Best Pizza Dough Recipe (2024)

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Everyone loves adelicious, homemade pizza made from scratch. And every good pizza has one thing in common – they’re all made with a fantastic pizza dough recipe that’s easy to reproduce time after time. Today I’m sharing the best pizza dough recipe out there. It’ll produce the best homemade pizzas you’ll ever make. When hosting a casual pizza party, it’s fun for everyone to roll out a small ball of pizza dough and create their own personal pizzas. I hope you enjoy this wonderful pizza dough recipe as much as my family does. Buen provecho!

This pizza dough recipe is simple to prepare, but like all excellent pizza dough recipes the dough will need time to rise. So making pizza dough from scratch does take a bit of planning ahead. When preparing pizza dough for families or large groups, it’s fast and easy to prepare several batches at the same time so they can sit and rise together. I usually double or triple this recipe when I invite a group of guests over for pizza making. It’s always better to have more pizza dough on hand than not enough.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS: HOW TO MEASURE FLOUR

Measuring flour correctly makes all the difference for this pizza dough recipe and all other recipes! Here are two techniques professional cooks, bakers and home-chefs use to measure their flour:

• Measure flour by weight using a scale. One cup of all-purpose flour weighs 4 1/4 ounces or 120 grams.
• Measure flour by fluffing it up well using a spoon while it’s still inside your flour container or bag. Gently sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, one small spoonful at a time. Level off the cup with a knife.
• All-purpose flour will yield a nice chewy pizza crust. If you prefer a crispier crust use bread flour instead; it’s perfect for making thin-crust pizzas.
• For this pizza dough recipe, if you need a bit more water for the dough add it one tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.

How to Make The Best Pizza Dough Recipe > INGREDIENTS

These are the ingredients you’ll need to create a beautiful, delicious pizza dough crust.

• Active dry yeast
• Granulated sugar
• Lukewarm water
• Sea salt
• All-purpose flour or bread flour
• Olive oil

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough > DIRECTIONS

Feel free to scroll down for the printable version of this best pizza dough recipe. Or you can follow along with me here, step by step. Let’s begin! In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the yeast and sugar together. Add lukewarm water (yeast loves temps of 70-80 degrees). Let the yeast sit there munching for 5-6 minutes until there’s a bubbly foam and the yeast is completely dissolved. Add flour, salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil to the bowl. Using the paddle attachment, combine the ingredients on low speed.

Once combined, remove the paddle attachment and switch to the dough hook. Turn the mixer on low speed. Slowly pour in the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil. Continue mixing/kneading for about 8 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and become smooth. Gather the pizza dough into a round ball. Place it in a lightly-oiled mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen cloth.

Allow the pizza dough to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm place until it doubles from it’s original size. Punch down the the dough and transfer it to a lightly-floured surface. Using your hands, knead the dough. Place it back inside the lightly-oiled mixing bowl and cover the bowl. Let the pizza dough rise a second time (about 15 minutes). When the dough has risen, punch it down again. Your pizza dough is now ready to roll out!

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough Recipe > PIZZA DOUGH RISING TIP

Your oven is the perfect pizza dough rising environment, especially during cold-weather months. As you prepare the pizza dough preheat your oven to 200 degrees. After a few minutes turn the oven off and slightly prop the oven door open to release excess heat. The goal is to achieve a SLIGHTLY warm temperature within the oven – the oven rack should not be hot! Never put a plastic bowl in a warm oven. I use a clean, lightly-oiled, stainless-steel mixing bowl covered with a cloth. Pizza dough is very happy rising in this warm, cozy enclosed space.

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough Recipe > PIZZA DOUGH ROLLING

Place two overlapping pieces of waxed paper on a pastry board or cutting board. Using a long rolling pin, roll out the pizza dough to the desired thickness. If the dough is a bit sticky, lightly sprinkle it with flour.

Once you’ve rolled out the pizza dough, lightly brush it with olive oil. If you like pizzas with a bit of cornmeal on the bottom crust, lightly sprinkle cornmeal on the pizza dough while it’s still on the waxed paper. Using the edges of the waxed paper to lift the pizza dough straight up, flip the dough over onto a pizza pan. Brush this second side of the pizza dough with olive oil as well. Now comes the exciting part!

Top off your homemade pizza dough with your favorite sauce and a variety of fresh ingredients. Complete with a drizzling of olive oil and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. Adjust your oven rack to the center of the oven. For thin-crust pizzas and those with a crust of medium thickness, bake at 450 degrees for about 15 – 18 minutes, or until the pizza crust edges are a lovely golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. When cooking thick-crust pizza bake at 400 degrees. A lower temperature will help protect your pizza toppings from getting scorched while the thicker pizza crust is cooking all the way through.

Best Pizza Dough Recipe > PIZZA TOPPINGS

The best homemade pizza starts with pizza sauce and a generous layer of Mozzarella cheese. I love using a variety of meats and fresh veggies: Italian sausage, ground beef, pepperoni, salami, onions, bell pepper.

When there’s a larger crowd I make several different types of pizzas in addition to a hearty supreme pizza. My favorite vegetarian pizza includes cheese, pesto, marinated artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives and slices of fresh tomatoes. My mother loves Hawaiian pizza with Canadian bacon and fresh pineapple. An all-time favorite pizza is simply pesto and cheese. And who could forget about a tasty all-cheese pizza for the kiddos? When it comes to topping off homemade pizza dough, the options are limitless!

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How to Make the Best Pizza Dough Recipe > REFRIGERATION TIPS

This pizza dough recipe may provide you with enough dough for a second meal. To refrigerate pizza dough place it in a lightly oiled Ziplock bag. Pizza dough can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. As the dough is initially cooling, you may need to punch it down a few times during the first 24 hours. This is because the yeast is still active and will keep expanding the dough. After the first day you will only need to punch down the pizza dough once a day. When you’re ready to use the pizza dough, simply remove it from the refrigerator, punch it down again, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature so it can shed off some of the cold.

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough Recipe > Breville Pizza Maker

For baking pizzas my double ovens come in quite handy. But when making a host of personal pizzas for a hungry crowd it really does help to have another oven. Earlier this year my daughter Ashley purchased a Breville Crispy Crust Pizza Maker at Williams Sonoma. When I plugged that in on my countertop it was the center of attention. And boy did we whip out those gorgeous baked pizzas one right after the other!

With a built-in baking stone, dual heating elements, and settings for thin, medium and thick, it produced beautiful brick-oven pizzas in about 10 minutes. The “keep warm” setting was great for keeping pizzas hot between servings. I love having helpful kitchen tools that are worth their storage space.

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Best Pizza Dough Recipe > Your Thoughts

Have you ever tried making pizza dough from scratch? What are your favorite pizza sauces and toppings? Share your thoughts and tips on pizza dough and pizza making in the comment section below.