Homemade Pizza Dough

This is my favorite homemade pizza dough recipe that I use for making pan style pizzas, calzones, and for making Stromboli. The crust is so soft, chewy, and perfectly crisp. Sure, you could use store-bought pizza dough if you wanted. But homemade pizza dough tastes sooo much better than store-bought, and it's easy to make using simple ingredients:

• Active dry yeast: Yeast is a live culture that activates when combined with warm water. It gives the dough texture and causes it to rise. 
• Warm water: Warm water activates the yeast and binds all of the ingredients together. Just make sure the water isn't too hot or it will kill the yeast. 
• Oil: Oil adds moisture and also makes the dough easier to work with. 
• Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast causing it to ferment, it also makes the crust crispier and keeps moisture inside the dough. 
• Salt: Salt is crucial for flavor.  
• Garlic powder: For extra flavor. 
• Bread flour OR all-purpose flour: Bread making purists will swear up and down that '00' bread flour is the only acceptable flour to use for making pizza dough. Bread flour has a higher gluten content than regular flour, which allows it to stretch and rise more. If you don't have bread flour all-purpose will do just fine, I've made this using bread flour and using all-purpose and the pizza came out delicious with both of them. 
• Cornmeal: Baking the pizza on a pan dusted with cornmeal makes the bottom crust so deliciously crispy. 

How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough:

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, whisk the warm water, yeast, olive oil, and sugar. Let that sit for a few minutes until the yeast is dissolved and gets a little foamy. Add in salt and garlic powder and whisk to combine. 
2. Add in the flour and mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough by hand or on high speed in the stand mixer for 5-7 minutes, until it is coming off of the sides of the bowl and isn't too sticky. To knead with your hands, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and use the palm of your hand to push it away from you, then fold it back towards you and push it away again. To make kneading by hand less of a sticky mess you can coat your hands with flour and also lightly sprinkle the dough with more flour as needed. The more you knead the dough the less sticky it gets. 
3. Grease a large bowl with olive oil, form the dough into a ball, and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour until doubled in size. 

Punch down the dough to release the air and divide it in half. If not using right away cover tightly with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the dough for up to 3 months. Thaw from frozen overnight in the fridge. When you take the dough out of the fridge let it rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before shaping it.

Shape the dough:

Lightly flour your work surface and the dough and flatten it into a round disc. Gently stretch the dough out with your hands, not a rolling pin! Press the dough down with your fingers along the edges to create a crust. Continue gently stretching it out with your hands until the desired size and thickness is reached. Here's a quick video tutorial on how to shape pizza dough: How to shape pizza dough.

Homemade Pizza Sauce: 

Since you're making your pizza dough from scratch, why not make some homemade pizza sauce to go with it? It's incredibly easy to make, all you need is a blender or a food processor and a few staple ingredients. You can also make a big batch and keep it in a jar to use later. 

Bake the Pizza:

Pizza stones and pizza wheels are best for baking pizza, but if you don't have one a regular pan is perfectly fine. Dust the pan with cornmeal and add the shaped crust, then top with sauce, shredded cheese, and desired toppings. Bake in a very hot oven (500° F) for 10-15 minutes. Once the crust is golden brown and crisp it is perfect.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

More Bread Recipes You'll Love: 

• Homemade Soft Pretzels
• Rosemary Foccacia Bread
• French Bread
• Homemade Bagels
• Skillet Cornbread
• Braided Easter Bread

📖 RECIPE

Pizza Dough Recipe

This is my favorite homemade pizza dough recipe that I use for making pan style pizzas, calzones, and for making Stromboli. The crust is so soft, chewy, and perfectly crisp.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Rise Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 22 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

  

½1x2x3x

• 2 and ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast, (1 standard packet)
• 1 cup warm water, not hot
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• cornmeal, for dusting

Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce:

• 1 (15 oz. can) tomato sauce
• 1 (6 oz. can) tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• ½ medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, whisk the warm water, yeast, olive oil, and sugar. Let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast is dissolved and gets a little foamy. Add in the salt and garlic powder and whisk to combine.
• Add in the flour and mix until a dough forms. Knead the dough by hand or on high speed in the stand mixer for 5-7 minutes. If kneading in the stand mixer it should be coming off of the sides of the bowl and not be too sticky. To knead with your hands, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and use the palm of your hand to push it away from you, then bring it back towards you and push it away again. Coat your hands with flour and also lightly sprinkle the dough with more flour as needed.
• Grease a large bowl with olive oil, form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise for 1 hour until doubled in size.
• Punch the dough down to release the air. Divide in half and, if not using right away, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 1 month.
• Preheat your oven to 500°.
• Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes before shaping it. To shape the dough, use your hands to gently stretch it out. Press the dough down around the edges to create a crust, continue gently stretching the dough until the desired size and thickness is reached.
• Transfer the shaped dough to a baking pan that has been lightly dusted with cornmeal.
• Top with sauce, shredded cheese, and desired toppings and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and crisp. Serve warm and enjoy!

Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce:

• Add all of the ingredients to a blender or a food processor and pulse or blend until smooth.

Notes

Make the crust ahead of time:

Pizza dough can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer for 3 months or in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal