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
I don’t have a pizza peel, is it possible to assemble the pizza on the pan first?
Hi Yvette, it’s best on a pizza stone, but a regular pan will work great also.
I made this a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely perfect. Thanks so Natasha.😋
You’re welcome, Rick. Thank you for your review, I’m glad it turned out great!
Your instructions says to bake at 550° for 8 minutes.
My oven only goes up to 450°.
If I cook my pizza at 450 for about 13-14 minutes, will I get the same texture as what you get and what restaurants serve?
PS great looking recipe….
Hi Erwin, the closer to 550, the better. Four hundred fiftymdegrees will still work, but it will require slightly more time in the oven.
I see you have a number of pizza dough recipes. Would you suggest one over the other? I just need a simple and basic crust. I have a recipe now but I’d like it to be more restaurant quality.
Hi Amira, this is our go-to pizza dough.
Can I use sugar instead of honey? If yes how much? Thank you
Hi Jenny, yes it can be substituted with 1 tsp of sugar.
Hi Natasha! This is always my go to recipe, it really is the BEST pizza crust.
Question, am I able to divide the dough into two right before making the pizza or is it necessary to divide it before folding it and putting it in fridge?
Thank you!
Hi Ann, it is necessary to divide the dough ahead of time. If you cut into it after it has rested, you will ruin some of the bubbles and it will be difficult to form into even pizza dough disks.
I have a question before making this recipe that sounds delicious and exactly what I’ve been looking for. Can I pre-bake the dough, then put on the toppings and finish baking the pizza? I’m sorry if this question was already asked, I went through quite a few of the comments and didn’t see it. Thank you Natasha, I love your recipes!
Hi Joanne, that may work, although I don’t pre-bake the crust. Otherwise, it may burn by the time the toppings are done. I hope this is helpful!
Joanne, I almost always par-bake the crusts. I shape the crust and then bake for about 1 minute then pull it out of the oven and out on a cooling rack and put in the next crust to par-bake. Once I have par-baked all the crusts then I start dressing them and cooking them. Without the par-baking I often end up with trouble getting the pizza off the peel and onto the stone. I end up with Calzone if I am lucky, or just a mess. I have also sometimes frozen any left over par-baked crusts and used them another day.
Hi Natasha,
Yes, I have made my own pizza,cust and sauce. Since I saw your recipes couple years ago, it is yours I make most of the time now. Love both no -cook tomato sauce and white sauce which is wo flavorful an delicious. Thanks again for your great recipes and videos!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Karen! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
This really is the best crust! I don’t have a pizza stone, but I use a 15″ Wilton non-stick pizza pan with the whole batch of dough, bake it at 425 for 20-25 minutes. The inside is soft, the outside is crispy & chewy. I recommend letting the dough chill in the fridge for 3 days to develop the flavor. Thanks Natasha for another great recioe!
Great to hear that it worked great, Cheryl. Thank you for your review!
Hi Natasha,
When I first made this, the dough was sticky just like in your video. And it tasted great! The 2nd time, the dough was firm so I added alittle bit of water to get the dough to be softer. Should I have done that? I just made the dough again today and same outcome. I measure the flour the same way, so not sure why my dough is not coming out sticky. Use less flour next time? Or the firmer dough shouldn’t really affect the overall outcome of the pizza? Thanks!
Hi Arie, maybe consider if anything was different the second time around – any ingredient substitutions? I have mismeasured flour before and the dough can end up more tough that way with too much flour. If the dough rises and forms the bubbles, it should still work for pizza.
Natasha, I used instant yeast and I guess because of that it kept rising in the fridge. And also it was ripping when I was rolling the dough on my knuckles. But I used the exact amount of flour. Do you think the yeast was the problem? I kinda have thoughts to make it again but quite afraid that I will fail again.
Hi Sendini, I recommend making it with active dry yeast and it should work better
Hi Natasha,
Thank you I always love your recipes. You said I can leave it in the fridge for several days, but it keeps rising there. Is there something wrong?
Hi Anna, did you use regular yeast and not rapid rise? And also make sure to use the same amount? It will continue to rise a little bit in the refrigerator and that is pretty normal but it shouldn’t rise too much (it definitely won’t double).
What if your oven only reaches to 500? Would I bake for longer time?
Hi Sandra, yes, you could bake at 500 for a little longer and just look for the visual cues for pizza doneness.
I am always skeptical when a recipe says “best” or similar BUT this is definitely the best homemade pizza crust I have tried. Told my husband we might NEVER go out for pizza again. Froze one portion of dough for later use. Thanks Natasha!
Haha I told m husband the same thing, so glad you loved it.
Hi natasha i followed the recipe but the crust was very dry and there anything i can do
I’m so sorry to hear that, I’m not sure at which point something went wrong, make sure your yeast is not expired.
Hello Natasha, thanks for your pizza recipe which I followed exactly, except for doubling on the ingredients to get more. The pizza came out great but the dough ripped very easily and I wasn’t able to stretch it over my knuckles. What might the reason be? Thank you!
Hi Dorit, if all of the resting periods were followed, make sure to let it rest at room temperature as directed before forming the pizza crust so it is more pliable. Also, make sure to measure flour correctly which makes all the difference in great pizza dough.
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I followed your directions measuring and resting time exactly. Still, it ripped and I cannot figure out what I did wrong.
I’m sorry to hear that. I would say try again
Natasha, do you think doubling the recipe had something t do with the problem, making it too heavy to stretch.
HI Judith, I have made a double batch before without issues. I wonder if it’s an issue with measuring. A scale would make the process faster and is a great way to make sure the recipe is exactly the same every time, although our spoon and level measuring method works great as well. I wonder if there was just too much flour.
Dear Natasha! Thanks a lott for sharing great recipes with us!
I wish to ask how long is the best for fridging the dough? In your video you say at least 24 hours, in recipe it’s written at least 18 hours.
Thank you very much in advance, for your time and attention!
Hi Bahar, 18 hours is enough and you can refrigerate the dough up to a week.
I’ve made this pizza dough soooo many times! it’s the best! I recently, learned my glucose is a little high. Do you think this recipe would work with wheat flour?
Hi Catherine, I haven’t tried wheat flour, but it would make the dough tougher if using whole wheat.
thank you. I guess I’ll not mess with perfection! I’ll cut my carbs some place else!!!!
Haha that’s awesome, It’s so worth it.
Hi Natasha,
I don’t have a pizza stone. Can I use a regular pizza pan? If so, please let me know the temperature and cooking time suggested. TIA!
Hi Amira, it’s best on a pizza stone, but a regular pan will work great also.
If i dont have honey can i replace it with sugar? If so, same quantity?
Hi Evelyn, It can be substituted with 1 tsp of sugar.
Yummy! This recipe was the best. I love pizza and this recipe made me love it even more! Thank you so much Natasha!!!
Yay! I’m so happy this was a hit, Zoe! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Natasha, this is ALWAYS my go-to recipe for pizza! I’ve tried so many others that have been inconsistent, but this one never misses. I even used this dough recipe for cheese breadsticks today and it was delicious! Thanks!
That’s fantastic! I’m glad this is your go-to recipe.