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.
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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!
So I just want to make sure I am understanding this right – if you want to freeze the dough you don’t let it rise first, just freeze right after kneading?
Also, just curious what happened to another recipe of yours, summer succotash. I made it once before but it appears it’s been deleted from the site. Thanks.
You actually freeze it just after kneading. :) The dough will kind of go through its rise as it thaws later, so you don’t want it to over rise. I cleaned out some of the older recipes, but I can email the pdf of the summer succotash. I’ll email it to the address you used to make the comment, but if you want it sent somewhere else, just let me know!
Thanks!
NEVER add flour to knead dough for Pizza or Most Breads (really wet dough’s like sweet enriched are an exception then just keep it moving fast with a Bench Scraper) simply rub a bit of olive oil on your surface. add a bit more oil as need but very little at a time. You’ll find that you get a better rise and more tender crumb. Even for Crust Artisan Breads just be sure to spray a bit of water on to it when your put it in the oven or set a pan on the lower rack with Boiling water for that crisp crust
Hi there,
When you pop in the fridge, do you wrap or cover the dough first?
Yes, definitely cover it tightly with plastic or place it in a zip top bag. A thin coating of oil will help keep the dough from sticking to the plastic, if you’re using a bag.
Thanks for the recipe, it’s become a staple in my house. A couple of questions though:
When you double the recipe, should you double the yeast quantity also?
I often use whole wheat flour but find the dough denser, any tips for making it a bit fluffier?
I’m so glad your’e enjoying it! Yes, if you double the recipe, double all of the ingredients including the yeast. Whole wheat flour will always produce a more dense end product, so I suggest only substituting up to 50% of the flour to maintain a lighter texture. Some people add extra gluten to help with this, but I’ve never tried that method.
I agree. Pizza dough can be extremely cheap to make. Flour, water, salt, and yeast are all dirt cheap depending on what you buy.
This is a great recipe I will be using it again soon. One note though if you use a pizza stone you want to lower the cook time a little bit .
Cleanup question: How to do clean the counter after kneading the dough? I have gone through a few sponges trying to clean off the countertop after. Love the pizza!!!
I have a tool called a “bench scraper” or “dough scraper” they come in both metal and plastic and are great for scraping the film off the counter and for use as a cutting tool when dividing dough. :)
Life changing recipe for sure! I have tried making pizza dough in the past and could never get it right. The directions and pictures were very helpful! I have made quite a few of your bread recipes successfully. I always knead in my kitchen-aid mixer with the dough hook which works like a charm. I did make the dough the day before. My first time I tried cooking in a perforated pizza pan but the bottom of the crust did not get brown. Second time I decided to try my pizza stone. I have never been able to figure out how to shape the dough and transfer it to the hot stone successfully, nothing I tried worked. I read on the King Arthur flour website to use parchment on the stone. Finally, success! I shaped the dough on a piece of parchment on my counter and added all my toppings then just lifted the sheet to the hot stone and literally turned out perfect, bottom of crust was perfectly browned! So happy to finally have figured this out after all these years! Thanks again for an awesome recipe.
I’ve never been very good with yeast dough, so coming into this, I was a bit skeptical. Even after cutting this recipe down to only serve one, my singular mini pizza came out beautifully golden! It did rise in the oven a lot more than I was expecting, so next time I’ll try rolling out the dough a lot thinner. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I plan to use it plenty more in the future!
Hands down the best pizza dough recipe from your collection. I left it in the fridge to make the next day and made two personal pizzas. Perfect for both dd’s and I. 💜
Oh my gosh!!! I can’t thank you enough!! I made this tonight with your pizza sauce and could cry with happiness! I’m just starting to get out of my comfort zone and making more difficult recipes (like bread). This came out so so good! Literally as good as anything we can order! I was so nervous to spend so much time on something but this is going to be a regular thing! I put the rest of the sauce in the freezer and maybe when we get done eating I’ll throw the rest of the pepperoni in a freezer bag, then make a few more batches of dough so I can have this anytime pretty quickly! I did make the dough in my bread machine but added flour as it was kneading (cleaned the kitchen at the same time) and couldn’t be happier!! My husband was even super impressed that I pulled out a pizza that looked professional!
I just think you’re a hidden gem. Thank you for this.
Used this recipe tonight, and our crust is the best we’ve been able to make! Great!
I’ve been using this recipe regularly for several years now. I usually quadruple it and freeze half. It has achieved Holy Grail status in our family. Best pizza crust ever.
I made this the other week and LOVED IT! I’m a beginner when it comes to bread in general. Couple questions? Am I understanding it right that my frozen bread ball will thaw and be ready to use in about and hour? And with fresh dough, how long can it sit out past the initial hour? Could it be made hour ahead?
Thanks for all the great recipes :)
The answer to both questions is that it really just depends on the ambient room temperature. The dough should thaw in about an hour, but you may need to test it to know for sure with your usual indoor air temp. For the fresh dough, I’d pop it in the fridge if you know it’s going to be more than an hour.