6 ingredients – that’s all it takes to make this delicious Homemade Pizza Dough. If you’re looking for a crispy, yet soft and chewy pizza dough, you’ve come to the right place.
Having the right pizza dough is like flying in first class, it just makes the whole experience, better. As the foundational element to your delicious pizza pie, it plays an important supporting role to the flavor composition of the entire myriad of toppings you pile on top.
And it’s easy to make a soft and chewy homemade pizza dough – all you need are 6 simple ingredients.
The Right Type of Flour
The best flour to use for pizza dough is Italian “00” flour. 00 flour is more refined and more finely ground than normal all-purpose flour, which mean you’ll have less of the tiny bran or germ particles mixed in with your wheat grain. It’s essentially the purest form of flour you can get. This type of flour allows your dough to build up a good amount of gluten (which gives you that springy, chewy characteristic), while allowing it to be soft enough to avoid a rubbery texture.
The Ingredients for Homemade Pizza Dough
- 1 cup of Water (warm)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 packet Yeast (Fleismans)
- 2.5 cups of “00” Italian Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon of Oregano (dried)
The Equipment Needed
Crafting Your Homemade Pizza Dough
Having active yeast is important in crafting your homemade pizza dough, so the first thing we need to do is to prepare our yeast for action.
Start by combining the water (make sure it is warm, not hot), 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and the active yeast packet into a bowl and mix well. Set aside about 10-15 minutes to proof. You’ll know that your yeast is alive and ready to go when you see your solution foaming. (If it does not foam after 15 minutes, your yeast may not be alive – so start this step over with a new packet of active yeast.)
In the meantime, we’ll combine the rest of our dry ingredients.
While I often enjoy the process of kneading dough with my hands, for this particular recipe, I’ll be employing my KitchenAid mixer – so we’ll proceed here by combining the remaining dry ingredients (“00” Italian Flour, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, salt, oregano) into the mixer bowl and giving it a manual stir with a whisk.
Then add in your yeast solution, and give it a quick gentle stir.
Kneading Your Homemade Pizza Dough
Next, place your bowl into your mixer and start off by using your paddle attachment – turn on at the lowest setting and let it run for about 60 seconds, or just long enough for all of the ingredients to mix well together.
Then, switch your paddle for a dough hook attachment and increase the speed to a medium setting (number 4 or 6 on the mixer should be good). Let the mixer run for about 6-9 minutes or until the dough becomes sticky enough to start pulling away from the walls of the mixer bowl.
Dust your countertop with flour and scrap out your dough onto the surface. Gently knead for just a couple of minutes by folding the dough onto itself and then flattening it back out.
Pro Tip: If, by chance, your dough is too sticky and hard to handle, add just about a tablespoon of additional flour and hand knead it into the dough. (Also oil your hands lightly with olive oil. That should prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.) Then take your dough, roll it into a ball and set it on the countertop, covered in plastic wrap for about 15 minutes. Letting it rest will help with further gluten formation as well as moisture absorption, so that when you return to it, it should be more manageable.
Form a neat and tight ball with the dough, by taking the outside edges of the dough and folding it into itself, all the while shaping it into a round sphere.
Proofing Your Dough
Once your dough is a round and smooth ball, place it in an oiled bowl (use a light amount of olive oil), cover with plastic wrap and set it inside of your fridge overnight for maximum gluten formation. Or alternatively, set it inside of your oven (turned off) for about 2 hours to proof.
After proofing, your dough should have roughly doubled in size. Remove the dough onto your countertop, knead it once more to remove most of the built up gas, and then roll it out into the desired circular shape for your pizza. (You can also portion the pizza dough at this time and use in pieces if you want smaller pizzas.)
Pro Tip: A lightly dusted roller pin is great for this.
Utilizing Your Homemade Pizza Dough
Once your dough is sufficiently flattened and roundly shaped, take out your pizza stone, and place your dough directly on top. Best practice here is to build your pizza directly on top of the pizza stone – and place the whole stone in the oven when you are ready to bake.
As a final tip, make indentations on the inside area of your dough so that your sauce can adhere well to the surface of your pizza. Also, roll your edges onto itself, if you like a thick poofy crust edge – or if you prefer just a flat crust edge, leave as is. (You could also stuff your crust edge with cheese before you roll, to create a stuffed crust pizza.)
Lightly coat the crust edge with a thin layer of olive oil and give it a light dash of oregano and you are ready to build whatever pizza you would like!
This homemade pizza dough recipe is perfect for my Truffle Oxtail Pizza recipe!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll love these too:
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Water, (warm)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 packet Fleischmann's Dry Active Yeast
- 2.5 cups "00" Italian Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Oregano, (dried)
Instructions
Crafting Your Homemade Pizza Dough
- Having active yeast is important in crafting your homemade pizza dough, so the first thing we need to do is to prepare our yeast for action.
- Start by combining the water (make sure it is warm, not hot), 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, and the active yeast packet into bowl and mix well. Set aside about 10-15 minutes to proof. You'll know that your yeast is alive and ready to go when you see your solution foaming. (If it does not foam after 15 minutes, your yeast may not be alive – so start this step over with a new packet of active yeast.)
- In the meantime, we'll combine the rest of our dry ingredients.
- While I often enjoy the process of kneading dough with my hands, for this particular recipe, I'll be employing my KitchenAid mixer – so we'll proceed here by combining the remaining dry ingredients ("00" Italian Flour, 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, salt, oregano) into the mixer bowl and giving it a manual stir with a whisk.
- Then add in your yeast solution, and give it a quick gentle stir.
Kneading Your Homemade Pizza Dough
- Next, place your bowl into your mixer and start off by using your paddle attachment – turn on at the lowest setting and let it run for about 60 seconds, or just long enough for all of the ingredients to mix well together.
- Then, switch your paddle for a dough hook attachment and increase the speed to a medium setting (number 4 or 6 on the mixer should be good). Let the mixer run for about 6-9 minutes or until the dough becomes sticky enough to start pulling away from the walls of the mixer bowl.
- Dust your countertop with flour and scrap out your dough onto the surface. Gently knead for just a couple of minutes by folding the dough onto itself and then flattening it back out.
- Pro Tip: If, by chance, your dough is too sticky and hard to handle, add just about a tablespoon of additional flour and hand knead it into the dough. (Also oil your hands lightly with olive oil. That should prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.) Then take your dough, roll it into a ball and set it on the countertop, covered in plastic wrap for about 15 minutes. Letting it rest will help with further gluten formation as well as moisture absorption, so that when you return to it, it should be more manageable.
- Form a neat and tight ball with the dough, by taking the outside edges of the dough and folding it into itself, all the while shaping it into a round sphere.
Proofing Your Dough
- Once your dough is a round and smooth ball, place it in an oiled bowl (use a light amount of olive oil), cover with plastic wrap and set it inside of your fridge overnight for maximum gluten formation. Or alternatively, set it inside of your oven (turned off) for about 2 hours to proof.
- After proofing, your dough should have roughly doubled in size. Remove the dough onto your countertop, knead it once more to remove most of the built up gas, and then roll it out into the desired circular shape for your pizza. (You can also portion the pizza dough at this time and use in pieces if you want smaller pizzas.)
- Pro Tip: A lightly dusted roller pin is great for this.
Utilizing Your Homemade Pizza Dough
- Once your dough is sufficiently flattened and roundly shaped, take out your pizza stone, and place your dough directly on top. Best practice here is to build your pizza directly on top of the pizza stone – and place the whole stone in the oven when you are ready to bake.
- As a final tip, make indentation on the inside area of your dough so that your sauce can adhere well to the surface of your pizza. Also, roll your edges into itself, if you like a thick poofy crust edge – or if you prefer just a flat crust edge, leave as is. (You could also stuff your crust edge with cheese before you roll, to create a stuffed crust pizza.)
- Lightly coat the crust edge with a thin layer of olive oil and give it a light dash of oregano and you are ready to build whatever pizza you would like!
- This homemade pizza dough recipe is perfect for my Truffle Oxtail Pizza recipe!
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is just an estimate derived by an online calculation tool.
FAQ
What is the best flour for pizza dough?
The best flour to use for pizza dough is Italian “00” flour. 00 flour is more refined and more finely ground than normal all-purpose flour, which mean you’ll have less of the tiny bran or germ particles mixed in with your wheat grain. It’s essentially the purest form of flour you can get.
Is it cheaper to make your own pizza dough?
Homemade pizza dough, in most cases, is cheaper than buying pre-made dough or buying takeout pizza. Cost differences vary by location and retail brand, but making your own dough can be as much as 50%.
How long does homemade pizza dough keep?
Homemade pizza dough typically lasts up to 4 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
Paula
This homemade dough really took our pizza to the next level!