This is hands down the best pizza dough! It makes a New York-style pizza with a thin crust in the center and beautifully puffed on the edges. You will love this crust – it’s crisp, chewy and so satisfying. Make this and you will never want a store-bought crust again. And, you’ll be known for your pizza!
Unlike our Quick and Easy Pizza Dough (which is great if you’re in a hurry), this is an Overnight pizza dough. You can only get this kind of pizzeria-quality crust by letting it rest in the refrigerator and slowly rise overnight. It’s also easier than you think. Watch the video tutorial, and you’ll be a pro in no time!
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The Best Pizza Dough
This is a make-ahead pizza dough recipe that just gets better with time and it keeps really well refrigerated for at least a week. Here’s more good news: our classic red pizza sauce and creamy white pizza sauce also keep really well in the fridge so you can fire up a pizza whenever the craving strikes. An overnight pizza dough also makes throwing a pizza party stress-free and everyone will be super impressed by your pizza-making skills. P.S. This overnight pizza dough is also great for homemade Stromboli or even Calzones (i.e. pizza pockets).
Pizza Dough Video Tutorial
Watch the pizza dough video tutorial once and you will be a pro in no time.
The Secret to the Best Pizza Crust
Since most pizza dough recipes have the same ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast – it’s the process that makes all the difference. This pizza dough seriously tastes like it came out of a high-end pizzeria and in fact, most New York pizza doughs are fermented for at least 24 hours.
The pizza bosses of the world know the secret to an incredible dough is to let it rest and give it time to rise in the slow/ cold fermentation step. This process makes the dough much easier to work with and forms the coveted texture, rise, and bubbles at the edges.
What is the Best Flour for Pizza Dough?
You don’t need any fancy flours to develop a gorgeous crust. We used organic all-purpose flour for making pizza. Bread flour will work equally well if that is what you have on hand and it will give you a slightly chewier crust. You can substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour in equal parts.
If you want to make a more Neopolitan-style pizza, a “00” Flour is a great choice as well.
You can dust the pizza peel with the flour you are using to make the dough, or dust with semolina flour if you have it on hand. It’s what the pros use for easier transfer from the pizza peel to the oven.
Pro Tip:
Do not use too much yeast! Most ‘quick’ pizza doughs use way too much yeast which makes the crust doughy and causes the center of the pizza rise while baking. If you use too much yeast, you will never achieve that thin crisp crust in the center.
How to Make Overnight Pizza Dough
- Mix together water, salt and honey. Sprinkle with yeast and set aside 5 min then stir.
- Pour the water mixture over your flour and stir to combine with a spatula, then knead by hand for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise 4-5 hours at room temperature.
- Transfer dough onto a floured surface and divide in half. Fold each piece of dough 8 times (rotating book fold) and form a ball. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 7 days. Your dough is done.
Why Fold the Pizza Dough?
Folding the dough balls 8 times with the ‘book fold’ and turning the dough between each fold strengthens the gluten threads and traps carbon dioxide created by the yeast, which helps form those beautiful bubbles in the dough.
How to Form and Bake Pizza Crust
- Remove the dough from the fridge 1 hour before using then preheat the oven with a pizza stone in the center to 550˚F.
- When the oven is preheated, place room-temperature dough onto a floured surface and dust lightly with flour.
- Gently press the dough down in the center with your fingertips, then place the dough over the back of your knuckles with both hands together and roll over your knuckles, rotating around the dough as you go, keeping a 1″ thicker border. Place 10-12″ diameter crust onto a floured pizza peel.
- Add white pizza sauce or red pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Give the pizza a shake over your pizza peel to make sure it’s not sticking then immediately slide it from your pizza peel onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550˚F for 8-10 minutes.
Tools for Homemade Pizza
The right tools will make the pizza dough making the process even easier. It will also make you look like a pizza ninja to transfer your pizza from a pizza peel onto your hot pizza stone.
- Pizza Peels (a set of 2 makes the process easier).
- Flexible Food Scraper – to scrape the dough out of bowls and cut the dough in half
- Round Pizza Stone – to bake your pizza in the oven
- Pizza Cutter – the easiest way to slice a pizza
- Instant Read Thermometer – to check water temperature
Pro Tip:
If you are looking for fresh pizza topping inspiration, you’ll love the Tuscan Pizza we shared in Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook (it uses this same overnight pizza dough recipe)!
Can I Freeze Pizza Dough?
Yes! It’s very easy to freeze this dough, and once it’s thawed, it tastes just as good as freshly made. See our tutorial for How to Freeze Pizza Dough.
What to Serve with Pizza
Once you have mastered your pizza-making skills, you will want to throw a pizza party. Once you throw a pizza party, you’ll need sides to go with it. These are all great options:
- Avocado Ranch or Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Caesar Salad – a fresh and crisp green salad
- Avocado Corn Salad – so vibrant and satisfying
- Cobb Salad – beautiful and delicious
- Garden Salad – A restaurant-style side salad
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob – the juiciest way to cook corn
Overnight Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups warm water, 105-110˚F
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, (measured correctly) plus more to dust*
Instructions
How to Make Pizza Dough:
- In a small bowl, stir together water, honey, and salt then sprinkle the top with 1/2 tsp yeast and let sit 5 minutes then stir.
- Measure 3 1/3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture into the center then stir with a firm spatula until the dough comes together. Knead by hand 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 4-5 hours or until doubled in size.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface, turn to coat lightly in flour so it isn’t sticky then divide in half. Fold each piece of dough in half 8 times, gently pulling the sides over the center like closing a book, turning the dough each time and repeating for 8 folds. Form a ball in your hands and transfer each piece of dough to a lightly oiled bowl seam-side-down, cover and refrigerate overnight (18 hours) or up to 1 week.
How to Form a Pizza Crust:
- PREP: Remove the dough 1 hour before using to let it relax and come to room temperature. Before forming the pizza crust, fully preheat your oven so pizza can be baked right away. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550˚F. Also, lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings.
- When dough is about room temperature and oven is preheated, transfer 1 piece of dough to a floured surface, turning to lightly coat in flour. Pat the center of the dough gently with fingertips. DO NOT pop any bubbles present.
- Lift the dough over both knuckles and roll your knuckles under the center of the dough, working outward as you rotate the dough along your knuckles and leaving a thicker crust at the edge. Continue working the dough until a 10-12” pizza has formed. It will shrink slightly so make it a little bigger than you think. Place the dough down on a lightly floured pizza peel. Give the pizza peel a little shake to make sure the pizza slides over it and is not sticking.
- Spread on desired pizza sauce and toppings. Give the pizza another jolt to make sure it slides on the pizza peel (you don’t want it to stick while transferring it into the oven). Slide pizza onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550˚F for 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and some of the larger bubbles on the crust are lightly scorched to ensure a crisp crust.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Hi Natasha. I made the pizza and sauce. It was a hit. Even with hubby who broke his diet and had more than one slice. Thanks for sharing. My oven only goes to 500. I baked a little longer. How would you store leftovers. Thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! We stored leftovers in the refrigerator.
I made it today and it was yummy. Wish I could attach a pic. Thank You for your amazing recipes.
Thanks for your great feedback, Rabiya. You can share photos of your creation on our Facebook page or group!
This was so good!! Family loved it! I was born and raised in the south, but my husband is from NY. He has been raving about this pizza, I have to make it once a week! He would eat it everyday!! My question, can I make larger pizzas? Like 18”? I don’t mind making smaller ones, but we go through so much!! Thanks!!
I’m so happy to hear that Kim! I haven’t tried stretching it to 18″ but that may work with more dough!
Of course you can make more. Double the recipe and roll it out to a bigger size.
I wish I could give more rating stars to this recipe. Really amazing pizza dough, easy to make and delicious.
That is so nice of you, Sara. Thank you!
Second time making this dough and the recipe is spot on for NY style pizza. Really pleased with the way it rose and the ability to form the pizza. Well done
That is so wonderful! Thanks for sharing your experience making this recipe, Peter. We appreciate it!
I used to make pizza with other dough recipes but your recipe is much better, the pizza is great and yummy. Thank Natasha:)
You’re much welcome! Thank you for your great feedback, we appreciate it!
Hey Natasha, Can We Freeze The Pizza Dough If We Are Not Planning On Using It Straight Away?
Hi Sarah, yes you can freeze the dough. Freezing will work fine. To Freeze Pizza Dough: 1. Let the dough do it’s cold ferment overnight before freezing. 2. Lightly coat the dough with oil and transfer to a resealable freezer-safe zip bag and squeeze out the excess air then freeze up to 3 months. 3. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter and come to room temperature 1 hour before shaping.
My dough was too tight and wouldn’t stretch. Do I need to knead it more next time?
Hi Debbie, did you make sure to knead the dough by hand for 2 minutes initially and then fold the dough as shown in the video and photos above? Those two steps are usually enough to eliminate tough spots which are usually bits of dough that required more kneading. Also, oiling the bowls when refrigerating the dough helps for it to release easier so you don’t end up with tight folds of dough as you scrape it out of the bowl. I hope that helps!
Wow, I made this pizza and now I feel like a master pizza maker. This is the best pizza dough I have ever had. Three days in the fridge and it was perfect.
Thanks!
Fantastic! Great job, Brian and thanks for choosing this recipe to try. So glad you loved it!
Any reason not to prepare the dough in the food processor?
Hi Sharon, it isn’t necessary and you would risk over-mixing.
Thanks Natasha for your reply. I made this recipe a while back and it turned out fantastic! My family has been asking for it ever since. I thought the food processor would’ve kept things cleaner, but so glad you saved me from over mixing the dough. We’ll be making pizza dough this week for our next build-your-own pizza night. We love your fun food videos, and quirky humor. Every dish we’ve made has been a hit and so love how you keep menu planning fun! 🙂
Hello Sharon, thank you so much for your kind words and great feedback. Please let us know how it goes the next time you make this recipe. Take care!
Hi Natasha !!
Maybe I did something wrong
But when I fold the dough like you do (like a book)
It’s shatters in the center, like I’ts too dry
I followed your recipe to the letter
Thaks in advance
I love your recipes !!
Hi Andre, sorry it did not work out for you and I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. The liquid to dry ingredients proportion is accurate and make sure you aren’t substituting with a different type of flour. Check out our post on how to measure ingredients – measuring flour the wrong way can result in 25% more flour than you need. Also, make sure your yeast is not expired and be sure not to overheat the dough while it proofs or it can deactivate and kill the yeast.
A big thank you Natasha
Your video made me understand my mistake
In fact I filled the cup with flour even the bag (compacted cup)
So my dough was too dry, that’s why it broke when I folded it
I’m so glad that was helpful!
Hi Natasha,
My name is Selena. I made your pizza dough and trying four or five different ones yours is a keeper. It turned out fantastic.
My question is, can this pizza dough be frozen, if so for how long?
Thank you.
Selena
Hi Selena, you are welcome to freeze this dough, you can let it ferment in the fridge after it thaws, but I would recommend using in within a couple of days for the best results. I haven’t tried storing it for more than two days so I can’t say a week will work.
Hi there – in regards to freezing, can you freeze after fermenting or do you suggest freezing after the initial rise? This recipe is a huge hit at our house!
Hi Selena, you are welcome to freeze this dough, you can let it ferment in the fridge after it thaws, but I would recommend using in within a couple of days for the best results.
Hi, I don’t have a pizza peel. I can use an inverted baking pan to keep the pizza on but can it be put in with parchment paper or without. Will it stick on without greasing it or without parchment paper?
Hi, I would do it without parchment paper and instead sprinkle the baking pan with semolina or flour to keep it from sticking.
I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet and it was amazing.
That’s so great!! Thank you for sharing that with me Brian!
Hello Natasha,
Have just discovered your website and am loving the videos.
I made the pizza dough recipe and we cooked it in our pizza oven, also mad your white pizza sauce. It was the best pizza ever…we are chuffed with the recipe and will be using it from now on.
So, cheers and thank you so, I’m from New Zealand🤗
Had your cheese and chicken fritters today for lunch…also a success…next on the list is churros…
Lol, Ady
Hello Ady, thank you for sharing that with us. So great to know that you enjoyed this recipe! I hope you will also love the recipe for churros, enjoy!
Very good taste. I had a hard time getting off pizza peel I had two much flour on bottom and didn’t brown. Any suggestions
Hi Janet, make sure to sprinkle the semolina flour onto the pizza peel and do not overload the pizza or it is more likely to stick. Try semolina, I think you’d enjoy that better.
Hi Natasha my aunt uses your crust to make pizza all the time in my village and it tastes amazing.
That’s so great Zainab! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!
Hi Natasha, I made this pizza recipe and loved it, the only thing is that the cheese gets brown too quick before the crust is done, so my crust came out looking too pale, what do you recomend?
Hi Carolina, you might need to turn down your heat. Normally, the crust will rise and bubble up and those are the areas that can scorch with hot spots in the oven, so it could also be that the crust needed a little more time to proof. Make sure to let it rest and chill for the times specified in the recipe. I hope that helps with troubleshooting.
Hi Natasha! I don’t have a pizza stone and using only steel pan, do I need to still preheat it
Hi Grace, yes, you can use your pan and you will need to preheat it. That should work great! I recommend reading through the comments for some tips also, our readers have the best ideas!
Hi Natasha
I loved your pizza dough recipe. The crust tasted great. The only challenge I had was the center being too thin and not able to hold up the toppings. What can I try to have a perfect center without tipping falling off when slicing. Thanks so much
Hi Ling, that step where you roll the dough on your knuckles is the most important with regard to the thin center. Make sure to work your hands outwards as you roll the dough on your knuckles so you don’t think out the center too much.
This truly was the best pizza dough ever! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Desi!! Thank you for that wonderful review!