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.
- 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.
Print
Easy 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 rubber spatula in the next step.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes (for a visual, watch me do it in the video above). The dough can be a little too heavy for a mixer to knead it, but you can certainly use the mixer on low speed instead. 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. If not, keep kneading.
- 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 | Dough Scraper | Pizza Pan | 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
Hello Sally and team,
I’m a Husband/Dad who does most of the family cooking so I’m always looking for tips and recipes. My wife, myself and our daughter really enjoyed this pizza crust. It added a brand new dimension to our Friday night pizza.
Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying one of your pie crust recipes. So far making a decent crust has eluded me but now I have new hope…
Best of the season,
David
Hi David, thank you for your kind note! We’re so glad this pizza dough recipe was a hit with you and your family.
Hi. Can I add some butter for more flavor?
Hi Alfie! Brushing the edges of the crust with butter is a great way to add butter flavor without compromising the chewy texture of the dough. We suggest sticking with the recipe for best tried and true results!
Excellent pizza dough. I have tried so many dough recipes and this one is the best. Excellent flavor, texture and rise. Comes out perfect every time.
★★★★★
Good lord your going to make me fat(er) so easy- so great thanks
I have made this many times and would adjust the ingredients to a little less water than a cup. Otherwise this is a good starting point for homemade dough!
★★★★★
hi I uses hand mixing instead of a mixer. but my dough turns out way stickier than what you have. what could have gone wrong?
Hi Eddy, Sticky dough is normal, a lot of factors go into this such as mixing time, speed, weather, yeast, and temperature of water. Feel free to add a little more flour to make a soft, yet workable dough next time.
I made this yesterday and I had to come back today to say just how wonderful this recipe is, I’ve used other recipes in the past but this by far, is the absolute best, my kids was highly impressed. Thank you.
★★★★★
I love a thick crust pizza. Can I make a thick crust pizza with this recipe/dough?
Hi Bonnie, you can roll out the dough a bit thicker for a thicker crust. Bake time may take a minute or two longer, but keep a close eye on the pizza. Hope you enjoy it!
I dont have olive oil. I have sesame & soybean oils. Will this work. Maybe not the sesame but rhe soybean oil.
Started & realised the olive oil was empty.
Hi Natasha, that should work in a pinch — the flavor may be different. Hope you enjoy this dough!
I made this a couple weeks ago and will again today. It was a super easy recipe to follow and make. Delicious results. So impressive. We turned our crusts over and stuffed them with cheese. Love this website. Thank you.
★★★★★
Can these doughs be prebaked at all? I’m hoping to expedite things as I have to make six pizzas for guests. I wondered if I had the partially baked, let sit, then assemble and bake off when guests arrive.
Hi Michelle, somehow I missed this question. Yes, you can pre-bake the doughs and then top and finish baking later. I recommend 5-8 minutes at the same oven temperature. Once cooled, cover and store at room temperature until topping later that day.
This dough recipe is wonderful. I use it to cook pizza’s in our wood fired outdoor pizza oven and they turn out great every time. Thanks so much for the recipe! Cheers from Ontario Canada
Will this work with Rapeseed oil if can’t get Olive oil?
Hi Jasmine, we haven’t tried it ourselves, but that should work in a pinch. The flavor may be slightly different using the different oil.
Making our own food from scratch is the wisest way. We control the quality of the ingredients, the cleanliness of the kitchen environment, and the flavour. You would be disgusted to know what goes on in some of these restaurants behind the scenes. Plus, you save a ton of money making your own meals. We have to take charge of the food we put into our bodies and home cooking is the best way to do this. And once you learn the techniques, it’s very simple to make a delicious meal at home. We have to get back to the old ways.
This was the best homemade pizza dough I’ve ever made.
Easy and delicious! Thank you
★★★★★
This is a keeper!! It was so easy and my Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook made mixing ingredients fast. Made recipe as written and for home made pizza dough it was great. Half of dough in freezer for next time!
★★★★★
This is my absolute go-to recipe for pizza crust. Works every time and tastes wonderful – my kids prefer it to any takeaway pizza. I don’t have a pizza stone but it works really well on a ceramic oven plate (maximum oven temperature, just over 250C) . Using type 00 Italian flour and adding some oregano to the dough for extra flavour.
★★★★★
I don’t have corn meal. Will flour be just fine?
Yes it will be!
Hello! If you have a vitamix or kitchen aid grain mill attachment and popcorn kernels you can make cornmeal. I didn’thave any cornmeal for this recipe, so I put about a cup of kernels into my Vitamix on high and it was the perfect consistency the recipe. Hope this is helpful.
This was my first time ever making pizza. My second time trying to make dough. This recipe was extremely easy and turned out perfectly. Taste was delicious and texture was to my liking, slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Will definitely use again. 475° for 12 minutes worked for me.
★★★★★
I make this and the garlic knots at least once a week for my family — everyone loves it. Easy and delicious.
★★★★★
Thank you. Next will try to divide into 3 pizza. my 1st attempt the dough was supper sticky even after 10 mins in the stand mixer and then 5 mins of hand kneading so had to add a bit more flour. and then when i divided the dough into two, the resulting pizza was too doughy and undercooked at the bottom.
Can I simply double the recipe? I’m feeding 8 people 😀
Hi Josephene, for best taste and texture, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
Love this recipe ,I have made it many times
If I make the dough in the morning and I will be using it that night. Do i leave the dough in the mixing bowl on the kitchen counter until I’m ready to use it .
Thank you again
Hi Linda! See recipe notes for all-day prep instructions using the refrigerator for a slow rise. So glad this one is a favorite for you!
Can i use brown sugar?
Hi Bee, that shouldn’t be a problem.
475 degrees was too hot. The cheese started to get brown and the crust was still a bit soggy underneath. I’ll cook the next pizza at a lower temp or maybe put the crust in on its own for a bit first. Maybe I read the recipe wrong?
Hi Amy, 475 is correct, but all ovens are different. We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer to ensure your oven is the correct temperature!
Can I substitute chickpea flour for the white unbleached flour? As a 1 to 1?
Hi Stefanie, For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for chickpea flour. Thank you!
Life changer, everyone loves it. Simple to make and taste is phenomenal. Much much thanks
★★★★★
I’ve used this recipe twice and it works well. I use the bargain brand yeast so I always prove it (mix in warm water and sugar and let it sit for 5-10 minutes) so I don’t waste my time and ingredients if it’s no good.
I also use all organic ingredients and substitute whole wheat flour for 1c of the white flour. Gives a really nice bite and isn’t as heavy as the whole wheat recipe.
I did get a pizza stone recently and that has improved my pizza tremendously!
Bon appetite!
★★★★★
Can I make this without the sugar?
Probably not a good idea. The yeast needs something to eat in order to rise properly. But the good news is that if you proof the yeast in warm water with the sugar and follow all of the rising instructions, the yeast will have eaten all of the sugar by the time you’re ready for pizza .
You can also try honey if absolutely necessary, but it may take longer to rise.
★★★★★
If the yeast is viable and the flour has enough starch for the yeast to eat, you don’t need the sugar. In fact, most European yeast breads (including Italian pizza dough) don’t use sugar at all. It does give more rise quickly, but it’s not a deal breaker if you don’t use it. I just made this recipe without it and it turned out great.
★★★★★
Tried the pizza dough recipe, it was great!
This recipe is absolutely delicious!! This was my first time making my own pizza I will be saving this recipe! Thank You for sharing!
★★★★★
I’ve used this recipe many times.No nonsense and great dough every time. Thank You