Quick Pizza Dough
Take your pizza parties to a whole new level with this Quick Pizza Dough. Way better than store-bought and quick and easy to make too. Trust me, this 6-ingredient pizza dough will definitely impress your family and friends!
Try my simple flatbread pizza or a whole wheat pizza dough next!
Best Pizza Dough
Mike and I were recently talking about our fav meals (cuz that’s what you do when you’ve been married forever and have an empty nest), and agreed that pizza is top of the list. Like tip top!
We still like to go out for pizza, as well as order in. But making it homemade is about as good as it gets. Sometimes we make it on our BGE (Big Green Egg), which is pretty fun as a family event. But we also love it in our cast iron skillets
Let’s get this pizza party started! 😀
Ingredients needed for Quick Pizza Dough:
- Yeast – I use Red Star Active Dry Yeast.
- Sugar – Just a pinch helps to activate the yeast.
- Water – Water temp is important. Make sure it is warm, but not hot.
- Salt – Kosher salt for the win.
- Oil – Olive Oil is the perfect healthy fat for this dough.
- Flour – I highly recommend bread flour for a perfectly chewy texture.
Note: You can definitely make this recipe by hand instead of using a mixer. It will take a little bit more time and some arm strength, but it can be done.
How to make homemade pizza dough:
Step 1
Activate the yeast. Using a large standing mixer, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water. Take a spatula, and stir it around a couple of times. Then let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the yeast activates. You should see a bubbly mixture when it’s ready. See below.
Step 2
Add flour to desired consistency. Start by adding about three cups of flour to the mixer. Let the mixer run, and occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Gradually add more flour until you get a nice dough consistency. It should be slightly sticky, but easy to handle.
Step 3
Let the dough rise. Grease a large bowl with canola or olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball. Then place it in the bowl, and cover it with a clean dishtowel. Place the bowl in a quiet corner of your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size. The rise may be different each time, and will vary depending on where you live.
Step 4
Use dough for pizza crusts. Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into desired shapes. This recipe should make about three pizzas depending on what you want to do.
Step 5
Prepare for baking. Add the pizza dough to pans or pizza stones. Add desired pizza toppings to the dough.
Step 6
Bake. Bake pizza(s) in a preheated 500 degree oven (or a grill) until done (time varies according to the method). The bottoms should be slightly browned, and the tops a nice golden brown.
Some favorite pizza toppings are on the blog!
- White Sauce Pizza Recipe – The sauce is smooth and velvety and I hope you try it!
- BBQ Chicken Bacon Pizza – So many delicious flavors together.
- Skillet Pesto Tomato Pizza – Our favorite meatless pizza. The pesto is KEY!
- Taco Pizza Recipe – The pizza we ate when we were dating eons ago. So good!
- Homemade French Bread Pizza – Making your own French bread is key, and it freezes well.
- Stay tuned for more!!
Pizza Sauce from Scratch
A quick 15 minute pizza sauce is definitely worth it. You can store it in the refrigerator for a week or two and it freezes well too. You choose if you want to add it to your pizzas chunky-style or smooth!
We also love using homemade basil pesto sauce for pizzas too!
Recipe Tips
- When you add the warm water to the yeast and sugar – be careful to use WARM water, not hot. If the water is too hot, the yeast will disappear and you can’t make pizza dough without yeast. Also, do not use cool water because it won’t activate the yeast.
- Don’t add all the flour at once because every baking day is different. Some days you will need a bit more flour and some days, you will need less.
- The dough shouldn’t be overly sticky when ready. It should bounce back slightly to the touch. Over time, you will learn exactly how much flour is needed to make the ultimate pizza dough.
- Unlike french bread and cinnamon rolls, this dough only needs to rise once.
- When done cooking, the bottom of the crust should be slightly brown and crunchy.
* Note: Depending on where you live, the temperature outside your house and/or inside your house, you may need more or less time for the dough to rise. Experiment a bit, and if the dough is ready too far ahead of time, place it in the refrigerator for awhile.
If it’s not ready to bake when you want it, place the bowl over another bowl of warm water for awhile. Alternatively, you could start the oven on a low temp, turn it off, place the dough in the oven for a bit to get it moving along.
Happy pizza making! 🙂
Kitchen Tools Used for this recipe:
- Bosch Universal Mixer – The mixer I’ve used for years, and perfect for bread making.
- Glass Mixing Bowl – Used to let the dough rise.
- Cast Iron Skillet – I use a variety of sizes for pizza. This one is pretty large.
I also use Red Star Active Dry Yeast. (This is a very large amount. I keep a bunch in the freezer, and it lasts a long time.) We have perfect bread-making weather here in Texas, and my bread always rises pretty quickly. You may need a Quick Rise Yeast, depending on where you live.
xoxo ~Sue
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon yeast – I use Red Star
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/2 cups warm water – not hot, not cold
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
Instructions
- In a large standing mixer, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Be careful to use WARM water, not hot. If the water is too hot, the yeast will disappear and you can’t make bread without yeast. Mix and let sit for about 15 minutes to get the yeast working. You should see little bubbles in the water.
- Add the oil and salt and stir with spatula. Attach dough hook to mixer and add about half of the flour. Start the mixer and let the flour absorb.
- Gradually add more flour, a little bit at a time until the dough is less sticky and pulls away from the sides of the mixer. You want the bread dough to be slightly sticky, but not too much. When you touch the dough, it should bounce back slightly. Be sure to leave the mixer on for several minutes after you get the right consistency.
- Grease a large bowl with canola oil. Add dough to the bowl, making sure you smooth it into a ball, by punching it down – starting in the center of the dough. Place dough with smooth side up and cover with a clean towel. Let the dough double (approximately) in size.
- Once doubled, divide it into three sections. Grease cast iron skillets (or any pizza pans), and flatten dough into crust, smoothing it and pushing it up the sides of the pans part way. Cover with towel and let the dough sit for 20 minutes before adding pizza toppings.
- Bake pizzas in hot oven – 500 degrees – for about 15 minutes or until done to your desire. This time may vary if you grill your pizzas depending on the grill and the temp you use.
This is sooo good! Thanks so much for this recipe. I make pizza about once a week and this was a new crust for us to use. My whole family commented on how they loved the texture and it was simple to make with your directions.
So glad to hear, Lisa!
Hello! Does anyone know if you can freeze the pizza dough balls before baking them?
I have frozen pizza dough with luck, Jessa. However, I think it turns out better if you make the dough a day or so in advance and just store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it. It will need a little time to come to room temp after removing from the fridge. Good luck!
Just submitted a comment and realized I forgot about the cast iron skillet. Great surface for baking homemade pizza!
Yes indeed!
Great chewy texture with a crunchy edge – the best kind of crust! The baking surface matters so be sure to use a stone or a pizza steel. I love the taco pizza recipe included on this site! Have a pizza party with a variety of toppings!
The perfect pizza dough every single time!
Can this be made in a bread maker?
I can’t say if it does as I haven’t tried using a bread maker.
Very Good! Also used dough to make cinnamon bread sticks. YUM!
What a great idea! Thanks for your feedback, Robin! 🙂
I’ve had great success with this recipe. I’m also toying with sourdough. I have a lot of discard, and was hoping to use it here, but not recreate the wheel. Could you please suggest how I could use it in your recipe?
I am just now getting into sourdough myself, so I don’t think I can give you great advice on it yet. Stop back in a month or so! 🙂 Good luck Kim.
So easy to make & not to mention SUPER YUMMY!!!
Yay! I think I know what ya’ll are having for dinner tonight!! 🙂
Can I make this pizza crust by hand
Yes, you can make this crust by hand. I’ve never done it, but with some patience and some arm strength, you can kneed it by hand. Just make sure you add the flour slowly. Good luck!
Nothing beat fresh homemade pizza dough! This looks great!
Thanks Boyd! I just made it again yesterday. 🙂
This is awesome and EASY pizza dough. I’ve done a lot of research on pizza doughs for our family wood fired pizza night and this one is perfect. I can start the dough at the same time that I fire up my Kamado grill – no overnight prepping and the crust turns out just right every time. I’ll use this simple recipe every time!
Thanks Dave! Glad everyone enjoyed it. We love how easy it is too! 🙂
Yummm! My family inhaled the pizza! I agree with Mike – the cast-iron skillet is the way to go!
I have a bunch of cast iron over here if you ever need to borrow! I’m so glad you had a successful pizza night, Cathy! 🙂
This is an awesome recipe and it’s only 6 ingredients! If you can find a cast iron skillet, it will take the taste and enjoyment to another level. Good luck!