Learn how to make classic homemade pizza dough that everyone will love. Bite into a crisp crust with a soft and chewy center. It’s simpler than you think if you just follow all my tips!
Making homemade pizza dough isn’t as complicated as it may seem, and if you ask me, it’s definitely worth learning. After 2-3 tries and, yes – a bit of frustration – it can become a simple and fun activity, so leave your fears aside and just stick with me.
My basic dough recipe is based on classic pizza crust. It’s not too thick nor too thin, and is both chewy and crispy on the edges.
“This is the best pizza dough recipe I have ever tried! I’ve always struggled to find one. The crust is crisp on the outside but soft and chewy in the center.”
-Raychel (on Pinterest)
Table of contents
Pizza Dough Ingredients
- Bread flour, sifted
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Instant dry yeast
- Lukewarm water (105℉ to 115℉)
- Olive Oil for greasing
What flour is best for pizza dough?
Bread flour makes for a chewier crust than all-purpose flour, and overall yields better results so I highly recommend it. My favorite brand is King Arthur flour. Still, it can be substituted for a same amount of AP flour if that’s all you have.
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant?
You can. Active dry yeast will need to be dissolved in the warm water before adding to the dough. Instant yeast can be mixed into the dry ingredients right away.
How to make the best homemade pizza crust
The best homemade pizza crust starts with a delicious dough. My secret is using bread flour for it’s higher protein content, resulting in a chewier crust.
- Place flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix until combined. Attach the dough hook to the mixer.
- Add water to the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until dough comes together, 2-3 minutes. Continue mixing for another 7 minutes on low-medium speed until dough is completely smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be slightly sticky, but if it feels too sticky, add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, or if it feels too dry, add more water.
- Place dough in a large bowl brushed with olive oil, and toss to coat (the fat will keep the dough from drying out). Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place or on the counter for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, you can place dough in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours. If refrigerated, before using the dough, place the bowl at room temperature for 30-60 minutes to reach room temperature.
- After the dough has risen, punch it just slightly to remove air. It’s now ready to be shaped.
Freezing dough
After the dough has risen, you can divide it into as many portions as you like and shape each portion into a disc. Wrap each disc individually with plastic wrap and place into zip lock bags. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bags. Dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
To thaw, place a disc in the fridge overnight or for about 12 hours. Remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before using so that it reaches room temperature, then either shape it or continue with the rest of your recipe.
Helpful tips and tricks
Use a lightly floured surface when working with the completed dough so that it doesn’t stick to the countertop. Use your hands or a rolling pin, whichever you prefer.
Treat the dough gently and with care, especially while shaping it, so that it turns out as perfect as possible.
To bake a completed pizza in the oven, continue on to my classic homemade pizza post where I give you an easy recipe for homemade pizza sauce and give guidance for the best way to cake a pizza, hint: you’ll need a pizza stone & pizza peel.
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Pizza Dough Recipe
This recipe makes one very large pizza crust (14 inch/35 cm), or you can make two medium pizzas instead.
Ingredients
- 2 and ½ cups (300 g/10.5 oz) bread flour, sifted (or all-purpose flour – bread flour will yield a chewier crust)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
- ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (195 ml) warm water *see notes
- Olive Oil for greasing
Instructions
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Place flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix until combined. Attach the dough hook to the mixer. Add water to the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until dough comes together, 2-3 minutes.
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Continue mixing for another 7 minutes on low-medium speed until dough is completely smooth and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be slightly sticky, but if it feels too sticky, add more flour, one tablespoon at a time, or if it feels too dry, add more water.
-
Place dough in a large bowl brushed with oil, and toss to coat (the fat will keep the dough from drying out). Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place or on the counter for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size. Alternatively, you can place dough in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours. If refrigerated, before using the dough, place the bowl at room temperature for 30-60 minutes to reach room temperature.
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After the dough has risen, punch it just slightly to remove air. It’s now ready to be shaped.
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To proceed with a full pizza recipe, click here.
Recipe Notes
Warm water temperature: Yeast is a living thing and is killed off at high temperatures. Therefore, be cautious when rehydrating dry yeast. The water should be lukewarm, similar to bath water, between 105℉ to 115℉.
Make ahead instructions:
After the dough has risen, you can divide it into as many portions as you like and shape each portion into a disc. Wrap each disc individually with plastic wrap and place into zip lock bags. Squeeze out all the air and seal the bags. Dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
To thaw, place a disc in the fridge overnight or for about 12 hours. Remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before using so that it reaches room temperature, then either shape it or continue with the rest of your recipe.
nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps says
Girlfriend! That picture is SO pretty! I’m in love! I make homemade pizza crust all the time, and always use AP flour, I’ve heard that bread flour does wonders, got to try that!! Mine NEVER turn out chewy, and that crust above, looks absolutely perfect!
Shiran says
Thank you so much, Nicole! You have to try it with bread flour, it really does make it chewy!
Sarah says
Am always looking for a good pizza dough! Your’s looks fabulous 🙂
Shiran says
Thank you, Sarah! 🙂
Amy @ The Blond Cook says
That pizza looks absolutely gorgeous! I’m embarrassed to say that as much as I love pizza, I’ve never made my own dough. Pinned and trying this soon! 🙂
Shiran says
There’s nothing to be embarrassed about! I only recently started making pizza at home, and the first one turned out not so great 🙂 But now it’s amazing, definitely worth it!
May says
can I double the amount to make 2 pizza dough? Also, can I cut the dough in half to make smaller pizza?
Thanks,
Shiran says
Hi May, you can double or triple the recipe, no problem. If you’re using a mixer, it would be more convenient to use the amount of ingredients in the recipe (or larger amount).
Joean says
Regarding this step: “Alternatively, you can place dough in the fridge overnight or up to 24 hours”, do I have to wait for it to double in size or I can straight away put in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge overnight until I am ready to use the next day?
Shiran says
If you put it to rest overnight, you do not need to wait for it to double in size as it will slowly reach its desired size in the fridge. When you take it out you can use it immediately after it returns to room temperature.
Joean says
Hi Shiran, thanks!
Will try it. This would sound easy as I don’t need to prepare the dough in the day itself.
Thanks!
Brijesh Lodha says
Thank you so much for sharing!! Can I use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour? Is there any substitute of yeast? Like sparkling water or soda water? Thanks!
Shiran says
Whole wheat flour will give a different flavor and texture. It’s possible, but the recipe might need some adjustment, so I don’t recommend it. The yeast cannot be substituted with baking soda or any other ingredient.
Kristina says
I made this pizza a week ago. I made your crust and your sauce. It was absolutely delicious and everyone in my family loved both the crust and the sauce. The crust was so chewy and perfect. I have made doughs before but never any close to as good as this one. Will definitely be using only this in the future! Thanks so much!
Chris says
I was looking for a hand stretched pizza dough recipe. I made this, not my first pizza. It turned out awesome. I learned to stretch dough by watching at a local pizza joint. Use your palm around the edges while rotating, pick up and stretch over your knuckles.
Mekhan says
Thank you for sharing, i just wonder should we reach the window pane dough for the pizza dough?
Ena says
Heloo Shiran!
This recipe looks absolutely marvelous 🙂 was wondering if I could kneadbthe dough by hand? If I do around how long should I knead the dough for? Thanks so much in advance, cannot wait to try it out myself!
Emilie says
This recipe deserves its name. Absolutely delicious ! It was crispy on the edges and very fluffy inside. The dough wasn’t dry at all AND it hadn’t a soggy bottom neither ! It lack a little bit of flavor but that’s not a problem, I will add more salt next time. Also, I made 2 rises and it had a perfectl airy crumb.
Thank you so much for the recipe ! It was my first perfect homemade pizza !
Paul says
Worked exactly as advertised. Lots of compliments. I liked the texture, the crust and the bottom cooked perfectly at 500F for 14 minutes
Sandy says
Perfect dough! Made pizza for dinner and it was fabulous!
Rachel says
THIS is the dough, the crust that swaddles all the toppings like a brand new babe. Timeless recipe, new follower in 2022, I can’t wait to thumb through your recipes in front of your chocolate pancakes!!!
Talia @ Pretty. Simple. Sweet. says
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for following! Lot’s of exciting new recipes coming up 🙂
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a fun recipe to make with kids for dinner!
Vanessa says
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
AmbalaCakes says
Very informative
Sarah says
I made this recipe tonight, let it rise for 2hrs. The dough tastes good but mine turned out on the harder flatter side, more like a cracker. Any idea why that would happen?
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Sarah, when using yeast, I always make sure my lukewarm water is between 105-115 degrees for a proper yeast rise. Did you place your dough in the warmest room in the house to rise? Also, is your yeast expired?
Kenzie says
I’ve made this recipe a handful of times now and it’s been a hit! My husband prefers this over Dominos even! I see the directions for freezing the dough, but I was curious if you’ve frozen it as a store bought pizza so it’s just ready to go on very busy days? If so any recommendations on how to best freeze it that way?
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Kenzie! You sound just like us – we’ve been making this pizza dough on repeat too! I just posted a version using whole wheat as well since I’ve been experimenting so much. I’m not sure how the dough will rise in the oven if you’re pre-assembling the entire pizza first and freezing it. I’m sure it would taste great, but the texture of the dough might not quite be the same. Either way, it’s worth the experiment! Here’s how I would go about it: shape the pizza dough on a parchment-lined pan. Depending on how thick of crust you’d like, you might want to do two smaller round pizzas instead of a large 14″. Then top with sauce, cheese, meat/veggie toppings, and place the whole pan in the freezer. After about 4 hours, remove the pizza, wrap it with clingfilm, and return it to the freezer.
Holly R says
We made 2 batches tonight for my daughter’s sleepover. All the girls went crazy! It was super easy to make and so yummy! We did BBQ chicken, Margarita, & plain cheese pizzas. We’ll try again with bread flour next time.
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Yum! So glad you loved this recipe. Thank you, Holly!
Jessica Parker says
This pizza dough recipe was amazing! So we just bought a pizza oven and this is the first time we made pizza from scratch…your dough recipe really helped bring everything together. We were all super impressed by how good the crust was! This will be my go-to! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Thank you, Jessica! Your comment just made my day. I’m so glad your pizzas were amazing. You make me want to buy a pizza oven now…
Martha says
Hi there! If I wanted to make this dough about 5 hours ahead of time, would suggest leaving it on the counter the whole time? Or should I put it in the fridge right after making and then pull out 30 minutes before wanting to bake?
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Martha, you can place the already risen dough in the fridge up to 24 hours. Before using the dough, place the bowl of dough on the counter for 30-60 minutes to reach room temperature.
If you left the dough on the counter for 5 hours it would overproof.
E says
Ok so my low rating is because I made the recipe trusting the process against my better judgement and put the yeast in with the flour mixture as it said and the dough came out not so great.
I made it again but I mixed the dry together and then added the yeast to the warm water separately and let that evenly mix as I have with any other bread recipe and it turned out well!
Anyone who is making -especially without a machine and wants a good end result might want to consider this alteration to the method 🙂
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi E, it sounds like you used active dry yeast instead of instant dry yeast as the recipe states. The method you describe is necessary when using active dry yeast.
Chelsea says
Hi! Wanting to try this recipe out! I’ve never had luck with rising dough when yeast is added to flour instead of letting sit in warm water first. Curious if one or the other works better?
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Chelsea, this method only works when you use instant dry yeast as stated in the ingredients list. Not to be confused with active yeast. Active yeast always needs to be in warm liquid first – double check what kind of yeast you have and adjust accordingly! 🙂
Megan Stotts says
Can I use a hand blender if I don’t have a kitchen aid or a standing mixer?
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
I haven’t tried this, only the dough hook method. Some commenters on pinterest have had success kneading the dough without a mixer. Do the best you can with what you have 🙂
Pamela black says
What if I don’t have a mixer to make dough??
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Many commenters on pinterest have had great luck making it by hand too, it just takes longer!
Nivida Bagga says
This pizza dough recipe is the best I’ve tried so far. There was so much elasticity in the dough & the crust was so good. I used the bread flour & trust me, it did make a big difference in the texture. Just loved it😍 Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing recipe with us. 10/10 recommend. Would never go back to any recipe again.
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Thank you for your kind review! This has been our go-to pizza dough recipe for years – nothing else compares – totally agree! 🙂 Cheers!