This is an easy pizza recipe anyone can make! It’s a great one for beginners and experienced chefs alike. I used 00 flour for its wonderful chewy texture.
You truly don’t need much to create amazing pizza at home, and it starts with great pizza dough. This is such a simple recipe that provides wonderful results every time. High-quality ingredients are also really important to making your pizza restaurant-quality. So go for the good stuff and don’t overload your pizza with toppings!
Check out more favorite recipes for beginners here! Or, check out another simple and delicious pizza recipe made in a cast iron skillet!
This is the 00 flour pizza dough recipe I make in episode 7 of my show, Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network and it is adapted from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book!
In this episode I visit Pizza Farm to learn their secrets to making great pizza, then head home to host a backyard pizza-making party of my own, complete with my very own backyard pizza oven.
Video: How to Mix Homemade Pizza Dough
In this video you can see how I mix the pizza dough and then shape it into balls after resting.
Pizza Dough FAQs
- Can I use any flour for the pizza dough? Yes! The recipe below calls for 00 flour, which I love for its texture, but you can substitute with all-purpose flour. Doing so will change the texture of the pizza dough and the pizza itself. If you use all-purpose flour, you will want to go with a high protein flour like King Arthur.
- What temperature should the water be for the dough? I call for lukewarm water, and recommend it to be around 100 degrees F. Water that’s too hot will kill the yeast and too cold will affect the rise time.
- Can I store the pizza dough? Yes! This pizza dough can be made ahead of time, which is part of what makes it so great. You can store the dough in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for up to two months (see below for more information on freezing dough).
- Do I need a pizza oven? I love my pizza oven, but this recipe can just as easily be made in your oven. You’ll want to bake it at a high temperature and preheat your pizza stone or pizza steel.
- Do I need to put corn meal on the pizza peel? The corn meal adds nice texture and helps the dough slide off the peel. You don’t need it, but you’ll want to use something in its place like parchment paper to keep the dough from sticking if you choose to skip cornmeal.
- Does the pizza dough need to rise before baking? Yes! This is a pretty fast-rising recipe, but you will need to let it rise for 2 hours before it can be used.
- What toppings are best for homemade pizza? Anything and everything! One tip is to avoid overloading your pizza. I also recommend using chunks of fresh mozzarella spaced out to give it space to melt!
- Pizza dough tip: This recipe is also amazing as a focaccia.
Freezing Pizza Dough
When you freeze pizza dough it kills off some of the yeast. The longer it is frozen, the more yeast die off. Here are some things to consider if you are freezing the pizza dough.
If you had a pizza party and just want to freeze the remaining dough, it may or may not result in a successful pie once it is thawed. So, plan ahead for freezing! If you know you are going to freeze the dough, these steps will help you have a successful pizza once the dough thaws.
- Use Active Dry yeast, instead of instant or fast-acting. Active Dry takes longer to activate and will survive in the freezer better than those that activate quickly.
- Use cool water when mixing the dough, which also slows down the activation of the yeast. This will allow more of it to survive in the freezer.
- Increase the amount of yeast by about ¼ tsp, because more is better in the freezer.
- Freeze the dough after it has had its first rise in the bowl and right after forming into dough balls. Don’t let it rise a second time or the yeast will be too exhausted to rise after being frozen.
- Don’t freeze endlessly. Once the yeast is activated in the dough, it doesn’t love going dormant again, so use it within a couple of weeks.
- Once you defrost the dough balls, don’t let them over proof, since they are working on depleted yeast to begin with.
Be sure to use a large enough zip-top freezer bag to allow for the dough to expand.
Homemade Pizza Equipment
There are a few items I swear by to make the best homemade pizza, including a good pizza stone. Bonus points if you get a pizza peel! Check out all my pizza making equipment in my Amazon shop! These are the must-haves:
- A nice dough bucket with a lid makes it easy to mix your ingredients and store your dough. You need one that has a lid but isn’t airtight, and this dough bucket is my favorite.
- You’ll want a pizza stone or a pizza steel to give your pizza a nice browned bottom. A preheated pizza stone makes a huge difference for your crust.
- This is my favorite pizza peel for easily sliding your pizza in and out of the oven.
- Pizza oven for the ultimate backyard pizza party. This is the wood fired oven I have and love it!
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups (710g) lukewarm water
- 3 tbsp (42g) olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 2 1/4 tsps (1 packet) active dry or instant yeast
- 1 tbsp kosher salt plus a pinch for topping
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 8 cups (1000g or 1 Kilogram) 00 Caputo flour plus more for dusting
- Cornmeal for pizza peel (optional)
Toppings
- 2 cups (454g) tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 lbs (680g) fresh mozzarella
- 1 bunch basil
Instructions
Mix and store the dough
- Put the water in a 5-quart bowl or in a lidded (not airtight) plastic food container and add the olive oil, yeast, salt, and sugar. Or use a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the dough attachment. Then add all of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon, dough whisk, or the mixer. Cover with a lid (not airtight). Allow the dough to rise at room temperature, approximately 2 hours. If you chill the dough after this step, it may make it easier to shape the dough balls, but it is not necessary. If you choose to shape right after the 2-hour rise, just be sure to use plenty of flour!
Shape the dough balls
- After rising, divide the dough into 8 equal balls. For each ball, pull up and cut off a half-pound (orange-sized) piece of dough, using a serrated knife or kitchen shears. Hold the piece of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the dough a quarter-turn as you go to form a ball. Most of the dusting flour will fall off.
- Refrigerate the dough balls, each wrapped well in plastic wrap, and use over the next week, or freeze for up to 2 months.
On Pizza Day
- Remove the dough balls from the refrigerator 1-3 hours before you want to use them. Prepare and measure your toppings in advance. This will help you top the pizza quickly so you can get it into the oven before it sticks to the pizza peel.
- Position a baking stone in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to its highest temperature.
- Prepare a pizza peel with flour, cornmeal, or parchment paper to prevent sticking when you slide the pizza into the oven. Sprinkle the surface of one of the refrigerated dough balls with flour.
- Roll out and stretch a pizza crust: Flatten the dough with your hands and a rolling pin on the counter or directly onto the pizza peel to produce a 1/8-inch-thick round, dusting with flour to keep the dough from adhering to your work surface. Use a dough scraper to “un-stick” the dough as needed, and transfer it to the prepared pizza peel if you haven’t stretched the dough directly on one. When you’re finished, the dough round will be about 12 inches across, and should have enough flour under it to move easily when you shake the peel. As you add the toppings, continue to test for sticking by gently shaking the peel. The pizza should move freely. If it doesn’t, use the dough scraper and some flour to un-stick it.
- Add the toppings: Spread 1/4 cup of tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edges, then add 3 ounces of mozzarella and several basil leaves, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. We prefer using well-spaced chunks of cheese, which gradually melt and spread (giving the crust a longer opportunity to crisp before toppings burn). Drizzle a little olive oil over the pizza.
- Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone: Place the tip of the peel near the back of the stone, close to where you want the far edge of the pizza to land. Give the peel a few quick forward-and-back jiggles and pull it sharply out from under the pizza. Check for doneness in 8 to 10 minutes and turn the pizza around in the oven if one side is browning too fast. It may take up to 5 more minutes in the oven. Allow to cool slightly, preferably on a wire rack, so that the cheese sets.
- Repeat with the remaining 7 dough balls and toppings.
Rate and Review!
- If you've made this recipe, please leave a rating and review! I love to hear how you've adapted my recipes to your own tastes, so please share how it went for you. It helps other people find my recipes. Thank you!
Notes
Adapted from “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day Recipe: The Homemade Bread Revolution Continues” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François © Thomas Dunne Books, 2011. Provided courtesy of Zoë François. All rights reserved.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Do you knead the dough, or for how long do you mix? I mixed with dough hook in KitchenAid until smooth ball. I think I may have messed it up???
Hi Pamela, this dough does not need to be kneaded. It simply needs to be mixed until all flour is incorporated!
Ive been trying various dough recipes. This was perfect! Rise was great, easy to handle and crisp.and delicious. Perfecto!
This recipe is FANTASTIC. It turns out every time, it’s so easy to stretch and it can’t be beat flavor wise. We bake it on our Traeger and it’s . It’s become a family staple.
Hi Jac, we’re so thrilled to hear you and your family enjoy this pizza dough recipe! Thank you for letting us know. Cheers!
Wonderful and easy recipe. I have made this several times to rave reviews.
The best, most versatile dough I’ve made; and I’ve been working on this for some years. Easy to form and bakes best in high heat ovens.
I tried to make this yesterday. The dough came out really sticky. I followed the recipe to a tee. I weighed the flour to make sure I was including the correct amount. I tried adding more flour, but it never stopped being sticky. What did I do wrong? Any suggestions?
Hi Kimberly! This dough is very wet, so naturally it does seem quite sticky. Did you experience this after it chilled? Chilling does help make it easier to work with. Also, make sure you’re using plenty of flour when you’re handling it. I hope this helps!
I couldn’t get to the refrigerator part because I couldn’t get the dough to make balls at all. The dough was sticky and did not hold a shape at all.
After the dough rises on the counter, you’ll want to chill it before making dough balls. That will allow the dough to be easier to work with. When you do make the balls, make sure you’re using plenty of flour to help shape them. Please do let us know how it goes if you try again and you’re still having trouble!
If the dough needs to be rest to be usable (due to how runny and sticky) please adjust the recipe to state that. As is right now, the recipe says to form the balls of dough after 2 hours of rise at room temperature without chilling.
Hi Rebecca, chilling after the initial rise is optional, but will likely make the dough balls easier to shape. I added a note to the step!
Hi Kimberly! Zoë created a few videos to help with mixing and shaping the dough so you can see what it should look like. I’ve added them to this post. I hope they are helpful!
Thank you for the suggestions. If I try it again, I will let you know how it goes. Thank you.
Hi love this recipe but if I make pizza dough around 10am can I leave out all day until I’m ready to use it should I put in fridge? Thanks
Hi Michelle! If you don’t use it right away after the initial rise, you’ll want to refrigerate it. You can make dough balls about an hour or 1.5 hours before you use them.
Thanks for the pizza dough recipe! We used this making pizzas the other night as we watched UW-River Falls’ Football team win in the national championships! Pizza and football made for great memories! Love how this can stay in the refrigerator and you can make them whenever you wish!
Really great recipe with perfect instructions. For our taste we we add:
6 Tbs of Garlic Powder
6 Tbs of Oregano or Perfect Pinch
Italian Seasoning
Need aassistance with my oo dough it is very dry. Suggestion on how to fix my dough, please! Thanks
Hi! What brand and type of flour did you use and did you use weights when you measured?
We make this dough all the time! My husband used AP flour. He has made blueberry focaccia with the dough that is a family favorite. Also made loaves of bread with the extra from making pizza.
Blueberry focaccia sounds amazing! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe.
Tried several recipes. Stopped looking when I tried this recipe. Wonderful! Put this one in my recipe book! Honestly, thank you. I cook. I cook with love. I cook because I’m a people please hence nurse lol, I cook as a hobby, a stress reliever, all of the above! Awesome recipe and TY for sharing : )
Hi Vanessa, thank you SO much for coming to leave a rating and review. We are THRILLED that you enjoy the recipe. Cheers!
Love this recipe! Super easy with fantastic results! It has the perfect mix of lightness and chew and holds up great to toppings, and we tend to load them on! Delicious!