How to Make Pizza Dough-Quick and Easy

Learn how to make excellent homemade pizza dough with only five ingredients at home with these easy step-by-step instructions. One of the easiest recipes you will ever make and one of the most useful.

Use it for family pizza night or a pizza party. Make it thin or thick, and cook it in the oven, on a pizza stone, or on the grill.

Introduction

I have used this easy pizza dough recipe for over 50 years (as of 2022.) It may have evolved a bit during that time, but the basic recipe is the same. A few simple steps are all that are needed.

With only one bowl and mixing done by hand, no stand mixer is needed but can be used with a dough hook. I see no need for added cleanup.

Start with warm water, add some yeast, oil, salt, and sugar, and add about twice as much flour as water. Adjust at this point since some flour needs more or less fluid. You want light and a bit sticky dough. Let rise to about double in size (about 30 minutes), then make your pizza.

My Rating

The easiest 5 I have even given. To me, it is the best easy homemade pizza dough recipe. I suspect I have done this over 1000 times. Once a week, when the kids were young. Twice a week when I was young (some high school, plus college, med school, and pediatric training.) And still occasionally now.

🥣Ingredients

Flour: Good old-fashioned all-purpose (AP) flour is my favorite for pizza dough. I always have it, and it gives it a little rougher texture that I think enhances the pizza.

Bread flour works fine—the crust is a little crispier and has a finer texture but is a good choice if you have it in the pantry.

I have used 25% whole wheat flour with honey instead of sugar at times, but more than 25% needs some special treatment. This is not a gluten-free flour recipe, gluten-free flours may work, but I'm not testing them.

Yeast: All baking yeast is the same organism (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Old fashion active dry yeast is processed differently and has less live yeast so it will work slower. I suggest quick or instant yeast, which works faster.

Add the yeast to the water to be sure it is evenly distributed. And you should "proof" yeast by letting it sit for a few minutes to form some bubbles to "prove" that it is good.

The amount of yeast in a packet is about 2 ¼ teaspoons. I usually use bulk yeast and a light tablespoon (3 teaspoons minus a little) as the same thing.

Flavoring: You can add extra flavor to the pizza dough with ¼ teaspoon garlic powder or other seasonings, like basil or oregano.

👨‍🍳How to Make Pizza Dough

1. Start with warm water (100°-110°) in a large bowl, desolve the sugar and salt. Then add instant yeast.
2. Add all purpose flour. Mix in well initially with a wooden spoon or spatula, then by hand as you do a few minutes of hand kneeding. The dough should be a little sticky and light—never dry or hard.
3. Form into a ball, give it a splash of oil to cover the dough ball and coat the bowl.
4. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place to about double in size—about 30 minutes.
5. The pizza dough is now ready to use. It can be used, refrigerated, or frozen at this point.

Keep it Warm!

You must "keep it warm." Here are a few tips.

1. "Preheat" your bowl with hot water.
2. Use water of 100°-110° in the dough.
3. Do NOT put the bowl on a stone type countertop. Put a wooden cutting board between it and the counter if that is where you want it to let it rise.
4. Cover with a heavy towel or plastic wrap.
5. Don't keep checking it. It will take about 30 minutes to double in size.
6. If the house is cool, then preheat your oven to it's lowest setting then turn it off and use it as your warm spot to raise the dough.

❄️Making Pizza Dough Ahead

Let the dough rise, then punch down and form a flattened ball. Give it a light coat of olive oil, then seal tightly with plastic wrap. Good refrigerated for  1-2 days or frozen for 2-3 months. To thaw the frozen pizza dough, just overnight in the refrigerator.

Once thawed or just refrigerated, let the dough sit at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes, then make the dough out on the pan. Spreading cold dough is almost impossible. I like to let the dough start rising before making the pizza.

🎈Large Groups and Pizza Parties

This is an excellent recipe for a large-scale pizza party or group. The pizzas are large, and the dough is easy to make or make ahead.

So just multiple the ingredients as a starting point. I usually start with 2 cups of flour per cup of liquid.

One last thing to know, a pound of flour is about 3 ⅓ cups of flour.

🍕Tips for Making Your Pizza

This recipe makes enough pizza dough for a 13X9 sheet pan or a 12-inch round pizza pan with a moderately thick crust. It is will also make a thinner 16-inch round. You can also make two 9-10 inch round pizzas with medium crust or two 12-inch pizzas with thinner crusts.

If using a pan, use a generous splash of olive oil and spread by hand. If using a pizza stone or grill, spread the dough with a rolling pin on a floured surface or pizza peel. You can use cornmeal instead of flour. If you don't have a pizza peel, use a baking sheet without a rim to transfer the pizza to the hot pizza stone.

Pizza Sauce

Please DO NOT use a jar or canned pizza sauce. Mine is much better.

My suggested sauce: One 6 oz can of tomato paste and 6 oz water. Add ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 clove of garlic, about half a small chopped onion, and 1 teaspoon oregano—a pinch (¼ teaspoon) of crushed red pepper for a touch of heat.

The tomato paste gives a touch of sweetness and a deeper tomato taste than sauce.

Toppings

I suggest about one pound of browned Italian sausage, a chopped ½ green pepper, 4 oz of pepperoni, and then topped with 3-4 cups of mozzarella cheese. I like to toss a bit more pepperoni on the cheese to brown.

Baking pizza

Use a preheated 400° convection oven or 425° convention. Other oven temperatures may be used, but the cooking time will vary. If you cook a very thick pizza, a lower temperature is better.

The cooking time will vary by the thickness and amount, and types of toppings. It may be as low as 15 minutes, but my loaded pizza takes 20-25 minutes to brown nicely.

❓FAQs

📖Pizza Recipes

White Pizza

Quick and Easy Biscuit Pizza

Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

Easy Low Carb Pizza

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

Ingredients most of us have on hand.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of warm water (about 100°-110°) with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon sugar, and one packet ( 2 ¼ teaspoons) of rapid/instant rising yeast. Mix well. Let sit a few minutes until foaming some, then add 1 teaspoon salt.

Add 4 cups of AP flour.

Mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon. Finish with a bit of hand kneading to get all the flour incorporated for a few minutes in the bowl. Add a little more flour or water to make it relatively light and still a little sticky or too firm. Usually, you won't need to add anything. Lightly coat the dough and the bowl with a bit of oil.

Cover with a towel or plastic wrap in a warm place until double in size — about 30 minutes.

This recipe makes enough pizza dough for a 13X9 sheet pan or a 12-inch round pizza pan with a moderately thick crust. It is will also make a thinner 16-inch round. You can also make two 9-10 inch round pizzas with medium crust or two 12-inch pizzas with thin crusts.

That is the end of the pizza dough instructions. Suggestions for sauce, topping, and cooking are in the post.

📖Recipe

Editor's Note: Originally published September 14, 2011, but used since the mid-1960s, updated with expanded discussion, new photos, and a table of contents.