I know it sounds cheesy, but pizza really is my favorite food. It has endless possibilities and usually includes my favorite things: bread, tomatoes, and cheese. And when you make your pizza crust from scratch, pizza is one of the cheapest dinners you can make. The best part? All of the ingredients for homemade pizza dough are pantry staples, so you can make this whenever without planning ahead. AND it’s freezer-friendly so you can always have some stashed and ready to thaw on a moment’s notice.
What is in Homemade Pizza Dough?
While there are several styles of pizza dough out there in the world, this particular recipe is super simple and only includes:
- Water
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Flour
- Olive Oil
That’s it! Really! This particular recipe creates a crust that is crispy on the outside, but still tender on the inside. If you use a rolling pin to really compact the dough and roll it thin, you’ll get a result that more closely resembles a crispy thin-crust pizza. Toss the dough by hand, gently stretching the dough and leaving some thickness will give you that crispy-yet-tender finish, with a few of those awesome big bubbles.
What Kind of Yeast Can I Use?
The instructions below will work with active dry or instant yeast. If you’re looking for a pizza crust without yeast, check out my No-Yeast Pizza Dough Recipe.
How to Freeze Pizza Dough
After kneading the pizza dough, form it into a ball, coat the dough ball with a little oil to keep it from sticking to the plastic, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrapped dough ball in a heavy duty freezer zip top bag, label, date, and place it in the freezer!
How to Thaw Pizza Dough
To thaw your frozen pizza dough, place it in the refrigerator the night before you intend to bake the pizza. The dough will rise slightly as it thaws. The other option is to allow the dough to thaw at room temperature, which will take about two hours. You’ll want to unwrap the pizza dough from the plastic before letting it thaw. Place the frozen dough in an oiled bowl and cover loosely with a clean towel as it thaws.
Try These Homemade Pizza Flavors:
- BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Breakfast Pizza
- Garlicky Kale and Ricotta Pizza
- Ultimate Portobello Mushroom Pizza
- White Pizza with Parsley Pesto Drizzle
- Spicy Hawaiian Pizza
- Hummus and Grilled Vegetable Pizza
- Stromboli
Make some homemade pizza sauce to go with your pizza crust!
Homemade Pizza Dough
Servings 4Ingredients
- 3/4 cups warm water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp yeast* ($0.08)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.05)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.30)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Allow the yeast water to sit for about 5 minutes, or until a thick layer of foam develops on top.
- While you’re waiting for the yeast, add 1 cup of the flour and the salt to a large bowl, then stir well to combine.
- Add the olive oil to the yeast water, then pour the mixture into the bowl with the flour and salt. Begin adding more flour to the bowl, ¼ to ½ cup at a time, until it forms a ball of dough that can no longer be stirred with a spoon.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, then knead for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour as you go to keep it from sticking.
- At this point you have three options: use the dough tonight (one hour after kneading), use it tomorrow (allowing it to rise in the refrigerator over night) or within a month (freezing the dough).
To Use the Pizza Dough Same Day
- Place the kneaded dough back into the mixing bowl, drizzle with a little oil, then turn the dough to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl loosely and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour, or until it is double in volume.
- Once risen, stretch or roll the dough out to a 14 to 16-inch circle, place on a pizza pan, and top with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake the pizza in a preheated 450ºF oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are brown and crispy.
To Use the Pizza Dough the Next Day
- Allowing the dough to proof (rise) slowly in the refrigerator for 18-24 hours gives the dough even more flavor. Form the dough into a ball and coat with oil. Place the dough in a covered container and refrigerate for 18-24 hours. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before stretching, topping, and baking.
To Freeze the Dough for Future Use
- Form the kneaded dough into a ball, coat it with oil, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag and transfer to the freezer. When you are ready to use the dough, simply place it on the counter for one hour prior to use. The dough should be at room temperature before stretching, topping, and baking.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough – Step By Step Photos
Start this classic pizza crust recipe by dissolving 1 tsp active dry yeast (or instant yeast) and 1 Tbsp sugar in ¾ cup warm water.
Let the yeast water sit for about 5 minutes, or until a thick layer of foam develops on top.
While the yeast is blooming, combine 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the yeast water, then pour it into the bowl with the flour and salt. Stir until the mixture is fairly smooth.
Begin adding more flour, about ¼ to ½ cup at a time, until you can no longer stir the mixture with a spoon.
Once it forms a ball that you can no longer stir with a spoon, turn it out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface.
Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour as you go to prevent it from sticking. Once kneaded, you should have used about 2 cups flour total, since the first step of stirring salt into the flour. Total flour amount can vary depending on humidity and other factors. At this point you can let the dough rise and make a pizza same day, refrigerate the dough and make pizza with it the next day, or freeze the dough for future use.
To make a pizza same day: Place the dough ball back into the mixing bowl, add just a small drizzle of oil, and turn the dough to coat it in the oil. The oil will keep the dough from drying out as it rises.
Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour, or until it is double in size.
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Stretch or roll the pizza dough out to 14-16 inches and place on a pizza pan. Add your favorite pizza sauce…
And your favorite pizza toppings…
Bake in the fully preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust and toppings are browned.
Slice and enjoy!
My dough turned out thin and a bit tough. Any suggestions?
Usually if it’s tough, too much flour has been added during kneading. That’s the most tricky part about bread dough. You really just have to get used to the texture so you know how much flour to add in. It will vary a little bit every time you make bread due to humidity levels.
Have been trying out different recipes for pizza dough, but this one seems to be the best so far. Made a pizza yesterday and it turned out just fine! Thanks and to all pizza lovers: Try it it works just fine.
I see now that you used “bread machine” yeast. I used regular, active dry yeast and obviously didn’t rise well at all. I wasn’t looking at the photographs as I prepared my dough. I think it would be very helpful to clarify that Instant/Rapid-rise/Bread Machine yeast is needed. I should have known better with a one-hour rise time, but it would be helpful to prevent others from making the same mistake I did. Thanks! Looking forward to trying it again :) Love Budget Bytes!
I’ve used active dry for this recipe with great results. You should be able to use active dry or instant/bread machine yeast. :)
Question: if i refridgerate this over night for use the next night, is the dough supposed to rise at all in the fridge? How long in advance do i take the dough out of the fridge, abd should it rise after its taken out?
Yes, it will definitely continue to rise in the fridge, just at a slower pace. In fact, the flavor is even better if it’s left to rise in the fridge for a day (that’s the technique used in a lot of pizza parlors). If it has risen in the fridge, you only need to take it out long enough for it to warm up to a point where it’s pliable again before you use it. It doesn’t need any additional rise time. We used to take it straight out of the fridge and just work it with our hands until it warmed up and got pliable before building the pizza (at a pizza restaurant I worked at). It’s pretty forgiving!
I love this recipe – the only thing I didn’t like was that I was starving when I wanted pizza and I had to wait for the dough to rise before I could use it. I did a small variation – I added italian seasoning to the dough – IT SMELLED DIVINE IN THE OVEN. Sorry for caps. I have to ask; could I do something like a “cheesy” dough? I was tempted to mix shredded cheese in the dough but was worried that the cheese could burn in the oven.
It might burn and get a little crispy on the edges, but I think that would be good! :D
Hey Beth!
This looks really easy to make, but I’ve got one question about it. I see you’re using dry yeast, like most people in the states.
However, I live in Belgium, and moist (fresh) yeast is the only good kind of yeast we can get here reliably, usually at the local bakery even.
Would you know if it is possible to make this dough with fresh yeast? If so, how far would I have to off recipe to get a similar result?
Hi Mathias! I believe you can proof fresh yeast just like you can dried yeast, but I’ve never cooked with fresh yeast so I’m not sure about the nuances. So, I think it can be done, but unfortunately I can’t advise on the details.
Help! I’m having serious problems with this recipe! The first time I made it with my girlfriend, it turned out phenomenally and with no problems. I tried to make it about a week later at my house and the dough was so sticky it was impossible to knead! I had to throw the whole thing out as it entirely coated my hands and I couldn’t get it off without thorough washing. I tried it once more the next day and I got it to work (so far, it’s kneaded and waiting right now) but I had to start off with 3! cups of flour and then add some during kneading because it was still too sticky. I used a different type of yeast from at my girlfriend’s but I don’t think that should matter. Any ideas?
Flour can be extremely variable like that, which is why people often have a hard time with bread. :) The difference lies in how much moisture is actually *in* the flour. Sometimes it’s extremely dry and will absorb a lot of water, other times it won’t require as much. Once you get the hang of how the dough should feel, you can add flour as needed instead of sticking to rigid measurements. The trick is to keep adding flour in the bowl until it forms a ball that is cohesive enough to handle without being super sticky. Keep at it and you’ll get the hang of it! :)
This is a great recipe!
I actually cut into half, freeze half then divide the other half into quarters. Each of us gets our own pizza (we’re not big eaters) and there aren’t any arguments about mushrooms or olives.
Well….I’m a fun chef to be around. The whole time I was stretching out the dough, I was getting so frustrated because I didn’t see any possible way for it to reach the whole 16 inches.
Turns out I wasn’t supposed to divide the original dough ball in half.
I have the sauciest, most loaded down pizza known to man. And that might not be a bad thing, because it’s delicious.
But I won’t make that mistake twice lmao.
Sometimes I think all pizza dough recipes are the same, but then I come across one that looks the same on paper but is different and yummy than my other recipes. This was really good and probably my favorite right now.
I have probably commented before but I made this dough for the 5th or so time tonight and it always turns out perfect.
Besides the dough and the sauce, it would be great to make some homemade cheese. That way you can make a 100% homemade pizza from scratch.
Is there a cheese recipe on here? I wasn’t able to find one.
Nope, no cheese recipe. I’ve made homemade ricotta before, but didn’t find it that incredible.
I can’t believe I ever thought that take away pizza is good. I’ve lost count of how many times has made his dough :) I just can’t get enough of it :) I’ve used so many various toppings with it, it’s ALWAYS delicious :)
Best pizza dough recipe ever!! I used it twice today to make BBQ chicken pizza for my family, and the pizza went so fast I had to make more. Super easy, light, and satisfying. My family said they never want to order out again after tasting how good my pizzas came out thanks to this dough.
Would this work on a pizza stone?
Yep! :)