Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough
This simple recipe for quick and easy homemade pizza dough is amazing! It comes together in minutes, rises quickly, and makes incredible homemade pizza!
Homemade pizza has never been easier thanks to this foolproof recipe for pizza dough.
It can be used for pizza, calzones, breadsticks and more!
Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
This homemade pizza dough is very straightforward. It can be made in a stand mixer with a dough hook or by hand in a bowl with a spoon or spatula (and good old-fashioned hand kneading).
Pizza dough ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 cups all-purpose flour (also works well with bread flour, ’00’ flour, or half whole wheat flour)
The pizza dough should be very soft and pliable. The biggest key is to not over flour the dough when mixing.
Add flour just until the dough pulls away from the sides and/or center of the bowl. As it kneads it will be transition from rough and shaggy to smooth and supple.
The dough should be soft and stretchy without leaving a lot of dough residue on your fingers.
Short Rising Time
This quick and easy homemade pizza dough only needs a short rising time. Just 10-20 minutes until the gluten relaxes and the dough puffs up a bit.
However, you can leave it rising for an hour or so if that fits your timeline better (and it does very well slow rising in the refrigerator).
How to Assemble and Bake Homemade Pizza
- Preheat oven to 475-500 degrees F. Don’t be afraid of the high temperature! It’s key to great homemade pizza.
- Heat a pizza stone in the oven for 45-60 minutes before baking pizza. Investing in a pizza stone {aff. link} is worth it for great homemade pizza! (I also have a baking steel, but find I prefer baking pizza on a pizza stone.)
- Use a pizza peel to slide the pizzas in and out of the oven. I have a wooden pizza peel {aff. link} but metal pizza peels {aff. link} are popular and work great, too.
- Shape homemade pizzas on a piece of lightly greased parchment paper or shape the pizza directly on the pizza peel using cornmeal as a barrier to sticking. I like using parchment paper so I can assemble several pizzas at once and have them ready for baking (or so people can customize their own pizzas), and it’s also a lot less messy than using cornmeal. Different brands of parchment paper vary in thickness/durability; thicker brands work best for pizza baking. It’s ok to use parchment in a hot oven – it will darken in color and may become brittle baking at high temperatures, but siding the pizza in and out with a pizza peel helps (it’s the only way I make homemade pizza).
The Best Pizza Dough
This quick and easy pizza dough is truly the best. It is easy and fast to make, and it really does produce the best homemade pizza.
The crust is soft and chewy and fluffy.
For extra fluffiness to the crust, let the assembled pizzas rest for 10-15 minutes before going in the oven.
5-Star Reviews
If you’ve been looking for the best homemade pizza dough, this is it! You don’t have to take just my word for it.
Nikki: I’ve tried innumerable pizza crust recipes over the years and this is by far my favorite! It’s so easy with little prep time(my inner procrastinator thanks you), and its crispy and soft all at the same time. Thank you for ending my search for a homemade pizza dough recipe, Mel!
Sarah: I have to say that this is the BEST dough I’ve ever made! It’s my go to for pizza, as well as scones. THANK YOU for all of your posts. I’m proud of myself for making something delicious my family loves. You’re the best!!
Juliee: This crust is EVERYTHING! I make a lot of pizza, I’m talking once a week for twenty years and usually 5 pizzas at a time so there’s enough for the whole family. During that time I have tried many (MANY!) different crust recipes including many from very well known websites, famous chefs, popular flour companies, etc. I have finally found the only recipe anyone could ever possibly need ever again! This dough was an absolute delight to work with (soft, silky, and super cooperative) and the finished product is DANGEROUSLY good! The fact that it is pretty much instantly ready to bake and I don’t have to prepare hours in advance is just a precious gift because even if it did take a lot of extra time and steps I would still be all over this. I really can’t give it enough stars. Love, love, love this! Thank you!!
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Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2-3 cups (284-426 g) all-purpose, bread or '00' flour (see note)
Instructions
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the 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 exact flour amount will vary so go by the touch and feel of the dough versus the exact cup measurements in the recipe. The dough should be soft and smooth (not leaving a residue on your fingers but not super stiff, either).
- Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes (knead for 5-6 minutes if kneading by hand or if using whole wheat flour).
- Let the dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Shape the dough into pizza(s), spread with sauce and toppings, and bake at 475 or 500 degrees on a preheated pizza stone (heat the stone for an hour in the oven before baking) or on a lightly greased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.
Notes
Recipe Source: slightly adapted and updated from a recipe I posted several years ago
Recipe originally posted January 2008; updated March 2023 with new photos, recipe details, etc.
Do you ever roll the dough with a rolling pin? Or do you just use your hands to stretch it out?
This dough is so pliable that I usually just use my hands, but you could definitely use a rolling pin.
Hi Mel!
I see that there are tips if you wanna double the recipe.
But could you share also if I wanna cut the recipe it in half?
Say for single serving?
Thank you!
You can do that by just halving all the ingredients straight across.
Hi Mel,
My daughter was looking for a pizza dough recipe and I trust your taste.
I made breadsticks out of the dough and it was absolutely fabulous!
I shared with both of my neighbors it was a hit.
Just gave my daughter the recipe tonight she’s excited to try it for her family. Thank you.
I love this pizza dough! So quick and simple. We love to double the recipe and make individual pizzas on the grill. Thank you Mel!
This is my family’s favorite pizza dough recipe, so quick and easy! We are I’m going camping next month, and wanting to do Dutch oven pizza. Can this still be frozen in advance, then thaw the day we would use it?
Yes, works great frozen and thawed later!
I was skeptical that such a short rise time could work, but what a winner! One packet of yeast was close to a TBSP, so I just went with that instead of opening another one. Worked fine! I also didn’t have a stand mixer, so I kneaded it by hand. I appreciated that the recipe could withstand my “make it work” changes.
Consistently great pizza and today used the dough to make cinnamon scrolls which turned out so so good. I did let the dough rise for an hour before rolling it out to make the scrolls, then allowed them to rise some more in the baking dish. Devine! I now have my go to dough recipe! Ty so much xxx
thanks this was very helpful
This is my go-to recipe for weekly Friday night pizza. Could you use sourdough discard in this recipe? If so, how much? Would you need to let it rest longer?
Yes, I think you can! For every cup of sourdough starter, decrease the flour by 1/2 cup and the water by 1/2 cup. I wouldn’t replace the yeast unless you are using fed/ripe sourdough starter and are planning to let it rise for several hours (maybe even overnight).
This was a fast and east recipe, tasty too
Of course. Will always use this recipe. Thanks
I can’t say enough good things about this recipe! My friend Patty shared this recipe with me and I am so glad she did. It’s is delicious, easy and quick. I follow the recipe exactly and it turns out perfect every time. Thanks!
have used a bunch of times and always turns out
This might be a silly question because I looked through the comments and didn’t see anyone else ask it. Do you cook the pizza on a piece of parchment paper on the pizza stone? I saw you recommended the wood paddle but I don’t have one. I’m not sure how else to make the pizza and transfer it to the stone without parchment paper.
Hi Courtney, you can use a dusting of cornmeal on the paddle and assemble the pizza on the paddle (the cornmeal helps transfer the pizza to the stone in the oven without sticking). I do use parchment paper and slide the pizza and parchment onto the baking stone; however, some parchment paper isn’t rated for 500 degree oven temperatures so I recommend that with caution.
Hi Mel! Made this recipe tonight – doubled the recipe for 2 pizzas (could probably get 3 out of it next time)
The EASIEST pizza dough I have ever worked with! And I heated up 2 pizza stones prior to baking and what a game changer!
Will try it next time in our new Ooni pizza oven 🙂
Happy New Year to you and your family
Can it be made ahead and kept in the fridge? I like a dough that has some aging to it
Yes, but I suggest cutting the yeast down a bit if doing so.
I have been making this recipe for YEARS and just made it with bread flour. Complete game changer. Not sure why I didn’t do this earlier! Do yourself a favor: bread flour!
Can I substitute sugar for honey?
Yes
Can you freeze the dough? Or par bake the crusts and freeze it? Thanks
I haven’t tried par-baking and then freezing, but the dough itself freezes well.
Pre-baking the crust and freezing it after its cooled works well. At least in my experience.
Then you can top it and broil after for an easy pizza night.
I LOVE this recipe!! My family begs me to make it. I double the recipe and do one cookie sheet of pizza and one cookie sheet of cheese bread. Thank you for this great pizza dough recipe!
This crust did not disappoint!! 5 stars from our family! The best recipe I’ve made. Will be the only one I use now. Thank you!!
Dough was soft and delicious excellent flavor. I didn’t make the dough but ate the finished product.
this is my second time using this recipe and its simply phenomenal. thank you again for sharing.
this recipe was great and easy to follow. thank you very much for sharing. have a great night!
If I wanted to give this as a meal for someone to cook later, could I like fully prep the pizza and freeze it for later?
I haven’t tried that, but I think it should work just fine!
Can this recipe be made using a cup for cup gluten free flour?
I haven’t tried it with gluten free flour so I don’t know for sure – but usually yeast bread/doughs don’t work out quite as well when subbing in gluten free flour (without a lot of other changes!)
Just right recipe! Thanks for freeing me from the rising times!
I use the recipe weekly and have it memorized and written on my heart. Best pizza dough recipe and so versatile.
My pizza hater said it was the best pizza he has ever had and devoured 4 slices in minutes. Thanks Mel. It was a winner!
we made this as a church activity with 8-11 year old girls. It was so easy and so fun!! We talked about yeast and how it works. How to proof the yeast. The girls then made the dough, worked it into a circle and put on the toppings. It was a perfect activity to help teach them how to cook. Thanks mel
Easily the best homemade pizza dough recipe I’ve tried! Really easy, comes together quickly, and has the best texture I have found in a homemade dough. Love it!
I made this recipe and I’m sad to say I was unhappy with the result. I have another pizza dough recipe which I absolutely love, but it has a 1 hr rising time so I thought this recipe would be fantastic. I doubled the recipe and got 4 medium sized pizzas out of it.
8-10 mins was way too little. I baked it for almost 15-20 mins. The pizza wasn’t soft and fluffy. It was quite hard and dryish. I’m really not sure what I did wrong as I followed the recipe exactly.
Too much flour perhaps? Didn’t let it rise before baking? Any help would be appreciated, as this recipe has so many great reviews and I’d love to perfect it. Thanks.
What was the texture of the dough when you used it for pizzas? It should be very soft (but not overly sticky). If the pizzas were hard and dry, you could try less flour and/or letting it rise for 20-30 minutes.
Hi, Mel. Thanks for replying. I’m only seeing it now and I’ve forgotten what the dough texture was like exactly.. but I do remember it wasn’t very soft. I think the culprit was too much flour.
I’ll try it again once when I get a chance and let you know the results.
This is seriously the best pizza dough recipe ever. When we have pizza night, I use this. Sometimes I add in extra herbs and seasonings. But most of the time I just go as directed. The best flavor. Easy to make in my KA mixer. It’s one I recommend to anyone looking for pizza dough.
I have been making the Pioneer Woman’s pizza dough for years. For me with 5 kids it was always the easiest. This one, however, is the absolute best. The biggest difference was the texture, with the flavor coming in a close second. I tripled the recipe, (staying with 2 tbls yeast as noted) and I only had dry active yeast so I first mixed the yeast with the warm water and let it sit for a few min then added it to the oil and honey. I needed almost the full amount of flour-8.5c for a tripled recipe. I got 4 very big pizzas out of this recipe, two of which were full half sheet pan pizzas and 2 large round. This dough cooked up so nice, where there was crunch in the crust it was followed by the softest, melt in your mouth texture that was just amazing.
Our new fave!! Can’t wait to try it on the smoker.
Thanks