This is hands down the best pizza dough! It makes a New York-style pizza crust that is a thin crust pizza in the center with beautifully puffed 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!
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Why We Love This 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 crust also makes throwing a pizza party stress-free and everyone will be super impressed by your pizza-making skills.
The #1 Secret to the Best Pizza Dough:
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. This process makes the dough much easier to work with and forms the coveted texture, rise, and bubbles at the edges.
The #2 Secret to the Perfect Crust:
Do not use too much yeast! Many of the quick pizza doughs out there use way too much yeast which makes the crust doughy and makes 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.
The Takeaway: use less yeast and let the dough rest.
How to Make Pizza Dough Video Tutorial:
Watch the pizza dough video tutorial once and you will be a pro in no time. Here is a quick overview of the process for easy reference:
- Mix together water, salt and honey. Sprinkle with yeast and set aside 5 min then stir.
- Pour water mixture over your flour and stir to combine with a spatula then knead by hand 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 that book fold, and turning the dough between each fold, makes the gluten threads stronger and traps carbon dioxide created by the yeast to help form those beautiful bubbles in the dough.
How to Form and Bake Pizza Crust:
- Remove 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, dust lightly with flour.
- Gently press dough down in the center with 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 sauce or red sauce then 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 Making 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 on in the oven
- Pizza Cutter – the easiest way to slice a pizza
- Instant Read Thermometer – to check water temperature
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.
Note: We haven’t tried making a gluten-free version or any other flour, so let me know if you experiment.
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 your pizza-making skills down, you will want to throw a pizza party. Pizza pairs really well with these easy sides.
- Avocado Ranch – because everyone loves a great dipping sauce
- Caesar Salad – a fresh green salad with light homemade dressing
- Avocado Corn Salad – so vibrant and satisfying
- Cobb Salad – beautiful and delicious
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob – the juiciest way to cook corn
Pizza Dough Recipe - The Best Pizza Crust!
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
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I can’t wait to try this recipe, but I have always used bread flour for my pizza dough. Have you tried this with different flour?
Hi Liz, I have not tested that with bread flour to advise. I’m curious now, if you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
My search for the perfect dough has ended. This was everything. May just have to figure out how to build that brick oven now! We topped one with your red sauce (w mozz) and one with your white sauce (w potatoes and spring onion). I used 00 flour because I had some on hand. Also used corn meal instead of flour on the peel bc I like that texture. Delish!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us! Brick oven sounds lovely!
Natasha, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I have never been able to make good home made pizza as it always tasted, well, homemade. This is exceptional and finally I’ve made a really good pizza that we all loved.
Keep up the good work.
So great to hear that, Nigel. Thanks for your excellent feedback!
Hi,
My pizza after baking was a bit dry
I wonder why that happened. I followed all the steps accurately.
Can this recipe be kneaded in a stand mixer with a dough hook? Can it also be baked after the first 4-5 hour rise or is the 24 hour cold fermentation a requirement?
Hi Beth, a stand mixer isn’t necessary and I find I have more control doing this by hand. Also, I have baked after 5 hours in my testing and I found the cold fermentation is what gives you those desired bubbles in the crust, great texture and rise as the edges while it’s baking. It also tastes better after cold fermentation.
Can this pizza dough be frozen for later use?
Hi Lori, This would work fine for freezing. 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.
Can you use wild sour dough yeast instead of the powder for the pizza dough? If so how much wild yeast would you use?
Hi Todd, I honestly haven’t tried it with this dough so it’s difficult to make a recommendation. If anyone else has tried, please let us know.
Made this for dinner last night. Used your red sauce recipe also. My husband is still talking about how delicious it was. Thank you!!! We just loved it!!!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hi there, i tried making this recipe, and for some reason my pizza turned out to be a bit more chewy which is fine, but my father in law couldn’t have any due to his dentures. Any suggestions on making the pizza a bit more crunch and less chewy? i used the same measurements. I liked the chewy texture
Hi Prexa, the traditional cold fermented yeast doughs like this will have that nice chewy texture at the crust with a crisp base. Usually baking slightly less or adding a little more yeast will make it puff up more and keep it less chewy if that is what you are looking for.
So I’ve got this pizza dough separated in two bowls in the fridge and it just won’t stop rising…is this normal?
Hi Sam, was anything altered in the recipe so I can better advise? It is normal for it to rise some.
Hi, I made this dough – it doubled in size – refrigerated for 2 days. But when I was making the pizzas there were some tough spots and when I baked it – it was very tough and chewy. What did I do wrong?
Hi Heidi, 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!
I’ve tried many recipes over the years, this is hands down the best! I was a little skeptical st only 1/2 tsp of yeast but worked great
Also made breadsticks with the white sauce and cheese, and used the homemade pizza sauce for a dip, very good
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Natasha,
I just had to tell you that this is the best pizza dough I have ever made.
It is the only recipe that I will use from now on.
I made a pizza using your white sauce and added bacon, mushrooms and red onions.
We all ate every bit of the crust and that never happens!
Thank you for all of your had work and sharing your recipes and family life with all of us.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Can’t find the link to the pizza kit..thanks
Hi Gary, check out the Pizza tools section above in the post. Here is the exact pizza kit we used. I hope that helps!
The BEST pizza dough ever! The whole family loved it and said it’s definitely restaurant quality!
Wow I love it! Thanks for your wonderful feedback, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is the first time in my life I have felt compelled to leave a recipe review. After trying and failing many times to make a satisfactory pizza in my home oven using both home made and store bought dough, I saw this video on Facebook the other day and decided to give it one. last. shot.
I measured the flour with a food scale and found the dough really easy to work with in all the steps. The process was so fast and easy.
I don’t have a pizza stone, so I heated up a cast iron griddle on my stovetop, slid the prepared pizza on to that, and then threw it under the broiler for a few minutes, which worked which worked AMAZINGLY well! I need to tweak it next time because I burned the bottom, but the crust was still light and crisp and tasted great….so much like what you get in a restaurant. Oh, and I don’t have a pizza peel either, so I used a piece of cardboard dusted with cornmeal which worked great too, though I will now be investing in a peel!
I need to work on my sauce and cheese combos(planning on trying yours) but this is the ONLY crust recipe I will ever use again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I’m so glad you loved the crust recipe! Thank you so much for sharing and I love that you made it in a cast-iron pan – that is brilliant!
My pizza dough is chilling and I’m hoping to bake it tonight but have a 30 year old Pampered Chef pizza stone and in their instructions they say not to preheat the stone. They also say that’s it’s only safe up to 450 degrees. I’m wondering if anyone has experience using this pizza stone. I don’t want to ruin my pizza by baking it at too low of a temperature but also don’t want the stone to break!
I’m puzzled by that since most pizza stones work best when they are preheated. Maybe test following their instructions (and report back in case someone else has the same question)? I would hate to give you advice that might ruin your stone.
Can I use instant yeast?
Can I sub the honey for sugar or maple syrup?
Hi, I always make this with active dry yeast because it seems to keep better for longer, but that should work fine and there would be no need to wait 5 minutes. You could mix the instant yeast right into the flour before adding the liquids. Please let me know if you experiment with instant yeast. Sugar should work fine as a replacement.
I preheat my PC pizza stone in a 450* oven at least twice a month to bake frozen pizza and reheat store bought pizzas. Be sure not to put the hot stone on a cold surface. Put it on a wire rack.
I have had several PC stone crack in the oven without anything in them be careful.
I have an old Pampered Chef stone that I’ve used for years preheating it to 500 deg F (the highest my stove reaches) for one hour before I make pizza and I’ve never had an issue.
This was THE BEST pizza crust I have ever had!!! I can’t believe how easy it was to make. My family (picky teen) LOVED it and request every week now. I made one using the homemade sauce and the other with the white sauce…AMAZING!!!! Natasha, you are now my go-to for every recipe!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m all smiles!
Coming back to say this was phenomenal. Thanks
Love it! Thank you so much, Laura.
I have to be honest, I was quite skeptical about this recipe, especially after trying your amazing Californian pizza recipe just last week and swearing THAT was my best pizza…I was afraid this one will be dry and hard and nobody in my house would eat it. I’m so glad I gave it a try! It is amazing!!! So easy to follow your instructions and to make. I like the convenience of making it ahead and keeping the dough in the fridge for a quick dinner during the week. The crust was perfect (restaurant quality) and the texture was very pleasant. It does remind me of eating at an authentic Italian restaurant. Thank you, Natasha, for another wonderful recipe that I’ll add to my kitchen recipe binder!
I love every bit of your comment, Polina and I am so glad that you gave this recipe a try! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us.
Hi Natasha,
Love your recipes, especially your step-by-step videos.
Concerning the pizza dough recipe, can the dough be frozen for use at a later date?
Hi Michelle, This would work fine for freezing. 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.
The dough is good, but the biggest issue is the moisture of the dough. It needs to be totally dry to the touch. Anything other than that and it will not slide off the peel (this happened twice to me) no matter how much flour you put on the peel. So, be warned.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. We demonstrated how we check if it is stuck or not including adding more flour.
Hi Brad.
Try putting the pie on parchment paper, then removing the parchment paper after a few minutes of baking. Just pull it away with your hands or tongs when you think it’s okay to do so. I do that with other high moisture (hydrated) breads. I can’t take credit for that solution. I became obsessed with making bread 5 years ago as a hobby. I’ve read about that technique on many sites and in a few books. The key is to properly guess when it’s time to do so. Because it’s pizza you want a good char on the bottom, right? You may also try putting a good amount of cornmeal under the pie on the peel. It’s not uncommon. That acts like little ball bearings to help the pie slide off the peel. That adds an additional crunch to the pie. Again, I’m not an expert. I’m just offering suggestions from my few years of trying to make bread, which was just started as a hobby. The irony is I don’t eat it. I just enjoy trying to make every kind of bread there is for family and friends. It’s not always a success, but it’s fun.
David
hi Brad, use semolina instead of flour and the pizza will fly in any direction you like! Happy baking !!!