Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
Posted Sep 02, 2018, Updated Sep 30, 2024
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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.
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!
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 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 or cheese. We also love sausage pizza, BBQ chicken, etc. You can top your dough with anything you like!
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.
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.
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.
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 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 and stir to combine.
Then add 2 cups of flour and salt and stir to combine.
The dough will start to form a sticky ball, add more flour as needed until the dough is only very slightly tacky and smooth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Chicken out my list of our favorite pizza recipes!
Add Sauce & Toppings
Once the dough is rolled out and on a piece of parchment paper, slather on the sauce.
Then, add your desired toppings. Some of our favorite pizza recipes include: cheese pizza, BBQ chicken pizza and 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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).
How to Freeze Pizza Dough
You an freeze this homemade pizza dough in a few ways:
- Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container or plastic bag.
- 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.
- 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.
Pizza Dough Recipe FAQs
Yes, this homemade pizza dough recipe is easily doubled or tripled.
Yes, for a thicker, fluffier dough let it rise for 15-30 minutes, or until doubled.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (105 degrees F)
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 to 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour*
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
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
- 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.
- Form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container or plastic bag.
- 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.
- 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for providing easy to follow instructions. Making the crust now!
I just tried this for the first time… came out egg-selent. I have tried a few different doughs recently and this one came out the best… I cooked on a stone and finished up on hi broil. One question, do you let your finished pizza rest for a bit? I ate the first slice hot then another but the third slice seemed to have a little more texture and flavor… I just gotta get my thickness down
Yes! We usually let it cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes!!
Just tried it and it came out great, though I used semolina flour in place of wheat — 1 part semolina to 4 parts AP flour. We’re not vegan or gluten intolerant so our toppings included fresh mozzarella and quality Italian sausage — with plenty of veggies an homemade tomato sauce too.
I love this recipe! I am wondering how many days in advance I can make it and keep it in the fridge?
This looks great! Question — is there any way to make a pan pizza with this? We tend to like a thicker crust, although this does look REALLY good, and I’ll definitely try it as-is, especially since our local pizza chain has just been getting worse and worse. Thanks!
The recipe for the dough is vegan. As stated you can put whatever toppings you want. Idiots.
If you use goat cheese for the veggie pizza, does that still count as a vegan pizza? I don’t think that counts as a vegan pizza. No face, no mother. Goat cheese ain’t vegan. Nice recipe for the dough though. Thanks!
No goat cheese (or any dairy cheese for that matter) are not vegan! This dough recipe is vegan, and to make a vegan pizza you would need to choose vegan toppings! You can purchase vegan cheese substitutes at your local health food store!
Homemade pizza dough is the best! I love this easy recipe!
Made this pizza for my husband and 2 young sons and it was a thumbs up from all of them! I topped the cheese with dried Basil leaf which added a nice flavor. I don’t have much time for baking so we usually have frozen pizza. This recipe did not take very long and they definitely want it again.
This was so quick and easy to make and turned out Great! Thank you!