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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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!
How about using bread flour or should Indtick to the recipe ?
Thank you
You can use bread flour, but you may need to use slightly less flour. It’s best to go by the texture of the dough as you’re kneading. :)
I remember failing horribly when I tried to make homemade pizza…I was expecting the same result but this time it was a success! Thank you so much for this recipe! The dough turns out fluffy and thick at some spots which is what I want out of a pizza. I will be making this one very frequently!
Great! This is my new go-to pizza mixture formula. So natural to twofold or fourfold. My solitary remark is that it doesn’t defrost from solidified following 60 minutes… .it appears it needs at any rate 4 hours at room temp or perhaps overnight in the ice chest (at that point room temp for 60 minutes). Yet, makes impeccable pizza outside layer!!
Perfect! This is my new go-to pizza dough recipe. So easy to double or quadruple. My only comment is that it does not defrost from frozen after 1 hour….it seems it needs at least 4 hours at room temp or maybe overnight in the fridge (then room temp for an hour). But makes perfect pizza crust!!
What size is the cup in ml you use to measure the flour? I’m never sure whether to use a 200ml or 250ml cup when weights are not provided.
We don’t use metric on the site unfortunately. But I would suggest at 250ml cup.
Thank you for telling us that we have to let the yeast and water sit for five minutes. I tried this, and it totally worked! I am now going to try baking bread. I am excited and can’t wait to explore baking now. Thanks again!
How do you get yeast so inexpensively? Are you buying it bulk or using about half of a little packet. Using packets, the best I can do, purchasing at my supermarket is $.28 for half of a packet, and then having to deal with successfully preserving the other half. Aldi probably sells yeast for less, but not much. We’re talking pennies here, but at $.82 (probably a little more unless I have bought the flour on sale), I’m snuggling right up to the purchase price of prepared pizza dough at my supermarket deli for $1 for an equivalent amount of dough.
During the past months of local shortages, yeast was unavailable in my community for several months, and it was even difficult to find flour at times. I was beyond grateful for having a couple of strips of yeast packets in my fridge and extra flour in my pantry left over from the holidays, and also happy to have half a dozen balls of pizza dough in my freezer. This is a terrific recipe, and I’ve used it frequently since everything shut down in March.
Hi Janet! those little single use packets are definitely the most expensive option. You should be able to find these little 4oz. jars of Fleischmann’s yeast at most major grocery stores and even this little jar lasts forever in the fridge and is way less expensive than the little packets. And then sometimes I buy a 1 lb. bag, which is the cheapest option, but a bit harder to find (I got mine at our local health food store for only about $5). But I think the jar is your best bet!
So good and easy! I was so nervous to make a dough, but you spelled it out very simply (I loved the step-by-step photos.) My husband has underlying medical conditions, so we have been taking social distancing very seriously. We have not had ANY take out since the quarantine has started and even though I purchased frozen pizza from the store, we were really missing the kind you get delivered. When you posted this recipe, I couldn’t stop thinking about how easy you made it seem and with only a few ingredients, this recipe allowed me and my hubby to enjoy an inexpensive, delicious pizza dinner that tasted like the kind you get delivered. Thank you!!
Hi,
thanks for the recipe, I too love pizza very much and in this time of the pandemic this is the best idea to make it at home.
Farhat…https://www.bakingnfrosting.com/2020/07/coconut-cake-recipe.html
This worked out really well. My toddler ate some too so thank you!
Do you know why it tastes fermented ? Did i mess up with the yeast or temperature ?
You may have let it proof just a tad too long.
The measurements for 4 people (2cups flour) make one pizza?
You can adjust the servings for any of our recipes by adding the number of people you are cooking for in the servings box and the ingredients will adjust.
I’ve been making pizza using Beth’s dough and pizza sauce recipe every week since we went into quarantine in March. I tried the new version of the recipe this week with the subtle changes (less kneading, adding the olive oil in a different way) and the dough turned out even better – very light and airy, and also crisped up well. I also added a touch of garlic powder to the dough, let it rise in the refrigerator overnight, hand tossed, and baked on a pre-headed pizza stone. Excellent – thank you, Beth for always having such awesome and reliable recipes.
I love this recipe. My son and I made it every week all summer in 2017! So much fun and great memories. I wanted to say that if you get a good pizza seasoning such as frontier coop pizza spice, and add some in the dough before baking it. It is divine and takes this delish dish to the next level!
I’m in awe right now …why havent I made pizza dough before …I have tried and failed when I was younger and just assumed I couldn’t do it but with this recipie I can and it was perfect !
Thank you so much <3