My all-time favorite homemade pizza dough recipe, this recipe has been tried and tested week after week, making the best homemade pizza. My family now likes homemade pizza better than take-out!
We are definitely pizza obsessed at our house!! Once you’ve perfected this dough, use it to make my White Pizza or BBQ Chicken Pizza.
We are a pizza loving family. And for years, I searched and searched and searched for the perfect pizza dough recipe. I tried dozens, or more. And while some were good, none of them were *that* recipe that would make me stop trying all of the others.
And then, back in 2011, I tried the pizza dough recipe from Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day. And I was pretty sure I had finally stumbled onto *that* recipe. If you haven’t tried that recipe, you really should, because it really does rank up there with the best of the best.
The problem with that dough, though, is that it is best when it has had some time to “age” in the refrigerator. And, well, while I am a stickler for a menu plan, I rarely stick to the order on my menu plan, often making what sounds the best on any given day instead of the actual meal planned for that day. And if I had endless refrigerator space, I’d keep some of that dough on hand always, but that’s not the case either.
So even though I adored that recipe, I knew I needed a recipe that could be made the same day. It would just work better for my family.
That’s when I tried a recipe from Budget Gourmet Mom (unfortunately, her blog is no longer online). It was the best pizza dough that I had come across. I made it many times, and claimed that it was my new favorite. But over the past couple of years, I have, at least in my opinion, perfected the method of making the best pizza you will have at home.
I don’t say this lightly. I’m not kidding you when I say I’ve made this recipe dozens and dozens of times.
The Secret to the Best Homemade Pizza Dough
The secret is in how much flour you add to the dough. This is where I get a little unconventional, because the ingredients are all pretty normal. But my #1 thing that I have said for years with bread making is that I think many times people fail and end up with dry, dense bread because they are adding too much flour. And when I thought about the pizza dough recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I thought about how wet that dough was, and how I never questioned it because I always did the ingredients by weight and just trusted.
So where this recipe differs from most is the amount of flour and the consistency of the dough.
My #1 rule – less is more.
I have included step by step photos below to walk you through it, but the most important step is to not keep adding flour until the dough is not sticky anymore. Sticky means you are doing it right in this recipe. (See – told you this was different. This goes against pretty much every other pizza dough recipe out there.) Don’t be afraid about the dough sticking everywhere when you roll it out. It’s not quite as sticky after it rises, and you’ll use some additional flour to shape it and roll it.
This recipe might not come easy the first or second time you try it. It’s one of those recipes that might take a little bit of practice. But believe me – for the perfect homemade pizza, it’s totally worth it.
Ingredients
Water: You want your water just warmer than room temperature. I don’t get too particular on this, but it does need to be warm. But not hot, because that can kill your yeast.
Sugar: No, the dough is not sweet with the sugar. I have not tested this recipe using less sugar, but feel free to do some testing of your own if you want to cut back on the sugar.
Yeast: I usually use active dry yeast, but have used instant yeast with success, too.
Oil: A lot of people over on YouTube have strong opinions about my use of vegetable oil, but I like that it has a neutral flavor. By all means, you can substitute for another oil. Olive oil will give it great flavor if you want that.
Flour: I only use all-purpose flour. Mostly because I always have it on hand. Many people have used 00 flour with great success, but I don’t keep it on hand.
Salt: My favorite salt to use is a coarse kosher salt, but sea salt is great, too.
Tips for Making Homemade Pizza Dough
I know I’m already totally long winded here, but here are a few additional tips:
- This makes 3 1-lb balls of dough. It’s a lot, but I usually make 3 pizzas (we’ll eat 2, and save the third for leftovers). Most recipes call for a 1 lb ball of dough, but in all honesty, we usually like our pizza a little more on the thin side. So I have halved this recipe and made 3 pizzas, or I will make 4 pizzas from this recipe. It is easy to cut in half, so feel free to do so. Also, not everyone’s mixer has the capacity to make this much dough. Use common sense.
- I usually make my dough a couple of hours before I need it and just refrigerate the dough until needed. It’s a little easier to roll out when it’s not super cold, but straight from the fridge still works. I recommend making it within 24 hours, though, as the dough will continue to rise, even in the refrigerator.
- When it comes to baking your pizza, I always recommend using a pizza stone. They are pretty inexpensive and make a huge difference. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20 years ago and have probably used it over 100 times and it is still going strong. I always preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes. I also use parchment paper when baking my pizza because 1) my husband doesn’t care for the cornmeal on the bottom of the pizza, 2) I’m terrible at transferring the pizza from the pizza peel to the stone. Parchment paper works well for me.
- To bake the pizza, if you aren’t following a specific recipe, I’ll crank my oven up as high as it goes and bake each pizza for about 10 minutes.
How to make Homemade Pizza Dough
Whew!! That was a lot. 🙂 Here is the step by step – I hope you love this recipe as much as we do!
1: Start by combining warm water with your yeast and some sugar. It should start to froth up after a few minutes. If it doesn’t, toss it and start again. You water may be too warm or your yeast may be bad. Once it’s frothy, add in the vegetable oil.
2: Combine the salt and the flour, and start adding the flour to the mixer, 1/2 cup at a time.
3: Once you have added the flour, the dough will still look pretty wet and sticky. It will not pull away from the sides of the mixer by itself, but you should be able to scrape it down with a spatula. You may need to add a little bit more flour, depending on your environment, but don’t go crazy.
4: Most pizza dough recipes will say it should be tacky but not sticky – not this one. It should stick to your fingers still.
5: Grease a large bowl. I usually just pour some vegetable oil or olive oil in the bottom of the bowl, then scrape the dough out into the bowl. You will need a spatula to scrape the dough from the mixer bowl. Then using greased hands, turn the dough over to coat the outside of the dough in the oil.
6: Cover the dough with a towel or greased plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it is double in size. This usually takes about an hour, depending on how warm the house is. I will often put the bowl in the oven with just the oven light on, which tends to give it a good temperature for rising.
7: Sprinkle some flour on a work surface. Lightly punch the dough down, then turn it out onto the floured surface.
8: Use floured hands to start pulling the dough up and around, gathering the ends together and forming a smooth ball on one side.
9: Turn the ball over, so the top now is smooth.
10: Divide the ball into 3 equal portions. You can weigh them to keep them even, or I almost always just eyeball it.
Voila! Your pizza dough is ready for baking. If the dough is still a bit sticky when you go to roll it out, just sprinkle on a little more flour. I like to actually use my hands to stretch the dough instead of rolling it, which helps with any sticking as well. But you’ll be surprise at how not sticky the dough is at this point.
Use the dough to bake up your pizza with your favorite toppings!
How to Bake Your Pizza
This dough can be used as a pretty generic pizza dough – so you can use it with any pizza recipe you want. (I’ve included some of my favorites below!!) If using another recipe, you can just follow the instructions from that recipe.
But if you want to just bake a basic pizza, topped with your toppings, this is how you would do it.
- Preheat the oven as hot as your oven will go. This will normally be between 450ºF and 500ºF. If your oven is not clean, it may smoke if you get it all the way up to 500ºF, so you may need to turn it down to 450ºF. If you are using a pizza stone, I like to heat the oven for at least 30 minutes. If you aren’t, then just heating it up to your desired temperature will work.
- While the oven is preheating, take one of your pizza dough balls and stretch it or roll it out. I go as big as my pizza stone, so about 14-16″ in diameter. Like I mentioned above, I like to use parchment paper, because it makes transferring the dough to the oven so much easier.
- Spread the dough with your desired toppings.
- Transfer the pizza to the preheated oven and bake until the crust is brown and the cheese is melted. This is usually about 10 minutes for me, but keep an eye on it, because the thickness of your dough, the temperature of your oven, and the amount of toppings on your pizza can all change this.
- Remove from the oven and slice into pieces.
**Note: some people like to bake the crust without toppings for a few minutes first, then remove and top before returning the pizza to the oven. If you like an extra crispy crust, this is what you’ll want to do.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! Many people have made this with just a bowl and spoon. It will take a little bit of muscle, but is totally doable. I wouldn’t suggest using a hand mixer – if you don’t have a stand mixer, just mix it by hand.
Yes! I like vegetable oil because the flavor is very neutral, but feel free to sub in olive oil for the vegetable oil.
Yes! This dough freezes very well. I like to freeze it in individual balls and then take them out one at a time to use. I just let it defrost in the refrigerator.
The one reason I don’t like to use weight measurements for this recipe is that external circumstances can always change how much flour you’ll need. I’ve made this recipe many, many times, and the amount of flour I use is never the same. Sometimes I’ll use the full 6 cups of flour, and sometimes it’s as much as a half a cup less. I think going by texture gives you the best results.
That being said, I had a wonderful reader named Steve who emailed me after he figured out the weight equivalents. So I will list his weights here:
590 g water @ 85 degrees
50 g sugar
9 g yeast (3 teaspoons) (not really necessary to convert this is it is a small number)
54 g of vegetable oil
12 g of salt
720 g of flour
I don’t! I just mix it until it is well mixed. I haven’t noticed a difference if I knead it for longer or just mix it up.
On this one, I say ALWAYS use common sense, and keep an eye on your pizza. The parchment paper that I use doesn’t have a temperature warning on it, but it does get brown while baking. If I was baking this longer than 10-15 minutes, I would opt to not use the parchment paper at such a high temperature.
Pizza Dough Video:
You’ve got the dough – here are some of my favorite pizza recipes
Breakfast Pizza
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Teriyaki Chicken Pizza
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Antipasto Pizza
White Pizza
Tools Used to Make this Homemade Pizza Dough
I use a bench scraper to cut the dough and to clean the flour off the counter. I love it!
I highly recommend a pizza stone for baking your pizza. It really makes a big difference in the final pizza!
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Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups warm water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, sugar and yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes until frothy. Add in the vegetable oil.
- In a bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Add the flour to the yeast mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well between additions. Continue adding the flour until the dough can be pulled away from the sides of the bowl with a spatula, but the dough will still be quite sticky. You may need to add in a little bit more or less flour, but the key is to remember that the dough will still be sticky and will stick to your fingers when you try to pull it apart.
- Grease a large bowl, then scrape the dough into the bowl. Turn the dough to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and a let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface. Pull the dough around to the bottom, stretching it to create a smooth ball. Cut the dough into 3 equal portions. Each ball will be approximately 1 pound of dough.
- Roll out the dough to use in your favorite pizza recipe, or refrigerate until needed. (I have refrigerated it for several hours, up to overnight, but the dough will continue to rise, even in the refrigerator, so I try to use it before 24 hours.
- To bake, preheat a pizza stone in the oven as hot as you can go for at least 30 minutes. (I usually go between 475ºF and 500ºF.)
- Prepare your pizza with your desired toppings and bake until the crust is golden, 8-10 minutes.
rick dickson says
i always have problems with the dough pulling back when i try to roll or stretch it, any suggestions?
Thanks,
rick dickson
Deborah says
Usually if you let it rest a few minutes it will relax a bit. So if mine is pulling back a lot, I’ll roll it out as best as I can, then let it sit for a few minutes, then roll it again.
Guy Gardener says
So it seems my biggest problem is I add way too much flour. I say this because I always tried to make sure it wasn’t sticky anymore before rolling it out. I hope not doing that will help, thanks for letting me know to keep it sticky! Now to make that restaurant style pizza.
Sandy Jones says
This is similar to the recipe that I use but I mix the dough in a bread machine and use garlic infused olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Sometimes I use other flavored oils. You might want to try that. 🙂 I used to use a pizza stone but now I find I l like my pizza pans better when have small holes throughout the bottom. I bake it on the second to bottom rack in the oven. It gets the dough a little crispy on the bottom but it’s still soft on top. I also use bread flour and all purpose flour together. It makes it a little chewier. Homemade pizza is the best!
Kirsten says
Deborah,
This is an excellent recipe! I appreciate the photos alongside, it really helps to tell the tale of stickiness. Pinned to my Friday Night Pizza Night board because I’m fixing pizza for my family darn near every Friday night.
Thanks!
Rene says
How long do you bake your pizza for?
Deborah says
I always use a pizza stone, and I’ll turn the oven up to about 475º (any higher in my oven and it makes the smoke detectors go off!). I let the stone preheat for 30 minutes, then I’ll usually bake them for 8-10 minutes, depending on how much I’ve topped them with.
Sarah Barker says
Can I ask the timeframe to rise when using Active Dry Yeast instead of instant yeast?
Deborah says
The timing would be about the same. Technically, the difference between active dry and instant is that active dry needs to be dissolved in water first while instant can be mixed directly into the dough. But I like to dissolve instant as well, just to make sure that it will foam so that I know that the yeast is alive. But they both take about the same time when it comes to rising.
Mercy says
Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to use it for stromboli. Very understandable and easy to follow!!!
Becky says
What temperature and how long should the pizza cook? And have you ever made breadsticks with the extra dough?
Deborah says
I usually cook mine at 450ºF for about 10 minutes, depending on what toppings I have on the pizza. And yes – the dough works well as breadsticks, too!!
sharon says
Can you give directions on how to make this pizza dough when you don’t have a mixer to use. Every recipe I see uses a mixer and I don’t have one. Thanks
Deborah says
You would still make it the same way, but stir it all together by hand. It will take some effort, but you should be able to make it work.
Erika says
I do it by hand all the time, and it is not a big deal at all 🙂 Good luck!
ramel says
i love making pizza at home. the smell it’s so good. i always invite my neighbor to try my pizza.
Janet says
Thank you for the BEST pizza dough! This was my third and final try at pizza. Thanks so much for the tutorial and most welcome comments – I followed them to the letter. Many thanks!!
Deborah says
Yay!!! I’m so glad you loved it – we sure do!
Marty says
What temperature do you bake on and for how long?
Deborah says
I will usually turn up my oven as high as possible. I have very sensitive smoke alarms, so if there is a speck of anything in my oven and I turn it all the way up to 500ºF, my smoke alarms will usually go off. So I keep it at about 450º. But I would turn it as high as possible. My pizzas take about 10 minutes to bake at 450ºF on a pizza stone.
Erin @ Miss Scrambled Egg says
Homemade pizza dough is the best. I love the process and having extra on hand for calzones or mini pizzas is always a plus. This tutorial is wonderful, Deborah. 🙂
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
I love making homemade pizza but I definitely always add enough flour to make it not sticky anymore. I will have to try this next time! It makes sense that less flour would result is a softer dough.
Calie says
This was the best pizza dough I’ve tried!
Tricia says
We’ve been looking for a good pizza dough recipe. Will try this week. Have you frozen this dough? I wonder if it would freeze well and at what point I would freeze it?
Deborah says
I haven’t personally tried freezing it, but I’m pretty certain it would freeze just fine. I would freeze it after the first rise, once it has been divided into portions. And then I would thaw it in the refrigerator completely before baking it. Let me know if you try!
Larry Sells says
I’m use splenda instead of sugar. Does that make a difference in making pizza crust and bread type recipes.
Deborah says
I’m afraid I don’t use any sugar substitutes, so I’m not sure how they convert over. Sorry!
Hazel says
Just leave the sugar out. It still works fine
Gina says
I don’t believe that Splenda would work here. My understanding is that the sugar acts as a kind of food for the yeast. It’s what activates it, along with the warm water. I don’t think Splenda would do the same thing.
Derrek McCormick says
the sugar reacts with the yeast helping it to rise. splenda won’t do that. if you don’t want the sugar then leave it out but the rise time might be a bit longer. i’ve never tried a yeast dough without sugar so i don’t know for sure.
iamtek7@gmail.com says
Larry, leave the sugar but cut it down from 1/4 to 1/8 and allow warm water (105° ~ 110°) and give extra time for the yeast to eat the sugar and process.
Dayna says
Hi Larry, I’m late to the party. I use honey in place of sugar. You only need a splash of honey to activate the yeast..
Angela says
I did as you said, froze it after the first rise. Then let it thaw in fridge then rise again. It was delicious!!! Just as good as the “fresh” version. Thanks for this recipe!! It’s the best I’ve ever had!!
josh says
Thanks for the update! I was just about to ask if anyone froze it, and how it held up!
veronica murray says
Great recipe and freezes well.
Steven Velardi says
Confirmed on the freezing.
Wonderful easy and fast pizza dough recipe. Make frequently and always try to have a few dough balls ready in the freezer. Just defrost in the fridge overnight.
I bake it stretched out thin across a greased baking sheet at 550 until bottom is as brown as we want.
Kirsten says
I often make extra dough and freeze it once it’s been portioned out. I use gallon size zip top bags with a splash of olive oil inside. The night before I want to make pizza I transfer a bag from the freezer to the fridge, and a couple of hours before we’re ready to eat I’ll move the thawed dough to the counter to wake up and come to room temperature before stretching. Works like a charm.
Jenny Flake says
Pizza has always been a favorite in my home! Thanks for sharing 😀
Gen says
I see where one commenter tried converting this recipe to weight measurements and ran into problems. With more and more people weighing ingredients, would you consider adding weights to your recipe or at least posting a reply?
Deborah says
I think the problem with adding weights to this particular recipe is that external circumstances can change the amount of flour you add. Some days, I need more flour than others, so it helps if you can learn the texture of the dough.
Noni says
Brilliant recipe. And I see what you mean by getting to know the texture of the dough rather than being too strict with measurements
Ziad says
Amazing dough and pizza.
Thank you for sharing.
Regarding the amount of flour, as I was adding the flour gradually to the mix, I actually stoped before I put all the flour in when the dough had reached the right texture. So this was a great advice.
Also the parchemin paper on the pizza stone was a great solution to keep the stone in the oven and pop one pizza after the other. Thanks again.
Jo says
So glad you asked this question. I find it so much more helpful to have metric measurements which are exact as opposed to ad hoc volume measurements. I see Deborah’s response, however, whether external circumstances necessitate changing the amount of flour according to the environment, you still have to start somewhere.. whether it is a cup of flour or a metric measurement of that cup of flour… and take it from there… learning texture for your particular circumstances and making notes for the next time.
Sam says
I use https://www.annaolson.ca/baking-conversions to help with this. For all purpose flour, I use 900 grams of flour. Hope this helps
Shawn @ I Wash You Dry says
We love making pizza at home! I can’t wait to give this tried and true recipe a try!
Bridget says
Best pizza dough recipe I’ve tried. Thanks for sharing
Mike Foodee says
This recipe is the one you’ve been looking for. It is by far the best out there.
Kathy Milam says
I’m about a month shy of 61 and my mom started teaching me to bake when I was about 8 years old while she was making bread. I’ve tried many pizza doughs throughout the years and my family would remark that they really didn’t care for the pizza dough until last week. My 5 year old granddaughter wanted homemade pizza for her birthday dinner and I used this recipe exactly by the directions. We had 12 people eating pizza including 4 children under 5 and everyone, even the children raved about how great the dough was! My husband of 37 years said, “Honey you have totally outdone yourself with this recipe! This is the BEST pizza you’ve ever made, you’ll have to make more and more often!” From now on this is my go to pizza dough recipe! ” I’ve told people on my Facebook food groups about this recipe! #BestPizzaDoughEver
Gretta says
We loved this
Sadiya Nagi says
Can we refrigerate it soon as it rises even without rolling it on flour and forming balls for later use and roll later when needed on the same day?
Julie S says
I want to try using this in my high school FACS class. We are limited to 43 minute class periods. Can I have the students make the dough and then put it in the greased bowl and then straight into the refrigerator overnight? How long would you let it warm up the next day to rise and then prepare/bake?
Thanks for the help.
Deborah says
I would let the dough go through the rising before you refrigerate it, then cover and refrigerate. It will continue to rise in the refrigerator, so make sure you are aware of that. I would take it out of the refrigerator maybe 30 minutes before they are ready to bake it the next day.
Heather ramirez says
Could you make this in a cast iron as well? I added Italian seasoning, garlic, and onion powder to the dough as it was mixing. Smells delicious.
Deborah says
I’m sure it would work well in a cast iron pan!
Daniella says
We have been making this pizza dough recipe for months now and I don’t think I’ll ever try another pizza dough recipe!
CALLI says
So, so good!