burrata salad) when we have guests over for dinner.

You can also make the crust into small personal pizzas and let guests make their own pizzas with a variety of toppings, which is really fun.

pizza made with homemade pizza dough being cut with pizza scissors

To Make Ahead

You can make this pizza dough in advance. Mix it together and form a ball, then place it in a bowl and tightly cover it with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Store it in the refrigerator until ready to use (up to overnight).

a cheese pizza made with this pizza dough recipe

How to Freeze Pizza Dough

You an freeze this homemade pizza dough in a few ways:

  1. Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container or plastic bag.
  2. Pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes without toppings. Let it cool, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze. To use, let it thaw, add toppings and bake according to the recipe.
  3. Freeze a fully assembled pizza before baking. You can make your own frozen pizzas by making this pizza dough, topping it with sauce and toppings and flash-freezing it on a baking sheet. One it’s hardened, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw and bake.
Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe dusted with flour

Pizza Dough Recipe FAQs

Can I double this recipe?

Yes, this homemade pizza dough recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

Can I let the dough rise?

Yes, for a thicker, fluffier dough let it rise for 15-30 minutes, or until doubled.

Can I make this dough the night before?

Yes, to make this dough the night before put it in a bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and a damp towel and store it in the refrigerator.

Can I freeze this pizza dough?

Yes, there are three ways to freeze this dough:
1. Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container.
2. Pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes without toppings. Let it cool, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze.
3. Freeze a fully assembled pizza before baking. You can make your own frozen pizzas by making this pizza dough, topping it with sauce and toppings and flash-freezing it on a baking sheet. One it’s hardened, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months.

What happens if bubbles form in my dough while it bakes?

If you notice pockets of air forming in the dough while it’s baking, simply prick them with a fork to let the gas out and continue baking.

What if I don’t have a pizza stone?

If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can preheat a pizza pan or baking pan in the same way that you preheat the stone.

a hand taking a slice of pizza made with this Pizza Dough Recipe

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Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Laura
This is the best pizza dough recipe ever. It's easy to makewith 5 ingredients and doesn't need to rise – which means you can have a freshhot homemade pizza on the table in 30 minutes.
4.99 from 889 votes
Course bread, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 14 Pizza (12 servings)
Calories 67
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes

Ingredients 
 

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheats, and let it warm at 500 degrees F for at least 10 minutes.*

Make the Pizza Dough

  • Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
  • Let mixture sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes frothy and bubbles form.
  • Gently stir in olive oil.
  • Add 2 cups of flour and salt and mix with a spatula until a ball begins to form (dough will still be slightly sticky). Add more flour as needed to form a dough ball.
  • Transfer to a floured surface and knead into a smooth dough, adding up to ½ cup extra flour if needed.
  • Optional. if desired, cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and let it rise for 10 minutes or up to 1 hour.

Assemble the pizza

  • Roll the dough into your desired shape and put it on a piece of parchment paper.
  • Add pizza sauce, cheese and toppings of choice.
  • Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone in the oven.
  • Bake on the preheated pizza stone for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown.
  • Remove the pizza from the oven with the pizza peel and put it on a wire rack to cool for at 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Video

Notes

If you don’t have a pizza stone. 
You can preheat the pizza pan or baking pan you will be cooking the pizza on in the oven instead of the stone. You will need to bake the pizza slightly longer without a stone. 
Ingredient Substitutions
  • All-purpose flour. you can replace up to ½ cup flour with whole wheat flour. You can also use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose baking flour for a gluten-free pizza crust.
  • Sugar. honey is a great substitute for sugar.
  • Olive oil. Any neutral tasting oil works perfectly in this recipe, I suggest olive oil, avocado oil or canola oil.
Double or Triple this recipe
This pizza dough recipe is easily doubled or tripled. Simply use 2x or 3x the ingredients and divide the dough equally in 2 or 3 portions.
You can also make the crust into small personal pizzas and let the kids put their own toppings on it, which is really fun.
To make ahead:
You can make this pizza dough in advance. Mix it together and form a ball, then place it in a bowl and tightly cover it with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Store it in the refrigerator until ready to use (up to overnight).
To freeze
You an freeze this pizza dough in a few ways:
  1. Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container or plastic bag.
  2. Pre-bake the crust for 5 minutes without toppings. Let it cool, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and foil and freeze. To use, let it thaw, add toppings and bake according to the recipe.
  3. Freeze a fully assembled pizza before baking. You can make your own frozen pizzas by making this pizza dough, topping it with sauce and toppings and flash-freezing it on a baking sheet. One it’s hardened, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw and bake.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving (Crust only) | Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Sodium: 177mg | Potassium: 20mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Recipe Rating




1,057 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    UPDATE: Made the dough, made the sauce, it was so perfect I have made it again half a dozen times already since my comment the beginning of February!
    I’ve learned yes, rapid rise yeast works great and I can proof it OR just add to dry ingredients, it’ll still come out perfect.
    So delicious with cheese and pepperoni and Canadian bacon on top. I also found out I can mix a little garlic alfredo sauce with the pizza sauce, put chicken on top. Mmmm yummy! Thanks again, now I have to make it tonight, this made me hungry for it again!

    1. @Robin Glad to hear that rapid rise yeast can be used as this is all that I have on hand. Did you let the dough rise as per your previous comment or followed the recipe exactly? Would love to hear from you !

      1. Hi
        I did it both ways, I’ve let it rise and continued through with no rise. Turns out perfect every time. Usually in the interest of saving time I dont rise but I always pre bake. And I’ve continued to proof rapid rise yeast, works great!

  2. I’ve only recently started making pizza from scratch, and I’m trying this new recipe tonight. I only have rapid rise yeast on hand, so I hope it works with that. Also using your pizza sauce recipe, sounds perfect! Thanks for posting them.

  3. Hi Laura, been experimenting with different recipes for pizza dough, tried one last weekend, it was good, just not great. Tried yours, it was great. I used Rapid Rise yeast and I did let it rise. It was the best one so far. Hope to use it again and again. Shared with a friend, hope it works for her as well.

  4. 5 stars
    Howdy Laura!

    Just made a pizza with your sauce and pizza dough recipes. It turned out wonderful!! Followed the recipe to the letter (and by the way thank you so much for your helpful tips along the way) me and my old man really enjoyed it, sure as heck beats the pizza joints any time…..because it’s homemade and tasted great :)) Thank you. Linda

  5. I’ve tried this recipe multiple times. I’ve followed every instruction completely, even times out the yeast process, and made sure the water was at 105, yet every time the dough is so sticky. Add flour doesn’t help much and you can not knead the dough into a ball because it clings to my hands and even a floured surface.

    1. Hello Chuck! I am so sorry that is happening to you! My suggestion would be to add more flour until you reach the dough consistency that is needed for it to be rollable, but it sounds like you already tried that! Are you using regular all-purpose flour? I wish I could be in your kitchen to help you figure it out!

  6. 5 stars
    Awesome!!! I tried this recipe over the weekend with my kids we loved it!! We have never attempted to make home made pizza before just because of the long process with the dough. But this was amazingly easy thank you!!

  7. 5 stars
    I made this once it was lovely. I made it second time and made sure i had toppings ready ahead of time and it really worked. Fed a couple of the neighbours I think they will be back for more. Easy and good

  8. 5 stars
    I always used a package pizza dough mix, and I’m so glad that I finally tried this! Great recipe! Thank you!!

  9. 5 stars
    Do you think I could pre bake the crust, top and the freeze? This would make those busy nights so much easier!