The Best Pizza Dough Recipe – video

Name: The Best Pizza Dough Recipe - video
Prep time: 14 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 335 g water (1 ⅓ cups + 1 tablespoon); 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast; 500 g Pizza Flour '00' (4 cups) (spooned and leveled, not scooped!*); 1 tablespoon sugar; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; more olive oil (to brush the edges of the dough and for working with the dough); fine semolina flour and regular flour (for working with the dough)

4 September 2024 By Aleksandra

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This is my favorite pizza dough recipe and the best recipe that you can easily make at home in a regular oven. It comes out so good with airy and crispy edges that you actually want to eat. The post includes a ton of tips and tricks on how to master making pizza at home!

A close up photo of pizza with salami, cheese, mushrooms, and olives.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make this easy recipe:

Italian 00 pizza flour makes the best pizza that has crispy and delicious edges. All-purpose flour will also work with this recipe (in the same amount) but it won’t be as good. The pizza dough using regular flour will be more dense and less crunchy while pizza dough made with 00 flour will have a more airy and crispy crust.
Instant yeast – is a type of yeast that doesn’t need to be bloomed or proofed, but we dissolve it in warm water so it incorporates better into the dough.
Sugar – is optional and some may argue has no place in a pizza dough recipe but this is what we like.
Olive oil – adds elasticity to the dough and helps make it crispier.
Salt – is essential for seasoning the dough and enhancing its flavor.
Additionally, you will need a mix of semolina flour and regular flour for working with the dough. Semolina flour is a coarse type of wheat flour. It prevents the dough from sticking and makes it crispy.

A close up photo of a cross section of a pizza crust on a wooden board. — Just look at this beautiful crust – crispy, yet airy.

Equipment

Pizza Stone – A pizza stone is a great buy because it helps you get a crispy crust at home. It heats up evenly and makes sure your pizza bakes just right. Plus, it doesn’t cost much, so it’s totally worth it if you love making homemade pizza.
Pizza Peel – A pizza peel is super handy for transferring your pizza to the oven without messing up the toppings or shape. While you can use a regular wooden board, a special wooden pizza peel is a much better option. I have an Ooni wooden pizza peel, and it really makes a difference because it has a smooth, polished surface, unlike a regular chopping board. This makes it much easier to slide the pizza into the oven without sticking.

How to make pizza step-by-step

Make the pizza dough

Yeast is added to water in a cup. Yeast water mixture is being stirred with a spoon.

STEP 1: Heat water to 100-102°F (38-39°C) and add the yeast. Stir until yeast is dissolved.

(335g water, 1 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon, 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast)

Yeast water mixture is being added to flour in a bowl. Roughly mixed dough in a bowl.

STEP 3: Add flour to a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and sugar.

(500g Pizza Flour ’00’ (4 cups), 1 tablespoon sugar)

In this recipe, it’s very important how you measure your flour. I’m using the ‘spoon and level’ method, so 1 cup of flour in my recipes weighs 125g. If you just scoop the flour out of the container, your 1 cup of flour will weigh 155g—30g more per cup! This recipe calls for 4 cups of flour, so when scooping your flour with a cup, you could end up adding an additional 120g, which is almost a whole cup!

I recommend using a digital scale for perfect and consistent results.

How to correctly measure flour: Fluff the flour by stirring it in the bag or flour container with a spoon. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level it off with the back of a knife.

STEP 4: Stir the dough briefly with a wooden spoon or by hand until all the ingredients are roughly combined.

Olive oil is being added to a dough. Loose dough in a stand mixer bowl.

STEP 5: Add olive oil and salt.

(1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons fine sea salt)

STEP 6: Knead the dough until very smooth—about 10-15 minutes by hand or 7-10 minutes with a mixer fitted with a dough hook. The dough should be very smooth and no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. If using a mixer, the dough will still be just a little bit sticky (but very smooth).

Pizza dough ball on the counter and in a metal bowl.

STEP 7: Transfer it to the counter, lightly grease your hands with olive oil, and use the fold-and-slap method (see video): lift the dough, fold it over, and repeat until it forms a smooth ball that is no longer sticky.

First rise

STEP 8: Grease the mixing bowl with a small amount of olive oil, put the dough in the bowl, and lightly grease it with olive oil.

Risen pizza dough in a bowl. Three dough balls covered with plastic foil.

STEP 9: Cover the bowl with plastic foil and put it in a warm place to rise, until at least doubled in volume, about 3 hours (I’m putting it in a turned-off oven with a light on).

You can adjust the amount of yeast and the rising time. The more yeast you add to the dough, the quicker it will rise. So if you’re short on time, you can speed up the process by adding more yeast. However, the less yeast you add and the longer the rising time, the better the flavor of the dough.

3/4 teaspoon – 3 hours
1 teaspoon – 2 1/2 hours
1 1/4 teaspoons – 2 hours
1 1/2 teaspoon – 1 3/4 hours
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) – 1 hour

Please note that the times are estimates, and it may take longer or shorter for your dough to rise, depending on the temperature, time of year, and where you place your dough.

STEP 10: Preheat the oven: Place a pizza stone in the center of the oven. Turn on the oven and set it to its highest temperature (it’s 570°F/300°C), if you have a convection setting, turn it on. Let the pizza stone preheat for at least 30 minutes.

Second rise

Proofed balls of pizza dough. Flattened pizza dough shaped into a circle topped with tomato sauce and chorizo ham.

STEP 11: Divide the dough into 3 parts. Shape all the parts into smooth balls and place them on a floured surface. Brush a piece of plastic foil with olive oil and place it on top of the dough balls (the olive oil will prevent the dough from sticking to the foil).

Let the dough rise for 20-30 minutes. It should increase its volume.

While your dough is rising again and your oven is preheating, prepare all the toppings, pizza sauce (preferably cold), and additional ingredients so you have everything on hand when the dough is ready. Once your dough is stretched into a circle, you need to top it very quickly.

STEP 12: Prepare your pizza: Generously flour your pizza peel (preferably wooden!) with a mix of fine semolina flour and wheat flour (any kind). Flour your hands and gently stretch the dough into a circle and place it on the pizza peel. Do not roll the dough with a rolling pin! Stretch it on your fists or gently pull with your fingers until it covers your pizza peel.

Gently brush the edges of the dough with olive oil trying not to drop any oil on the peel.

Gentry spread a small amount of pizza sauce onto your dough with a circular motion starting from the middle and working outward leaving some border (I don’t like to leave much border, the crust will rise considerably in the oven).

Top the pizza with the toppings of your choice. Do not add too many toppings, when it comes to pizza, less is more. Too many toppings on a pizza can weigh it down and it will be soft and not crunchy.

Bake

Make sure your pizza is ready to go into the oven and does not stick to the pizza peel. Shake gently with the pizza – it should move on the peel. If it’s not moving, it probably stuck to the peel and it will be difficult to transfer it onto the baking stone in the oven. Gently lift the edges of the pizza and sprinkle some of the semolina-flour mixture, making sure that the edges are not sticky. Shake gently with the pizza peel again making sure the dough is moving slightly. (If you still have problems with transferring the dough onto the pizza stone, check more tips below)

Open the oven and carefully slide the pizza onto the baking stone.

Bake until browned, about 5-6 minutes (it may take longer depending on your oven).

When nicely browned, take it out of the oven using preferably a metal paddle and transfer it to a cutting board.

Repeat with the remaining dough.

If you’re not eating your pizza right away and want to wait for the other pizzas to be baked, do not cut your pizza into slices. It will keep warm better, when not sliced.

Enjoy!

An overhead photo of a pizza topped with cheese, cranberries, chorizo, and basil on a wooden board.

Tips for transferring the dough from the peel to the baking stone in the oven

The material of the pizza peel – A wooden pizza peel works better than a metal peel. Also, a professional wooden pizza peel has a smoother surface than a regular chopping board, which helps the dough slide off the peel.
Make sure to sprinkle the pizza peel well with flour and semolina flour.
Ensure your pizza sauce and ingredients are cold (preferably) or at least cooled. Warm pizza sauce will warm up the dough, making it stick to the pizza peel.
If you’re still having trouble, try the pre-bake method: Shape your dough on the pizza peel and spread it with pizza sauce. At this point, it should be much easier to get the dough into the oven. Bake for 3-4 minutes or until just slightly firm, take it out of the oven, top with your toppings, then bake until done.

More Tips

If your cheese is browning too quickly and your dough isn’t browned and crispy to your liking, make sure your cheese is not pre-grated (starch is added to pre-grated cheese to prevent it from clumping, and it burns easily in the hot oven), is cold (grate it yourself and put it in the fridge), or even frozen! (Grate it yourself and spread it flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.)
If possible, please use a scale to measure flour and water. The ratios have been carefully selected after months of testing, and a little bit more or less flour changes the recipe. The dough from this recipe comes out slightly sticky and loose, but it results in a light and crispy pizza crust. Try to resist the urge to add more flour and just knead the dough longer—it will form a smooth dough ball, I promise.
An olive oil coating for the crust is optional but recommended; it helps the edges get nicely brown and crispy.
The order of adding ingredients is also important. The dough will rise better if the yeast is incorporated into the dough first, and the fat (olive oil) and salt are added later.

Toppings ideas for pizza

Here are some of my favorite pizza toppings that you may want to try:

my favorite pizza is very simple: thin slices of ham + salami + thinly sliced cremini mushrooms + sliced black or calamata olives + mozzarella mixed with provolone
my second favorite pizza – chorizo & cranberries pizza: thinly sliced Spanish chorizo ham or paprika salami + 1/4 cup dried cranberries (soaked in water for 10 minutes then dried) + 1 1/4 cups smoked scamorza or smoked gouda cheese
ham+grilled zucchini+black olives, when baked top with basil pesto
white mushroom pizza – white pizza sauce topped with sauteed mushrooms (recipe comes)
Chicken Fajitas pizza – topped with pizza sauce, sauteed bell peppers, and chicken breast strips seasoned with Fajita seasoning (you add raw chicken on the pizza and it cooks in the oven)
BBQ chicken pizza – topped with tomato sauce and chicken strips then drizzled with BBQ sauce and garnished with arugula
Ragu Bolognese Pizza – I haven’t tried making this one at home yet but love ordering it at restaurants – this pizza is topped with tomato sauce, and meat ragu sauce, and I’ve eaten it garnished with chopped nuts and burrata

Pizza dough on a marbe board. Jars with tomato sauce and flour in the background.

Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!