Homemade Pizza Dough
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Why settle for store-bought when you can make your own pizza dough in just 20 minutes? This foolproof pizza dough recipe delivers a crispy, chewy crust every time—plus, it’s freezer-friendly for whenever the craving strikes!
If you’re looking for the perfect crust for homemade pizza, making your own dough is the way to go. With just five simple ingredients, you can whip up a batch in just 20 minutes. The key is to plan ahead—you’ll need to allow at at least 90 minutes for the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free spot before using it.
This recipe makes two pounds of dough, enough for two large pizzas, four individual ones, two stromboli, or four calzones. You can prepare it up to two days ahead, and it freezes beautifully for future meals!
“I’ve made many pizza doughs and this is by far the easiest yet tastiest dough ever!”
What you’ll need to make Homemade pizza dough
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the dough.
- Extra-virgin Olive Oil: Adds richness to the dough and helps it crisp up in the oven.
- Salt: A healthy dose is added for flavor.
- Cornmeal: Used to dust the baking sheet and keep the dough from sticking as it bakes; it also gives the crust a bit of extra crispiness and flavor.
- Yeast: It’s what makes the dough rise! I like to use instant yeast, which you might also see labeled as rapid-rise, quick-rise, or even bread machine yeast (I know, it’s confusing—but they’re all the same thing). If you only have active dry yeast, also known as regular yeast, that works too—just keep in mind it’ll take about 50% longer for the dough to rise.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Stir with a spoon to combine, and then add the oil and warm water.
Stir until the dough comes together into a shaggy mass.
Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. (Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand.)
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
There are plenty of great spots to let your dough rise—try a sunny spot, near a heating vent in colder months, or even on top of a warm appliance like your fridge. If your oven has a proof setting, use it! No proof setting? Just turn on the oven light; it creates just enough warmth for a perfect rise.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut it in half and roll each piece into a ball. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
If you’re not using the dough right away, lightly coat the balls with olive oil, place them in freezer bags, and squeeze out all the air before sealing. They’ll keep in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use the dough, thaw if necessary, and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
When it comes time to shape the pizza dough for baking, you can stretch it into any shape, size, or thickness you like (just keep in mind that a thicker crust will take longer to bake). Simply press and stretch the dough using your hands, dusting with more flour if necessary.
Baking Instructions
Every pizza recipe is a little different, but as a general guideline:
- Preheat the oven to 500°F and set an oven rack in the bottom position. Dust a 13×18-inch baking sheet lightly with cornmeal.
- Place the stretched dough on the baking sheet, and gently stretch it out again so that it maintains its shape.
- Spread your sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the crust is partially cooked. Remove from the oven and scatter the cheese and toppings over the sauce. Slide the pan back into the oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling, 4 to 6 minutes more.
Video Tutorial
You May Also Like
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon instant/quick-rise yeast
- 2¼ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1¼ cups + 2 tablespoons warm water (see note)
- Cornmeal, for dusting the pan before baking
Instructions
- Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir with a spoon to combine. Add the oil and water and stir until the dough comes together into a shaggy mass. Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. (Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand.) The dough should be slightly tacky and cling just to the bottom of the bowl; if it seems too dry during the kneading process, add 1 tablespoon of water. If it seems too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Dust your hands with flour, then gather the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down and place on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half and roll each piece into a ball. (If you're not planning to use the dough right away, see the make-ahead/freezing instructions below.)
- Cover the dough balls with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes (the dough will rise a bit). Using your hands, stretch the dough to the desired shape. Proceed with your pizza recipe, or follow the general baking instructions below.
General Baking Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C) and set an oven rack in the bottom position. Dust a 13 x 18-in (33 x 46-cm) baking sheet lightly with cornmeal. Place the stretched dough on the baking sheet, and gently stretch it out again so that it maintains its shape. Spread your sauce over the dough, leaving a ½-in (13-mm) border around the edges. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the crust is partially cooked. Remove from the oven and scatter the cheese and toppings over the sauce. Slide the pan back into the oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling, 4 to 6 minutes more. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Slice and serve.
Notes
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Had problems with this pizza dough. Wasn’t very easy to stretch and seemed dry. I used bread flour instead of AP flour so don’t know if that made a difference. And I did add a little more water because it seemed dry. I left it rest several times as I tried to stretch it in the pan but no luck. It required more baking time then the recipe shows and we didn’t really like the taste, kinda bland.
yes, that made a difference. Bread flour has a different amount of gluten to it, and absorbs more water, and yes, that matters greatly and affects the results a lot. You can’t really substitute the main ingredient and then put 1 star because (surprise!) it didn’t turn out as expected. There is a reason there are different types of flour for different purposes and they are marked and sold as such.
Hi Jenn ! I made this recipe, but I am having terrible time stretching the dough into the size/shape for pizza. I was doing it by hand and with a roller, but the dough just shrinks right back to original size:shape. Any recommendations ?
Hi Bill, sorry you’re struggling with this! I’d re-cover the dough with plastic wrap (or a kitchen towel) and let it sit for about 15 minutes. That will help the gluten in the dough relax, and make it easier to stretch. Hope that helps!
Thank you for putting the original recipe up! I had to use the Wayback Machine to find it. The new recipe is fussy and doesn’t do as well as the original. I noticed my first rise was sad and had to do a second rise to get the dough in a usable state.
Thank you again!
Hi Jenn! I received a stand mixer at Christmas and made this recipe 4-5 times with great success. It was amazing to see how the dough became a perfect ball with just the dough hook—all by itself!
But the last two times I’ve made the recipe, using the exact same ingredients and technique, a ball is not forming. Most of the dough is forming a ball, but some of the dough just puddles up on the bottom. Any thoughts? TIA!
Hi Steph, Do you mean some of the dough sticks to the bottom of the bowl? That would be normal as the dough is a bit tacky, but you can try adding 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour towards the end of the kneading process if you’d prefer a drier dough. (Also, I updated the recipe in January to make a larger quantity and also include a bit more water, as I was finding the dough to be a bit dry. Is it possible you originally made the old recipe? If you scroll up a bit over the “You May Also Like” section, you’ll find a link to the old recipe.)
The comments are SO helpful on this site. I just experienced the same thing. I’ve been using a printed version of the old recipe. When I made this one, it didn’t form the ball of dough that I was expecting. Glad to see that’s “as expected” … Fingers crossed this turns out like the old version. 🙂 I’m sure it will be even better!
In your photo it looks like you used an egg which I don’t see listed in the ingredients. However, an egg added to home baked pizza really adds flavor to the dough.
Hi Carol, I see which picture you’re referring to and understand why it looks like I’ve added an egg to the mix, but that’s just the oil that I’ve added to the dry ingredients. Feel free to add an egg to the dough if you’d like though!
Ok I know a number of Italian recipes call for one egg in the dough and it does kick the flavor up a notch. You should try it and see how you like it.
Wonderful dough! I’ve tried a few different pizza dough recipes and yours is my favorite so far. Please add gram measurements for the yeast and salt! The only measurement in grams is for the flour.
Hi Dani, So glad you like this! I usually don’t add grams for teaspoons and tablespoons, but based on what I see online, it looks like 1 tablespoon of instant yeast is the equivalent of just over 9 grams and 2-1/4 teaspoons of salt are the equivalent 13.5 grams. Hope that helps!
Thank you!!
Hello, I am just realizing that you have updated this recipe, can you maybe post the original again?? I loved that one and it was perfect for my 12 inch pizza pans, I really should start writing these things down!!
Thank you
Hi Dani, Yes, I did change it. My rationale was that many people end up using store-bought dough for my pizza recipes. That dough is typically sold in 16-ounce packages and so I figured I should increase the amounts in this recipe to make it consistent. I will add a link to the old recipe soon!
Please do add the link to the old recipe because this one is not turning out as well for me either.
Hi Andrea, Sorry to hear you haven’t had as much success with this! You can find the link to the old recipe immediately under the last picture of the dough.
Hi Jenn! This was my first time making homemade pizza and it turned out great! Used both your dough and sauce recipes.
One thing I’m wondering though – is there a way to get the crust a bit crispier on the outside? Maybe rub some oil on it?
Hi Siobhan, Glad you liked it! Are you partially cooking the crust and sauce before adding the cheese, like I do here? That helps a lot. Otherwise, for a more crispy crust, you could bake it a little longer or rub some oil along the edges.
I did partially cook it, but will try it for a little longer and with a little oil as well. Thanks for the reply, and for all your great recipes. Take care.
The best pizza dough I’ve ever done! We use a pre-heated lodge cast iron pizza pan and skip the preheating portion (and cornmeal).
Thank you so much!
Hi Jenn. This is the best pizza dough recipe. We have pizza every Saturday. Excellent!