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
Two Years Ago: Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Three Years Ago: Snickerdoodle Brookie Bars
Four Years Ago: Little Toasted Coconut Lime Bars
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
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.
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