This is an easy pizza recipe anyone can make! It’s a great for beginners and experienced chefs alike. I used 00 flour for its wonderful chewy texture, but you can substitute all-purpose flour too.
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 book Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day!
In this episode I visit Pleasant Grove 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. If you want to learn more about the pizza farm, check out my exclusive Q&A for Substack Extras subscribers.
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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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 3 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 tbsp active dry or instant yeast
- 1 tbsp kosher salt plus a pinch for topping
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 kg (8 cups) 00 caputo flour plus more for dusting
- Cornmeal for pizza peel (optional)
Toppings
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 lbs 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.
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
- 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!
I made just the dough part of the recipe. I have been making pizza dough every Friday for about 15 years and I was in search of a newer recipe. I only used 400 g of 00 flour and adjusted the other ingredients to keep the original ratio. This dough was fantastic to work with and very easy to make. I kneaded it in the kitchenaid for 8 minutes and then let it rise in a covered bowl for 2 hours. I then transferred to a floured surface, rolled into a ball, covered and let rest for 30 minutes. It was very easy to then spread into a 14′ pizza crust. I baked at 550F for 16 minutes and the crust rose perfectly. The texture was perfect. Next time I might add a bit more salt and some garlic powder to the dough.
Can I cut this recipe down to make 2 pizzas or at least in half? Prefer not to make too much and have to freeze. Thanks!!!
Hi, you can absolutely cut it in half! I make a half recipe every Friday and it works great. Cheers!
This is about the 9th dough recipe that I have tried and I don’t need to try any more! The dough was pliable and did not spring back when stretched. It had a nice fermented taste after just 3 hours at room temp. I used half and put the other half in the freezer after overnighting in the refrigerator. For those who have pizza ovens, I used 280 grams for a 12 inch personal pizza. Since I was using it same day I rose it for 2 hours at room temp, punched it down and let it rest, covered, at room temp about another 30 + minutes. It will likely be better after overnight in the fridge but it was great in my pizza emergency!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for leaving a review!
Love this recipe! I want to figure out how to freeze the dough and then thaw it out for use later. Has anyone frozen this dough and thawed it out later?
Hi Teacher Jill! We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe. There is a section in the blog post all about freezing dough. You’ll want to defrost it overnight in the fridge, then shape, rest, and bake as usual. Some people find that the dough is a bit dense if it’s frozen for too long, so try to use it within a month. Cheers!
Really good. We live in small town Kansas. On the rare occasion we ordered a carry out pizza, our only option was Pizza Hut. We had been disappointed with several orders and hadn’t ordered from them for some time. When Dominoes opened a store here, we tried their New York Style and rediscovered our love of pizza. I’m not sure if I had eaten a New York style crust until then. That’s what lead me to your recipe.
After reading several, I settled on yours. Not knowing if I’d like it, I quartered the quantities which turned out just about right for a 16″ round crust. Next time I’ll only cut in half and we’ll have pizza again in a few days.
I don’t have a pizza stone, my oven maxed out at 480, and I used bread flour. So, with those variations, I gave a $6 non-stick pan from Walmart a a quick spray on EVOO followed by garlic butter on the edges of the crust, then mozzarella, Italian sausage, pepperoni, green pepper and onion. About 15 minutes later, wow!
Maybe someday I’ll master uniform stretching of the dough and improve the already awesome results. Until then, this amateur is happy to keep eating practice pizza!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jim, we are so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to leave a rating/review, we truly appreciate it. Cheers!
Hi Zoe! On to pizza dough (which is rising as we speak) my question for you is I’m planning to use the dough balls next weekend and want to know if I should wrap the balls individually or in a sheet pan with plastic wrap over the whole thing (like in your video). Also before wrapping should I drizzle with olive oil or just have a good coating of flour so they don’t stick to the wrap? I will be using them Friday or Saturday. Thanks so much! You have no idea what an inspiration you are to me.
Hi Faith! Zoë suggests you wrap them individually so they don’t stick together and coat them in oil so they slip out of the zip-top bags easily. Enjoy!
Is this recipe ready to use as soon as the first 2 hour rising period is done or do I need to divide it and refrigerate it. Also, do you find the middle of the pizza is chewy or does it get fluffy like the edges? Thank you.
Hi Cindy,
After the initial rise you need to divide the dough and let the dough balls rest and rise for about an hour before making the pizza. The middle of the pizza will depend on what toppings you are using and how thin you’ve rolled the crust. If you roll it thin, then the middle will be crispy (as long as your toppings aren’t too wet).
Thanks, Zoë
When you are finished mixing the dough is it supposed to still be really loose and sticky? Usually when I mix my dough with my Kitchenaid, it balls up a little bit and allows me to pull it away from the hook.
Hi Mike, yes this is a high hydration dough and it is quite sticky after you mix. Once it does its 2 hour rest and then is refrigerated, it’s easier to use. I make this dough once a week and I just use olive oil on my hands when I shape it into balls for pizza. I hope this helps!
I followed this recipe the way it is written. I did let my dough ferment in the refrigerator for approximately 72 hours. I originally wrapped each dough ball with Saran wrap and then the next time I open the refrigerator the dough was busting out of the Saran wrap LOL. So I took the dough out of the Saran wrap and just put it in a big plastic tub in my refrigerator until I was ready to use it. It continued to rise like crazy! This makes a lot of dough. I would suggest cutting the ingredients in half if you’re not wanting to make 8 to 10 pizzas. Individual pizzas that is. If you’re wanting to make large pizzas two or three at a time, then amount given in the recipe should be good. If I make this recipe again I will add more salt. It was a little bit on the bland side for my tastes even after the 72-hour fermentation
My pizza dough also exploded overnight in the refrigerator though it was individually wrapped per instructions. Do you have any advice as to a better way to store it? The pizzas turned out great and the crust received many compliments. Thanks.
Hi. I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza. Next time, place the dough balls in larger bags. The yeast was very excited and needed to expand.
Enjoy! Zoë
When fresh this dough is beautiful, but after freezing, frankly, it’s not good. This is on me I have no doubt. What is the process for the thawing and use of frozen dough?
Hi JD, you’ll want to defrost it overnight in the fridge, then shape, rest, and bake as usual. Some people find that the dough is a bit dense if it’s frozen for too long, so try to use it within a month. Cheers!
This was by far the best pizza dough recipe I have tried. We had fun baking the pizza outdoors over an open fire on a baking stone in our firepit. The pizza was delicious! The recipe made more than we (party of two) could use so we froze a few pieces of it for future use. I have not tried this before so hopeful this approach is successful. Thanks again, Zoe, for another perfect baking recipe! We will be making this again very soon!
I’m looking forward to trying this pizza dough. I do not need all 8 pizzas at once and if I preserve them by wrapping in plastic and freezing, what is the process for thawing before using? Fridge, counter, how long, etc.?
Thanks so much!
Hi Kate! You can thaw frozen pizza dough in the fridge overnight before using. Enjoy!
I don’t usually post comments unless the recipe is true to its description and reviews.
I’ve tried so so many pizza dough recipes and yours truly is the most amazing one! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I will be scouring your website for other recipes and try them as well!
This is absolutely the best recipe. I made it last night for 13 peaple and cooked some of the crust to cut up for hummus. Excellent!
Easy and 00 flour is perfect.
Great recipe! Thank you.
I have got to the baking step but I cannot find a temperature to pre heat the oven on your page.
Hi Alyssa, you preheat the oven to your oven’s highest temperature in step 2. We hope you enjoy the pizza!
Fan favorite in our house! We make it all the time…it makes the best Focaccia . Works great on my pizza stone and my Fontana. Thank you, Zoe !
This was such a simple recipe for pizza dough. It was so amazing. I followed the instructions and it was the best crust. I even used it to make a calzone which was amazing too!!
This is our go-to recipe for pizza nights every Friday. I still haven’t gotten good at stretching it by hand so I always use a rolling pin. I also add pizza dough flavoring from King Arthur. Thanks for the easy recipe and helping use to build a family tradition!
We’re so glad to hear it! I actually do the same with my family. Friday night pizza is the best! Thanks so much for rating the recipe.
Tonight was my second time making this dough, the first was with ‘00 and this was with AP, both delicious! This will best go-to recipe for pizza parties or if we want to freeze up some extra pizzas for busy weeknights. This is a solid recipe, thanks Zoe!!
This was so easy to make and the dough was very easy to work with! Loved my pizzas!!