Pizza Dough Recipe Easy

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!

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!

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!

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.

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

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.

Prep: 2h15min

Total: 2h30min

Yield: 2

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

Instruction:

1. 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 rubber spatula in the next step.
2. Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes (for a visual, watch me do it in the video above). The dough can be a little too heavy for a mixer to knead it, but you can certainly use the mixer on low speed instead. 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. If not, keep kneading.
3. 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.)
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.

Homemade Easy Pizza Dough

This Easy Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe is made in 10 minutes! All you need is a few simple ingredients and stand mixer. The best pizza dough recipe you’ll ever try!

Prep: 10min

Total: 25min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 186 kcal, Carbohydrate 32 g, Protein 5 g, Fat 4 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 366 mg, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 1 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water 110 degrees F.
• 2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast (1 packet)
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Lawry’s Garlic Salt

Instruction:

1. Place warm water, yeast and sugar into bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment attached. Mix gently then let sit until doubled in size, about 5 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour, olive oil, salt and garlic salt. Scrape sides of bowl and let mixer knead dough for 5 minutes. Dough should have the sides of the bowl cleaned. Add sprinkles of flour or water if needed to get the bowl cleaned while kneading. After 5 minutes of kneading, remove dough from mixing bowl with floured hands (put a small amount of flour in your hands and rub together), and transfer to a floured countertop. Fold dough over itself a couple times then form into a round ball.
2. From here, you can use the dough to make pizza and calzones. When ready, place dough onto a pizza pan, pressing or rolling to a 12 inch round, or larger for a more thin crust. Spoon pizza sauce of your choice over dough leaving a 1 inch border around edges. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese and toppings of your choice. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes, until crust is cooked through. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

How to make the BEST Pizza Dough Recipe

Prep: 15min

Total: 60min

Yield: 12

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 serving, calories 113 kcal, Carbohydrate 19 g, Protein 3 g, Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 146 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 1 g

Ingredients:

• 2-2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour OR bread flour¹ (divided (250-295g))
• 1 packet instant yeast² ((2 ¼ teaspoon))
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ⅛-¼ teaspoon garlic powder and/or dried basil leaves (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (+ additional )
• ¾ cup warm water³ ((175ml))

Instruction:

1. Combine 1 cup (125g) of flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. If desired, add garlic powder and dried basil at this point as well.
2. Add olive oil and warm water and use a wooden spoon to stir well very well.
3. Gradually add another 1 cup (125g) of flour. Add any additional flour as needed (I’ve found that sometimes I need as much as an additional ⅓ cup), stirring until the dough is forming into a cohesive, elastic ball and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl (see video above recipe for visual cue). The dough will still be slightly sticky but still should be manageable with your hands.
4. Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with olive oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the sides of the bowl.
5. Lightly dust your hands with flour and form your pizza dough into a round ball and transfer to your olive oil-brushed bowl. Use your hands to roll the pizza dough along the inside of the bowl until it is coated in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place.
6. Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. If you intend to bake this dough into a pizza, I also recommend preheating your oven to 425F (215C) at this point so that it will have reached temperature once your pizza is ready to bake.
7. Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth (about 3-5 times).
8. Use either your hands or a rolling pin to work the dough into 12″ circle.
9. Transfer dough to a parchment paper lined pizza pan and either pinch the edges or fold them over to form a crust.
10. Drizzle additional olive oil (about a Tablespoon) over the top of the pizza and use your pastry brush to brush the entire surface of the pizza (including the crust) with olive oil.
11. Use a fork to poke holes all over the center of the pizza to keep the dough from bubbling up in the oven.
12. Add desired toppings (see the notes for a link to my favorite, 5-minute pizza sauce recipe!) and bake in a 425F (215C) preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until toppings are golden brown. Slice and serve.

Quick and Easy Pizza Dough

No electric mixer or fancy pizza dough hook needed for this Quick and Easy Pizza Dough. Mix everything in one bowl, let rise for an hour, knead 1-2 times, and that’s it! Makes 1 large pizza, cut in half for 2 medium pizzas, or quarter it for individual pizzas. Foolproof homemade pizza crust every time!

Prep: 10min

Total: 70min

Yield: 8

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: Carbohydrate 49 g, Protein 7 g, Fat 7 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Sodium 293 mg, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 1 g, calories 297 kcal, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 packets ((1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast)
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (, plus more for bowl and drizzling)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour ((spooned and leveled), plus more for work surface)

Instruction:

1. Pour the water into a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, oil, and salt. Add flour and stir until a sticky dough forms.
2. Lightly brush another large bowl with a little olive oil. Place dough inside and drizzle a little oil over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead 1 or 2 times, forming into a round. Let rest for about 10 more minutes.
4. Use or store as is for 1 large pizza, or divide into 4 equal portions for individual pizzas.

Pizza Dough Recipe

FAQ

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