Adapted from my regular pizza dough recipe, this whole wheat pizza dough comes together with 6 simple ingredients. It’s not as light and chewy as traditional pizza crust, but it’s wonderfully soft with a distinct wholesome hearty flavor. This recipe is perfect for yeast beginners who enjoy baking with whole wheat flour. Use your favorite toppings or try my roasted vegetable whole wheat pizza.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips. I also made one small change to the recipe, so that you only need honey to flavor the dough and activate the yeast. (The previous version called for both honey and granulated sugar.)
Whole wheat pizza crust gets a bad reputation because more often than not, it’s dense, bland, and crumbly. The reality is that whole wheat yeasted dough just cannot rise to the same level as white flour dough—literally! But several years ago, I worked to develop a 100% whole wheat pizza dough that not only rises wonderfully, it’s soft with great flavor too. If you prefer the hearty goodness of whole wheat flour, you will certainly enjoy this pizza dough.
One reader, Lori, commented: “I have never before made a 100% whole wheat crust that worked as well as this one, and I’ve tried many. My husband couldn’t believe it wasn’t a 50:50 blend of AP and whole wheat because of how light it was. Sally and team, you’ve done it again! Thank you for yet another perfect recipe! ★★★★★“
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Details
- How it compares to regular pizza crust: Enjoy a soft, yet hearty base for your favorite pizza toppings. The crust is not nearly as chewy as pizza crust made with all white flour. However, what it lacks in chew, it makes up for in flavor.
- Flavor: When baking yeasted whole wheat dough such as whole wheat bread or these whole wheat dinner rolls, I love using honey as the sugar component. This crust has a touch of honey, enough salt, 100% whole wheat flour, plus you can add garlic and/or your favorite dried herbs such as basil, oregano, and thyme. (Or an Italian seasoning blend.)
- Ease: This recipe is for bread beginners. Making homemade pizza dough can certainly be an art—tossing the dough in the air, shaping, extended rise times, etc—and it’s always worth the effort! But for the everyday, I love turning to simplified recipes like today’s or my regular pizza crust. There’s just 1 rise, a little bit of kneading and shaping, and then you’re ready to gather your toppings and bake.
- Time: Set aside just under 3 hours for this homemade dough and keep in mind that most of the time is hands off as the dough rises.
You’ll notice that many yeasted dough recipes use similar ingredients—yeast, liquid, flour, salt, and sometimes a little sugar. There can be additions such as eggs, butter, oil, and flavorings, but for whole wheat pizza dough, it’s best to keep it simple. Pizza dough is what’s known as a “lean dough” because unlike cinnamon rolls and glazed doughnuts, it’s not rich with fat. I do, however, like to add a little olive oil for flavor and softness.
Main Ingredients for Your Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Here’s a quick breakdown of the 6 ingredients you need, plus a couple extras. The full printable recipe is below and a new video tutorial is coming soon!
- Water: Whole wheat flour contains unrefined grains like germ and bran—and both absorb a lot of liquid. (And this is why many whole wheat breads can taste dry.) To avoid a crumbly dry crust, make sure you use enough water. I tested this pizza dough recipe with varying amounts of water and 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) is perfect to hydrate the whole wheat flour. Use warm water to cut down on rise time, about 100-110°F (38-43°C).
- Yeast: You can use either instant (quick rise) or active dry yeast in this dough. I usually use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast. Because yeast has to work harder to make whole wheat flour rise, we’ll use slightly more yeast in this dough compared to my regular pizza dough recipe. You need 1 Tablespoon (8.5g).
- Honey: Yeast feeds on sugar so in order for this dough to rise properly, you need a little sugar in the dough. 1 Tablespoon of honey also adds flavor and tenderizes the dough. If needed, you can use regular white granulated sugar instead.
- Whole Wheat Flour: For 100% whole wheat pizza crust, use all whole wheat flour as instructed in the recipe below. For lighter whole grain flavor, feel free to replace some of the whole wheat flour with an equal amount of bread flour or all-purpose flour.
- Oil: 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.
- Extras: 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! And feel free to add some dried herbs to the dough itself or sprinkle on the dough before adding the toppings. You could also add garlic or garlic powder in or on top of the dough. See recipe notes below for details.
Step-by-Step Photos: How to Make Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Here are photos showing some of the process so you can feel confident when it’s your turn to try the recipe.
Use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment or mix the dough together by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Right out of the mixing bowl, the dough is slightly sticky and tacky. Place it on a lightly floured work surface (below, left) and then knead the dough by hand* until it’s smooth, elastic, and bounces back when you poke it with a finger (below, right).
*As detailed in the recipe, you can knead the dough with your mixer on low speed instead. If you prefer to knead by hand, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial will be helpful resource.
Let the dough rise in a lightly greased bowl until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
After the dough rises, punch it down to release the air and cut the dough in half. Freeze the 2nd half of dough or make 2 pizzas.
Using lightly floured hands or rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into a disc. Place on a greased pizza pan sprinkled lightly with cornmeal and, using lightly floured hands, stretch and flatten the disc into a 12-inch circle and lift/pinch a lip around the edges. If you’re shopping for a pizza pan, I use and love (affiliate links) this one and this one. If you don’t have a pizza pan, use a large baking sheet.
Brush the shaped dough with olive oil and feel free to add a sprinkle of your favorite dried herbs and/or chopped garlic before adding your desired pizza toppings.
Toppings & Other Uses for this Dough
You can use any pizza toppings you desire like plain cheese pizza, pepperoni, peppers, onions, cooked sausage, etc. It’s fantastic in place of regular dough in pesto pizza and BBQ chicken pizza. For the pictured pizza above, I used 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/3 cup (about 80g) of pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought), 6-8 ounces shredded and/or thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese (I used a combination totaling 7 ounces), 1 sliced plum tomato, and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper and Italian seasoning blend. When the pizza came out of the oven, I added a handful of chopped fresh basil.
- Other Uses: You could also use this dough for stuffed crust pizza, stromboli, and cheesy breadsticks instead of regular pizza dough.
Roasted vegetable whole wheat pizza is another favorite on this whole wheat pizza crust.
Freezing Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This recipe yields just under 2 lbs of dough, which is enough for 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. 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 30 minutes on the counter. Continue with step 5 in the recipe below.
Print
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: two 12-inch pizzas
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Follow these detailed instructions for making easy whole wheat pizza dough at home. The recipe yields almost 2 lbs of whole wheat pizza dough, which is enough for two 12-inch pizzas.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 1 Tablespoon active dry or instant yeast*
- 1 Tablespoon (21g) honey*
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for pan and brushing dough
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/4 cups (420g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)*
- sprinkle of cornmeal for dusting pan
- optional: chopped garlic, garlic powder, and/or dried basil, oregano, or an Italian seasoning blend
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and honey together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes or until foamy on top. *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 3 minutes. It will be slightly tacky to the touch.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5-8 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5-8 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.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with olive 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 2 hours 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. 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.
- Top & bake the pizza: To prevent the filling from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil. Using your fingers, push dents into the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Top with your favorite toppings and bake for 15-16 minutes.
- Slice hot pizza and serve immediately. Store leftover pizza covered tightly in the refrigerator and reheat as you prefer. Baked pizza slices may be frozen up to 1 month.
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 30 minutes 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 5. 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 (like this one or this one) | Pastry Brush | Pizza Cutter
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast in this dough recipe. I usually use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, which is an instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise time will be slightly longer. Keep in mind that 1 Tablespoon is slightly more than 1 standard 7g packet of yeast. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Honey Substitution: If needed, you can use 1 Tablespoon (13g) of regular white granulated sugar instead.
- Whole Wheat Flour: For 100% whole wheat pizza crust, use all whole wheat flour as instructed in the recipe. For lighter whole grain flavor, feel free to replace some of the whole wheat flour with an equal amount of bread flour or all-purpose flour. If you wish to use all white flour, I recommend this pizza dough recipe. My team and I have not tested a gluten free version of this crust.
- Garlic/Herbs: For extra flavor, you can add 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 chopped garlic clove to the dough when you add the salt. You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme or an Italian seasoning blend when you add the salt. I usually add 1 chopped garlic clove on top of the shaped dough after brushing it with olive oil (step 7), then I add desired pizza toppings on top of the garlic. You can also lightly sprinkle the shaped dough with dried herbs/Italian seasoning blend under or on top of your desired pizza toppings.
- Pictured Pizza Toppings: Sprinkle dough with 1 minced garlic clove, spread with 1/3 cup (about 80g) pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought), 6-8 ounces shredded and/or thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese (I used a combination totaling 7 ounces), 1 sliced plum tomato, and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper and Italian seasoning blend. When the pizza came out of the oven, I added a handful of chopped fresh basil. Also pictured right above this recipe is roasted vegetable pizza.
- Recipe originally published on Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2014. The only change is that I used to use 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar to proof the yeast in step 1 and then I added the 1 Tbsp of honey in step 2. Now, as the recipe states, you just need 1 Tbsp of honey and you can use that in the proofing step. Easy!
Reader Comments and Reviews
How many calories is this?
Hi James, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I wanted to make only 1 pizza so did half of each ingredient but ended up have to use 100g more flour. Will it still be okay? It is currently resting!
Sally, I think 1 1/2 c of water to 3 1/2 c flour is WAAAy too much water. After 8+ minutes of mixing in the bowl, the mixture was still soupy. I had to add a lot of extra flour in order to make a dough that was sticky but still usable. Is it possible there was a mistake in the printed recipe?
Hi Rosanne, the amount of water is correct! Sally gives an explanation in the post above that may be helpful: Whole wheat flour contains unrefined grains like germ and bran—and both absorb a lot of liquid. (And this is why many whole wheat breads can taste dry.) To avoid a crumbly dry crust, make sure you use enough water. I tested this pizza dough recipe with varying amounts of water and 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) is perfect to hydrate the whole wheat flour. You can certainly add a little extra flour if needed!
You have to let whole wheat flour and water sit for 15 minutes
or so to let it absorb the water.
The recipe was fantastic. I made it to the *letter the first time just to have a baseline. I baked it on the Big Green Egg at 550-600 for 7 minutes. The recipe calls to divide the dough in half. I divided it into *four balls and made four pizzas. I like a super thin crust which dividing it by into four achieved. I’m wondering about the consistency and denseness of making just two?
Hi Stanley, the exact thickness will vary slightly depending on how thin you roll the crust. In the photos in the post, you can see the approximate thickness we achieve when splitting into 2 pizzas. So glad you enjoyed this dough!
I stuck to the recipe and the dough was perfect. The pizzas were really flavourful.
I added exactly six teaspoons of WW flour on this humid summer day and it turned out great! Photo on request!
I had to add about 5 extra tablespoons of flour to get the right consistency, but I have to say, this pizza dough was excellent!
We’ve been making pizza a couple times a month for several years now, and have a tried-and-true recipe with AP flour we use. But I’m currently on a whole-grains diet, so I figured we’d try this out.
I fully expected our teenagers to complain about the switch. But this dough was so flavourful and delicious, everyone loved it. I think this will be our new default pizza dough recipe, diet or not!
Fabulous dough & the flavour was awesome. Had to add sooooo much extra flour to make the dough kneadable, but it was still great. Lovely thin & crispy base. It freezes well too.
Ended up with enough for 3 x 30cm (12inch ) pizzas … wooohooo BOOM!
Great recipe ! thank you so much it is delicious!
Would it be possible to let it rise for 40ish hours in the fridge? i made it yesterday evening and was going to use it tonight, but my guests had to reschedule to tomorrow.
Love the recipe by the way, it’s my go to pizza dough recipe.
Hi Mathilde, we haven’t left it for that long in the fridge, so are unsure of the results, but if you decided to give it a try, please let us know how it goes! If you don’t want to chance it, you could also transfer the dough to the freezer for another time (see freezing instructions in recipe Notes), and make a fresh batch of dough for this weekend’s pizza night. Hope this helps!
Totally forgot to update you, so here you go: I ended up doing a bit of both, kept the 40 hour one, but I made an extra one just in case. When the time came I and my guests smelled them both and agreed that there wasn’t that much of a difference, the 40 hour one was a bit sharper in smell but utter wise good, no yeasty smell or anything. My guests were curious too, so I made pizzas with both doughs. The pizzas tasted pretty much the same, and my guests had trouble remembering which was which, though I thought there was a subtle difference in taste, and the 40 hour one wasn’t as fluffy/airy as the new dough. All in all a fun experiment, though I think I’ll keep to making it the night before.
Hi Mathilde,
I know you answered your own question, but I wanted to chime in with my own experience. I have left this dough in the fridge for as long as a week on several occasions and used it. After that long, it simply ferments and smells like beer. It has a fantastic flavor.
I made this dough for a bbq chicken pizza. It turned out great. Very easy to work with and held the toppings well. I’m saving this for the future.
My husband is diabetic and this dough is a good alternative. Especially since there is inky 1Tablespooon of honey. Could this dough be used as a roll? Your roll recipe had a lot of honey.
Hi Trish, pizza dough is a lean dough without eggs or butter, while dinner rolls typically have butter to produce a richer, fluffier dough. We’d recommend using this multigrain bread recipe. You can replace the sugar there with honey instead, and see the recipe notes for details on using some whole wheat flour and making into rolls. Hope you enjoy them!
I’m going to be baking this pizza crust without any sauce or toppings, as it will be the crust for a cold veggie & smoked salmon pizza. How long would you recommend baking?
Hi Dana, we haven’t used this specific crust in that way, but you could use the baking times and temperatures from our homemade cold veggie pizza as a guide. Keep a close eye on it and let us know how it goes!
I was hoping to add ground flax to this to up the fibre. Do you think I should decrease the flour to do so to avoid it being too dry?
Hi Katherine, we haven’t tested adding ground flax to this dough. Let us know if you do!
This looks awesome, but please put nutrional information.
Hi Donna, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
No, I was very exact with measurements because this is an ongoing problem for me whenever I try to may yeast doughs. Could it be my mixer?
Hi Linda, the mixer shouldn’t be it, but there are a lot of different factors that go into the consistency of yeasted breads/doughs (down to even the temperature and humidity levels in your kitchen), so there’s no problem if you need to add a bit more flour to bring your doughs to a workable consistency. For next time, you can try adding more flour 1 Tablespoon at a time until it starts to come together.
I tried this recipe again in my bread maker on the dough setting and it came out perfect!
Tried this recipe, followed ingredient measurements exactly and my “dough” was more like a batter…what did I do wrong?
Hi Linda, did you accidentally use more water and/or less flour? Don’t be afraid to add a little more flour to get the dough to the point where it’s soft and still a bit tacky to the touch.
I am having the same problem! To knead it by hand would be absolutely impossible… I’ve just reduced water to 330ml AND increased flour by 50g… will see what that does.
The past two times I made it I had the same problem but just chucked extra flour in without measuring 😉 Maybe it is just extra humid where I am!
This turned out amazing! I’m never buying store bought pizza dough again.
This crust had great flavor, but I couldn’t get half the dough to stretch into a 12” circle. I ended up having to use 3/4 of the dough to get one pizza. How thin should the dough be when stretching it out? Do you think I overkneaded it?
Hi Jessie, the gluten in the dough sometimes just needs some time to relax. When this happens to me (it often does), just lightly cover the dough you’re working on, let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then try again. It will be stretchier after a brief rest.
Can I partially bake these crusts before freezing
Hi Carmella, see the recipe notes for freezing instructions.
This is stupid recipe because the author did not said how many flour you should take
Hi An, see the recipe above: 3 and 1/4 cups (420g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)
I had been using (and loving!!) the white wheat version of this, but I recently started milling my own wheat berries and was super intimidated to bake with them. This was my first attempt with my milled whole wheat flour and it turned out perfect and delicious! Yet another Sally’s Baking Addiction success!
Great flavour and texture. We’ll make it again! Very easy too, I only used my stand mixer to knead and it worked great.
I use your dough recipe weekly! Question: if I wanted to use half whole wheat and half bread flour, would you recommend making other adjustments? Thanks!
Hi Rachel, you can use half bread flour with no other changes to the recipe. Enjoy!
I love this recipe and use it every time I make pizza. Instead of freezing the 2nd ball of dough, can I refrigerator it for a day to make a pizza the next day? Or do I need to either freeze or cook the 2nd pizza?
Hi Abby, refrigerating for one day should be just fine. So glad this is a favorite for you!
Can it be frozen before adding toppings and baking?
Hi Sheryl, see recipe notes for freezing instructions!
I LOVE Sally’s recipes. But me…I always tweak every single recipe I bake or cook. Just my creativity. This whole wheat pizza dough was very good. It needs a bit more salt, so next time I will use 2 teaspoons. Whole wheat dough is usually doughy so I parbaked the crust until it was firm and slightly risen. I made one big round 16″ pizza. Then I added the toppings and baked it again on the bottom rack at 475F. It needs to be very crispy, so almost dark brown on the crust. And the pizza pan was smeared with olive oil first, then a drizzle on the outer crust.
I made this last night. I Loved this pizza dough. It’s clean and it was so tasty. It turned out perfect. I used my Kitchen Aid Mixer too.
hi. thanks for a whole wheat pizza recipe!
but i’m confused: when i go to print the recipe, there are strange asterisks appearing on a few of the items in the ingredient list, without an explanation anywhere. (and the asterisks do not appear in the recipe on the website; only in the print-ready copy.)
please explain – thanks!
Hi David, Are they by the honey and the whole-wheat flour? There are notes below the recipe about substitutions for those ingredients.
Absolutely exceeded expectations! Like WOW good.