This easy pizza dough recipe is great for beginners and produces a soft homemade pizza crust. Skip the pizza delivery because you only need 6 basic ingredients to begin!
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Every great pizza begins with a great pizza crust. Some like it thin and crispy, while others prefer a thick and soft crust. This homemade pizza crust has it all: soft & chewy with a delicious crisp and AWESOME flavor. It’s my go-to pizza dough recipe and just a glance at the hundreds of reviews in the comments section tells me that it’s a favorite for many others too!
Easy Dough for Bread Beginners
This is a no-fuss dough recipe for beginners. You need just 6 basic ingredients, plus a little cornmeal for preparing the pan. (You can skip that if needed.) Most of the time is hands off as the dough rises. You might wonder… why waste the time when you can just buy frozen pizza dough? Frozen pizza dough is certainly convenient, but from-scratch crust has unbeatable flavor and texture that only comes from fresh dough. And you can use the dough for cheese breadsticks, too!
Reader, Andy, commented: “Super easy, super fast, super good! I don’t like doughy thick pizzas and I find with this recipe that I can make them thin and crunchy, I love how easy it is. I make pizza once or twice a month! Haven’t bought one for quite some time now! ★★★★★“
If you’ve ever made homemade bagels or sandwich bread, you can easily make pizza dough because it’s quicker, easier, and requires fewer steps.
Overview: Homemade Pizza Dough Ingredients
All pizza dough starts with the same basic ingredients: flour, yeast, water, salt, and olive oil. Here’s the breakdown of what I use in my homemade pizza crust recipe. The full printable recipe is below.
- Yeast: I use Platinum Yeast from Red Star. I have the best results when I use this instant yeast. The Platinum yeast is fantastic because its careful formula strengthens your dough and makes making working with yeast simple. You only need 1 standard packet of yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons) to get the job done.
- Water: I tested this pizza dough recipe with different amounts of water. 1 and 1/3 cups is the perfect amount. Use warm water to cut down on rise time, about 100-110°F. Anything over 130ºF kills the yeast.
- Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose white flour in this recipe. Bleaching the flour strips away some of the protein, which will affect how much water the flour absorbs. You can substitute bread flour for a chewier pizza crust. If you love whole grain bread, try this whole wheat pizza dough instead.
- Oil: A couple Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil adds wonderful flavor to the dough. Don’t forget to brush the dough with olive oil before adding the toppings, which prevents the crust from tasting soggy.
- Salt: Salt adds necessary flavor.
- Sugar: 1 Tablespoon of sugar increases the yeast’s activity and tenderizes the dough, especially when paired with a little olive oil.
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal isn’t in the dough, but it’s used to dust the pizza pan. Cornmeal gives the pizza crust a little extra flavor and crisp. Most delivery pizzas you enjoy have cornmeal on the bottom crust!
You could also add 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and Italian seasoning blend to the dough when you add the flour.
Reader, Shane, commented: “Excellent pizza dough. I add about 1 tbs of garlic powder and Italian herbs to give the dough more flavor as well as 40 grams of cornmeal for a little crunch. It freezes well and makes a nice thin crust. ★★★★★“
This is a Lean Bread Dough
Pizza crust, like homemade bagels, artisan bread, and focaccia, requires a lean dough. A lean dough doesn’t use eggs or butter. Without the extra fat to make the dough soft, you’re promised a crusty pizza crust. (However, I recommend using some olive oil for flavor and to keep the interior on the softer side.) Recipes like dinner rolls, homemade breadsticks, and overnight cinnamon rolls require fat to yield a “rich dough,” which creates a softer and more dessert-like bread.
Overview: How to Make Easy Pizza Dough
- Make the dough: Mix the dough ingredients together by hand or use a hand-held or stand mixer. Do this in steps as described in the written recipe below.
- Knead: Knead by hand or with your mixer. I like doing this by hand. If you’re new to yeasted doughs, my How to Knead Dough post and video can help with this step.
- Rise: Place dough into a greased mixing bowl, cover tightly, and set aside to rise for about 90 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Punch & shape: Punch down risen dough to release air bubbles. Divide in 2. Roll dough out into a 12-inch circle. Cover and rest as you prep the pizza toppings.
- Top it: Top with favorite pizza toppings.
- Bake: Bake pizza at a very high temperature for only about 15 minutes.
Young bakers can lend a hand AND have fun in the process. Let the kids help you press down the dough and shape into a circle. They can add their cheeses and make pepperoni faces on top of the pie. Who doesn’t love a smiley pizza? 🙂
Favorite Pizza Pans
Let me share my top choices for pizza pans just in case you’re shopping for a new one. I use and love (affiliate links) this one and this one. If you like baking your homemade pizzas on pizza stones, I’ve used this one before and it’s wonderful.
If you don’t have a pizza pan, use a regular sheet pan. Grease it with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal as directed below, and then press the dough into whatever shape that will fit. Make sure the dough is about 1/2-inch thick. For a thinner pizza, stretch the dough out more.
FAQ: How Can I Make The Dough Ahead of Time?
Prepare the dough through step 3 below, but allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. (If it needs to be in the refrigerator for longer, use cooler water in the dough which will slow the dough’s rise and allow for more time.) As a bonus, the slow rise gives the pizza dough wonderful flavor! When ready, continue with step 5 in the recipe below (the shaping step). If the dough didn’t quite double in size when rising, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before shaping.
FAQ: How Do I Freeze Homemade Pizza Dough?
This recipe yields two 12-inch pizzas. After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze one of the balls of dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months.
FAQ: How Do I Thaw Frozen Pizza Dough?
Place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Continue with step 5 in the recipe below.
Uses for Homemade Pizza Dough
Here are the many uses for this homemade pizza dough:
- Extra Cheese Pizza & Stuffed Crust Pizza
- Pesto Pizza (pictured above)
- Homemade Ham & Cheese Pockets
- Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
- Stromboli
- Spinach Artichoke White Pizza
- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Garlic Knots
- Margherita style: For 2 pizzas, when it’s time to top it in step 6 below, top with the following. (Feel free to halve for only 1 pizza.) Make a homemade tomato sauce by blending 1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, pinch of salt, and 2 minced cloves of garlic. Spread on shaped doughs. Top each with 2-3 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella. Bake as directed, and then sprinkle each hot pizza with 2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese and a handful of roughly chopped fresh basil.
- Apple gorgonzola pizza is a favorite: For 1 pizza, when it’s time to top it in step 6 below, top with 1 and 1/2 cups (6oz or 168g) shredded mozzarella cheese, 8 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese, thin slices of apple, then sprinkle with chopped fresh or dried rosemary before baking.
- Or any other pizza topping you love: pepperoni, crumbled sausage, black olives, onions, mushrooms, jalapeños, etc
Here are my flatbread pizza crust, whole wheat pizza dough, and cold veggie pizza recipes.
PrintEasy Homemade Pizza Dough
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 12-inch pizzas
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Follow these basic instructions for a thick, crisp, and chewy pizza crust at home. The recipe yields enough pizza dough for two 12-inch pizzas and you can freeze half of the dough for later. Close to 2 pounds of dough total.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)*
- 1 Tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil, plus more for pan and brushing on dough
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/2 cups (about 450g) unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and surface
- sprinkle of cornmeal for dusting the pan
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. (Tip: For the warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
- Preheat oven to 475°F (246°C). Allow it to heat for at least 15-20 minutes as you shape the pizza. (If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well.) Lightly grease baking sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, which gives the crust extra crunch and flavor.
- Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. (If not making 2 pizzas, freeze half of the dough for another time. See freezing instructions below.) On a lightly floured work surface using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on prepared pan and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle, about 1/2-inch thick. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes, then try again. Once shaped into a 12-inch circle, lift the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. I simply pinch the edges up to create the rim. If using a pizza stone, place the dough directly on baker’s peels dusted with cornmeal.
- Cover dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for a few minutes as you prepare your pizza toppings. I suggest pepperoni & green peppers or jalapeño slices, extra cheese pizza, Hawaiian pizza, pesto pizza, spinach artichoke white pizza, or homemade BBQ chicken pizza.
- Top & bake the pizza: Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: This recipe yields enough dough for two 12-inch pizzas, a little less than 2 pounds total. After the pizza dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze one of the balls of dough to make pizza at a later time. Or you can simply freeze both balls of dough separately. Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) into individual zipped-top bag(s) and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 1 hour on the counter. Preheat the oven and continue with step 5, punching down the dough to release air if needed.
- Overnight/All Day Instructions: Prepare the dough through step 3, but allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. (If it needs to be in the refrigerator for longer, use cooler water in the dough which will slow the dough’s rise and allow for more time.) The slow rise gives the pizza dough wonderful flavor! When ready, continue with step 4. If the dough didn’t quite double in size overnight, let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before punching down (step 5).
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Dough Scraper | Pizza Pan or Baking Sheet | Pastry Brush | Pizza Cutter
- Yeast: Red Star Platinum yeast is an instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead. The rise time will be at least 90 minutes. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Pictured Pizza: This recipe yields 2 pizzas. For each, top with 1/2 cup pizza sauce, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni slices, thinly sliced green pepper or jalapeño, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning blend or dried basil.
Recipe originally published on Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2013
Keywords: pizza, pizza dough, pizza crust
I don’t usually post to these recipes…but this one is super easy and the best pizza crust I have had! Thank you!
★★★★★
I normally don’t rate recipes, but after using this recipe again and again, I had to comment. I’ve made some pretty darn delicious pizzas with this crust. Nothing too fancy, and I love that I can make the dough and have fresh pizza in about an hour and a half.
I have a big family. I double the recipe and let my stand mixer do the hard work. Haven’t had any issues with the motor.
I like to add garlic powder and Italian seasonings for a little extra oof. I can’t wait to experiment with slower rise times (for a more complex flavor) and crust toppings. A fantastic recipe!
★★★★★
I love this dough and it is so fun to make. Sooo good!
Hi Sarah
I made this pizza dough in my bread machine using the dough setting and it came out perfectly. So yes, you can make it in a bread machine. Just add the ingredients as you would when making bread i.e. liquids first, followed by dry ingredients with flour and yeast on top as the last ingredients to go in. I left the dough to go through the entire dough cycle and to rise in the bread machine, and then just took it out when it was finished and rolled it out into a pizza shape. Then just complete the rest of the steps.
★★★★★
I made this today in my bread machine using the dough setting. I’m disabled so always looking for recipes where I can just put the ingredients in to my bread machine and leave it to do the work on because I can’t stand upright for very long. This looked like a recipe that would work. I followed the usual principles for putting ingredients into the machine, liquids first, then flour and yeast on top and just left it to go through the dough cycle and to rise in the machine. I then came back an hour and a half later (that’s how long my bread machine’s dough cycle setting takes) and rolled out the dough and left it to rest whilst I got the toppings ready. Tonight I made the Caramelized Apple Gorgonzola Pizza, and it came out brilliantly and tasted delicious. I didn’t have Cornmeal but the pizza still came out perfectly cooked through, crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside after 12 minutes in the oven. This is a great recipe, and so easy to make, and will be in my recipe folder for future use now instead of ordering in pizzas.
★★★★★
I’ve tried other crust recipes, but this one comes out really well!! Especially when you let it sit in refrigerator for a few hours. I also think it’s better if you cook the crust for a few minutes before topping it! I really loved it paired with a simple do it yourself sauce recipe. Delicious!! Thank you for sharing!!
★★★★★
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and it never failed. On my second try, I added some minced garlic. Then on the third I used garlic powder. Either way it gave the crust a little something extra.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
This is the second recipe I tried of yours, and it was amazing! Crust was thin, yet the ends were airy and crisp.. I STRONGLY recommend this site to anyone learning to bake… Easy steps and extraordinary results.
★★★★★
I made this the other day, with cheese, sausage and green peppers. Came out great, a bit thicker than I like, will make your flatbread dough next time. In this recipe, as with many others of yours, you specify Red Star instant rise yeast, but add it to warm water to proof. But Red Star, and other makers of instant yeast, say to add instant yeast to the dry ingredients, don’t proof it. Usually, I follow their guidance. This time, I did it your way, it worked fine. A bit confusing, baking is so precise, these sort of things usually matter.
★★★★★
Hi Sally! I wanted to thank you. This pizza was AMAZING!!! Just like all your other recipes ❤️ Cannot wait to make it again!
★★★★★
Hannah- if you get this comment- I think pizza dough will work, the difference is it has dough relaxers so it is easier to roll out.
I’ve used your recipe for several weeks now as we now do Zoom pizza Fridays (that’s a thing now). My five year old loves helping and it’s quick as easy!
Thanks so much!
★★★★★
First time I tried this pizza recipe and it came out beautifully….. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and also for the tips.
★★★★★
Super easy and super tasty! Great taste and texture. We were hungry for pizza and had everything on hand but the crust. Since I’ve made your delicious no knead breads, I remembered there was also this recipe on the site. Thank you! I won’t be buying crust anymore, I will make this instead!
★★★★★
Hi Sally – I tried to make this recipe almost exactly as indicated, but my dough is super, super sticky. It sticks to my hands big time, making the kneading process very messy. It doesn’t look at all how your tutorial video looks. The only thing I did differently is use active dry yeast instead of instant. Do you know why my dough is so sticky — do I need to be doing something differently?
Hi Chloe, a dough’s consistency relies on many variables including how you measure the flour, brand of flour, even the weather and humidity in the air. While this should be a soft dough, it sounds like yours is a little too sticky. Don’t be afraid to add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more flour to the dough before or during kneading.
I’ve made this dough a few times now, and it’s literally the best. I’m not really a pizza person, but I could eat this particular crust all the time. And it’s SO EASY! I’m less intimidated to dive into ‘tougher’ recipes that use yeast now because I feel like I can handle it. Thank you, Sally!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I would love your help. I’ve made this dough three times now and each time my dough has been really wet when I try to remove it from the mixer bowl after the 2 minutes on low before kneading. I’ve watched your video and the dough gathers around the paddle. Mine does not. Any suggestions?
Hi Alex, If the dough it really wet try adding more flour a few tablespoons at a time until it comes together.
This came out amazingly well. My kids loved it
★★★★★
Hi Sally! I am 15 years old and had to make pizza for a project at school, and the results were AMAZING!!! my family force me to make pizza a lot ever since trying the first one. This recipe is fool-proof and tastes SPECTACULAR. I would recommend this recipe for everyone. Thank you so much for this beautiful find!
★★★★★
Awesome pizza crust recipe!!!
★★★★★
When a homemade crust can stand up and hold it’s own against a New York hand tossed pizza crust….you know you’ve got a winner.
★★★★★
Thank you thank you I made this on a whim one day for lunch I did not have the 90 mins to rise just about 45 mins made a big square pizza for three men and when it came back into the house there were 4 big squares left it was a hit Tootie
★★★★★
I just made this recipe for BBQ chicken pizza, and I MADE MY OWN Dough and it was DELICIOUS. Seriously, the dough was easy and quick and tasted like a quality pizza. I started the dough in the morning and had pizza for lunch. thanks.
★★★★★
Hello! May I know how can I adjust the recipe to make 9 inch pizza? Thanks!
Hi Siew, you can divide the dough into 3 portions (instead of 2) to make 3 smaller pizzas.
Sally I have made this pizza dough two times now, It is super easy and absolutely delicious!! My family loves it!!! Thanks for the recipe!!
★★★★★
Great pizza dough recipe! I add grated garlic and Italian herbs, and pepper flakes to the flour before combining with the yeast water.
★★★★★
While I would have loved to have this work, the dough was so tender that we could not get it off the peel onto the preheated stone. What a mess! I strongly recommend using parchment paper for the first few minutes and then pulling it out to crisp the bottom.
★★
I make this recipe once a week for Saturday night pizza and my whole family loves it! I’m so happy I found something so easy and really yummy.
★★★★★
Made this last night for the first time. This was my first time baking with yeast. It was so much easier than I expected and my family loved it. I was wondering if anyone bakes the dough for a bit before putting toppings on.
★★★★★
Looking at this recipe for awhile. The only flour I could find is stone ground white whole wheat flour ( protein content 13%). Can I use this and if so with the higher protein do you recommend adding a couple tablespoons of water to the recipe as stated?
Thanks for any help you can offer
Hi Amy, I haven’t tested the recipe with that particular flour before so I can’t say for sure. I would use it as a 1:1 substitution and add a couple teaspoons of water as it’s mixing if the dough seems dry. I’m unsure how the pizza crust will taste with this flour.