Best Homemade Pizza Dough (from scratch - video)
If you're looking for the best pizza dough, then this is it. My homemade pizza dough uses only 6 ingredients and comes together in no time at all. Best of all, it produces the best pizza crust with wonderfully crisp edges. Perfect for beginners or novice bread bakers.
I started making homemade pizza way back in college, mostly because I've always been fascinated with bread making.
We loved pizzas, but I will be honest, although my pizzas tasted great, I didn't think they looked as pretty as the ones you buy at the pizza parlor. Which is why, for a long time, I didn't shared them with you.
The truth is a pizza does not have to be pretty, what matters most if the taste and texture. That crisp base, crusty edges and soft middle with just the right amount of sauce and cheese. Absolute heaven. Now, if that is what you want, then you must try this because it is the best pizza crust.
About this homemade pizza dough
I think you will love this pizza dough recipe. It's a simple, fool-proof recipe, that I have been using for years.
It makes a soft chewy base with crusty edges. It is also a lean dough just like our focaccia. Lean means it's not enriched with eggs and butter like our dinner rolls and sandwich bread. That is why this basic dough of water, flour, and salt gives us a crispy crust. I do add a little bit of olive oil to help keep the inside soft and supple.
The process for making pizza is also simple and easy.
- Make the dough - 10 mins
- Let the dough rise - 60 to 90 mins
- Divide the dough and let it rest - 30 mins
- Preheat oven - 20 mins before
- Roll the pizza dough - 15 mins
- Add the toppings and bake - 15 mins
A word of advice that I give anyone who wants to learn homemade bread - work toward soft, smooth, supple dough. Read my 10 tips to making better homemade pizzas or see how I make my classic Margherita pizza, white sauce pizza with overnight pizza crust
Ingredients and substitutes (Save/Pin)
- Flour - Use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour - you will find that your dough will be more soft and elastic. If you cannot find bread flour, all-purpose will do as well.
- Yeast - I'm not a slave to any particular brand, but I use instant dry yeast as compared to fresh or instant yeast. You can add the yeast directly to your flour without testing it, but I'm old school, I like to use the safe and stress-free method. Which is why I still do let my yeast activate first.
- Water - The temperature of the water you use for yeast has to be warm - not hot, nor cold. Almost the temperature of the liquid you give a baby. Approximately 105 to 115 F.
- Sugar - The sugar here is not for sweetness, but to feed the yeast. This will help the yeast grow and nurture the bread. So, don't omit it, and no it will not make your dough sweet. If you don't fancy sugar, try honey or agave syrup.
- Oil - Like sugar, oil is also food for our yeast. It helps the yeast grow and develop flavor. We also use oil to brush the edges, which gives us a nice crisp edge.
- Salt - Use fine grain salt, which will dissolve in the dough easily.
Useful tips and tools
- Use a small mixing bowl or measuring cup to activate the yeast. I prefer to use glass over metal. If the metal is cold, it can lower the temperature of the liquid ingredients. Not a big deal. And yet, it's nice to get the yeast activated quickly and move on with the recipe.
- I like mixing pizza dough by hand. It's quite therapeutic. But pizza dough can be difficult to handle. Not just because it needs more kneading, but also because it's often a soft, sticky mess. And yet, keeping the dough soft and sticky is important for good bread baking. So, I highly recommend using a stand mixer such as Kenwood, or kitchen-aid. I also have a hand mixer. And yet, I don't use it for baking pizza. Because pizza dough is dense compared to cakes. So, it might harm my hand mixer. (recommended read - which stand-mixer is good for home bakers)
- Baking bread is a science. So, measuring ingredients correctly is important. Also, do not wing the measurements. Use a measuring cup for liquid ingredients and measuring spoons for dry ingredients.
- When making pizza, I highly recommend using a pizza peel with parchment paper or a pizza pan. A pizza pan has holes on the bottom which facilitates air circulation. This makes a nice crispy crust and ensures the base is not soggy later.
- Every oven works differently. So, the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of bread, a hollow sound on the bottom of the bread is a great indication. If the bread bakes too quick or too slow, compared to the time given, it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration.
- Also, an oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do is adjust the temperature accordingly.
Best homemade pizza dough from scratch (Save/Pin)
Prepare dough
- In a bowl, combine warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil – mix well.
- In a mixer bowl with a dough hook, combine the flour and salt.
- Pour in the yeast mixture.
- Turn the mixer on medium-high speed until all the flour is incorporated.
- Once all the flour is incorporated, let the mixer run on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- The dough should be elastic, slightly sticky, and yet very soft and supple.
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Bring all the dough into a ball.
- Tip – finger test – when you stick a finger in the dough should spring back. (see video)
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel for 60 to 90 mins until double in volume.
Divide, rest, and roll
- Preheat oven with pizza stone for at 200 C / 390 F for about 30 minutes.
- Lightly punch the dough to remove all air.
- Divide the dough into three (for 3 x 12-inch thin-crust pizzas) or two (for 2 x 12-inch thick-crust pizzas).
- Tip -Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes (it will become easier to stretch).
- Roll one piece of dough to about 12 inches.
- Tip - Place parchment paper on a pizza peel or you a pizza pan (parchment is less messy than cornmeal or flour).
- Transfer pizza to the pizza peel or pizza pan (see video).
- Tip - Let the pizza base rest for 5 to 10 minutes - this will proof it a bit and make those edges puff when baked.
Top and bake
- Tip - Brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil. This will give a nice golden crisp crust (see video).
- Spread tomato sauce and add your toppings.
- Generously sprinkle with cheese – I like to use a mix of mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar.
- Transfer the pizza to the preheated oven from the pizza peel to the pizza stone or baking tray (see video).
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are crisp and golden and the cheese is melted beautifully.
- Top with fresh basil leaves.
- Pizza is best eaten fresh out of the oven. Be careful of hot melting cheese especially when serving kids.
Description
Ingredients
Makes 2 x 12-inch Pizzas
For the Pizza Dough
- 1 ½ cup (360 ml) Warm water 110 F / 38 C
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Instant dry yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4 cups (500 g) Bread flour
- ½ cup (60 g) Bread Flour for kneading
For the Pizza Toppings
- 2 cups Tomato sauce
- 1 cup Toppings mushrooms, peppers, onions, olives, basil,
- ½ cup (50 g) Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 cups (225 g) Mozzarella cheese grated
- 1 cup (110 g) White cheese Cheddar, Emmantle (optional)
Instructions
Prepare dough
- In a bowl, combine warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil – mix well.
- In a mixer bowl with dough hook, combine the flour and salt.
- Pour in the yeast mixture.
- Turn the mixer on medium-high speed until all the flour is incorporated.
- Once all the flour is incorporated, let the mixer run on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- The dough should be elastic, slightly sticky, and yet very soft and supple.
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Bring all the dough into a ball.
- Tip – finger test – when you stick a finger in the dough should spring back.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel for 60 to 90 mins until double in volume.
Divide, rest, and roll
- Preheat oven with pizza stone for at 200 C / 390 F for about 30 minutes.
- Lightly punch the dough to remove all air.
- Divide the dough into three (for 3 x 12-inch thin-crust pizzas) or two (for 2 x 12-inch thick-crust pizzas).
- Tip - Let the dough rest again for 10 minutes (it will become easier to stretch).
- Roll one piece of dough to about 12 inches.
- Tip - Place parchment paper on a pizza peel or you a pizza tray - (parchment is less messy than cornmeal or flour).
- Transfer pizza to the pizza peel or pizza pan (see video).
- Tip - Let the pizza base rest for 5 to 10 minutes - this will proof it a bit and make those edges puff when baked.
Top and bake
- Tip - Brush the edges of the pizza with olive oil. This will give a nice golden crisp crust.
- Spread tomato sauce and add your toppings.
- Generously sprinkle with cheese – I like to use a mix of mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar.
- Transfer the pizza to the preheated oven from the pizza peel to the pizza stone (or baking tray).
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are crisp and golden and the cheese is melted beautifully.
Recipe Notes
Tips for making better homemade pizza
I have explained these tips in detail here, but I thought I'd give you just the main points as a takeaway.- Use a pizza stone.
- Pizza peel or pizza tray work better.
- Use parchment paper on the pizza peel for a less messy affair.
- Work with soft, room temperature dough.
- A well-preheated oven is best for pizza.
- Don't overdo the sauce and toppings.
- Choose the right toppings.
- Brush the edges with oil.
- Let the rolled pizza base rest.
- Hold on to the cheese for a crips pizza crust.
For a crisp crust
- Prebake the pizza without the cheese.
- Bake for 7 minutes
- Then top with cheese and bake until crisp and golden
Equipment
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Frequently asked questions
Pizza is always at its best fresh out of the oven, but it does have a long shelf-life and can be reheated and served again.
Overnight proofing is very recommended as it helps develop flavor. However, I would recommend you use my bakery-style overnight pizza dough recipe instead. It has much less yeast and will develop flavor beautifully.
Traditionally, tomato sauce is very common. But, I also love to use pesto, BBQ sauce, Alfredo sauce, etc.
Tomato sauce and cheese alone make a great margarita pizza. And yet, you use many other toppings like pepperoni, pastrami, sausages, mushroom slices, spinach, artichokes, olives, onions, feta cheese.
Traditionally, mozzarella is used. Personally, I like to use a combination of mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar or other white cheese.
You can freeze homemade pizza dough. Punch down the dough and remove as much of the air. then place in a freezer approved zip lock bag and place in the freezer for a month or more.
To thaw, just place the bag in the fridge for a couple of hours before you need to use it. Let it come to room temperature for an hour before you use it.
you can bake the pizza, cut the slices, cool them completely before you place the slices in a ziplock bag. You can freeze these for long but mine have never stayed for more than a week. They make a great snack for kids.
I often make mini pizzas and save them for the kids' school snacks. Freeze and thaw them the same way as the slices above.
To thaw, just place the slice from the freezer to the microwave. The condensation thaws into the pizza keeping it fresh. Usually, one minute on high for one slice works great for my microwave.
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