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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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
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.
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