Pizza Dough Recipe

This pizza dough recipe is sure to become your go-to recipe for homemade pizza. It’s easy and makes the best chewy, crispy pizza crust!

The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

We have been making this pizza dough recipe every week for years, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share it here! If you’ve been looking for a tried and true pizza dough recipe, you’ve found it!

This pizza dough bakes up to make homemade pizza with a deliciously chewy crust and a crispy bottom. It’s incredible topped with our easy pizza sauce recipe, melty cheese, and a variety of pizza toppings.

Below you’ll find our guide to making pizza dough and baking a pizza, plus tips for making the dough ahead of time.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s what you’ll need to make this pizza dough recipe. This recipe makes two balls of pizza dough, enough for two 14-inch pizzas. If you only want to bake one pizza, you can freeze one ball of dough for later.

• Warm Water: I usually heat the water in a glass liquid measuring cup in the microwave, but you can also use the stove or get warm water directly from the tap. Use an instant read thermometer to check that the temperature of the water is between 110 and 115° F. This is the optimal temperature to activate the yeast.
• Yeast: Using rapid rise or instant yeast will allow the pizza dough to rise faster. You can also use regular active dry yeast, but may need to allow for a longer rise time.
• Sugar: A small amount of granulated sugar helps to activate the yeast. You can substitute honey, if desired.
• Olive Oil: Adds richness and flavor to the dough and helps to make the dough soft.
• Salt: The salt is essential for making a flavorful pizza dough.
• Flour: The key to making a chewy pizza dough is to use a flour with a high protein content. We like to use 00 pizza flour, which is specifically designed to make chewy pizza crust. (You can find this type of flour on Amazon or at Whole Foods.) Bread flour also has a high protein content and works well to make pizza dough. If you only have all-purpose flour, you can use it; your pizza crust will just be slightly less chewy.

How to Make Pizza Dough

The easiest way to make pizza dough is to use a stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can stir together the ingredients and knead the dough by hand.

First, stir together the warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes. The yeast should start to bubble and/or foam.

Add the olive oil, salt and flour to the bowl. Mix on low speed using the paddle attachment until the ingredients are combined.

Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on low speed for 8 minutes. After about 5 minutes of kneading, turn the mixer off and press on the dough with your finger. If the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is only slightly sticky.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and divide it into 2 balls. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 500° F, with an oven rack one space above the bottom position.

Making and Baking the Pizza

Now you’re ready to roll out the dough and make your pizza!

To start, punch down the dough to release any air bubbles. Shape it back into a ball and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 14-inch diameter circle. Transfer to a greased pizza steel or baking sheet. You can fold the edges of the pizza dough over a bit towards the center of the pizza to create a thicker crust around the edges.

Then, spread on pizza sauce, sprinkle on cheese, and add toppings as desired.

It’s best to bake pizzas one at a time so that they cook evenly. The crust will crisp better on the bottom and the cheese will brown nicely on top. In a 500° F oven, the pizza will take about 7-9 minutes to cook.

Pizza Dough Recipe Tips

• If the dough isn’t rolling out well into a round, let it rest for 5 minutes and then try again. The rest time allows the dough to relax so that it will stretch easier.
• Brush the edges of the crust with olive oil before baking for additional flavor and browning.
• Bake pizzas on a greased pizza steel or baking sheet. If using a baking sheet, you can roll the dough out into an oval shape.
• Make sure that your oven is completely preheated to 500 degrees F so that it is very hot. This will give you a crispy crust. Do not use parchment paper, since it is not oven safe above 425 degrees.
• If you have a pizza oven that goes above 500° F, that is even better. Reduce the cook time as needed if baking the pizzas at a higher temperature.
• If you would like to make whole wheat pizza, try this Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe.

Pizza Recipes

• BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Pear, Feta and Walnut Pizza
• Cheese Pizza Bites
• Garlic Knots – not exactly a pizza recipe, but they are made with pizza dough!

5 from 2 ratings

Homemade Pizza Dough

Servings: 2 14-inch pizzas

Prep Time: 40 minutes mins

Cook Time: 16 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

This pizza dough recipe is sure to become your go-to! It's easy to make and makes the best chewy, crispy pizza crust. This recipe makes two balls of pizza dough, to make two 14-inch pizzas. If desired, you can freeze half or all of the dough for later; see the recipe notes below for freezer instructions.

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 ½ cups warm water, 110-115° F
• ▢ 1 tablespoon rapid rise or instant yeast
• ▢ 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder, optional
• ▢ 4 cups 00 pizza flour, or bread flour or all-purpose flour

Instructions

 

Make the Pizza Dough

• Add warm water, yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir gently to combine. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until yeast becomes active. Yeast should be bubbly. (Instructions on making dough by hand, without a mixer are included in the notes below.)
• Add the olive oil, salt, garlic powder (if using) and flour to the bowl. Begin mixing on low speed using a paddle attachment until combined.
• Next, remove paddle attachment and knead the dough with the dough hook on low speed.
• Check the dough after 5 minutes of kneading. If the dough is more than a little sticky when pressing on it with your finger add an additional tablespoon of flour. Continuing kneading to incorporate all flour for an additional 3 minutes.

  After about 8 minutes of kneading, the dough should spring back when lightly pressing on it.
• Transfer the dough to a clean, dry and lightly floured work surface. If the dough is overly sticky, light rub with flour.

  Split the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. (Freeze half of the dough if only making 1 pizza).

  Cover each dough ball with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes until doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 500° F and place an oven rack one space above the bottom rack position.

  Oil pizza steels or baking sheets with a high temperature cooking spray or vegetable oil. Do NOT preheat the pizza pans.

Shape the Dough

• Punch the dough down to release any large air bubbles. Shape the dough into a ball by tucking the sides under.
• Use a rolling pin and a lightly floured work surface to roll the dough out into a 14-inch diameter circle. Roll from the center outward in all directions for a circular shape. Use a more oval shape if you are using a baking sheet in place of a circular pizza pan.
• Place the rolled out pizza dough onto the prepared pizza pan. If the edges are larger than the pizza pan, fold them over a bit (towards the pizza) to form a nice thick crust on the edges. Repeat with the other half of the dough on a second pizza pan if making two pizzas.

Assemble and Bake Pizzas

• Add pizza sauce, cheese and toppings as desired. Bake pizzas, one at a time, for 7 minutes. You may need to bake an additional 1 – 2 minutes until the crust and cheese are lightly browned. Let pizzas rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

• To make dough by hand (without a stand mixer): Follow the instructions above, stirring the ingredients together instead of mixing with the mixer. Knead the dough using your hands on a lightly floured work surface until it is smooth, stretchy and springs back when you press it with your finger.
• To bake pizza without a pizza steel: If you do not have pizza steels or pans, use a large baking sheet and roll the dough in a more oval shape to fit.  
• To freeze pizza dough: After you finish kneading the dough, you can freeze all or half of the dough. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Dust lightly with flour and store in a zip-top bag for up to one month. When you are ready to use the pizza dough, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator. Then place the dough on a lightly floured surface, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rest for about 2 hours at room temperature before rolling it out.
• To refrigerate unbaked pizza dough: After kneading the dough, you can refrigerate it for up to 24 hours before using. Let the dough rest at room temperature for about 2 hours before rolling it out (place it on a lightly floured surface and cover it with a clean kitchen towel while it rests).
• Nutrition information is for pizza dough only because sauce, cheese and toppings will vary.

Serving: 1/4 pizza, Calories: 262kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Sodium: 438mg, Potassium: 67mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1IU, Vitamin C: 0.001mg, Calcium: 10mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is an estimate.

Cuisine: Italian

Course: Bread

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