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Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Can an easy homemade pizza dough really be a thing? It can! Get that pizzeria-style chewy texture and flavor in your own home kitchen with basic ingredients and just an hour of your time.

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pizza dough on a counter top with pizza sauce

There’s not much of a choice for good pizza dough in Kentucky. We can’t buy it at the grocery store (our stores don’t make pizzas in house) and there’s only one “real” pizza shop within an hour of my house–Little Caesar’s doesn’t count, right?

So unless you want to use gross Pillsbury stuff from a can, to get the taste and texture of a good quality dough, you’ll need to make it yourself. Which you’ll be happy to know is not a problem at all.

Can easy homemade pizza dough be made ahead?

Yes! If you are short on time, mix this easy homemade pizza dough up the night before and then cover it and put it in the fridge. It will rise slowly there and you can just turn it out and roll it the next night when you need it. It will be fine!

You can also freeze balls of dough and thaw them overnight in the fridge for use the next day. Wrap any dough tightly in plastic wrap and then put it in to a zip lock bag or other storage container to lock out the air. Frozen dough can be stored in the freezer for a month.

This particular recipe makes one decently large ball of dough–enough to make a 16 inch pizza depending on how thick you like yours.

Ball of homemade pizza dough getting rolled out for sauce and cheese.

Tips for the best easy homemade pizza dough

  • You do need to use yeast. Yeah I know. Sorry. But it’s easy. If you’ve never done it before, check out my 3 Easy Steps to Activate Yeast for all of the details.
  • For the best stretchy/chewy texture use bread flour. If you don’t have that, just use all purpose and work it a little longer.
  • Your dough is ready to use when it has almost doubled and the dough springs back a bit when pressed. That’s about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the temperature of your house.
  • Use this dough as a base for pizza, stromboli, or for sweet desserts like zeppole or quick cinnamon rolls--the ideas are endless!
pizza dough on a counter top with pizza sauce

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza dough made from scratch makes dinner in even more delicous than your favorite takeout.
Prep Time 12 minutes
Rise Time 45 minutes
Servings 6 people
Author Rachel Ballard

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1 package active dry yeast about 2 1/4 teaspoons
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the yeast to the warm water along with half of the sugar from the recipe. Stir slightly then let the mixture sit until it just starts to foam–5 to 8 minutes or so. 
  • In a medium bowl, add the flour, remaining sugar, salt, olive oil and yeast mixture. Stir to combine, then use your hands to mash the mixture around in the bowl until a shaggy ball starts to form. 
  • Sprinkle the counter lightly with flour and knead the ball until smoother and more elastic–about 4 or 5 minutes. Place the dough back in the same bowl and drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil to keep the dough from forming a hard crust. 
  • Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until doubled or almost doubled–about 45 minutes or so. 
  • Use in your favorite recipes! For making pizza, roll out or use your hands to get the desired thickness. Bake at 425 with your favorite toppings until crispy and golden. 

Nutrition

Calories: 199kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 5gFat: 5gSodium: 293mgPotassium: 52mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gCalcium: 6mgIron: 0.4mg
Tried this recipe?Tag us on Instagram @feastandfarm and hashtag it #feastandfarm
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian

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About the Author

Rachel Ballard, RN, BSN brings more than 20 years of professional nursing expertise to Feast and Farm. With a love for nutrient dense foods that support wellness, she works to distill complex health information and current trends into recipes that fuel the best version of yourself. Read more about Rachel here.