Make pizza at home whenever you want with our easy pizza dough recipe. Simply add all of your favorite toppings and the delicious variations are endless.
Pizza is one of those classic dishes that never gets old. With hundreds of variations and topping choices, everyone can find a favorite flavor combination.
You can have access to all the best toppings in the world, but a good pizza begins with a good dough. Once you’re done with the dough, we recommend using our tomato sauce for pizzas like Supreme or Pepperoni.
This pizza dough recipe creates a tasty, chewy crust that can handle any toppings you throw at it. The hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise. No worries though, just follow these directions to make your own perfect pizza crust that the whole family will enjoy.
Instructions for Easy Pizza Dough Recipe:
Prepping the Yeast:
First, start by using a microwave or pan to heat your water to 110-115 degrees F. for the yeast. Be very careful with the yeast because if it gets too hot, it will kill the yeast and the crust won’t rise.
Now, add the sugar and yeast to the warm water and use a fork to mix the ingredients to quickly mix the ingredients.
After that, let the yeast sit for about 5-10 minutes to activate. The water should begin to bubble and become murky, take a look at the picture below for an example of the activating yeast.
Dry Ingredients:
While the yeast rises, place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a whisk to combine everything if your mixer won’t reach them at the bottom of the bowl.
Making the Dough:
Then, carefully pour the activated yeast mixture into the bowl with the flour. Afterwards, using a dough hook attachment, mix on medium speed for 5 to 6 minutes until a smooth, elastic ball forms.
It might be necessary to add additional flour a tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky. That happens sometimes depending on the humidity in your house. In Florida, it happened a lot.
Let the Dough Rest:
At this point, you want to let the dough rest and rise (also known as proofing). I would recommend drizzling some olive oil into your mixing bowl.
The bowl can made of plastic, glass, or metal, it doesn’t matter. So, remove the dough from the mixer and place it in your prepped mixing bowl. Go ahead and cover the bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place it in a warm area.
A word of warning, depending upon how much the dough rises, it might stick to your towel. That’s okay, it’s not a big deal, well, except for washing a sticky towel.
Then, allow the dough to rest and double in size. Don’t bother it, touch or “check on it,” the pizza needs that time rest. Kim and I usually let our dough rest for about an hour. I know, it sucks, but good things come to those who wait.
One thing you can do while you wait is prep your toppings. That way, you’ll be ready to build your pizza once the resting time is completed. Also, towards the end of the rising process, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Final Preparations:
After the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and place it on a well-floured surface. Now, knead it 3 to 4 times by hand and divide it into two equal portions. That’s right, this recipe makes two pizza crusts. You can use the extra one for garlic knots.
Moving on, pick up one of the pieces and carefully begin to stretch it out. Start from the center and work your way out pushing the dough to the outer edge as you go. Once the dough reaches about 6-7 inches in diameter, place it on a greased pizza pan and continue stretching it out the rest of the way.
Toppings and Bake:
Top the homemade pizza dough with your favorite toppings and place in an oven preheated to 400 degrees. The amount and type of toppings will determine how long the pizza needs to bake. The more toppings you have, the longer it will take to bake. My one topping (not pre-baked) pizza takes 15-20 minutes to cook.
A pizza with multiple toppings that has been pre-baked only takes 10-15 minutes. When we say pre-baked, that means baking the crust for 5-10 minutes in the preheated oven without any toppings.
Tips for our Easy Pizza Dough Recipe:
- The dough can be made without yeast, however, it will not rise.
- Additionally, go ahead and add a tablespoon of olive oil to the bottom bowl when you let the dough rise. It will keep it from sticking to your bowl.
- We wouldn’t recommend freezing this dough because we’ve never done that and cannot tell you whether it works or not.
- When using multiple toppings, be sure to bake the dough for 5-10 minutes before you add the toppings. For example, a Supreme or Meat Lover’s style pizza has too many toppings for the pizza to bake without precooking the crust a little bit.
- If you’re not really in the mood for pizza, then use this dough to make garlic bread or knots and pair them with a Greek pasta salad for amazing dinner.
If you like this easy homemade pizza dough recipe, please leave us a comment and rate the recipe card. You can also find us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram searching for Berly’s Kitchen!
Easy Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces water
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat water to 110-115 degrees.
- Add yeast and sugar to water and stir to mix. Set aside and allow yeast to activate.
- Place flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add yeast mixture to the flour.
- Using a dough hook, mix the flour and yeast on medium speed for 5-6 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
- If the dough is too sticky, add additional flour a tablespoon at a time.
- Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a towel.
- Allow the dough to double in size.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- After dough has doubled, place it on a well-floured surface. Knead it 4-5 times and divide in half.
- Take one piece and begin stretching it by hand starting in the middle and pushing the dough outward.
- Once the dough is 6-7 inches in diameter, place on a greased pizza pan and continue stretching until the dough covers the pan.
- Add your favorite toppings.
- Place the pan in preheated oven and bake until the crust is golden brown.
The Yankee Frugalist
Its been ages since I made pizza at home with my own dough. Do you have suggestions for pizza sauce…I can’t seem to find ones I like. The thing that is nice about this is I can top it just the way I like. I am kind of fussy honestly. My husband likes pepperoni…I do not. I love mine loaded with veggies, he does not. I am sorry why wouldn’t you like broccoli on your pizza? If we make it ourselves we can each make our own and have what we want without buying a ton!
John
Thank you for commenting! In regards to pizza sauce, we have a simple tomato sauce that can be slightly modified with a little garlic salt. It makes a pretty tasty pizza sauce. For store bought, I prefer to use a marinara with a low sugar content of 3 grams or less per serving. (Mezzetta Homemade Marinara makes for a great pizza sauce) I too am a veggie pizza lover and feel your pain. Kim only likes pepperoni, onions, and garlic on her pizza. So, we usually separate the dough into smaller think crust pizzas with different toppings lol! Thanks again for commenting 🙂
The Yankee Frugalist
that is a good idea…marinara. Why didn’t I think of that?
The Yankee Frugalist
Oh I’ll bet those are good!
John
It’s pretty tasty lol! Kind of like a chicken (ham), bacon, ranch sandwich. It can also work in strombolis. Kim makes the dough and I make the fillings. Since she is allergic to mozzarella, we make separate dishes. But, it works for us 🙂
Rachel Gault (@rachelgault)
This looks amazing! I’ve always wanted to make homemade pizza!
John
Thank you for commenting, Rachel! Give it a try some time, you may love it 🙂
Jessica Price
awesome! i love making my own pizza crusts as well…cheers to the ‘za!
John
Thank you, Jessica!! Cheers to the pizza makers as well lol!
Mallory Mitchell
This is awesome!! I make homemade pasta dough all the time but never think to do it for pizza 🙂
John
Thank you, Mallory! I am glad you liked the recipe and hope you get an opportunity to make it some time 🙂
Willow
I am gluten free and normally buy a pizza dough mix. I may try this recipe with a gluten free blend. I am guessing that would work.
John
Thank you, Willow! Give it a try. Do you have any recommendations of gluten-free mixes? I have an intolerance to gluten; however, I haven’t been able to find a mix that I can tolerate lol! So, I have been stuck eating tiny portions of breads and other foods with gluten and suffering through the symptoms. My G.I. Specialist is always on me about it but I have a hard time eating gluten-free foods. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated! 🙂
Willow
I really like Pamela’s Pizza Mix because I can make calzones and bread out of it too – not just pizza. I also like Namaste Pizza Mix, but I am not sure if you could make it into bread because the consistency is different. With Pamela’s you have to let it rise since it has yeast. Namaste you just mix and bake. My intolerance is so bad that even the smallest piece of bread gives me a stomach cramp for a whole day. I am always on the lookout for good gluten free products as well. Luckily, there is a Farmer’s Market that sells really good spinach amaranth tortillas, because I am tired of the brown rice tortillas falling apart. One of these days I will start making my own bread products…
John
Thank you for all the good information on different gluten-free mixes. I understand what you mean when it comes to the intolerances. It’s terrible and when combined with all the other health issues I have, it can put me down for a few days too. I try to be careful, but there are days when I just want a sandwich on soft, fluffy, pieces of bread. But ever since I got sick almost 2 years ago, gluten and certain preservatives seem to make the joint pain, organ pain, headaches, joint swelling, and digestive issues so much worse. My medications help, but one cupcake and bam, I am the couch in terrible pain until it passes from my system. It kind of sucks because a lot of the things we make for the blog, I can’t eat, especially today’s post :(. So, it’s become imperative that find more gluten free products and avoid foods laden with preservatives. Well, I have rambled on long enough lol! Thank you again for responding and for the recommendations. I will check out Publix, Fresh Market, and Whole Foods to see if I can locate these brands 🙂
Cameron
I love making pizza at home! My go-to recipe works fine, but i think I might try this one next time!
John
Thank you, Cameron! It’s nice to try a new recipe from time to time and if you don’t like it, you will always have your go-to recipe to fall back on 🙂
Aarika
This homemade pizza dough sounds awesome. I love creating homemade pizza, and I cannot wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
John
Thank you, Aarika! I hope you love it 🙂