Make the Best Pizza Dough with our photo tutorial packed with tips on making the best pizza at home. A fail-proof and easy recipe that makes the best crust!
You can make 2 regular pizzas or 3 thin-crust pizzas with this recipe. Top it with Homemade Pizza Sauce, pepperoni, cheese and any toppings you like.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cup water (warm, from your hot water faucet)
- 1.5 teaspoon sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon active-dry yeast
Instructions:
- Combine water and sugar in a large bowl. Stir gently to help the sugar to dissolve.
- Sprinkle yeast and stir in.
- Let it sit for about 10 minutes until you see bubbles forming on the surface.
- Gather the rest of the ingredients: 3 cups of flour, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon oil.
- Add flour to your yeast mixture. Begin with 3 cups of flour. It might be enough but you will know as you work with the dough if you need a bit more. Not enough flour and it will stick to the counter, your hands, rolling pin etc.
- Sprinkle the salt over your dough and add the oil. Stir until the dough forms and separates from the sides of the bowl.
8. Flatten the dough with your hands,
9. Now the fun begins! You get to fold and punch the dough!
How to knead pizza dough?
10. Fold from right.... 11..... to left... 12. ... punch down... 13.... really doesn't matter just eventually form into a ball.
14. Like this.
15. Clean the bowl you mixed the dough in and coat lightly with cooking oil. Place your ball of dough inside. Turn it a few times to coat the dough with the oil.
16. Cover the bowl with a cloth or a towel.
17. Let rise until it doubles in size. A tip my wife taught me is on a cold/cool day to heat up a cup of water in the microwave and then placing my dough inside. Not a problem right now with the heatwave we are going through in the Midwest ;). In theory, you want your dough to rise as slow as possible at cool temps such as a refrigerator overnight but in reality, I am unable to plan that far ahead and need to spend as little time on prepping dinner as possible.
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18. This is how your dough should look like after rising.
Forming pizza dough:
19. Turn your dough back onto the floured surface or a mat. Flatten down.
20. Form it into a log...
21. ...like this.
22. Divide into three equal parts. You can always divide the ingredients but we usually have three pizzas with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.
23. Form each part into a ball and let sit a few minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
24. One by one, flatten each ball into a disk.
25. After hand flattening to a circle use your rolling pin to get it as thin as you are comfortable handling and it staying together. Your dough will be pretty flexible and if it does rip or develop a hole, you can fix it as it is very forgiving. Simply fold over where it ripped or take a little piece from a thicker part of the dough and smash it in. Worst case scenario: roll it all back up and roll it back out again. I try to roll it out as circular as I can and as close to the size I want so I don't need to stretch it out a whole lot to get to my edges. You don't need these pizza pans. Freeform pizza works even better and is much easier, but my kids are familiar with commercial pizza and believe that the perfectly round pizza tastes infinitely better.
26. Have your pizza pan SLIGHTLY greased with cooking oil or sprayed with it. Place the pizza dough on top, then turn over so the dough is coated.
27. Now here is the trick: use both hands to create the edges. With one hand pushing /squishing the dough towards the edge of your pan and over and the other hand flattens it so it will stay in place.
28. Push and flatten.
29. You a-like-a-the pizza crust, no? 🙂
30. After you form your crust it needs to proof a bit; you can do this by letting it set for a while or pop it in the oven for about 5 minutes, pull it out and then add your toppings.
31. Your crust is ready to be finished and topped.
32. Brush the edges with melted butter...
33. ... and sprinkle with cornmeal.
34. Spread the sauce in a circular motion.
35. ...until it's nice and coated.
36. Top with your favorite toppings and bake 15 - 18 minutes. Enjoy!
Expert tips:
- warm water: use warm tap water
- sugar: highly recommended for the best results
- yeast: make sure your yeast is not expired or the pizza dough won't rise properly
- flour: use bleached all-purpose flour for the best results
- oil: highly recommended for the best texture
- salt: highly recommended for the flavor
More pizza recipes:
- Homemade Pizza Sauce
- Best Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
- New York Style Pizza
- Stuffed Crust Pizza
- Easy Pizza Bread
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup warm tap water
- 1 ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast I used Red Star Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- oil for greasing pans
- cornmeal for dusting pans
Instructions
- Place water and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- Sprinkle yeast over the water and stir few times. Let sit until foamy (about 5 minutes).
- Add 2 cups of flour and salt. Mix in with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Add oil and mix well.
- Add third cup of flour and stir it in with a wooden spoon.
- Place dough onto a floured surface and knead it the last cup of flour.
- Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. It should be smooth.
- Place the dough into a oiled large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel.
- Place in a warm and draft-free place until doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- In the meantime, prep the pizza pans by lightly greasing them and sprinkling with cornmeal.
- Punch the dough down. Transfer back onto the floured surface. Smooth out into a ball.
- Divide into two equal pieces.
- Roll out one piece into a circle, about the same size as your pizza pan. Place on the pizza pan, stretching the sides.
- Preheat the oven to 420° F.
- Place the pizza dough in the oven and bake for 7 minutes.
- Brush the sides of the pizza with melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of cornmeal.
- Top with toppings and bake 12 to 15 minutes.
Notes
- This recipe makes 2 large pizzas or 3 thin-crust pizzas.
- Please note, that the nutrition value can vary depending on what product you use. The information below is an estimate. Always use calorie counter you are familiar with.
Jola says
I've never come across such a perfect recipe. Step by step perfectly written. Pizza is a masterpiece!
Beth says
Excellent dough!! I made 2 large pizzas and froze the third dough ball. I cooked one on parchment on a preheated sheet pan in the oven at 500 and the other on a baking stone in the grill. The grill was definitely the winner! Wish I could attach a pic! Will be making again.
Cee Cee says
Holy pepperoni - this is the best home pizza dough recipe I've ever tried. I feel like I can now die in peace. 🙂 The recipe works beautifully and the end result is restaurant quality, plain and simple. And it even reheats well. One note: I was low on AP flour so I switched out 2 cups for bread flour. It still worked out beautifully.
Katie says
I made 2 large rectangle pizzas tonight. One I made into half pizza and half cheesy breadsticks and I brushed the crust with garlic butter that I also used on the bread stick portion. I thought we’d have tons of leftover pizza, but it’s gone. My kids said it was as good as a restaurant and it was the best pizza I’ve made. The crust wasn’t too doughy or too crunchy. We will be making it again!
Toni De Luca says
Are you able to freeze the dough and make it another day? Or can you leave it in fridge overnight and make it next day?
Tonya Krinn says
I'm wondering same thing. I would love to be able to make night before and pizza next day.
Bee says
If you take the pizza out of the oven after a few minutes to add toppings won't the levening stop working in the dough? Are you adding the sauce and cheese before baking or after the initial baking period? Is it bad to put the toppings on for the whole baking process?
Karen Lefebvre says
Having a pizza making party and want to make a bunch ahead of time. What is the best way to do this. I have made this recipe a lot but always used same day. It is such a great dough.
John says
Super easy recipe and my kids love it! I have made this dough MANY times and it always comes out great! Thanks for sharing this recipe! We usually do a large cheese and a medium covered in toppings for the adults. So good! Making it today !
Anna says
Hi John! That's wonderful! I am so glad the pizza dough is such a hit! We make it every Friday and the kids choose their own toppings. It's a fun dinner to make for a whole family. Thank you so much for making my recipe and for the comment!
Mrs. Jade says
I can't stop making this one! We love it so much!
Sharon says
I just read your Post I Love Pizza Even I when I buy Pizza from the Store I put my own sauce on it and Add more Meats add Veg's and different Cheese.It is good .But from here on I will be Making my owe Crust.Thank You and Your Husband.
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
That's awesome, Sharon! Homemade pizza dough is the best! 😀
Barbara Y. Martin says
First time I've made pizza dough from scratch and I will be making this again. Easy peasy. Thank you for pinning!
Anna says
Yay! That's fantastic! Thank you, Barbara!
Carey says
No salt is listed on ingredients. Only in instructions. How much salt is needed?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Carey! It should be 1/2 teaspoon. Hope this helps!
Beth says
Yumm!!!! Me and the kids had so much fun and it was very delicious!
Lulu says
I've got my dough rising now. I just looked at the print recipe and it says 1 TBSP oil but this tutorial says 1 tsp.... Which is correct?
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Lulu! 1 tablespoon is the correct amount.
Liz says
If only everyone would make there instructions as easy as you do! Very helpful with the pictures! Great job..defiantly will use ur post to make one! 😉
Laura Pagels says
I'm just about to start a double batch of this now. One batch for the pizza and a batch for garlic knots. My kids are going to love me! Betcha I even get a hug and kiss out of it!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Laura! It's Friday so we are whipping up a batch too! Yay for pizza nights! Let us know how you like it! Thank you for the comment!
Ed Evans says
I just made this pizza dough.....I couldn't believe how soft the dough was. When I formed it into a ball, it felt like I was holding a pillow. The dough was enough for 2 large pizzas.....I have the big 16" pans. Thank you so much for this recipe! This was easy to make and I'm sure it will be delicious!
Anna@CrunchyCreamySweet says
Hi Ed! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment and for trying our recipe! We make it every week on Friday and love it too! Thanks so much!