Homemade Pizza Dough

Name: Homemade Pizza Dough
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups warm water; 1/3 cup olive oil; 1 tablespoon instant yeast (or active dry yeast in the same amount); 1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar; 4 cups all purpose flour; 1 teaspoon sea salt

Jump to Recipe Rate this recipe

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough | Forget takeout, forget delivery, I'm going to show you how to make homemade pizza dough from scratch with simple pantry ingredients. Homemade pizza dough is delicious and opens up so many possibilities for your next pizza night!

Jump to:

Ingredients
Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast
What is the best yeast for pizza?
Substitutions
How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough
What to make with homemade pizza dough
Tips for making pizza dough
Equipment
Storage
FAQs
Recipe

Homemade pizza dough is super easy to make and requires simple ingredients. You can make your pizza dough in a stand mixer like a Kitchen Aid Mixer, or you can make it by hand. Making it by hand requires kneading the dough on the counter for 5-10 minutes to make the dough turns nice and smooth on the exterior.

Add my easy 5-minute no cook pizza sauce and think up some fun toppings! Need some pizza topping ideas? Try my Thai Chicken Pizza or my Potato Pizza.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for exact amounts.

flour: I just use all-purpose flour for my pizza dough, you don't need anything special.
sugar: helps feed the yeast to get a bubblier dough.
salt: brings out flavor
olive oil: adding oil to your pizza dough helps with the hydration of the dough and stretchability, as well as adding flavor.
yeast: you can use either Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast when making pizza dough. See below.

Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast

Active dry yeast is a yeast that needs to be activated or proofed in warm water (between 120˚F and 130˚F) before using in a recipe. Instant Yeast can be mixed in with the flour without proofing it.

You can substitute active dry yeast for instant yeast in a recipe, or vice versa without changing the recipe. The recipe, like this pizza dough or bread dough, using active dry yeast may need a slightly longer rise time. The measured amounts remain the same.

What is the best yeast for pizza?

You can use either active dry yeast or instant yeast for pizza dough. There is very little difference.

Substitutions

yeast: you can use either instant yeast or active dry yeast for this recipe. Follow the instructions in the recipe card for your type of yeast.
sugar: you can swap out the white sugar and use honey instead if you prefer
salt: the measured amount of salt is for fine sea salt. If using kosher salt add ¼ teaspoon more.

Thai Chicken Pizza with Peanut Sauce — Thai Chicken Pizza

How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough

Prep Tips

Turn the light on in your oven but keep the temperature off for a nice place to let the dough rise.
Oil a bowl and prepare a piece of plastic wrap and a towel.

I use my Kitchen-Aid mixer to make my pizza dough but you can make pizza dough by hand as well. The step-by-step photos are for the method using Instant Yeast which doesn't need to be proofed in warm water like Active Dry Yeast.

To use Active Dry yeast, add the sugar, oil, and yeast to warm water (between 120˚F and 130˚F) and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. The salt will kill the yeast so don't add it to the water. Add the foamy yeast to the salt and flour and continue from step three below, the mixing and kneading.

Flour, instant yeast, and pink salt in a bowl.

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together. It's ok if the salt and yeast go together here, we're mixing it all right away.

Add the oil and mix it throughout the flour using a fork. Use your hands to break up any large bits.

Add the water.

Mixing pizza dough in a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Start the mixer on medium-low, using the dough hook.

As it begins to mix, you may need to stop and give it a small stir to help the water incorporate.

After about two minutes the ingredients will be combined but the dough will be soft and wet. Keep mixing.

The dough will start to gather together around the dough hook and pull away from the sides. If after 5 minutes the dough still looks like this, add flour a tablespoon at a time.

The dough should fully pull away from the edges of the bowl and form a smooth ball. It should still be soft.

Oil the dough and place it in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and a towel and let it sit in a warm place to rise.

After 45 minutes to an hour, the dough should double in size. If it doesn't, try a warmer area.

This is a same-day pizza dough recipe. Once the dough has risen it's ready to use in your pizza recipe.

This dough makes 2 thick crusts, 3 thin crusts, or about 4-5 individual pizzas in a cast iron pan.

Top your dough with your favorite sauce, like my easy no-cook pizza sauce, some toppings, and a bunch of cheese. Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes or so.

RECIPE TIP: Bake on a pizza stone for a super crispy crust. If using a baking sheet instead, cover it with some cornmeal before adding the dough. Cornmeal adds flavor, helps the crust crisp, and prevents it from sticking to the pan.

What to make with homemade pizza dough

This pizza dough is perfect for whatever pizza toppings you come up with. For some topping ideas, you could try my Thai Chicken Pizza with a Peanut Sauce, or my Potato Pizza with crispy chickpeas and balsamic glaze. You could go for Mediterranean Inspired Pizza toppings, or try Fig + Goat Cheese or Mexican Street Corn on this homemade pizza dough. Browse my Pizza Category for more pizza ideas.

Tips for making pizza dough

oil the dough: Oil the dough all over before rising it. Also, cover the bowl tightly with plastic. These two tricks help ensure your dough does not develop a dry crust on the outside.
rise the dough: Make sure you put the dough in a warm spot for rising. I like to turn my oven light on before I start mixing the dough. Leave the temperature off. Once the dough is mixed, the oven is a draft-free place to rise the dough with a bit of warmth from the lightbulb. This takes about 45 minutes to rise.
knead: Make sure to let the dough knead long enough to ensure that you have a dough with good gluten bonds formed that will result in a dough with a nice pull when you bite it and a good structure to trap the air bubbles the yeast will let out during baking.
bake: I like to bake my pizza dough at a high temperature - 450°F to 500°F so that the dough springs up in the oven and turns fluffy on the inside but crispy and crusty on the outside while allowing the cheese to brown nicely. I also oil the perimeter of the dough where I don't add sauce so it turns brown and crispy.

Equipment

I use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer for my dough but you can also make this dough by hand. You may need to knead the dough on the counter for double the time (about 10 minutes) to get a smooth ball of dough.

Storage

You can keep this dough in the fridge to do a slow cold ferment for up to 4 days. Make sure to punch the dough down daily, not let it rise out of its container, and cover it tightly so it doesn't form a dry, inedible crust.

To freeze the dough, portion it per pizza - 2 thick crusts or 3 thin crusts. Defrost only the dough you need for your recipe. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then allow it to sit and rise for about 2 hours at room temperature before using.

FAQs

Can you use regular flour for pizza dough?

Yes, I use regular all-purpose flour in my pizza dough recipe.

Can homemade pizza dough be refrigerated?

Yes, this pizza dough recipe can sit in the fridge for up to 4 days. (That's the longest I've kept it in the fridge).

Can homemade pizza dough be frozen?

Yes, you can freeze homemade pizza dough. Make the dough, let it rise, then punch it down and portion it. Wrap it tightly and freeze it for up to 3 months.

Recipe

Homemade Pizza Dough

Jacqueline Piper

5 from 4 votes

Simple, easy pizza dough with everyday ingredients.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 0

Rising 45

Total Time 1

Servings pizzas

Equipment

KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Ingredients

▢ 1 ½ cups warm water
▢ ⅓ cup olive oil
▢ 1 tablespoon instant yeast (or active dry yeast in the same amount)
▢ ½ teaspoon granulated white sugar
▢ 4 cups all purpose flour
▢ 1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

For Instant Yeast

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast.
Add the oil and mix with a fork.
Add the water. Mix on medium-low, using a dough hook, for about 5 minutes or until it pulls away from the side of the bowl and is smooth and soft.

For Active Dry Yeast

Mix together the warm water, sugar, yeast, and oil. Let sit until foamy, approximately 10 minutes.
Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together with a fork.
Add the yeast mixture. Mix on medium-low, using a dough hook, for about 5 minutes or until it pulls away from the side of the bowl and is smooth and soft.
Use immediately, refrigerate, or freeze.

Video

Notes

Serves: This dough makes 2 regular crusts, 3 thin crusts, or about 4-5 individual crusts.

By hand: You can make this dough by hand instead of using a mixer. Mix the dough in a bowl initially and once it comes together mostly, move the dough to the counter. Lightly flour the counter and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until the dough comes together and is smooth on the outside for the most part.

To refrigerate: Keep extra dough tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 4 days. Punch the dough down daily. It will slowly rise and develop more flavor.

To freeze: Once the dough has risen, punch it down, portion it, and tightly wrap it. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw dough in the fridge overnight and allow it to sit at room temperature to rise for about 2 hours before use.

To bake: Bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes on a pizza pan, pizza stone, or in a cast iron frying pan.

When measuring flour I always use a scale. My weight per cup of flour in a recipe is 120g. For this recipe, the total weight of the flour is 500g.

I sometimes need to add a tablespoon or two extra to get the right consistency depending on the weather, etc. If not using a scale, make sure to measure the flour by spooning it into a measuring cup and not digging the cup into the bag of flour. This can result in significantly more flour used.