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
your pizza dough recipe never fails and is always delicious, thank you for sharing a winner of a pizza crust.
I love the recipe the only changes I made were adding italian and garlic powder to the dough mixture. I also added Italian bread crumbs to the flour when rolling out the pizza and adding Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and parmasean cheese to the oil I brush over the pizza before topping. I just felt that the pizza crust needed some flavor. The texture is perfect and was very tasty, but after making these small adjustments to the recipe; the pizza came out phenomenal.
I have been using this recipe for quite a while now and I love it. It is the only pizza dough recipe I use. Every time I google a recipe, I end up on your site and have success with every recipe I get from you. Now instead of googling a recipe I just go to your site and search there. So thanks for all the great no fail recipes!
Hi, Sally!
I love your recipes! I made the dough and watched the video, but my pizza dough always seems way too sticky when I make it! I tried adding about 1/4 cup more flour and it was still almost too sticky to handle and didn’t look like the consistency of yours. What am I doing wrong? I did double check to make sure my measurements were correct and they were….
Thanks!
Hi Mary, There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the brand of flour and the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency.
Made 2 pizzas 2 nights ago.. absolutely wonderful flavour and easy to make..Probably will not order out again…Paulette
I’m a little confused about when prepping day before and putting in fridge. Do I still let it rise first 60-90 minutes at room temp … or does it go straight into the fridge without first rising at room temp.
Hi Loraine, For the overnight instructions allow the dough to rise for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator instead of the 60-90 minutes in a warm environment. So after you cover your bowl it can go right in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Love the receipe !! Thanks so much for sharing
Hi Sally, would measurements be the same with pizza flour?
Hi Katie, Pizza flour typically has a higher protein level and forms a stronger gluten network. It creates a chewier pizza crust. We published this recipe with all-purpose flour since it’s more commonly used in kitchens. You can use either with no changes to the recipe. Enjoy!
This was absolutely fabulous! Always come to your website for all things baking, and this time was no different. It was the first time I’ve made pizza crust and it was super successful and absolutely delicious. The crust was firm and crispy on the outside and lovely and soft inside. We could not believe that our well-worn home oven was capable of such professional standard pizza.
I found that I needed a few tablespoons less liquid than the recipe recommends for the given amount of flour, but nothing else.
Soft homemade pizza crust.
I’ve been making this pizza crust recipe all year and it never fails! I’ve had complements of BEST PIZZA EVER! Tried this dough for calzones and it worked out amazingly as well. Super easy directions to follow as well. I bake on a pizza stone and it’s crispy on the outside and never have to worry about the toppings sliding off from the crust being limp. Thanks so much!
Hi Sally, thank you for the great blog and easy recipes! I’ve made this crust twice now and really enjoyed it. I’m wondering if you’ve ever tried making one batch into three crusts instead of two to get a thinner crust on each. Is this the way to get thin crust or is there a modification to the dough required?
Hi Carolyn, You can certainly make smaller pizzas with this crust. For a thinner crust though, I really love using the recipe for Homemade Flatbread Pizza.
Hi sally! I’ve made this dough before and it was great,but is it possible to stuff the crusr?
Thanks
Hi M, here’s our stuffed crust pizza recipe! It’s the same base as this pizza crust 🙂 Enjoy!
This has become a pandemic staple in our house. We use all the sad vegetables at the end of our grocery cycle to make home-made pasta sauce and this produces the BEST pizza. We like to heavily spice the crust too with garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning. Really can’t go wrong. Don’t skimp on the flour for your hands as you’re handling- too sticky and difficult to manage otherwise.
Hey! I need 4 personal sized pizzas(for children) for a party tomorrow and 3 regular pizzas. I’ve made this recipe x5 & all of the dough is rising, I would like I roll it out to have it prepared ahead of time, should I still let it rise in the refrigerator or should I let it rise on the counter & roll it out & then refrigerate? Thanks!
Hi Samantha, I’m just seeing your comment now so my apologies for the delay. You can let the dough in the bowl rise in the refrigerator for a slower, delayed rise. Or you can let it rise on the counter then roll it/shape it and cover & refrigerate until ready to use. The shaped dough will *slightly* rise during that refrigeration.
Hi Sally, I recently started baking and your recipes and blog have been a huge contribution to my baking journey, thank you so much. I would love to try out this pizza crust to make BBQ pizza this weekend for my daughter’s 2nd birthday. I do not have a pizza pan so I plan to use my baking sheet/cookie sheet. Question 1: How do I line the baking sheet with parchment paper, do I just place the parchment paper on the sheet or grease first and line with parchment. Question2: As I mentioned I do not have a pizza pan and the baking sheet measures about 15 by 10 inches. It cannot accomodate a 12 inch pizza crust, so instead of dividing the dough into 2 sections can I divide into 3 or 4 sections instead and what size of pizza can I roll the dough into when I divide into 3 or 4. Looking forward to your feedback thanks
Hi Linda! I’m just seeing your question now, so my apologies for the delay. I’m glad to help. You can line the sheet pan with parchment paper. No need to grease the pan or the parchment. You can divide the dough in half and stretch each halve to make 2 rectangular pizzas on the 15×10 inch pan. The dough (and crust) will be on the thinner side. Or you can divide the dough into 4 sections and make 4 10×7 inch pizzas (two on each 10×15 inch pan).
I made one really thick pizza on a sheet pan
This pizza crust was amazing! I recently made your garlic knots and they were super good!! The pizza crust had a really nice bounce back, colour, and taste. The only thing was the pizza crust was really thick. Other than that it was perfect. It’s definitely recipe keeper. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to discover more amazing recipes.
My sister shared this and we’ve been using it ever since shelter in place started. Super easy and recently tried it with bread flour and it was fabulous as well. Definitely agree with others to double the salt but everything else is spot on!
Loved this recipe! Very good pie crust. I add various herbs while the dough rises. It’s such a perfect combination of chewy crust with soft baked pizza dough. This is my new go-to for pizza night.
Hi Sally, I have learnt so much from your page. I am planning to make this pizza over the weekend, but since we have a small family, can I freeze half of the dough for like 2 weeks or so? Or should I halve the recipe. Thanks
Hi Rabya, you can definitely freeze half of this dough. See freezing instructions in the recipe.
Oh. My. Gosh! This is the best pizza crust I’ve ever had! Perfect platform for my toppings and held up so well with crisp crunch. My 5yo even said, “Mommy, this is the best pizza I’ve had in my entire life!” Thank you Sally! Your recipes never fail me.
Dear Sally,
I have been using this recipe since March 2020 when we went into Covid-19 confinement and lockdown when we couldn’t get any pizza delivered.
My family loved it and I’ve been making pizzas with it since.
Thank you for the detailed explanations and tips. It really helps beginners like me.
Best regards,
Zeimm
This recipe is a keeper! Super quick and easy. I’ve added garlic powder, dried basil and oregano which gives it a little something extra. I agree w a previous poster that the salt could be upped a little, but it’s still good as is. We started making our own pizza once quarantine started and have probably made this five times now – we won’t use anything else! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you Sally for sharing your knowledge , I made this and everybody loved it. Thank you so much.
Hey I made this once, but with store bought pizza sauce. It was great, but I bet it would be even better with homemade sauce. But I also don’t want to use canned tomatoes like in most recipes. Do you have a recipe for pizza sauce using fresh tomatoes that also tastes kinda like pizza hut pizza sauce? Thanks for the crust recipe!
Hi, You can find homemade pizza sauce in the post for this deep dish pizza recipe. We do use canned crushed tomatoes however you can crush your own if you would like!
Omg! This recipe is MARVELOUS. I didn’t have enough olive oil so I use part olive part sunflower and it worked great. I also used dried activated yeast. I don’t know if my dough overproofed since I proofed at room temp for 90 minutes then left it in the fridge for a couple hours and cooked it when I got home. I had more of a deep pan but it was still delicious! Definitely making this again, couldn’t recommend it enough!
This recipe is the best I’ve tried for getting as close as possible to the wonderful Italian pizzas we always have on holiday (I’ve tried more than a few!). My kids are harsh critics but even they give this base a big thumbs up. (I would attach photos but can’t). But yesterday the result was not as good…the dough was still very wet and gooie after proving for about 7 hours…could it be a)I had to use a different brand of dried yeast due to yeast shortage b) I used my brand new food mixer for the first time (maybe i didn’t leave it knead for long enough) or c) I left it prove for too long? Any advice appreciated as we really were on a winner with this recipe. Thanks
Hi Paula, We are so glad you enjoy this pizza crust. And I’m glad to help. There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. If it was sticky before letting it rise, there’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency. But 7 hours is too long to let it rise at room temperature. It usually takes this dough between 60-90 minutes to double in size. Next time, if you wish to make it ahead of time you can let it rise slowly in the refrigerator – see the all day instructions in the recipe notes.
Sally – This is AWESOME! Better than any takeout pizza. But occasionally when I mix it, it gets too gummy and just impossible to mix. I’m 99% sure I put enough flour in. Should I let it rest before mixing?
Hi Brodie, There are a lot of variances that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the brand of flour and the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency.
Hi Sally,
I’m so keen to make this pizza this weekend for my family. Can the dough sit in the refrigerator for almost a day to rise? Would it over ferment and affect the taste? What’s the longest time it can sit in the refrigerator? Thanks for your help.
Hi Stephanie, Up to 8-12 hours in the refrigerator is best. Freeze if storing longer than that. (Unless you use cooler water in the dough as mentioned in the recipe note!).