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
Love this! It came out so tasty and was super easy to make. It feels so much healthier than delivery pizza too. My pizza loving husband approves!
Sally, you have been a life saver in my kitchen. All of your recipes are without a doubt the best out there. Ive tried them all and I keep coming back to you as the number one go to lady who knows her stuff. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate this. Have you tried the pizza dough recipe before? What are your favorites?
I have been making this dough for awhile now. It is the best dough I have ever made. The pizza always comes out great, I have also made sausage roll with this dough and it was great. I love your recipes thank you
with this dough and your
Question: my crust came out way to crisp and crunchy. I’m guessing I overbaked it but the cheese wasn’t getting golden. On what oven rack should you bake this? Any other reasons why the crust came out so crunchy? Thanks!
Hi Kim, usually an extra-crispy crust is caused either by baking for longer or simply rolling it out thinner. I usually bake this pizza on the middle rack, or the one just above the middle, but ovens can vary. I hope you’ll give it another try!
Absolutely terrible. Followed the recipe to a T and the dough was crumbly and hard as a rock. Had to toss the entire thing. Such a bummer as it sounded so good based on reviews.
made this tonight, flavor is good, I find the crust too crunchy. May be 15 minutes was too long, although it is not burnt, it golden brown. followed your directions to a T.
Thank you so very much for this recipe!! First time EVER making pizza crust and this was absolutely delicious!! Will be using this recipe for now on just like your cookie recipes! Also Thank you for all the tips in your recipes!
Just bought a ‘LODGE’ cast iron 15 inch pizza pan and am venturing into making homemade pizza and breads etc. In one of your other beginner’s pizza tutorial you suggested that if using a pizza stone to preheat it. How should I use my cast iron pizza pan? Preheat or Not? Any tips?
Hi Mike! We haven’t tested it, but think preheating the cast iron pan would be a good idea. Let us know how it goes!
I often see you say NOT to halve a recipe… Why not? What is likely to happen? I halve a lot of recipes I try, if not all, becasue I have a small family, and I want the results to be eaten quickly so I can try something else! I have a very precise gram scale and have neevr had an issue halving anything…yet. I plan to halve this one tonight. Wish me luck!
Hi Kat! Halving recipes can lead to more mistakes, and sometimes recipes simply do not scale well. We usually suggest making a full batch and freezing any extra for later. This pizza dough freezes well – see recipe notes for details. Hope this pizza dough is a hit!
Well, gotta say, this recipe halved/scaled perfectly! I used it to make Sally’s stromboli and it was excellent. Maybe I just got lucky 😉
This is my new go-to recipe for Pizza Dough. It came out so good!
Hi Sally
Am I able to use cornflour or a.p flour on a pizza stone instead of cornmeal? Going to give this a go tonight! Thanks
Hi Emma, if you don’t have cornmeal, you can simply skip it. Hope you enjoy the pizza!
I have active dry yeast, not instant…would this make a huge difference in the recipe? Would I just need to let rise for longer? My husband and I have been looking for a great pizza dough recipe and I found this one and it seems too easy to not try..but I just wanted to make sure the yeast wouldnt mess things up.
Hi Sara, You can use active dry yeast instead. The rise time will be at least 90 minutes.
This was easy and delicious! Turned out perfect!
I feel like my pizza was great but the dough wasn’t cooked enough. What do you think I did wrong. I heart you Sally!
Hi Carol Anne, it’s possible the bake time needed to be extended just a bit. Otherwise, we’re you using especially wet/heavy toppings? You could try reducing the toppings next time, too. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Can I make this dough ( which I already did) and refrigerate before making pizza?
Hi Stephanie, see the recipe notes for Overnight/All Day Instructions.
I am really enjoying this recipe, but I have one problem: although I make lots of finger marks the crust still bubbles up. I have tried putting the cheese on at the start and later on so it doesn’t melt too much, with the same results. I am baking it on a pizza steel.
Hi Raymond, it may be helpful to roll the dough out thinner next time.
Can I substitute gluten free flour for this and will it work in our ooni pizza oven?
Hi Susan, we haven’t tested that substitution so we’re unsure of the results. Although some readers report using an all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour in many of our recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results anytime you substitute ingredients. Let us know if you give it a try!
Simply superb, tried a few pizza recipes and non as good as this one. thanks very much for sharing.
This was easy and I haven’t messed it up yet. I’ve made it several times, it’s so delicious.
Anxious to try this recipe for a pizza party we are hosting in January. One of the pies we will be making is a Chicago Deep Dish. Any tips on how long to bake one, or any other tips that come to mind? Thinking of using the overnight rise for this. Already know and love Red Star’s Platinum Yeast!
Hi Kim! Here’s our Chicago-style deep dish pizza recipe.
I had some flour left over from xmas cooking so searched for a pizza dough receipe and found the one above!
Never made it before so followed this to the letter (I even left to rise overnight) One of the best pizza’s I’ve ever had. Awesome, thanks Sally.
Hi Sally,
We are going to be using a pizza stone for your delicious looking pizza. How do you recommend preparing the pizza as we can’t take the pizza stone out of the oven, it would be too hot. Do we prepare dough/toppings on another flat dish and then slide pizza onto the pizza stone?
Thank you and Merry Christmas,
Brenda
Hi Brenda, that’s what we would recommend—preparing the pizza on another sheet or pizza peel, then transferring to the pizza stone. Hope you enjoy it!
Use parchment paper! Make your mini pizzas right on the paper (tip: buy sheets, not a roll…trust me on this!) then slide them in and out using the paper. Another tool is a giant sparula (from King Arthur flour) or a pizza peel.
This is the basis for my pizza dough. I add two tablespoons of corn flour, garlic, and cardamom to the dry ingredients.
Giving it a 5star cause I just made it. It’s came together pretty well, by hand. No mixer.
Can’t wait to make pizza, and I noticed that everytime I Google a recipe, that Sally’s is the first I see and click on. Maybe I should just save your page and search recipes that way xD
I honestly don’t know why I ever question your baking times. Live and learn….learn over and again. Love your baking recipes. If it’s in the oven? I ALWAYS make sure Sally’s is my first option.
I love this recipe. The water to flour ratio is a bit off though. I found 280 ml of water to be perfect for 450g with the other ingredients kept the same. This was still wet, but after adding 1-2 handfuls of flour the dough coalesced and obtained a silky texture. This was at least when I beat this per hand with a wooden spoon. I think it may be that the stand mixer probably does a better job at integrating the ingredients and so using one could very well call for an additional 40ml of water.
I had to keep adding flour also.
I felt the same. My dough was very sticky even though I didn’t add the entire water. I had to leave the water aside and keep adding more flour to release the dough from my hands. Otherwise easy and quick recipe. Loved it!
Lovely, easy pizza dough recipe. I added 1 tsp each of garlic powder and onion powder and am so happy with the result. Better than ordering in.
So wet didn’t work
Turned out great. Definitely not too wet as some people have said.
This pizza dough recipe makes literally the best pizza every time. This recipe is was the first thing I ever made using yeast and it genuinely helped me conquer my fear of baking with yeast! Making pizza with this dough is my absolute favorite meal and it’s so fun for me and my husband and I can’t get enough!! Thank you for this amazing recipe, and I can’t recommend it enough!!
Hi! I haven’t attempted the recipe yet, but I was wondering, if I wanted to split the dough up into four instead of two (for individual pizzas) how would that affect baking time? Would I have to leave it in for less time/ less heat?
Hi Katie! You can definitely make mini pizzas. We would use the same heat, but we’re unsure of the bake time so keep an eye on them. Yum!