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!!
One Year Ago: Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup
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Five Years Ago: Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Six Years Ago: Delicious Whole Grain Hulk Muffins {Naturally Green!}
Seven Years Ago: Chicken Shepherd’s Pie with Garlic-Kale Mash
Eight Years Ago: No-Bake Thin Mint Cheesecakes
Nine Years Ago: Whipped Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ten Years Ago: Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup
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
Recommended Products
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.
467 Comments on “Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough”
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
Favorite pizza dough!!!! So easy!!!
Hi Mel, can this dough be prepared the day before and put in the fridge to use the following day? If so, how would that work best?
Yes, that should work just fine! It helps to take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before shaping into pizzas.
I’ve made no less than 20 different pizza doughs and this was so good. Maybe I was slightly influenced by Jennifer Garner, but dang. I used a pizza flour I had from Central Milling and it was my family’s new fave. I like the whole pizza stone system but I also baked some just not he parchment on the oven rack and those weren’t bad either! Thanks Mel!
This is our favorite pizza dough! I make pizza every Friday night and have tried dozens of recipes. My kids keep requesting I come back to this one!
This is the only pizza dough recipe that I have used for years, absolutely the best.
This has been my go-to pizza dough for years now, I love it! It’s easy to work with and super delicious.
I’ve used this recipe for almost a decade though I have got in the habit of adding 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 TBSP dried basil to the dough. I also have started cooking it in my cast iron skillets rather than on my pizza stone. Thanks,
Do you preheat the skillet? Is it a deep dish pizza?
Excellent! I’ve tried sourdough pizza doughs, doughs that need to be fermented overnight, and short-cut pizza doughs, and this is the best one I’ve made so far. It comes together by hand in a few minutes. I used bread flour, and added onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasonings. The baked crust had a bit of chew and browned nicely on the bottom without getting too hard or crunchy. It’s easy to see why this dough has received so many accolades!
Did you know Jennifer Garner uses this recipe to make pizza dough? Super cool fact!
https://people.com/food/jennifer-garner-family-favorite-pizza-dough-recipe/?xid=sl_socialflow_facebook&utm_campaign=southernliving&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com
I’ve followed your blog for years and love it. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes:)
Love this! It worked out so well. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Great recipe, family loved it will make again. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Mel! Thanks for all you share(: I’m Planning for a young womens activity …… Can this one be made in the morning and then refrigerated until ready to cook?
Thx!!
Yep!
I love this recipe!! Tonight is my fourth time making it and it’s turned out amazing every time, so much better than pre-made bases from the shop!
Love this pizza dough- it comes together so fast and tastes wonderful! I love it and it’s now my one and only go to! It doubles great in my kitchen aid. I mostly use it to make personal pizzas so my kids can all make their own. I normally get 9 individual pizzas out of a double batch. Thanks Mel
Absolutely loved it, easy to make as advertised. Thank you for putting this out there.
Our family has made this for a few years now and it’s great! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Best pizza recipe ever!!
I recently started using fresh ground flour. I wasn’t thrilled with other pizza dough recipes i found since they were so thick. However someone recommended this recipe and I love it. It’s taken me a while to figure out the right ratio but I love it.
For those of you with fresh ground flour I used 3 scoops of hard white wheat berries using a 2/3 measuring cup. And follow the recipe. I’d like to try soft white wheat and spelt in the future. Thanks for the recipe!
I just wanted to ask, If using sugar what is the measurement and also does this freeze well?
Use the same amount of sugar as honey. Yes, this dough freezes well.
My go-to, never fail pizza recipe! I use sugar instead of honey, love it.
I just want to ask if u have ever made this in a bread machine. Ive gotten do lazy using it and not kneading anymore. Thanks
I haven’t, sorry!
Made many different doughs in the last few years esp during our two year lockdown in Australia and this is by far the best south recipe. Easy to do and quick as anything! I doubled it because it said one batch makes two medium pizzas but I ended up with 8 pizzas in two batches so that was awesome! I used my pizza stone in the oven at the hottest temp. Best crust! Thank you for sharing this! I used only white plain flour that’s all I had and I used white sugar instead of honey. I had to knead it for awhile but that’s a standard process for the best dough. I didn’t use any machines just my hands.
We made this last night with mostly all whole wheat and added one cup of sourdough starter (using your substitute tactic from your lazy sourdough guide). It was quick and delicious. Thanks for all you do! You truly are one of the main resources that keeps our household fueled.
This recipe was amazing!!!! So easy to come together. Started at 5pm and by 5:30pm was ready to go. What a beautiful dough to work with!!!!! I could not believe how rise was so quick. We made cast iron pizzas on a wood fire. They turned out AMAZING ….AMAZIN!G!!!! we will definitely be using this use this recipe all the time!!! Thank u for sharing :)))
Made mini pizza’s with my grandkids what an easy recipe will definitely make this again
We love this recipe! We now like homemade pizza the best! One question: Can I make the dough earlier in the day and save it until dinner? If so, how do I do that? Thanks so much for a great recipe, Mel!
Hey Dottie! Yep! Just reduce the yeast by a bit and then refrigerate the dough. It helps to take it out of the refrigerator about an hour before you want to make pizza.
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!!
Oh man! I have found the holly grail of pizza dough! Fast and easy with my busy schedule.
I made this pizza dough recipe for the very first time last night. It was so simple and the outcome was the best we have ever ever made. The crust was thin and non-glutinous, it was crispy and flavorful and just so simple to make. You are my go to recipe person from now on thanks so much.
Fabulous, our whole family had fun making their own pizzas and so easy, can’t think you enough!
Quik question..
My signifant other of 26 yrs. Doesn’t like “Sweet” dough.
Is there something I can substitute for honey ( or can I just omit it, all together)?
The dough isn’t overly sweet, so you may be able to use the honey and be ok. Otherwise, I’d cut it in half. You could try leaving it out, but because this is a quick-rise yeast dough, it relies on a bit of honey to help rise quicky.
Fast and easy recipe
The crust was great!
Perfect! Light, crispy and chewy
We made homemade pizzas last night and this dough was perfect! It was really easy and fast, and made the perfect fluffy crust!
Absolutely love this recipe, I make mini pizzas and pop them in the air fryer at 400 for 6 minutes and it’s so quick and easy and absolutely delicious
Like other reviewers, I have tried numerous “fast and easy” pizza dough recipes over the years, and none are as good as this one. I add 1 tsp. za’atar seasoning to the dough for flavor, and I blind bake the crust for four minutes on the pizza stone before topping and finishing the baking. Amazing!
My kids don’t usually like homemade pizza but were asking for more when I used this recipe! Definitely a keeper. So so easy and fast.
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!
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!!
Hello, Mel. Melanie here. Any chance this recipe will work equally well with a gluten free flour blend? I have yet to discover a recipe that produces a crust as yummy as yours.
Hi Melanie, honestly, I’m not sure! Usually yeast doughs like this need a few more tweaks to work gluten-free and I haven’t tried adapting this recipe to be gluten free. Sorry I’m not more help!
Hello, I have been trying to make a good homemade pizza dough for over a year and I finally had great success with your recipe.
I used 2 cups all purpose flower plus 2 tbs for the dough and followed the rest of the procedure.
After 10 min at 475f, I took the pizza out and turned the oven broiler on maximum. Then i put the pizza back in on the upper rack for 4 min.
This turned out fantastic. The best pizza I’ve had besides wood or coal fired pizza.
What’s an alternative for honey if it’s not available?
You can use sugar.
Ok great! It’s the best & easiest pizza dough recipe. We’ve been having pizza every week!
I used corn syrup
This is the best pizza dough I have ever made. It is NY style. So easy and so good, thank you!
Best pizza dough I’ve ever made and the quickest too!
I made your pizza dough today and it was easy and wonderful. It rolled out beautifully and tasted great! I am recommending it to friends.
Thanks!!
Turned out great. I love that you don’t have to proof it for a long time. You can be more spontaneous about when you want to have pizza. It comes out thin-ish with a chewy inside and crispy crust. I used about 2 1/2 cups of 00 flour, in a portable pizza oven.
How would the instructions change for freezing?
You can freeze the dough after it’s made and then thaw and let rise a bit before using.
Can I freeze this dough?
Mel, I took the time to read further down the comments and found my answer. Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Mel,
Regarding your recipe for Quick and Easy Foolproof Pizza Dough…
The recipe calls for oil…any specific oil? Is olive oil ok?
Thank you,
Sara
Yes olive oil is fine!
That was a great quick pizza dough ! I decided to make pizza at 5 pm and by 5:30 I had one in the oven ! It was delicious! Thank you for this great recipe ! It’s a keeper for sure
I’ve been experimenting with a new pizza dough recipe each week. And after eight weeks, I’ve found my perfect dough! My husband and I prefer a slightly thicker, softer pizza than your traditional NY style and this is THE DOUGH. It’s so easy to make. I can make it the same day and the dough is by far the easiest dough I’ve work with in terms of spreading and pressing into shape. I used to have so many holes and uneven doughs before trying this one and they were all very frustrating.
I added 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour to this dough and I love the flavor and color it added. I’ll add more next time. I can’t believe I was measuring out flour for other recipes by the gram and this one I was able to just use my intuition. Mel, you make me feel like a pro! Thank you! Another Mel’s Kitchen Cafe recipe in my vault.
I’m a dietitian turned baker so I really appreciate the whole wheat flour option so I can pretend this is slightly healthier than regular pizza lol having said that I’ve tried a lot of pizza recipes and this is def one of my faves. It was so quick to make which was a big plus. think next time I’ll use all white flour and add some seasonings just to compare. And maybe even try a dessert style pizza
Turned out great. I’ve tried several other online recipes from other sites with mixed results. This was the best pizza dough I’ve ever made. I doubled the recipe and the pizza crust was nice and thick the way I like it!! Thanks for the recipe and the tips.
Best quick pizza dough ever!
Thank you.
Recipe is perfect and works! I used it last night to make pretzel bites. Everyone loved them.
I absolutely love the recipe. Like many other people commenting, I’ve made recipes from some of my favorite chefs that I didn’t like nearly as much. I’ve made this multiple times exactly as is with no fails.. Perfect pizza dough.. I’ll need to try other recipes. Well done Mel.
Awesome recipe! I have tried other homemade dough recipes to no avail…this is the quickest and easiest recipe to get delicious pizza! Thicker crust with a thinner middle…yum! I recommend starting with 2 cups of flour, then adding more in small quantitites as needed (usually ends up being around 2.5 cups). If you are using active dry yeast, add the water, honey, and yeast in a bowl first and let sit for 10 minutes before adding to the flour, oil, and salt (in order to activate the yeast first).
My new go to pizza dough, worked out fantastic in a fraction of the time. Thanks for this!
I absolutely love this recipe. I use it all the time when I make pizza on Saturday. I make it in my bread machine because I usually have some running around to do when it’s pizza night, so I have it ready when I get home. Highly recommend
IT REALLY WORKS!
I’ve tried so many dough recipes. I only had 2tsp instant yeast. Otherwise I followed recipe to the tee without doctoring to ensure it was reliable, quick and easy recipe. Using this recipe I was able to make 2 thin crust pizzas that turned out Perfect. Great bite, chew, crisp bottom, airy dough. Wife, a pizza fanatic, said it was “the best pizza I’ve ever had.” Kids didn’t even get to try the pizza, as my wife and I devoured both the thin crust pizzas before they even had a chance!
My family and I made personal pizza’s for our family game night using this recipe along with your pizza sauce recipe. Hands down the best and easiest. This is now my go-to for mid-week pizza nights. Thank you!!!
My family and I loved this dough. I didn’t have instant yeast, so I used my rapid rise and just let it sit about five extra minutes. It was really easy and really good.
OMG. Fantastic dough. So nice to work with. Great for Stromboli’s too. This recipe was a a keeper!
Love this recipe for a quick pizza! We were eating pizza in 1 hour
Is there a way to make this dough the night before?
This was the best pizza crust I’ve ever made! I used it for Stromboli and it stole the show. I will definitely keep it. Thanks so much.
I used this recipe about two weeks ago and just loved it. It saved so much time and it was so easy to make. After asking my husband what he wanted for supper he said “you can make that homemade pizza that you made the other week”. Will be using it quite a often from now on.
Very happy to hear that, Dinah!
I hope I don’t sound dumb for asking this but I’m really not much of a baker.. could I use all purpose flour for this recipe??
Yes!
This dough was easy and yummy and easy to stretch. Thanks for another classic, Mel. Now I just need that pizza stone but they don’t carry it anymore! Ahhh!! 🙂
try a baking steel from bakingsteel.com or amazon. We leave it in our oven at all times and with a 1 hour preheat, it is AWESOME for pizza!
Can this dough be used to make calzoni pizzas ?
Yes!
Made it tonight and turned out really well! Only used 2.5 cups flour and cooked for 15 minutes on 475 but it turned out really well for a no-rise dough!
I was making this for dinner, then out of the blue some other plans came up. Can this dough be refrigerated for later use?
Yes, it does fine in the refrigerator for a day or so – or frozen.
Wonderful recipe! I wanted to make pizza recently, but time got away from me, so I never got my usual dough mixed up early enough to be ready for dinner. I stumbled upon this recipe, and it was a lifesaver. The kids were especially excited that pizza night didn’t have to be postponed, and hubby and I were impressed with the dough. Taste, texture, and ease of handling were great! It’s definitely a keeper. Thanks, Mel!
P.S. Newest favorite pizza combination that you HAVE to try: pesto for the sauce, sliced garden fresh tomatoes, and mozzarella. Yumm-o!
This was really quick and the dough came out perfectly in my kitchenaid mixer. I used half WW flour and doubled the recipe but left the yeast amount the same (1 TBSP). I also used only a couple pinches of sugar instead of the tablespoon of honey (personal preference). I did let the dough rise for a bit while I preheated the oven and chopped my toppings. My pans are not recommended for use over 450F so that is the temp I used and let it bake a few minutes longer, 12-14 minutes total.
This was good dough for stromboli. I tripled it and made 3 stromboli which was good for 6 people. Baked 350 for 25-30 min.
I’ve never been 100% happy with my homemade pizzas–85% maybe.
This achieved 100% happiness.
Easy to work with. Easy to spread out without tearing. Cooked up beautifully, without turning cracker-like. Didn’t get doughy, either.
Really, it was perfect.
(Note: Cooked outside on a gas grill.)
i made this with my sister this past weekend but I don’t have a kitchen aid. Can I make it in my bread machine?
I don’t have a bread machine so I haven’t tried it, but I think it could probably work!
Can definitely try! (I don’t have a bread machine so I haven’t tried it myself that way).
I don’t use a bread machine. I do all the mixing and kneading by hand and this recipe if fantastic! My son built a Pizza oven for me for Fathers Day and this Pizza Dough recipe works perfect in it!
Heyyy, hope you all are doing well.
Just tried this out, used 2,5 cups flour and was perfect. Used 1 tbsp sugar instead (not as seeet as honey would be).
4,5/5 for a quick and easy fix.
Very impressive results for a no prove dough although I let mine prove @ 35’C for 30 mins.
Perfect tasting dough, doesn’t have a yeasty aftertaste,
Perfect crisp crust and lovely Centre, not bready at all!
Really impressed, my new go to quick fix.
Par Baked at 210’C for 10 mins, fixed the toppings and baked for another 12 mins.
Thanks for sharing!
I tried this recipe and it tastes great! I was just wondering why do we need the honey? It would be great of someone could clarify
It enhances the flavor and helps the yeast activate.
This was a hit! I’m usually turned off by the work it takes to make pizza crust, but decided to give this a try. I LOVED that it was so easy to make and turned out great.
My husband has always been anti homemade pizza, but one night I slipped this recipe in, and I’m happy to say that we have homemade pizza every Friday now. And almost every time he says “We owe it all to Mel!” Thank you for converting him!
Fabulous recipe! It looked amazing, so I went all in with a quadruple batch. With the extra dough, I made braided breadsticks which got a “better than Olive Garden” rating. Printed the recipe and added modifications (I used raw sugar rather than honey, added garlic, and used a combo of olive oil and butter for the fat) and plan to work Mel’s Q & E Fool-proof pizza dough into our 10-day rotation!
Can I make leftover dough into rolls or something else?
We grilled our pizza. On a cookie sheet and it was delicious! We grilled it without toppings for a few minutes first then added the sauce/cheese/toppings and finished grilling it.
You could definitely try making the leftover dough into rolls (haven’t done it myself so I can’t say for sure how they’ll work out).
We made our extra dough into cinnamon rolls and topped them with her frosting! They turned out so well (and were so easy) that I might make this for cinnamon rolls from now on! Ha ha ha! I followed the directions and cooking temp/time here: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-cinnamon-rolls/
Hi Mel! We love this recipe and make it weekly. We are having a family reunion and wanted to make a bunch of personal pizzas. I’m hoping to make this dough beforehand, as we don’t know what materials will be present at the airbnb. Can you freeze this dough? What is the best way to ensure that it stays just as delicious? Thanks!
Yes, this dough freezes great! You could probably even press portions of dough into the size you want, layer them between parchment paper, and freeze that way!
Hi Mel, this pizza dough is a lifesaver during lockdown. My dad doesn’t even like pizzas but he’s the first to ask for this every week! I’ve made it thrice now, adjusted the recipe a bit but it works brilliantly each time! I tend to put 2/3rds wholewheat flour and 1/3 flour cuz my family prefers the taste of that and I blind bake the dough for about 5-7 minutes. I’m less worried about burnt to a crisp base or undercooked break that way but that’s mostly because I don’t trust myself to be able to manage it the way you’ve written it.
Hope you’re safe and well 🙂
Makes a quick dough if you’re constrained on time, in fact, my 2 year loved it. However, I found it tasted and had the consistency you’d expect from a frozen pizza. The dough was quite bready and had zero pull when trying to toss and stretch it. I’ll be sticking with my 18 hour recipe. It requires even less work, you just have to plan ahead and prep it the night before.
I made this dough and pizza sauce for the first time yesterday with about 25 people (15 kids). We have bi-weekly zoom bakes. It was easy and fun. One parent even made individual muffin cup pizzas.
We all agree that this will be a regularly used recipe.
We also did the dinner rolls several weeks ago, they were a success.
Thanks so much.
Can you make without honey?
You can definitely experiment, I haven’t tried.
This was great dough!! we made classic pizzas with fresh mozzarella and basil and even a great stuffed crust!! We are currently making breadsticks out of it!!
Hi Mel, have you ever cooked this on your camp chef? If so, what temp and how long? Also, what did you set the pizza on within the grill? Thanks!
Hi Madeline – I haven’t. I used to grill pizza all the time on my propane grill but I haven’t tried it on the pellet grill. You can put a baking stone on the grill if it fits, or if the grates are well-oiled, I always put the pizza directly on the grates.
This recipe is SO easy and delicious! Dough can be so tricky, but this wasn’t at all! I love the hints of honey. It made for a perfect thin but fluffy crust. Thanks, Mel!
Delicious and quick!
This is wonderful!! I added some cornmeal to the bottom and it was toasty and crunchy while still having a perfect soft-inside consistency. Bravo!!
Love this dough! This has made me the pizza making queen in my kitchen. Thank you!
But… your link to the pizza peel is gone. I’m assuming it’s no longer available. Can you point me in the direction of another good one?
The one I have isn’t available online, but this one on amazon looks similar: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XJ38GV1?ie=UTF8&th=1
Hello — I made this tonight but when we baked it the dough was still raw even baking it for more time or higher temp. Does that mean the yeast didn’t activate? What could cause that? Also the honey was grainy. Could that have something to do with it?
You might need to lower the temperature just bit so it cooks more evenly. I don’t think the grainy honey would have anything to do with it.
Can I use active dry yeast? I can not locate instant yeast.
I did this evening and it was fantastic!
Yes. Here’s a tutorial on using the two interchangeably https://www.melskitchencafe.com/guide-to-baking-with-yeast/
The best ever!! My whole family loves it and we had No leftovers!!! I actually got busy after I made the dough and let it rise for 1-2 hours and then pulled 5 mini pizzas off of it! I used 2 3/4 cups
This pizza dough recipe is the BOMB!
I bloomed the yeast first. On a dreary cool drizzly day I used 2 3/4 cups of flour.
So easy a dough to work with, perfect for a 14 inch pizza pan.
Great crust! Family loved it! I loved that I didn’t have to wait hours for it to rise.
Great pizza dough! Whole family agreed it’s a keeper. Perfect amount of chew and crispness. Thank you been searching for awhile. Making it again tonight – this time we’re going to try your pizza sauce too. Thanks!!
This is the best crust recipe I’ve found!! I add a tsp. of italian seasoning to the mix! Delish!
I have been using another really great recipe for years, the shortest time on which is 6 hours. My kids wanted pizza within the hour and there was no way to get a delivery during C19 (or maybe ever) that fast. This was FANTASTIC. Dough made before zoom school and ready to eat by the time school was over. Can’t recommend enough. We used 1.75 cups AP and about 1 cup bread flour.
Hi there… Just wondering if this could be made with bread flour?
Yes, it can!
This recipe is lovely! Replaced half of the white flour with whole wheat and proofed for 30 mins. Also used maple syrup instead of honey. Delicious. Made 2 individual pizzas for the kids and breadsticks for my husband and I.
Social distancing encouraged me to use what I have at home. I made a delicious pizza. I love this crust. I was surprised that the expiration date on my yeast was 2018 but I tried it anyway. Scarey huh, but that shows how much I don’t bake. I made a white sauce, added a small amount of goat cheese and 3 chopped garlic jalapeno olives. Cooked and sliced some chicken. Topped it all with a small amount of grated cheddar. Yum! The crust looked beautiful. I baked it at 475 for 12 minutes.
Excellent made with wheat flour as recommended. I hope my next try turns out equally delicious. This will be a favorite crust recipe. Thanks!
This recipe is wonderful for a BBQ based pizza! It’s my go to
Super easy, super tasty recipe that requires things most of us already have at home. I love that the ingredients are few and simple and that it takes the same amount of time to make (including that awesome sauce!) as it would to order and go pick up a pizza with questionable ingredients! Thanks for the recipes! The sauce was so simple – we will never buy pizza sauce again!
How many pizzas worth does this recipe make? Curious whether or not I should double it!
It makes about 1 large pizza.
I just made this and I got two 10 in. Pizzas out of a single recipe.
I was skeptical about this pizza dough recipe because it seemed too easy. I’ve tried so many homemade pizza dough recipes-some took all day and even then, I haven’t been happy with the final result. And so the search for a pizza dough recipe continued, until I came across yours today. I wasn’t expecting much—but, wow! It was so easy and delicious! This ones a keeper, and I want to say thank you! I’ve been so frustrated in my attempts at making pizza. I will make this one again and again.
This dough was absolutely perfect! We googled and chose your recipe- we are in “quarentine” with the rest of the world and wanted to use what we heave instead of going to the store or ordering in. So good, this is likely our new go to from now on! Thank you!
Thank you, Lisa!
Oh yes!! I love pizza! I have a pretty good dough recipe, but I’ll definitely give yours a try. Do you follow King Arthur Flour? Their recipe of the year is pan pizza…I NEED to find a cast iron pan so I can make it.
I love this crust. Sometimes i add thyme oregano and rosemary when rolling dough out. And put butter and smashed garlic with tony chacheres around edges when i cook crust.
This was my first time making homemade pizza and honestly I don’t think I’ll ever go back to ordering out! It went great! I doubled the recipe to make more pies but for the next time I’ll probably try less yeast for a more “thin crust” version. Nonetheless, it was delicious!
Good recipe, I used maple syrup for vegan purposes and I also used CAPUTO ITALIAN FLOUR “00” plus added a 1/2 cup of regular flour. I also only used about 2 1/2 c of flour not 3 cups.
I let it proof for a half hour not 10 min. But if you leave it in the fridge overnight, let it sit out for half hour the next day, it’s even better results.
But for a quick dough, half hour is still great results and it’s nice this worked. I didn’t see much of a rise in 10 min so I didn’t want to chance it, my oven does have a proofing option so it wasn’t a problem with being too cold.
I did make a first batch of dough and my husband had added the full 3 cups of regular flour (he follows directions to the exact, but he tried to help). I figured it wasn’t going to work because it didn’t feel right, it didn’t work out well (we used it anyway). So I made a second batch with 00 flour and much less flour to start and the results was nice, light and fluffy. So good!
I tripped the recipe and the dough came out perfect the best pizza dough recipe I have ever made! My grandchildren loved it using it to make a stuff crust pizza tomorrow I will comment after our dinner. It’s going to be added to my go to book of recipe favorites!
Was going to pick up a pizza on the way home from a crappy day at work. Well, they had an at least 45 minute wait! Got home, found this recipe and make a lovely white pie. I rolled out the dough (used the last of my ‘000’ flour) and put it in a greased rectangular baking pan to par bake the dough for 5 minutes and then added my left overs (ricotta, mozzarella, roasted peppers), EVOO and garlic. Just delicious and cost me very little to make. Who needs a pizza shop!
My 3 year old and I made this last night! It was really easy and a big hit!
I was nervous about making this because it seemed to easy and I’m no baker. However I followed exactly what you said and it came out perfectly. Everyone in the family loved it. Thank you so much for this easy pizza dough. If this no baker Mom can make it, then anyone can. And the best part was the taste. Amazing!! Thanks
I don’t want to be one of THOSE people that say they love a posted recipe, only to change it all around, but here goes:
A tablespoon of yeast seems WAY too much for 2-3 cups of flour. I halved the yeast, and the dough rise was fine.
Rather than dirty my stand mixer and/or kneading by hand, I dumped all ingredients into my bread machine and used the “Dough” setting to do mixing, kneading and rising. I used 2-1/2 cups of bread flour, which worked fine. When the bread machine got done, I rolled out into pizza-sized discs and let it rest/rise again before topping and baking.
All in all, a nice recipe if you want to make some fresh dough on short notice. I’m intrigued by the use of honey instead of sugar as a sweetener/food for the yeast, but can’t really taste it in the finished product.
I was wondering if the honey could be left out of the recipe.
You could definitely try that…
Hi, not sure where I went wrong. I used gluten-free one-to-one flour and other than that, followed the steps exactly. The pizza toppings were delicious, but the dough was pretty raw, the outside crust white and hard. Should I have baked the crust before topping? I really really really want this to work! It will be the easiest gluten free crust I’ve made! Please help.
I’m afraid gluten free flour won’t work the same in this recipe, sorry!
I always pre-bake 5-8 minutes when I use gluten-free flour. It just doesn’t cook the same way as wheat.
The best crust recipe I’ve ever used! Actually quick and perfectly delicious.
I love this recipe & was wondering how long the dough will last in the refrigerator once it has been made? I made some 2 days ago & am wondering if it will still be good?
Yes, it should be fine! The yeast flavor might be a bit stronger, but it does pretty well out of the fridge.
Meaning leave it out of fridge if making for Christmas Eve?
Made tonight…perfect! I divided into one pizza and one cheesy bread
Mel, your recipes have never failed me. I can’t thank you enough! It is hard to pick a favorite but your chewy chocolate chip bars are what dreams are made of
Happy New Year and many blessings!
I love this crust. Sometimes i add thyme oregano and rosemary when rolling dough out. And put butter and smashed garlic with tony chacheres around edges when i cook crust.
I am very impressed with this dough. I have been on a mission to find a new pizza dough and tonight when I prepared this I could tell almost immediately it was going to be a winner. I announced this meal was up for critic and would appreciate any comments – well, they were all loud and clear – it was great. So, it went into my Paprika App and will be used from now on. Thank you!!!
I have made so many quick pizza doughs, why did I not come to you first since you’re my go to for -can anyone save me from going to get fast food tonight- ha ha ha. This was so yummy–so much flavor and easy to work with. I was cooking at my dad’s and didn’t have honey but *gasp* light corn syrup worked just fine. Thank you for yet another delicious recipe Mel!!
Yay! Happy this worked out for your, Allison!
Just made using Bob’s Mill 1 for 1 gluten free four. (Stopped adding flour at 2 1/4 cups I needed to add a bit more flour I realized after I rolled it out) So my pizza became more of a Stromboli but still tasted great. Will definitely make it again!
So I need to heat the pizza pan before putting the fixings on, 8-10. I have tried putting the dough in to let it rise and it doesn’t come out flat. Air bubbles.
This makes the best pizza crust I’ve ever had! Even the best pizza restaurant around doesn’t make it better.
My dough didn’t rise can anyone help? Thank you
Check the date on your yeast? Especially if you haven’t been keeping it in the fridge, but even if you have.
Does this recipe make a thick crust or a thin crust? If I double it will it be thicker? My husband and I love thick crust haha
Thanks for all the recipes Mel, you are my go-to website for any new recipe!!
Hey Nikki – you can make either thin OR thick crust with this dough. Works great either way!
Awesome, thank you!
Does it matter what type of oil you use? I only have olive oil..
Yes olive oil will work for this recipe.
Wondering if this dough can be frozen. I think I’ll make a double batch, because I want to be able to make several individual pizzas. Can I freeze the dough, uncooked? And if so, how long before it needs to be used? Thanks!
I like it best fresh (it develops a slightly different texture and more yeasty taste when frozen) but I think others have frozen it and liked the results.
Can this pizza dough be used to make other things?
What do you have in mind?
Just wondering if I can make this a couple hours ahead and leave it in the fridge?
Yep! Just take it out in time to come to room temp (much easier to shape the dough into pizzas).
Thank you for a great recipe! I made it tonight. I doubled the recipe and prebaked half of the crusts to save a step the next time we have pizza. Delicious!
I made this tonight and it was so good! Very easy to double and roll out. I can’t say they were the most beautiful pizzas, but my family loved them anyway
We’ve made this twice and absolutely love it! It’s so so easy (no hook so I knead by hand) and so quick! We had a tiny bit of dough left; I would love ideas for leftover dough. Breadsticks? Thanks for another easy, go-to recipe Mel!
Yes, I would say leftover dough would make great breadsticks (we often make them “cheesy breadsticks” – flatten out the dough into a thick rectangle, drizzle with olive oil and garlic and salt and then mozzarella and parm cheeses).
We love this pizza dough! The texture and chew is great and it’s so simple.
followed your recipe to a tee (using dough hook, Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, throughout entire mixing and kneading process) and got wonderful results. thanks so much for sharing this!
First time making this crust. Texture and flavor was great. The bottom didn’t even brown, I used a pan not a stone. Baked it at 450 in a convection oven. What did I do wrong???
Using a pan may not brown the crust as much as a stone – did you preheat the pan so it was hot when you put the dough on the pan? That might help.
We always use butter to grease pan and it browns real nice
I always put the pan in the oven when it’s heating. Crust is always perfect.
Do I need to wait for the dough to rise in the bowl before I roll it out? Or simply let it rest?
You can let it rise if you want, but following the recipe to let it rest in the bowl works great, too.
Thank you, thank you! I have been making pizza pies for the past 12 years and this has completely upped my game. I added more salt and incorporated better. This is the best!
Hi Mel, I couldn’t find instant yeast so just having to use dry active, how will this effect the recipe? Thanks so much, Belle x
Try proofing it in 1/4 cup warm water and a pinch of sugar until it is bubbling and foamy and then add it to the recipe.
How long does is usually take to proof in the warm water?
Just a few minutes.
If you add the honey you can be sure your yeast is doing its “job”. I just tripled this dough and am excited we can have pizza tonight….cooking them on the grill!
Made this tonight for dinner. Pizza dough was quick and easy to make, producing a light, crispy crust. My husband may never settle for store bought pizzas again!
I have tried lots of homemade pizza doughs and this one is my absolute favorite! Easy, quick and it was so soft and delicious! This is my go to recipe now! I deleted the others.!
This was the easiest and best recipe ever!!! I tried to leave 5 STARS!!! It is delicious and rose so beautifully!!! Will use this recipe all the time!!!
First time pizza dough maker, here! If you found this recipe, try it, you’ll like !! I made it in my Bella pizza maker (I took someone’s advise and sprinkled flour instead of oil in the appliance) and it came out perfect. Thank you for the post!
This is a great pizza dough and always really easy!
I like adding a scant tsp kosher salt + a healthy pinch of garlic powder (I don’t keep garlic salt on hand but Mel’s original recipe calls for it & previous commentors sang its praises) and about a tablespoon of dried Italian herbs (crushed in my mortar + pestle to release more flavor) to the kneading process and it makes things extra tasty 🙂
Also, for fellow Kitchen Aid mixer users, employ the paddle attachment for the mixing (until the dough comes together) and then the dough hook for the kneading portion. It will be much easier than trying to use the dough hook for the whole thing. 🙂
So, after many years of cooking, the perfect make at home pizza dough!!! THANK YOU MELS KITCHEN!!!! lotta years in pizza joints cooking, only thing could make this better is a little melted butter, say, 1/4 cup, adjust flour accordingly, ,,,wow!! its great
I’ve been making homemade pizza dough for 5+ years and your blog has been one of my go-to’s that entire time…so the burning question is why haven’t I tried this pizza dough before?! I made it last night and it’s life changing! I had homemade pizza, start to finish, in less than 1 hour!
So happy to hear that, Sam!
I make this every Friday that I’m home! I use it to make two thin crust pizzas. Sometimes I freeze the other half and it still tastes delicious! I just defrost and then let it rise on the counter for a few hours to warm up. I always use a pizza stone to cook. Thanks Mel!
Thank YOU, Jill!
I really appreciated how fast and easy this recipe made the dough-making process. I didn’t, however, care for the flavor of the dough, and neither did my family. I would leave out the honey and use about four times as much salt. The crust was mostly flavorless but the slightest bit sweet…not what we enjoy at all, though if that’s what you prefer for pizza dough/crust, knock yourself out! I will use this general recipe again with the instant yeast, etc.—so easy!—but will experiment with it in the future so it’s less sweet and has way more flavor.
This may be a ridiculous question but i have to all….do you cook the crust before loading it with toppings? Mine came out overcooked and then on the next try it was undercooked?
I don’t precook the crust…but a lot will depend on if you are baking on a preheated stone or on a sheet pan, things like that. What temperature are you using in the oven?
I saved this recipe to my “favorites” a long time ago and have been meaning to try it out for a while. I wanted a quick and easy dough for pizza but mostly for making homemade pepperoni rolls. ( I’m from WV and a pepperoni roll should be on our state flag!) I did the 50/50 with white and wheat flour and doubled the batch. It made 29 pepperoni rolls, stuffing each one with about 8 slices of pepperoni per roll. Baked them for 10 min at 450 and the juice from the pepperoni was smoking on the baking sheet, lol. I turned the heat down to 375 and baked another 5 min. They were great! I think next time I will try at 425 for 12 to 15 minutes because I really liked the crispy bottoms! I am gonna try it next as a pizza crust. This is a great recipe! and it really is quick and easy! Thank you!
Made this last night, it was so easy. It is the best pizza crust I have ever made! Hubby thought it was great too!
Hey Mel, have you tried freezing this dough before? Just wondering if it has any affect on the rising or end result in general. This recipe is so awesome it would be great to prep a large batch and have it ready in the freezer.
I haven’t done that in a long time, but it works pretty well. It tastes slightly more yeast-flavored coming out of the freezer and you really need to make sure it thaws fully and comes to room temperature before using, but it should work out pretty well!
Made this recipe tonight for guests and it was a hit. I made it early in the morning and let it rise most of the day, but worked great when it was time to roll it out. I doubled the recipe and got 2 large pizzas and 4 small mini ones! thanks
I’ve made several pizza crusts and they NEVER puffed up like this before!!! I was so excited it was rising. I accidentally made my house super hot because I kept opening the oven to “check” on it. Came out great and my daughter wouldn’t stop eating it!!!!
Thanks a trillion!!!!
P.s.
This will be the only crust recipe I make now
Hi Mel,
Can you make this dough without a dough hook (mixing and kneading entirely by hand)?
Thanks so much, and I am so grateful for all of your wonderful recipes!!
Annie
Don’t worry about answering, Mel—the pizza turned out fantastic!! Couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was, and I loved that I could get ALL of the cleanup done during the baking time!!! Major bonus!! Also, thank you for the tip about turning a baking sheet upside down for a make-shift pizza stone! I never would have thought of that!!
I don’t know what I or my family would do without you! You are a lifesaver!
Xxooxx,
Annie
Thank you so much, Annie! So happy it worked out!
Yes, you can definitely make this dough by hand!
Need to make things as low-carb as possible….will Splenda work in lieu of Honey? If not, if Honey is reduced to 1/2 T, will the recipe be affected (other than reducing sweetness of the dough)?
The honey is not for sweetening the dough. It feeds the yeast. The yeast consumes it and produces carbon dioxide to give the dough that nice puffy rise. Too little honey (or other natural sweetener) and the dough won’t rise. Splenda doesn’t work for yeast recipes.
You’ll have to experiment – I haven’t tried either of those changes!
A flour based dough won’t be remotely low carb anyway.
If it was good enough for Jennifer Garner….yummy for us too!
Congrats, BTW on the extra special exposure!
Thanks, Nancy!
I was really in a crunch one evening, and the Hubby wanted pizza for dinner. I don’t usually make pizza at home, but decided to give it a try. Of course, Pizza is a favorite around our house. Quickly I starting looking online and found this fantastic quick dough recipe and decided to give it a try. I love honey and whole wheat and what a difference it made in the taste. I can certainly say its one of the very best pizza dough recipes I’ve ever tried. And my Husband loves it!!! Thank You Mel.
Mel- thank you so much for this great recipe! I am only sorry it took me so long to find it. Came together so fast, and the result was a billowy, fluffy, chewy pizza dough. I used about two cups of unbleached bread dough and a little less than a cup of whole wheat flour- those were the only flours I had. I used agave instead of honey to make it vegan, and the flavor was perfect.
I used a pizza stoned and baked for 10 minutes at 475 F. Next time, I will either up the temp or cook for a little longer for a ever so slightly more crispy crust. Otherwise, super.
If I were to make individual size pizzas how many do you think it would make and should I use the same cooking time and temp?
I’m not sure – what size of pizza are you thinking for individual size? just a guess, but you might be able to get 4-5? I don’t know for sure, though. I’d use the same cooking temp but probably a few minutes less.
Oh, Mel! I made this recipe for dinner last night and my husband is still talking about how good it was! I think the crust recipe I have used for the last 8 years has finally been dethroned! It was seriously so good!! Can’t wait to make it again later this week!
Yay! Such awesome feedback!
Fastest, easiest, most delicious pizza dough ever! Following the recipe, I mixed all the ingredients in my food processor (used 1-1/2 cups of ’00’ flour & 1-1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour), baked it on a pizza stone in a preheated 500 degree oven & the result was the best pizza I’ve ever made! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
I have tried more crust recipes than I can count and FINALLY this is the one. Simple and quick and I like mixing in a bit of whole wheat flour. My husband (for 43 years) always eats right up to the edge of the sauce and leaves the crust on his plate and he has never liked my cheese sticks. Tonight he ate it all !! and said it was great!!! I don’t think he has just given up on me because I loved it too. My next biggest critics are the grandkids – can’t wait to try it with them.
Yay! Thanks, Ellen!
Hello. I have commented before. I normally make pizza pockets with this dough. But today, it was pizza for lunch. One of the kids said I should open a pizza shop. It’s great pizza-thanks to the dough
So there is no rise in this dough?
Rising isn’t necessary, but you can let it rise based on your own timing.
I made this last night for the first time. It was super easy and wonderful! I’ve tried different recipes over the years but none were as good or easy as yours! Easy to make, easy to handle dough, great tasting, husband approved! Thank you Mel for your great recipes! I’ve cooked for a long time and keep taking out my old favorite recipes for my new favorites; Mel’s!
Hi Mel — What do you mean by “if kneading by hand”? What is the other option? Thanks, Sarah
You can make it/knead it by hand or use a mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Thanks. So kneading really just means more mixing? I do have a bread hook on my Kitchen Maid. Does this mean in any bread recipe, in lieu of taking out of the bowl and “kneading” by hand, I can just mix more in the Kitchen Maid? Thanks again for your help.
Yeah, that’s a good question. Kneading is mixing once the dough has come together and forms a ball (so mixing to incorporate more flour wouldn’t technically be considered kneading). Does that help?
Yes, thank you! I made the overnight pizza dough last PM, and it was great. I couldn’t get it as thin as I wanted to, and I settled for a rectangle as opposed to a circle, but I’ll work on my technique, and the taste was fabulous.
It’s called “Kitchen Aid,” not Kitchen “Maid.”
Made this last night on a whim. Mel isn’t messin’ around. I didn’t try that hard, was sure I messed it up in the kneading process, but if I did you sure couldn’t tell. It was AMAZING. Just the right amount of sweet, salty, chewy, and crispy goodness you look for in a pizza crust. Ready to make it again tonight! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Excellent–just made them–pizza pocket/calzones style.
I like it–kids will try in a minute—I make a dough that requires overnight (18 hours to rest). It is good, but takes far too long.
This was great. These are going in school lunches Monday!! I am a father in the kitchen–getting better day by day….
You are amazing, Jim!
This is my go to recipe for pizza night. I add some extra seasonings to the dough and add our favorite toppings and my kids gobble it up! Thank you for sharing your recipes with us!
This is the quickest pizza crust recipe I’ve ever tried, and it’s delicious. A touch sweet and got nice and crispy on my pizza stone. Made 2 Med/Large pizzas with a thin crust. Thanks for sharing your recipe!! 🙂
Excellent crust. I have used this for Chicago style pizza as well with good results.
I have tried for years to make pizza and failed. With this recipe, success!
I thought this was very good crust, just curious how you put it on a pan & how thick. I double the batch & used two cookie sheets. On both sheets it didn’t quite cover all of it, but maybe I should have spread it out more. When I baked it, it was defiantly puffier crust, I think I’m used to more thin crust. Also the outside was getting crispy while the middle crust was still pretty soft. Taste wise was good!!
Works perfectly tastes great will be my go to pizza doaugh recipe!
do you ever use regular active yeast or always the instant? It’ll be my first time attempting to make the dough. I rarely do much cooking however, the reviews are so great I wanted to give it a go.
I always use instant yeast, but you can use active dry yeast (just proof it in water and a pinch of sugar until it is bubbly and foaming before using – no need to proof instant yeast).
Great recipe. Thank you.
Sounds great! Will use this week! Thank you!
OMG!!! Awesome recipe. Easy and fast. Made this recipe for family game night. It’s a winner.
I’ve made this for years now and it’s incredibly simple, delicious and impressive when I’ve made it for others! It’s crispy, just the right amount of airy, and all around great. Add some dried basil for a unique look/slight flavor, or some butter or oil on the edges to help it brown a little. I never leave reviews but this one deserves it for sure.
Tried this a week ago and it was the best crust I have ever made. So soft and pliable! Making again tonight for calzones. Thanks for the recipe, it will be the only one I need from now on.
This is the perfect pizza dough. Finally.
I made my first ever homemade pizza dough last week and unthinkingly used a recipe from another site. It called for bread flour and an hour’s rising time and still I soldiered on. Oh Mel, it was horrible. Well, it tasted fine but the dough was SO thick and just impossible to work with. It wouldn’t stretch without shrinking back. After fighting with it for awhile, I finally gave up and just baked this extra thick crust pizza. The next day I kept thinking “there’s gotta be a better way” and I thought “you dummy…check Mel’s Kitchen Cafe” so I did. I made this pizza dough recipe yesterday after church and we were eating pizza an hour or so later. It was a quick and easy dough to mix up, fantastic to work with and the finished product tasted delicious. Thank you!!!
Oh, the pain of using a recipe that is awful! I’m so sorry. But I’m glad you were able to find this one that worked better! Plus, your comment made me smile. Thank you!
So nice to try a blog recipe that actually works!! This is my new go to dough. I think it’d make a great garlic bread or cinnamon dessert pizza.
Mel- this is my FAVORITE dough recipe ever…. but can you also make it a DAY ahead of time? I’m bringing it to my sister’s Halloween party tomorrow to have all the kids make their own pizzas… but I’d rather make the dough a day early. Will that be okay? In the fridge overnight? Or on the counter?
Hey Jennifer – yes, you can definitely make this ahead of time, but when I do that (refrigerate overnight), I cut the yeast down by about 1/4 so it doesn’t overrise and get too yeasty-tasting, if that makes sense. Just take it out of the refrigerator a couple hours before making pizza so the dough isn’t cold.
This is THE best pizza dough recipe I have ever made. Full Stop! It turns our perfectly every single time, can be easily doubled and the dough is light, slightly sweet and delicious!!
This is awesome! Tastes great, quick and easy!
I finally made this for the first time last week and it was AWESOME. I made a few changes:
* Substituted maple syrup for the honey since that’s what I keep on hand for sweetener.
* Quartered the ingredients (yes, divided by 4) because it’s just for me as an occasional treat (don’t want leftovers), and I prefer my crust very thin.
* Used my 10 inch cast iron griddle, preheated in a 450 degree oven (I was afraid to go higher since I was already over the 420 degree limit on my parchment paper), and cooked it for about 10 minutes. It probably could’ve used a minute or two more, but it was still above and beyond all of the other crust recipes that I’ve tried over the decades.
Just, wow… Thank you!
I’ve been looking at making homemade frozen pizzas. Have you frozen this dough before using, and if so, would you par-bake it first?
I’ve only ever frozen it in a big mass – not already rolled out for pizza. But you could – if so, yes, I’d recommend parbaking.
AWESOME PIZZA!! So easy and the tips section is so helpful. Paired with my mom’s homemade pizza sauce. WINNER WINNER!
This is easy and perfect. Fantastic pizza dough that is now the only pizza dough we make.
I made this pizza and it was the best crust I’ve made in a long time! The taste and texture were perfect. 🙂
I made this pizza dough for my family and everyone loved it. The dough was thick, fluffy, and delicious, and baked very evenly. I am not a talented baker and really appreciated the foolproof and easy recipe and the short rising time!
I am looking for something different to sell at farmers markets and thought I might try pizza crusts. Would it work to sell the baked crusts and put into zip lock bags? I would appreciate your comments. Thank you. I adore your site Mel ! It is the greatest.
That’s a great question, Deb – to be honest, I’m really not sure! I have a feeling with homemade pizza, the baked crusts might get stale pretty quickly. Clever idea, though!
Hi. Was ready to try this, but it does not state HOW much it makes. For example, one 12″ pizza. I am unsure how much to make for my family….
The yield is above the recipe title. It makes one large (12-14 inches) or two medium pizzas.
Can you give me the temp for warm? About 112 to 115?
Yep, right around there. I usually use about 110 degrees.
I love that this is quick to make and uses easy ingredients. It tasted great too!