In order to have a great pizza, you need to have a great pizza crust! Whether you like your pizzas thin and crispy or enjoy a thick and soft pizza, this homemade pizza dough will be your new go-to recipe!
Ingredients
- Water – You’ll need the water to be warm enough to activate the yeast – I urge you to purchase a water thermometer so you can heat the water to the perfect temperature!
- Flour – For this dough recipe, I use Anna Napoletana Tipo “00” Extra Fine flour. I think it’s the best flour to use for pizza dough – though bread flour works beautifully as well.
- Active dry yeast (or instant yeast) – If you know you know… Red Star Active Dry Yeast is superior to all other active dry yeast!
- Sugar – The sugar helps to activate the yeast when it’s in the water mixture – it’s needed in a good pizza dough!
- Olive oil – Olive oil adds such a beautiful flavor to the pizza dough.
- Salt – Adds more flavor.
If I had to guess, you probably have everything you need to make a homemade pizza crust in your pantry right now! Once you have all of the ingredients in front of you, it’s time to make your pizza crust!
How to make the best homemade pizza dough
The first thing you’ll need to do is heat the water to 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything above 130 degrees Fahrenheit risks killing the yeast (AKA, you’ll have to start from scratch)!
Once the water reaches the desired temperature, pour it into a bowl along with the yeast and sugar. Mix gently, and set aside for about 10-15 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. You’ll know the yeast is ready when it starts bubbling! Once this happens, add olive oil to the yeast mixture and give it a good stir.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and salt and gently mix. Then add your yeast mixture. With a dough hook, mix the flour and yeast together for about 5 minutes or until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
After 5 minutes, the dough should still be a bit soft. Lightly poke it with your finger and if it slowly bounces back, the dough is ready to rise! If it doesn’t, you’ll need to keep kneading.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and drizzle olive oil on top of the dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for two hours, or until it’s doubled in size.
Side note: I’ve become quite a fan of the Trader Joe’s Kalamata Olive Oil – so that’s what I used for this recipe!
Once your dough has doubled in size, you can either make pizza immediately or store the dough in the fridge for up to two days (or in the freezer for up to three months).
If you plan on making this pizza dough, why not make your own pizza sauce? It’s incredibly easy and tastes way better than store bought!
PrintThe Best Homemade Pizza Dough
Whether you like your pizzas thin and crispy or enjoy a thick and soft pizza, this homemade pizza dough will be your new go-to recipe!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 Hours
- Total Time: 2 Hours & 15 Minutes
- Yield: 3 Pizza Crusts 1x
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups Anna Napoletana Tipo “00” flour (or bread flour)
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup olive oil (plus more for brushing)
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 2 1/4 TSP yeast
- 1 TSP salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the yeast, sugar, and warm water together. Let sit for 10-15 minutes (or until frothy). Once the yeast is frothy, add the olive oil to the yeast mixture.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and salt and gently mix. Then, add the yeast mixture. With a dough hook, mix the flour and yeast together for about 5 minutes or until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and drizzle olive oil on top of the dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for two hours, or until it’s doubled in size.
- Once your dough has doubled in size, you can either make pizza immediately or store the dough in the fridge for up to two days (or in the freezer for up to three months).
Notes
* Make sure you heat the water to 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to stay within this range so you don’t kill your yeast!
