Forget about pizza take out! Make your own fluffy homemade pizza dough with just 6 simple ingredients. This is a foolproof recipe for a deliciously crispy crust that’s soft and chewy inside.
If you’ve never made pizza at home, you should definitely give it a try! There is nothing wrong with calling for take out, but it will never taste the same as a homemade meal.
It will be a great recipe for a cozy lazy night or fun summer cookouts! Serve it together with Potato Salad with Bacon, BLT Pasta Salad, or any other party meal!
Let me show you how to make the best homemade pizza dough with just 6 basic ingredients: water, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and flour.
Why this recipe works
Pizza is all about the crust! You want it to be soft and chewy with a delicious crispiness.
The main trick here is water. If you don’t put enough of it, your dough will be tough. Put too much and it will spread and won’t keep the shape. So, we need to put just enough water to keep it moist, resulting in crispy crust that is soft and chewy inside. It’s very similar to how you make Homemade Sandwich Bread.
How to make Homemade Pizza Dough
1. Make the Dough
In a stand mixer bowl add warm water (about 110°F), yeast, and granulated sugar. Give it a stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to bubble (Photos 1-4).
In 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and all-purpose flour (Photos 5-8).
In a stand mixer, using a dough attachment, mix the ingredients on low speed until combined. After it’s mixed, let it knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be a little bit sticky.
NOTE: Because different brands have different flour texture and moisture, you might need to use less or more flour. If your dough is too sticky, simply add a little bit more flour. Though, make sure you don’t add to much. It should be soft and a little bit sticky. That will help you to have a chewy and soft texture.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, first, mix all ingredients with spatula, then knead with your hands.
When done, add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to coat dough from all sides.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a clean towel. Let it rise for 2 hours, it will double in size.
2. Shape and Bake
Preheat the oven to 475°F.
When ready, take off the towel and plastic wrap from the bowl and gently press dough to deflate. Divide it in half.
Place one half on a round baking pan. Using your hands, flatten and stretch dough into a 12-inch disk, leaving the edges lifted (Photo 9).
Top with pizza sauce (or Homemade Marinara Sauce), cheese, and pepperoni, and bake at 475°F for 15-18 minutes on a middle rack (Photos 10-12).
Tips for Best Results
- Because different brands have different flour texture and moisture, you might need to use less or more flour. If your dough is too sticky, simply add a little bit more flour. Though, make sure you don’t add to much. It should be soft and a little bit sticky. That will help you to have a chewy and soft texture.
- When proofing the dough, I like to keep it in the oven (which is turned off). The reason being, that this is a perfectly contained place without any wind.
Toppings Ideas
- Classic. Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni (optional).
- Margherita. Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, basil.
- BBQ Chicken. Pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella cheese.
- Hawaiian. Tomato Sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple.
- Fig and Prosciutto. Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, arugula, prosciutto, figs.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Grease it with a little bit of oil, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. When ready to bake, let it sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes to warm up.
Yes! Divide the dough in half (if you freeze both) and lightly cover them with oil. You can wrap them individually in a plastic wrap, then in foil, or just put in individual zip lock bags. Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to use, put it in the fridge overnight. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking.
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Soft and Fluffy Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups warm water (about110°F)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl add 1 ¾ cups warm water (about 110°F), 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast, and 1 tbsp granulated sugar. Give it a stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to bubble.
- In 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ tsp salt, and 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour.
- In a stand mixer, using a dough attachment, mix the ingredients on low speed until combined. After it’s mixed, let it knead for 5 minutes on low speed. The dough will be a little bit sticky. (If you don't have a stand mixer, first, mix all ingredients with spatula, then knead with your hands.)
- NOTE: Because different brands have different flour texture and moisture, you might need to use less or more flour. If your dough is too sticky, simply add a little bit more flour. Though, make sure you don't add to much. It should be soft and a little bit sticky. That will help you to have a chewy and soft texture.
- When done, add another 2 tablespoons olive oil to coat the dough from all sides.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a clean towel. Let it rise for 2 hours, it will double in size.
- When ready, preheat the oven to 475°F.
- Then take off the towel and plastic wrap from the bowl and gently press the dough to deflate. Divide it in half.
- Place one half of the dough on a round baking pan. Using your hands, flatten and stretch the dough into a 12-inch disk, leaving the edges lifted.
- Top with pizza sauce (or Homemade Marinara Sauce), cheese, pepperoni, and bake at 475°F for 15-18 minutes on a middle rack.
- When done, let it rest for 5 minutes, cut into 8 slices with pizza cutter and serve.
Notes
Can I freeze it? Yes! Divide the dough in half (if you freeze both) and lightly cover them with oil. You can wrap them individually in a plastic wrap, then in foil, or just put in individual zip lock bags. Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to use, put the frozen dough in the fridge overnight. Take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes before baking. Toppings Ideas
- Classic. Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni (optional).
- Margherita. Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, basil.
- BBQ Chicken. Pizza sauce, BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella cheese.
- Hawaiian. Tomato Sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple.
- Fig and Prosciutto. Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, arugula, prosciutto, figs.
A revelation! I’ve been obsessing over pizza doughs lately and trying all sorts of combinations of different recipes, but this one resulted in a pizza that was legitimate perfection. It rivaled my favorite pizzeria and my family was in awe! The pizza was soft and fluffy with a golden crust on the bottom and plenty of those delicious, puffy air bubbles.
I made a couple of minor adjustments and additions to this recipe:
1) I decided to try a 3:1 ratio of all-purpose flour to bread flour. For the recipe’s proportions as written, that ended up being 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose with just over 1 cup of bread flour because I ended up needing more than 3 1/2 cups total flour as the dough was far too sticky.
2) I whisked in some granulated garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil into my flour mixture before adding it to my yeast mixture. The crust tasted almost like garlic knots and my whole kitchen smelled divine!
3) I started by mixing everything in my stand mixer and kneaded on low for about a minute or two before deciding to knead by hand. After my dough passed the window pane test, I let it rest and the result was far better than similar recipes I tried with just stand mixer kneading.
4) I baked my pizzas at 450F; 475 was just way too hot to bake the crust and the toppings at the same time.
5) I coated my (nonstick) baking sheets with olive oil which created a great golden brown crust on the bottom.
Thank you for this recipe. I’m so glad I found it!!
Hi Katie! I’m so happy that you loved the recipe! Also, it such a great idea to add garlic and seasoning to the dough for more flavor, I need to try it as well 😉
This recipe is perfect for making my homemade pizzas! I have to add a little more flour or the dough is quite soupy.
Using a pizza stone makes all the difference in the world it comes out crispy on the outside and tender and chewy on the inside!
I’ve tried baking this at 475 but it was way too hot! It got crispy before the ingredients cooked. Then I tried 450 still not the result I was looking for. Finally for my oven, 425 was best. I put the pizza stone in the very bottom of the oven, then preheat it to 425, put the pizza on parchment paper, cook it on the stone for 6 minutes, remove the parchment paper, cook it for another 6 minutes and it cooks perfectly!
Hi Kelly Lynn, I’m glad you found the right temperature that works for you! I think the timing and temperature was different because you used a pizza stone, which heats up the bottom of the dough much faster.
I’ve tried all recipes and this is by far the best. Thank you for this easy soft and fluffy pizza. Being Italian and raised on homemade pizza this is the way.
Thank you so much, Tony! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe 😉
I normally don’t comment but this recipe is the bomb. I get complimented everytime I make it. Thank you
Yaay! Thank you so much, Ross! I’m glad you and your family loved this recipe 😉
Would the other half of the dough be work for bread sticks?
Hi Deborah, I never tested this recipe for bread sticks. So, unfortunately, I’m not sure if that will work.
The best pizza I ever had. Even my mom who grew up in Chicago said this was amazing. The only recipe you need.
Thank you so much, Dakota! I’m so happy you and your mom enjoyed this recipe!
does bread flour make the crust better or does it matter
Hi, bread flour is always great to make bread and pizza, it usually gives a better crust. I used all-purpose flour in this recipe as it’s more available to people. Whatever flour you decide to use, you still will have soft texture inside and crispy crust 😉
I’ve made this recipe twice and its amazing! perfectly fluffy and crispy, my partner calls it “doughnut pizza”. The only thing is I use organic King Arthur all purpose flour, and I find that I need to add wayyy more flour to get it the right consistency, at least a half a cup if not a full cup. This will definitely be my go to pizza crust from now on though!
Yaay! Thank you, Maren! Yes, the flour amount may vary, depending on the flour brand you use. Also, I prefer to keep the dough a bit sticky, it makes the crust even a crispier with perfectly soft texture inside!
Great recipe
I added broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, spicy sausage, olives, jalapeños, green peppers and red peppers, pepperoni soaked them in olive oil before I put it on the dough. Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes topped it off
That sounds like a great topping combo! Glad you enjoyed it, Barbara!
To freeze, do you do it before or after proofing? Thank you.
Hi Katrina! You need to proof the dough before freezing.
Thank you. I made the recipe but think I should have added more flour. I added about 1/4 cup more but was afraid to add too much because I didn’t want a super dense end product. As it was the dough was very sticky even after extended kneading. It tastes really good though, so I’m hoping I can master the dough consistency so it’s easier to work with. I’d love to make this my go-to recipe because it really does have great flavor and texture.
I divided this dough into fours and have 3 in the freezer. I’m wondering if once I though I can knead more flour into it and let it rest before baking. I’ll give it a try and see how it goes.
Hello Veronika!
I tried your recipe yesterday but I had a big problem. My dough was too sticky and it was impossible to knead. I added a lot of flour (approx. 1 cup more) so I could actually work with it. I don’t know what happened to the dough being so sticky but the final result was delicious.
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. I’ll try as many of them as I can.
Hi Laura! I’m glad you liked the recipe! we make it at least twice a month in our house. The difference in flour amount might be caused by air humidity or even humidity in the flour. The dough should be a little bit sticky before proofing but not too much. Glad it worked out for you!
Pizza is our favourite around here! We have been missing the ease of takeout, it was one we did regularly, I love that now I can make it at home! My girls love plain cheese and I am going to try your suggested margherita!
This crust looks amazing! Looks like the perfect consistency for my preference in pizza crusts. And I am loving the step by step photos I can follow along with as I make this recipe!
Friday night date night for us is usually pizza out at a restaurant. Excited to try making it at home from scratch. Thanks for the recipe!
I totally agree with you! The best part about pizza is the crust! The crust makes or breaks the pizza for me! Yours looks like perfection!
I love to have all I need to know about making pizza dough in one post! It went straight into my Pinterest and is happening this weekend! Great step-by-step images.
After reading through your post, I’ve realized what I have been missing – a true homemade pizza like this. That crusp looks so crispy and just the way I like it! Yum.
Pizza, the magic word. We’ve been making pizza every week for many many years, you just can’t beat homemade pizza 🙂 ! Love the look of yours, with that thick edge and a nice crust!
Made this pizza dough over the weekend and it was wonderful! We are never ordering takeout pizza again! My partner said this was literally the best pizza dough he ever had! Thank you!
Oh we love making homemade pizza around here! Can’t wait to try your version 🙂 and I am going to have to try the fig and proscuitto version!
We’ve been making pizza almost every day during our social distancing…must add yours to our routine.