Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

This Easy Homemade Pizza Dough recipe yields the best homemade pizza in 30 minutes from start to finish! It’s made with only 5 ingredients and does not need to rise!

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 cause me to have incredibly high pizza standards. And since we moved away from Chicago to a state that does not have great pizza, we always make our own.

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

This easy pizza dough recipe is easy to make because the dough doesn't have to rise, although rising is an option. Without rising, you can make a pizza from scratch in 30 minutes with this recipe!

How to make Easy Homemade 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 let's 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!

Proof the yeast 

Begin this recipe 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.

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.

Make some homemade 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!

Make the pizza dough

Once the yeast is proofed, add the olive oil, 2 cups of the flour and salt and stir to combine. The dough will start to form a sticky ball, add more flour as needed. Once it does, transfer it to a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until a smooth ball forms.

Knead the 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.

Knead the pizza dough until it becomes smooth and not sticky. Adding a little extra flour may be required to achieve the perfect consistency. Be sure to only add it 1-2 Tablespoons at a time so you don't add too much.

Optional - Let the dough rise

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

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

Roll out the pizza dough 

Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form into your desired shape. We usually make one circular and one rectangular pizza because those are the shapes of our pizza stones. However we have made them in fun shapes too, including a football for the Super Bowl, a heart for Valentine's day and obviously round like in this post.

Roll the dough out on a well-floured surface until it's about ½" thick.

We suggest baking on a pizza stone (more on this below). To do this, set the dough on a piece of parchment paper once it is rolled out.

Add toppings and bake

Once the dough is rolled out and on a piece of parchment paper, slather on the sauce, add your desired toppings and bake for 12-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Use a pizza stone

Since we make pizza so regularly we invested in two pizza stones. 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.

Use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza from the counter to the preheated stone in the oven.

A few tips on making the best homemade pizza: 

1. Use great sauce. If your sauce is just bleh, you pizza will be too. As I've said throughout your post, this 5-minute homemade sauce is the best.
2. Add a little cheese before the toppings. This was a trick I learned working at the pizza place. Starting with a very thin layer of cheese helps the toppings stick. It also creates like a cheese-topping sandwich on top of your pizza, which is just amazing .
3. Watch the pizza carefully. The pizza goes from almost done to too brown fairly quickly. So be careful!

Cool & Serve

To avoid burning your mouth on lava hot sauce, let the finished pizza cool for at least 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving. We use these pizza scissors to cut our pizzas and it's so easy!

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 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.

Easily Doubled (or tripled)

This homemade pizza dough recipe is easily doubled or tripled. 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 the kids put their own toppings on it, which is really fun.

Pre-bake (optional)

Recipe FAQs

Homemade Pizza Dough: Ingredients & Substitutions 

• 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 is a great substitute.
• 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!

Vegan Pizza Crust

The crust is vegan, so you can make some pretty amazing vegan pizzas out of this recipe, and save yourself lots of money buying vegan options at the store.

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