The Best Pizza Dough
This Best Pizza Dough recipe is so easy to make. It creates the most delicious dough ever. My family asks me to make this all the time!
There is a huge debate over who has the best pizza. New York? Chicago? Italy? Well, my friends, let me be the one to answer this puzzling question and say that it’s none of them! That’s right! With my Best Pizza Dough recipe, the world’s greatest pizza will come straight from your oven, and the best part is that it only requires 6 simple ingredients.
Combine water, honey, yeast, and salt in a stand mixer. Once these are all mixed begin to gradually add the flour. When the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl it only requires a quick knead for a few minutes. This gives it some love and helps keep the dough tender. Cover and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.
Once the dough is ready, it’s time to get creative. Flatten out the dough to fit your baking pan and then go nuts with your sauce and toppings. PRO TIP: If it’s difficult to spread and flatten the dough into a pizza shape, let it rest for another 5 minutes or so. Your dough is ready when it is easy to work with.
We love having pizza nights at our house. It’s one of my favorite dinner activities to have with my family. Everyone gets to be their own chef and have whatever they want on their personal pizza. Pizza memories made in your very own kitchen is by far the best pizza in the world.
HOW MANY PIZZAS DOES THIS DOUGH MAKE?
This dough recipe creates 1 large pizza, OR 2 small pizzas, OR 4 personal size pizzas.
CAN I FREEZE THE DOUGH?
Yes! This dough freezes beautifully. Place it in a freezer-safe bag. Make sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing the bag. Freeze dough for up to two months. Let the dough thaw in the refrigerator for at least 10 to 12 hours, then let sit on the counter to bring it to room temperature before making a pizza. You want the dough to be soft, and workable.
CAN THIS BE MADE GLUTEN FREE?
Yes! Substitute gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose flour.
ENJOY THIS RECIPE? HERE ARE A FEW MORE TO GET THE FAMILY INVOLVED!
Mexican Pizza – Tortillas filled with ground beef, cheese, refried beans, and enchilada sauce.
Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs – Tender marinated pieces of chicken, pineapple, onions, and bell peppers.
Margherita Flatbread Pizza – Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella cheese, and garlic on flatbread.
Ham and Cheese Sliders – Tender ham, melty cheese, on a toasted slider bun.
The Best Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (100 degrees F.)
- 1 tablespoon honey (or granulated sugar)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, mix the warm water, honey, oil, yeast and salt. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (The dough should be soft and smooth. You can add up to another 1/2 cup of flour, but no more than that.)
- Knead the dough for 3 minutes in stand mixer.
- Cover dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Shape and flatten dough out onto a greased pizza pan or greased baking sheet. Top evenly with your favorite sauce and pizza toppings.
- **If using a pizza stone, place stone in the oven while it preheats. Shape the dough out onto a large circle on parchment paper. Then carefully transfer the pizza dough onto a pizza peel that is dusted with flour and cornmeal. Top dough with pizza sauce and toppings, then carefully slide pizza onto the stone and bake.
- Bake pizza at 450 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly, and edges of crust are a nice golden-brown. Carefully remove from oven. Allow pizza to stand and cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
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I want to make the pizza dough for dinner, but only have active dry yeast. Can I still do it or do I need to let it rise longer?
Yes, you can use regular active dry yeast. I would just add that yeast and water to the bowl first and let it proof. (Foam up) then continue to follow the directions as normal. 🙂
Question… I am not allowed honey. Can I substitute it with something else or will that change what makes it great?
You could replace the honey with the same amount of granulated sugar. 🙂
This is an amazing pizza dough! I’ve tried and failed many times but this one was so easy and the taste is fantastic! Thanks Holly
I am SO happy you love it!! Isn’t this dough just the best? We can’t get enough 🙂
Hi there! I’ve made this once before and seriously the best ever! But I am having a pizza dinner in 2 days and wanted to know if I can freeze it after the 10 minute rise? I really want to use this recipe!!
Could this pizza dough recipe be used foe Stromboli and calzones? Do you have a suggested baking time and/or other instructions or tips?
I made pizza for my family for New Years Eve using this recipe. This is hands-down THE BEST dough I have ever tasted!!!!! My husband said it’s better than the pizzeria!
Omg!!! This recipe is absolutely amazing!!! I’ve tried so many pizza crust recipes and they always turn out too doughy or too hard, this one is perfect. I made it hoping for the best, let it sit in the oven for about 25 mins and the crust came out a perfect golden brown, crisp on the outside soft on the inside. I used granulated sugar instead of honey and don’t have vegetable oil just olive and used that instead and it turned out perfect. I’m so happy about how it turned out I made another batch of dough as soon as my boyfriend and I finished the pizza, just in case I want to use it later in the week lol. Thank you so much for this recipe, its sooooo simple and easy! Also I don’t have a bread mixing machine so I was just kneading the dough for about 5 mins and it turned out amazing. Thank you once again!
I can’t to try this. Can you make ahead and freeze the dough?
Can i freeze this dough and used it some other day
Yes, you can definitely freeze this dough. Just thaw in fridge before using 🙂
So not really a compliant because it did work out, but I think I must’ve messed something up. My dough turned out fine, but stayed really sticky and was hard to work with. (Note I did kneed by hand.) Can you think of what might have gone wrong?
If it was really sticky I would’ve just added little bit more flour. Try that next time! It’s really a great pizza dough. Our favorite!
Great pizza crust recipe. Very easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
This pizza dough was very easy to make and work with. I love that it takes so little time and turns out so well! Thanks for a great recipe!
I find that the dough does not seem to get cooked in the middle. Does anybody else have this problem? Otherwise I love making the dough and it is a beautiful dough and lovely to the taste. Just can’t seem to get it cooked through.
Hmmm. not sure why it wouldnt cook in the middle. You could try turning the oven temp down a bit and cooking it for a longer period. We love this crust and I make it all the time!
I made this yesterday and it is divine! I had a go-to crust that was a little unpredictable and definitely better if you let it rise for like an hour. This was spot on and only took 15 minutes. Thank you!
So glad it was a hit for you, Stacy!
This seriously an amazing pizza crust!! None of your recipes disappoint! My favorite blog! <3 thanks!!
Thank you so much, Alyssa!
Beautiful crust!! Very easy and so perfect. We like allot of toppings so I always pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes and then top it and bake it for another 10 min. to done…this pizza was wonderful!! Thank you for the amazing recipe!!
Im thinking of trying to convert this to a sweet dough by adding sugar and reducing flour, most of the sweet dough recipes Ive seen have milk added.. Loved this recipe for pizza though, so simple.
I made this last night and it was excellent! I used my food processor to make the dough using the blades….it worked fine using Pulse. Love that it’s so fast to make. Only tweak I would make is a little more salt, but that’s just me, not a criticism of the recipe 😉
I baked mine in my Cast Iron Pan which I find works really well as they get super hot and are probably very similar to Pizza Stones. I made a tomato sauce base, used what I had at hand which was Italian salami, Muenster Cheese, a drizzle of olive oil on top, then lots of fresh basil once out of the oven. It was delicious….thanks for sharing this Holly 🙂 I also put the other half of the dough in the freezer.
I am going to try this recipe s for me the crust is the tastiest part. I was taken by the bowl in your dough picture. I have that since 1963 and it is a casserole dish with a lid and it has sure served me well over all these years.
I have been making this same recipe for years.
Does anybody have a really good pizza dough recipe for Gluten Free flours?
Hi, this sounds great!
Could I make it with whole wheat flour instead?
Thanks!
Hi Michelle,
I’ve never tried it with wheat flour but I’m sure it would be great!
At what stage can I freeze the dough?
Can you bake this on a pizza stone?
Yes Kelsey! definitely
OMG,this is the best pizza dough. It was so easy by stand mixer. I did use a bread machine to make the dough… Love this receipe. I will not use any other recipe. Thank you.
Thanks Tracy!