Make your own pizza at home with this easy and delicious pizza dough recipe! Recipe with step-by-step photos.
Easy Pizza Dough
For me, a pizza dinner usually involves calling the local pizzeria up the street and sending my husband to pick up the order 10 minutes later. That is how we do fast food in Switzerland!
But if I happen to have a free moment to churn out a small piece of dough, a homemade pizza dough can make all the difference to a meal. In fact, I think the pizza crust can make or break a pizza! So if you are making a pizza by starting from scratch with the base, you are already off to a good start.
Why This Recipe Works
- This recipe produces a soft and chewy pizza crust, but with a firm base and a delicious bread-like crust.
- This recipe makes enough dough for one pizza. Simply double or triple the recipe to make more pizzas!
- This dough only needs one proofing session.
Timeline for Making Homemade Pizza
When I am making a homemade pizza for dinner, I follow more or less the following timeline if I plan to get dinner on the table by 6:30 pm:
4:30 pm
Make the pizza dough and set it aside for about 1 hour to rise. The whole process should take about 90 minutes from the time you start making the dough to when the dough is ready to use. But depending on how warm your kitchen is, you may need more time to let the dough rise. (See my Kitchen Notes below for tips on how to prove your dough.)
During this time, make a homemade marinara sauce which should take max 30 minutes, or a barbecue sauce which should take no longer than 10 minutes. Or skip this step and use a good-quality shop-bought pizza sauce.
You should also prep any vegetables and other ingredients for your pizza during this time.
6:00 pm
By now, the dough should be ready to use.
Prep the dough as per the recipe below.
6:30 pm
Dinner is ready!
How to Make Pizza Dough
Step 1
Measure the flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast into a large mixing bowl. When making pizza dough, I like to use an electric stand mixer, but you can also do this by hand.
Lightly mix the dry ingredients together.
Step 2
Pour the water into a measuring jug and add the oil.
Slowly add the liquid into the dry ingredients, and mix everything together until a dough starts to form. You may not need all of the liquid, or you may need to add a splash more.
Continue kneading the dough for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is soft and smooth.
Step 3
Pour about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large bowl. Place the dough into the bowl and turn it over so that it is completely covered in the oil. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and leave the dough somewhere warm for about 1 to 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
Step 4
Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it back with your fist to knock out the air.
Gently knead the dough a few times until it is soft and smooth again.
Your dough is then ready to use.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F and place a metal baking sheet in the middle of the oven.
If you are also using a special pizza tray, pizza stone or cast iron pan, place this also in the cold oven to preheat.
Step 6
Place the ball of dough onto a large sheet of baking paper.
Stretch the dough by pushing from the centre outwards, creating a thick crust as you do so. Aim to make the pizza dough large enough to fit your pizza tray or cast iron pan.
The dough might shrink back a little each time, so wait for it to relax before stretching again.
Step 7
Add the toppings to the pizza.
I like to place the pizza toppings in the following order:
- Tomato sauce or pizza sauce
- Generous sprinkle of grated mozzarella cheese
- Any meat toppings such as slices of ham or salami
- Any vegetable toppings such as slices of capsicum (pepperoni) or broccoli florets
- Another generous sprinkle of grated mozzarella cheese
A “red pizza” is most common, and that is simply a pizza with a tomato sauce as a base. For a homemade tomato sauce, I highly recommend my Easy Marinara Sauce, which you can flavour with whatever herbs you like.
For something a bit different, I love to use a barbecue sauce and make my BBQ Chicken Pizza.
Step 8
When you are ready to bake, transfer the pizza – together with the baking paper – onto your pizza tray, pizza stone or cast-iron pan, which should be very hot from the oven. Trim off any excess baking paper, otherwise it might catch in the oven.
Bake the pizza for about 15-20 minutes at 220°C/430°F, or until the pizza base is golden around the edges and the cheese has melted and is bubbling.
Kid-Friendly Pizza
This is a misnomer because all pizzas are kid-friendly! But whenever you make a pizza from scratch, it’s always fun to get the kids involved and for them to make their own pizzas.
From shaping their own dough to decorating their own pizzas with their favourite toppings, kids always have fun getting involved in the kitchen.
The recipe below should be enough to divide into 2 portions to make 2 small pizzas.
Pizza Recipes
If you are looking for pizza recipes, you might like:
PrintHomemade Pizza Dough
- Resting Time: 1-2 hours
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2 to 4
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Make your own pizza at home with this easy and delicious pizza dough recipe! Recipe with step-by-step photos.
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Pin Recipe
RateIngredients
- 250 g (1 2/3 cup) strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons caster sugar
- 150 ml (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) warm water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, for proofing the dough
Instructions
To make the pizza dough
- Place the flour, instant yeast, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. I use an electric stand mixer to make bread, but you can also make the bread by hand.
- Measure the water into a measuring jug, and add the olive oil.
- Lightly mix together the dry ingredients.
- Slowly add the liquid ingredients until the mixture comes together into a dough. You may not need all of the liquid, or you may need to add a bit extra.
- Knead the dough for about 15 to 20 minutes. I generally do this on medium speed with the stand mixer.
- The dough should be ready when it is smooth and elastic in texture.
- Place 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil into a clean, large mixing bowl.
- Place the dough into the bowl and turn it so that it is completely covered in the oil.
- Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and place the bowl somewhere warm for the dough to double in size. This should take 1 to 2 hours. (See Kitchen Notes below)
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it back to knock out the air.
- Knead the dough gently (just a few turns) until it soft and smooth again.
To prepare the pizza
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F.
- Place a large metal baking tray to preheat in the middle of the oven. If you are using a special pizza tray, pizza stone or cast-iron pan, also place this into the cold oven to preheat.
- Transfer the dough onto a sheet of baking paper.
- Gently stretch the dough into your desired shape, and which will fit your pizza tray or cast-iron pan.
- Stretch the dough by pushing from the centre outwards, creating a thick crust as you do so. As you stretch the dough, it may shrink back a little. Let the dough shrink or relax after each stretch, before you continue stretching to your desired shape. The dough will rise a little upon baking, so keep the thickness of the dough in mind.
- Spread the dough with the sauce of your choice, leaving a small border.
- Add some freshly grated mozzarella and the toppings of your choice.
To cook the pizza
- When you are ready to bake, transfer the pizza – together with the baking paper – onto the pizza tray or cast-iron pan. Be careful – the pizza tray or cast-iron pan will be very hot!
- Trim off any excess baking paper, otherwise it might catch in the oven.
- Bake the pizza for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has fully melted and the edges of the pizza are lightly golden.
- Serve immediately.
Kitchen Notes
MINI PIZZAS OR KIDS PIZZA
This recipe makes enough pizza dough to divide into 2 portions for 2 small pizzas.
MAKING MULTIPLE PIZZAS
If you plan to multiply the recipe to make more pizzas, I recommend proofing the dough separately (and not as one large piece of dough). This will allow the dough to trap more carbon dioxide as it is proofing, which will result in a lighter dough.
TYPES OF FLOUR
For Swiss readers: I use Zopfmehl (or farine pour tresse) when making bread and enriched dough.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF YEAST
* Please note that there is a difference between instant yeast (also called instant dried yeast or fast-action dried yeast) and dried yeast (also called active dry yeast). If you are not sure what type of yeast you have, please check the packaging for instructions on how to use the yeast.
* With instant yeast, you can add it directly to the flour mixture without having to activate it first.
* With dried yeast, you will need to activate it first (usually in some warm liquid).
PROOFING THE DOUGH
Dough needs a warm environment for the yeast to activate and cause the dough to rise. If you don’t have a warm place in your home, try one of the following ideas:
* In the oven with the oven light switched on (works only for some ovens).
* In the oven with a tray of boiling water on the bottom shelf.
* In the oven at a low temperature of about 25-30°C (77-86°F).
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
This is a great recipe and I am very happy to come across this post of yours thank you so much for sharing this recipe I tried it for the very first time and it turned out to be great.
Hi Supriya,
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this tonight for dinner and the pizza base was perfect! It was soft and chewy and crispy in the right places. Thanks!
Good reliable recipe! I’ve made this pizza dough a few times now. My kids love it.
Great recipe! I also cook pizza in a cast-iron dish. My dough was nice and risen, soft and chewy. Looking forward to more of your pizza recipes.
Easy recipe and tastes great. Loved the bread-like taste and texture.
Without doubt the best pizza I’ve ever had! I’ve tried making pizza before with all-purpose flour and it never had the right taste or texture. This time I followed your recipe and used bread flour and the pizza was amazing – the crust had an amazing flavor and it was crispy all over with a light, fluffy interior. I used a pre-heated metal baking tray but I will try your cast-iron method next time. Great recipe!
Very easy recipe and a forgiving dough for us beginners!