Best-Ever Pizza Dough
Make this recipe for a pizza or flatbread base, or even for breadsticks! With easy prep and simple ingredients, use any flour you have on hand.
October 13, 2020
I’ve been using my mom’s pizza crust recipe for years — it’s the same one that’s been in our family cookbook since the early 90’s. So yeah, it’s seen its fair share of pizzas.
This pizza dough recipe is so versatile, easy, and delicious, and it really is a challenge to mess up. The ingredients are simple: flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil. Mix it together, let it rise (if you have time), and bake.
I love that I’ve been able to experiment with different flours over the years as my diet has changed. No matter what, this pizza crust always works.
Add extra seasonings, make it a thin cracker crust, opt for fluffy and soft dough, or make it into breadsticks. This recipe is forgiving, and you’ll never want to use another one again!
The basic recipe goes like this:
- Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let it get fluffy. Add a little olive oil.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl or base of a stand mixer. Add in yeast mixture (with your hands or a dough hook) and knead for about 5-7 minutes, or until the dough becomes elastic. Add more olive oil if it’s too dry to knead.
- Cover and let it rise for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
— If you have more time, let it rise longer.
— If you don’t have any time, skip the rise altogether. Your crust won’t be as airy, but it’ll still be delicious!
— If you want to make it the day ahead, let it rise at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes, and then transfer it to the fridge overnight or until you’re ready to use it. - Preheat the oven to 425° and transfer it to a pizza stone or large cookie sheet, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with optional cornmeal.
- Top it with sauce and your favorite toppings, and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
Flour
I suggest using whatever flour you normally use. Here’s some more information on the three types I’ve experimented with for this dough.
All-purpose flour: You’ll get a fluffy crust that will rise well while it’s resting and in the oven.
Gluten free 1-to-1 flour: This works amazingly well as a gluten free dough. My one recommendation would be to swap out about 1/4 cup of the flour for cornmeal. Since gluten free flour is naturally more gritty, the added cornmeal masks any bad texture.
Tipo 00 Italian flour: My favorite flour to use lately. This comes straight from Italy and is what the Italians use to make some pastas and Neopolitan-style pizza.
00 is a soft wheat flour, so the dough is chewy and pillowy. If you can get your hands on this (imported to Italian grocery stores or also on Amazon). Yes, it can be a little pricier, but it is so worth it. Especially if you’re gluten sensitive in America and want to experiment with trying other flours, like I did.
Some changes for making this with 00 flour:
— This is a very light flour. Add a few tablespoons more for this dough.
— I usually don’t need any olive oil, maybe just a teaspoon.
— Crank your oven up to replicate a more true-Italian style, if desired. You might even get those lovely charred bubbles like in pizza ovens.
As an Amazon Associate, I only recommend products I believe in. Please consider clicking my through my ads – I may earn on qualifying purchases!
Full recipe vs. half recipe
When I’m low on flour or just making one pizza for my husband and myself, I’ll often do a thin crust half recipe. I roll it thin over our 14 inch pizza stone, and it’s easily enough for the two of us (plus hopefully some leftovers!).
Other times, I’ll do a full recipe and divide it between two pans.
Or, I’ll make a full recipe and stretch it over a large cookie sheet. I use a 12″x17″ size.
If you choose to do a full recipe on a smaller pan — like a pizza stone or pizza pan — you will have a thicker, fluffy dough all over. Plus, you should have plenty to fold over if you like a thicker crust on the edges!
Thickness of crust
The picture above is a half recipe rolled thinly on a pizza stone. I wanted it super thin, and still wanted a nice thicker edge, so I rolled it beyond the pizza stone and folded it over.
This photo shows a full recipe, but laid out on a large rimmed cookie sheet. You can see the crust is consistently thicker from edge across the middle.
uses for best-ever pizza dough
- Regular ol’ pizza, of course. Instructions in the recipe below.
- Herby pizza crust. Add in 2 teaspoons of dried herbs — oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic powder — or grated Parmesan.
- Flatbreads. Drizzle with olive oil and spices instead of tomato sauce, and place on the bottom rack for a crispy crust at a higher temperature than listed below (450°).
– Try my recipe for Caramelized Onion & Tomato Flatbreads! - Breadsticks. Prepare the same way as listed below.
- Mini personalized pizzas. Have a pizza party with all the toppings laid out! Have your guests design their favorite personal pizza.
- Stromboli. Roll the dough out thinly on parchment paper and fill with sauce and toppings. Bake at the same temperature (425°) for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cinnamon rolls. Yes, I’ve even used this for sweet recipes. Swap out olive oil for a more neutral one like vegetable oil. Reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp for a full recipe.
As an Amazon Associate, I only recommend products I believe in. Please consider clicking my through my ads – I may earn on qualifying purchases!
Best-Ever Pizza Dough
Equipment
- stand mixer with dough hook, or large bowl
- pizza stone or cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 1 package yeast, active or instant (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose, gluten free 1-to-1* (see notes), or type 00** (see notes)
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- olive oil, for drizzling the pan
- cornmeal, for dusting pan (optional)
Instructions
- Add sugar and yeast to warm water. Let yeast mixture become fluffy (~5 minutes), then add 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer, and add in the yeast mixture. Combine by hand or dough hook until the dough pulls away from the sides. Add additional olive oil if flour remains in the bowl and is too dry.
- Knead on high until a soft, stretchy dough forms, about 5-7 minutes. Knead more on a floured surface to make sure the consistency is smooth and elastic (optional). Add additional flour if it is too sticky to knead with your hands.
- Return the dough to oiled bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes. Prepare a pizza stone or large rimmed cookie sheet by drizzling with olive oil and sprinkling with cornmeal or semolina.
- After the dough has risen, preheat oven to 425°. Transfer the dough to prepared pan and roll it out with a rolling pin, or slowly stretch with your hands to reach the edges. If it tears, mend it back together. Roll past the edges of the pan if you'd like to fold it over for a thicker edge. Or use your hands to stretch out the middle of the dough, and leave the edges thicker.
- Add tomato sauce and desired toppings. Bake at 425° in the center rack for 20-25 minutes. Once cooled slightly, slice and top with fresh Parmesan.
Notes
As an Amazon Associate, I only recommend products I believe in. Please consider clicking my through my ads – I may earn on qualifying purchases!
