Overnight Pizza Dough Recipe (VIDEO)

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.

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

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