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
This dough recipe is amazing! It makes such a tasty crust. I had purchased 00 flour which is for pizza and we were in search of a new recipe to use it in. I did everything exactly as you said. I even used my knuckles to stretch out the dough that was fun! This is now our only pizza dough recipe. Thank you Natasha, we look forward to trying your other recipes.
That’s nice, Lisa! Thanks a lot for sharing your experience making this recipe. I’m so glad you loved it!
what is the name of the flour u use for your pizza im form canada
Hi Duarte, I use this All-Purpose Flour. (Amazon Affiliate Link)
I am excited to try this recipe. All your recipes are wonderful! I have one question. Do I need to add the honey? I am not a big fan of the taste.
Hi Maria, thank you for your good comments. You may use 1 tsp of sugar.
Hi Natasha! This is definitely a five star recipe. Thank you for sharing. Your recipes never disappoint. This pizza is not only delicious, but also much healthier than store bought, or purchased at the restaurant. I was “ concerned “that the serving size, i.e. two slices, would not be satisfying for a hungry adult. I was wrong! I made cheese pizza, with tomato sauce as a base,And used half a cup of mozzarella cheese for one pizza. Had some chopped tomato salad on the side, end it made a very satisfying and healthy meal. Another proof, that food made from scratch is much more satisfying than the processed food is! It has been officially enrolled into my family cook book!
I’m glad you feel that way! Thanks a lot for your review and comments, I’m glad you enjoyed and loved this recipe.
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s definitely a crowd favorite! For a last minute dinner, can this be made the morning of and skip the refrigerator step? I know the flavor won’t be as developed but are there any modifications that can be made to make it same day?
Hi Samantha, this dough really needs the overnight cold fermentation process to rise properly since it doesn’t have a ton of yeast. This is what differentiates it from a quick dough, but it’s well worth the wait.
Hello the pizza dough came out so good. So how can I adjust recipe to make the slices bigger? Tried stretching the dough but only got myself a hole in the middle
Hi Michael, you will need to make more dough for a larger pizza.
Natasha…the recipe says preheat oven to 550F. Should that be 450 F? Since ovens only go to 500 ☺
Hi Dawn, our oven goes higher than that. Since yours doesn’t go higher, you can make it at 450 degrees. It will need slightly more time in the over at that temperature.
Hi! I did the recipe twice I though it was my fault that the dough was so hard but it turned out I did very well the mesures and still didn’t work for me I wasn’t even able to knead
Hi Stephanie, Be sure to measure by fluffing the flour first with a spoon then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape off the top. If you push your measuring cup into a flour bin, you will get up to 25% too much flour. Also, do not tap the flour down in the measuring cup.
I made this tonight and cooked in my pellet fired oven its -20 and had trouble getting to 900f probably was 600-800f cooked for two-three minutes crust cooked well so will work in high temp oven no problem Had trouble working dough seemed too tight but that could be our all purpose flour in canada tends to be higher protein than standard us flour(or european for that matter)higher gluten strength. but tasted amazing Im not a crust person but ate every piece as well as kids
I’m so glad it worked out, Terry! Thank you for sharing your great feedback!
wow I made this and it was gone Love the crust so good thank you making the dough again but double so we can make four pizza since they like to have left overs
Thanks for the review, Jen! That’s great that you enjoyed the recipe, doubling it is a good idea!
trying this recipe first time Do you think it would work in my pellet pizza oven cooking around 900f for 2-3 min?
Hi Terry, I don’t have experience in a pellet pizza oven, but that sounds to make a delicious pizza! I’d love to know how you like it if you test that out.
Do you think it would be possible to use a break maker to mix the dough and just refrigerate overnight after the final mix? For some reason, I really dislike kneading dough.
Hi Amber, I haven’t tested this in a bread machine to advise. If you happen to experiment, please let me know how you like that.
This is the recipe that I have been using for a dozen years including resting in the refrigerator. Works well in my bread machine on dough setting just add flour, make well, and add the warm yeast mixture. I start my bread machine stirring the flour and wait until it reaches mixing speed.
Natasha, I was so excited to try the pizza dough recipe, and it was not good at all. The dough was very hard. After cooking it, there was no bubbles and no taste, very bland. Even the texture didn’t feel like pizza dough.
I have been making pizza for years and always looking for that perfect dough to try.
I will give it another try, I followed the recipe as posted.
Hi Amy, It’s hard to say what caused that without being there. I recommend checking out post on measuring to make sure too much flour was not used.
Wow… This turned out amazing! Thank You so much for the recipe and the video. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen but this was my first pizza. No reason to search for another pizza dough recipe… This one is perfect!
You’re most welcome! Great to hear that you just found your new go-to recipe.
Hi Natasha! I made this pizza dough, and it turned out perfectly. The kids loved it, so thank you! Quick question, My husband sometimes likes the pizza just slightly thicker. If I added just slightly more yeast, do you think the dough will still turn out by following the recipe?
Hi Stephanie, I bet this can be made thicker; the pan size impacts that, and you will likely need to adjust the bake time. I hope you love this recipe!
Great recipe. To make measurement easier do you know How much flour would this be in grams instead of cups?
Hi Stephanie, If you scroll down to our printable recipe card, most of our recipes have a metric conversion option on the printable recipe card. We are currently working on adding metric measurements to all of our recipes, but it is taking some time to add them one at a time. Thank you so much for being patient! In the meantime, check out our post on measuring which should help.
Hi Natasha,
I’m trying your recipe for the first time. Can you tell me if there are any adjustments to make if baking in a gas oven?
Hi Lisa! We have tried this in a gas oven successfully!
Hi Natasha! This pizza dough is perfect! I have never Been successful at pizza dough and this one came out just great. Thank you! Quick question… Do you think I could make this in a pan pizza form for
Thicker crust in the center? If so how? thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! I bet that could work, I imagine the crust may need to be prebaked for that, without trying it myself I can’t advise, but I hope you try that soon and send any feedback our way!
Can I use instant quick rise yeast? And would it be the same amount?
Hi Nadia, I saw someone else shared this in the comments “I made this with quick rise yeast and it turned out great! The only difference is the first rise was much shorter. It took maybe an hour and a half for it to double.” I hope that helps.
omg thank you i loved it. my whole family loved it. even tho I accidentally halved the amount of yeast. it somehow turned out good. not as many bubbles as yours though. I also added a copycat of papa john’s garlic sauce on the edges. gave it the extra flavor. thank you so much. this recipe is definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad it all worked out, Maram! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.