Best Pizza Dough
This Homemade Traditional Italian Pizza Dough Recipe, is the only Pizza Recipe you will ever need. Make it by hand or in your stand mixer. No need for take out, it will make your pizza night even more special. Any topping goes!
Some of our favorite topped pizzas are an Italian Sausage and Artichoke Cheese Pizza to one of the Italian’s favorites, Grilled Zucchini Pizza. But if you want to try something different why not give this Potato Pizza a try!
Authentic Italian Pizza never tasted so good. Everything you need to know to make this your family’s new favourite Pizza Recipe. In your house what day is pizza day? If you are like us it could mean any day!
Why you will love this pizza dough recipe
- Easy – the recipe can be made the same day or left to rise overnight in the fridge, the longer it is left to rise the more delicious it is. Perfect either way. Make a Fresh Tomato Pizza or a popular Pizza Bianca, and of course you can make your preferred thin or thick pizza crust!
- Versaitile – the dough is perfect for making a traditional pizza, mini pizzas or calzone, some readers have even used it to make bread!
- The Best – I can and so can everyone that has tried it say that it is the best pizza dough they have ever tried!
Pizza Recipe Ingredients needed
- Water – Always use lukewarm water, make sure the temperature is between 98-105F (36-40C). Never use hot or you will kill the yeast and with cold water the yeast will take forever to rise.
- Yeast – I like to use active dry yeast but you could also use instant yeast, for every teaspoon of active dry yeast substitute with 3/4 teaspoon of instant.
- Sugar -It is considered food for the yeast, which converts it to carbon dioxide and alcohol. It also helps enhance the flavour of the pizza.
- Olive Oil – It helps to tenderize the dough and add a wonderful flavour.
- Flour – I usually use all purpose or bread flour, you will need a flour that has at least 12% protein. Bread flour will produce a chewier crust.
- Salt – Is necessary to add flavour to the dough.
How to make the Best Pizza Dough recipe
This is a very simple recipe that can be made by machine or by hand, scroll down to the bottom of the page for the to find the recipe card.
In the bowl of your stand up mixer (or a large bowl if you knead by hand) add the warm water and sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top, let sit, then stir to combine.
Add the olive oil, flour and salt, with the hook attachment start to combine on low speed #1, scrape the hook and then raise to medium speed #2 and knead until you have a smooth elastic dough (scrape the hook halfway through kneading). Or if making by hand, combine the ingredients with a fork and knead by hand.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, roll the dough to cover lightly with the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a large clean kitchen towel, leave in a warm draft free area until doubled in bulk.
Pre-heat oven. Punch the dough down a few times and divide into 1-3 balls, let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Place the dough in the desired prepared pizza or baking sheets and shape the dough into the desired shapes. Top with your favourite toppings, bake until crust is golden and cheese has melted.
Can The Dough Be Made In Advance?
The dough can certainly be done in the fridge, overnight works perfectly. Prepare the dough, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight in the refrigerator, leaving the dough to rise in the fridge from 12-24 hours is considered the best amount of time. Although the dough can remain in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
If the dough smells sour it has probably gone bad and should be discarded. Remove the dough from the fridge and bring it to room temperature, about 30-60 minutes, punch it down, then divide it into 2 or 3 parts, again let it rest for about 20 minutes, form into your preferred shape and top as desired.
Variations
With this Pizza Dough Recipe I made two large and one small pizza. Sometimes I will make an all veggie one, with fresh, halved, cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and onions. Or I will sauté a couple of Italian sausage (casing removed) with sliced mushrooms, peppers and a small onion and place the mixture on a pureed tomato sauce (with just a few spices and a little olive oil). For the third pizza I top with chopped fresh tomatoes and sliced black olives and of course all the pizzas are topped with shredded firm mozzarella.
In Italy it is so easy to get a good pizza dough. Sometimes I would stop at my local bakery (forno) and pick up a pound or two of dough. But when I tasted a pizza made with this dough, I thought no matter how good the bakery dough was, it was now a thing of the past for me. That pizza made me determined to make my own pizza dough from then on.
Needless to say this pizza dough was one of those recipes that was passed down for I can’t tell you how many years. And trust me it is the best Pizza Dough. You can make it thin crust or thick crust whatever suits you, then you can top it with whatever fresh ingredients you want.
Recipe Tip
Be sure to let the dough rest before forming it in the pan, resting will keep it from springing back. And use your hand to gently stretch the dough to fit the dough in the pan and not a rolling pin, using your hands preserves the gas bubbles formed during fermentation and keeps the dough from deflating.
Since there are very few ingredients in Pizza Dough it is important that all the ingredients are good quality and active.
Recipe FAQs
To tell the truth some people will swear by bread flour, but I always use all purpose (11% protein or higher). It’s not necessarily the flour but how you go about making the pizza that counts! Although if you prefer bread flour then by all means use it! Lately I even started to combine leftover flour that I have in bags, from 00 to even a little pastry flour, because flours will absorb water differently sometimes more water is needed.
If you like to give your dough a bit of extra flavour then you can certainly add a couple of dashes of garlic or onion powder, or even oregano, thyme, Italian seasoning or basil or if the Italian had is way a couple of good pinches of hot pepper flakes. Whisk them into the flour before adding to the yeast mixture.
With your knuckles or a couple of fingers make an indentation in the dough, If the indentation disappears, the dough needs more time to rise. If the dent remains, the bread is ready to bake.
If you are looking for a pizza such as pizza Napoletana then I would go with 250-255 gram (9 ounces) dough ball if you want a thicker crust then 280-285 grams (10 ounces) would be the weight, this if for a pizza approximately 28-32 cm (12 inches).
How to freeze and store the pizza dough
Let the dough rise before freezing, then divide the dough into your desired pizza portions, place in airtight freezer bags and freeze. Dough will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
Thaw the frozen dough overnight (8 hours) in the refrigerator. When ready to use, remove it from the fridge and bring it to room temperature, approximately 30-60 minutes on the counter will do. Continue with the recipe from step 4.
Or remove the frozen dough from the bag or container, then place it in a bowl with enough room to allow it to expand, cover it with plastic wrap. Let it sit for a couple of hours, giving it time to thaw and rise. Then it is ready to use.
Any leftover pizza, as long as it hasn’t been left out for more than two hours, should be placed in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap or foil and placed in the refrigerator, it will last up to four days in the fridge. Cold pizza for breakfast anyone?!
More Pizza Dough Recipes you can try
- No Yeast Pizza Dough – out of yeast? But still want pizza!
- Beer Pizza Dough – adding some beer gives it an extra taste boost
- Lievito Madre Pizza Dough – the Italian sourdough starter way
- No Knead Pizza Dough – no kneading or machine necessary
So however you like your pizza, thick crust, thin crust, double cheese, vegetarian or with pepperoni, I hope you make it with this Pizza dough recipe! Buon appetito.
Best Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 2 cups lukewarm water
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5¼ cups all purpose flour or bread flour
- 1½ teaspoons salt
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand up mixer (or a large bowl if you knead by hand) add the warm water and sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then stir to combine. Continue with Machine or Hand.
MIXING BY MACHINE
- Add the olive oil, flour and salt, with the hook attachment start to combine on low speed #1, scrape the hook and then raise to medium speed #2 and knead for approximately 5-7 minutes or until you have a smooth elastic dough (scrape the hook halfway through kneading).
MIXING BY HAND
- Add the olive oil, flour and salt, then with a fork mix until the dough starts to come together. On a lightly floured surface remove dough from the bowl and knead until dough is smooth and elastic approximately 10 minutes (if dough is really sticky add a little extra flour).
NEXT STEPS
- Place in a lightly oiled bowl, roll the dough to cover lightly with the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a large clean kitchen towel, leave in a warm draft free area until doubled in bulk, approximately 2 hours.**
- Pre heat oven to 450° (250° celsius). Punch dough down a few times and divide into 1-3 balls, let dough rest for 20 minutes.
- Place the dough in the desired pizza or cookie sheets (lightly oiled) and shape the dough into the desired shapes (using your clean hands).
- Top with your favourite toppings, bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese has melted. Enjoy!
- **At this point, dough can also be refrigerated, place in plastic bag, remove air and tie securely up to 24 hours.
EASY PIZZA SAUCE
- In a medium bowl add a can of diced or pureed tomatoes, add 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, a sprinkle of salt, tablespoon or two of olive oil and stir to combine. Top pizza dough.
FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
- Chop fresh tomatoes (15-20 grape or cherry or 3-4 roma tomatoes)if you use roma tomatoes then remove the seeds, toss with 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil (or even 5-6 fresh basil leaves chopped) 1-2 pinches salt and a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil.
STIRRED FRIED VEGGIES & ITALIAN SAUSAGE
- In a medium frying pan add Italian sausage (casing removed and chopped) and fry until starting to brown, add thinly sliced, onion, pepper and mushrooms and a drizzle of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste, cook on medium for approximately 10 minutes. Use as topping for pizza (on the sauce and then bake).
Notes
Nutrition
Republished from January 6, 2016.
Pizza base perfection, thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sarah, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it.
I have used this pizza dough recipe dozens of times. It is foolproof. It makes a great bread dough for crusty loaves/baguettes as well. I have added chopped garlic and shredded Parmesan cheese for a delicious garlic bread. Also did a spiral olive loaf with assorted olives and feta cheese. Very good. Such a versatile recipe. Thank you!
Hi Sheryl, thanks so much, great idea with making bread with it too. Have a great weekend.
Thank you very much for showing most of the quantities in grams. Volume measure is not very accurate, especially with flour, which compresses quite a lot. I would ask that you take it a bit further, specifying the weight of the salt, or at least the coarseness. 1tsp of table salt is a lot more salt than 1tsp of coarse kosher salt, but 13gm is the same amount regardless of the grind.
Have you tried this dough with a long cold retarded ferment? Say, several days in the fridge? I was talking with the guy at my local pizzeria, and he said their dough often matures for the better part of a week.
I have tried a few pizza base recipes but this one was by far the BEST! Easy to make and tastes amazing thin or thick pan. This has made it into my recipe book for any future pizza nights as the whole family loved it.
Hi Sally, thanks so much, so glad you and your family like the recipe. Have a great weekend.
I just found your pizza dough recipe..
Can you half everything to make a bit less?
Thanks for reading my message.
Dean
Hi Dean, yes you can half the recipe. Let me know how it goes.
Hi!
I have an issue, I tried to half the recipe and I put the full amount of yeast (I forgot to divided in 2) what would happened with my dough?
Thank you!😚
Hi Vessica, you will probably get a yeasty taste and your dough may go flat. Let me know how it goes.
I have been searching for a recipe like this forever! So simple and easy to follow, the dough is very easy to work with. Mine raised so much it was touching the plastic wrap in a large bowl in just an hour. It came out crispy and chewy but still light just how I like it! I used AP flour but I think I will try bread flour next time just to see what happens. Thank-you for this awesome recipe!
Hi Chelsea, thanks glad you like it. Let me know how it goes with the bread flour. Have a great weekend.
I have been trying to perfect pizza dough for years and let me say this recipe has been the easiest and the best..
Hi Eileen, thanks so much, so glad you like it.
Made this dough for the first time on the weekend using my bread maker; it turned out beautifully!
Was light with a nice crunchy crust! Thankyou I will definitely keep using this recipe 🙂
Hi Peta Scott, thanks so much, so glad you liked the pizza dough. Have a great weekend.
Great recipes can’t wait to try more recipes. You explain things very clearly
Thanks so much.
I’m so sad that this recipe did not work out for me. I’ve not had much luck with yeast and this turned just like all the pizza crusts I’ve ever tried – like a crispy rock. I know it was not the yeast as it was new and I had proofed it before. I did sub half the flour for whole wheat bread flour so perhaps that was it? It rose ok over the two hours (though I would have expected a little more). I punched it down and let it rest and it did rise again. I pressed it into a pan and did the sauce and toppings, baked it and then added the cheese just as suggested. Perhaps I made it too thin? There were no air pockets and it was dry. Any tips on technique?
Hi Taryn, sorry it didn’t work out, but when you substitute whole wheat for all purpose you need 3/4 cup whole wheat for every 1 cup all purpose, also it is recommended to add 2 teaspoons of water for every cup of whole wheat or it can cause the dough to be too dry. Hope this helps. Let me know if you try it again.
I have been making this same dough recipe for over 50 years! My mother..my grandmother..your recipes are very accurate. Thank you for sharing. My 3 daughters and 6 granddaughters all have learned this from me. I double for mr bread. ❤️
Hi Frankie, thanks so much and yes everyone needs a good Pizza Dough recipe. Have a great weekend.
Great. Fool proof. Took less than 5 minutes with Kitchen aide and dough hook. Once elastic and ball formed, I stopped mixing and moved to 2 hr rise. I used bread flour and baked at 425 for 25 minutes. Light tomato sauce, cheese, crumbled bacon and pepperoni. I waited until after 25 minutes to put my fcheese topping on so my pizza was nice and pretty. Will make again.
Hi Murray, thanks so much, so glad you liked the dough. The pizza sound delicious. Have a great week.
I’m excited to try this recipe! I am also wondering if it can be successfully made using gluten free one to one flour? I have a kiddo with a sensitivity but she just has trouble finding a good gluten-free crust. Thanks!
Hi Terri, thanks. I have never made it with gluten free flour (I imagine it would work) but you if you try it let me know how it goes. Have a wonderful Sunday.
Just made the dough – used 1.5 tablespoons of yeast and it was doubled in 1 hr. Just put it in the refrigerator because I don’t need it for another 1.5 hrs. It is a beautiful dough!!
Hi Carol, sounds good, let me know how it turns out.
Well written and I’m trying to find the “perfect” recipe. I have a pizza dough recipe that’s been my go to, but I would give this a try. You did make a statement that “The difference between Pizza and Bread dough is Pizza dough is made with a higher protein flour other than that they both use the same ingredients, yeast, flour, salt and water.” All my references state that bread dough (ie., using bread flour) is actually the flour that is higher in protein. Just wanted to clarify.
Hi Debbie, thanks, actually bread flour and all purpose are very close in the amount of protein. It just depends what flour you prefer, if you prefer a chewier crust then bread flour would be the choice. I just use all purpose because it’s what most people have in their pantry. Have a great weekend.