How to Make Pizza Dough

Yumna Jawad

4.88 from 25 votes

Learn how to make pizza dough with this easy vegan dough recipe. The step-by-step tutorial walks you through making your own homemade dough!

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You can totally master making pizza dough at home. With a few pantry staples and a little bit of time, easy pizza dough -vegan by nature – is completely do-able. The main ingredients are flour and water. Throw in instant yeast, sugar, and olive oil and andiamo.

Cheesy homemade pizza dough
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Homemade pizza dough is delicious, very inexpensive to make, and serves as a base for endless custom toppings whether your pie of choice is basic margarita or more esoteric mixes like ricotta, anchovies, capers, and lemon.

How to make pizza dough

Prepare the dough

  1. Combine all ingredients except the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
  2. The yeast will react with the warm water and sugar.
  3. Mix on low with the dough hook for a couple minutes.
  4. Add the salt and mix on medium/low for 6 minutes.
  5. Remove the dough and lightly grease the bowl.
  6. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover the bowl with a clean dish towel or some kind of wrap, and let rise until doubled.
6 image collage to show how to make the pizza dough

Split and roll out the dough

  • Remove the dough from the oiled bowl.
  • Divide into two pieces.
  • Reshape pieces into round balls and loosely cover with a clean towel or wrap for 20 more minutes.
  • Roll out the dough to 12-14-inch circles, add toppings, and bake as desired.
4 image collage to show how to split the dough in half, roll into balls and then roll out into pies

Topping ideas

  • Basic: pizza sauce and cheese. I used a combo of mozzarella and cheddar below.
  • Meat lover: pizza sauce, mozzarella, plus bits of sausage (pre-cooked) or pepperoni.
  • White pie: brush the crust with olive oil, add white cheese of choice.
  • Mix it up: Home-made means loading up with your favorite toppings whether they are pineapple and peppers or goat cheese and baby broccoli. Go for it! Keep in mind, some toppers – like broccoli should be precooked.
  • After cooking: add herbs and seasonings like fresh basil, dried oregano, or hot red pepper flakes.
Homemade pizza dough topped with marinara and cheese

Tips for making pizza dough

  1. Knead enough: knead with the dough hook (or your hands) for the full time recommended. This is what makes the dough stretchy and allows it to be shaped into a circle without breaking.
  2. Always rest the dough. The final 20 minutes allows the dough to relax more and become even more elastic for rollout.
  3. Try bread flour. Some pizza chefs swear by bread flour for a higher protein crust with more crunch on the outside.
  4. Go whole wheat. Make this recipe whole wheat by subbing in whole wheat flour for up to half the white flour. Since whole wheat flour is generally thirstier than white, you may end up adding up to ½ cup more water.
  5. Measure accurately but be flexible. The right proportions of water to flour are important for pizza dough. If your dough remains sticky well into kneading (this is called shaggy dough) try adding a sprinkle more of flour. If it is too dry, add more water.

Recipes with pizza dough

Frequently asked questions

How do you store extra pizza dough?

It is best to store dough after the first rise. For this recipe, refrigerate the portion you will not be using right after dividing the dough. Store tightly wrapped for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Before using, let sit out for 20 minutes or until it reaches room temperature and puffs slightly.

Can you freeze pizza dough?

Absolutely! As with refrigeration, wrap tightly after its first rise. It should last for three months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before using.

Can I make this with active dry yeast?

Yes! First, use 25% more active dry yeast for a total of a scant 3 teaspoons of active dry yeast, and then activate the yeast as a first step in the recipe. To activate, add the yeast, the sugar, and ½ cup of the total amount of water warmed to 110° to 115° F to the mixing bowl. Let it sit for 5 -10 minutes until bubbling. Proceed with the recipe.

Can I make this recipe without a stand mixer?

It is possible with some patience and I do it often especially with my daughter. Mix in a bowl with a wooden spoon for the first two minutes until all ingredients are well combined. Then move to a well-floured counter and knead by hand for the remaining time.

Slice of pizza cut out

This pizza dough recipe (and the resulting pizza!) is a great activity for kids and can be the centerpiece of a fun family night.

For more kitchen tutorials, check out:

If you’ve found this cooking resource for How to Make Pizza Dough helpful or if you’ve tried any recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience with this technique. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!

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Cheesy homemade pizza dough
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How to Make Pizza Dough

Learn how to make pizza dough with this easy vegan dough recipe. The step-by-step tutorial walks you through making your own homemade dough!
4.9 from 25 votes
Author Yumna Jawad
Servings 4 servings
Course Ingredient
Calories 941
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients except the salt in a bowl of a stand mixer
  • Mix on low with the dough hook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the salt and mix on medium/low for 6 minutes.
  • Remove the dough and lightly grease the bowl, place the dough back into the bowl and let proof until doubled, about 30 minutes.
  • Remove the dough and divide into two pieces and reshape to round balls. Let sit for 20 minutes.
  • Roll out the dough in 12-14 inches, add toppings, and bake at 450°F for 10 minutes, or as desired.

Equipment

Notes

Storage: This dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Place the dough in  bowl and cover with plastic wrap to keep the surface of the dough from drying out.
Freezing: You can freeze the dough in wrapped balls for up to 3 weeks. To freeze, after the dough has been mixed and kneaded, divide in half and shape into balls, grease a tray and line with paper, place the dough on the tray and freeze.
To thaw place the dough balls in cool water for 5 minutes, remove and pat dry then proof until double then roll, top, and bake. Thawing for 5 minutes in water prevents a dry crust from forming when proofing/thawing.
Photo Credit: Erin Jensen

Nutrition

Calories: 941kcal, Carbohydrates: 183g, Protein: 27g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 1175mg, Potassium: 315mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 2g, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 11mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Cuisine Italian
Course: Ingredient

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Comments

  1. This pizza dough isn’t my favourite will continue making our pizza dough without olive oil and sugar. Thanks for sharing and making me try something else.

    Reply

      1. Thanks for your comment! Looking at the pizza dough recipe I knew that it would be different ,texture wise but I wanted something different and it was! My son didn’t complain so I WAS REALLY HAPPY 🙂but like me it was 2 different. You have a bunch of recipe that I want to try,thanks for sharing with us!

        Reply

  2. WOW! This was my first time making pizza dough from scratch. Very easy instructions and most of all… so good! My family loved pizza night and I don’t think I’ll be buying premade dough anymore. Thank you for always making life a little easier.

    Reply

  3. We LOVE this recipe! The crust is seriously better than anything we can buy- and it’s a fun “date night” kind of meal. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  4. This recipe is the best I’ve ever tried. Easy to make without a stand mixer. The dough is so soft and makes the pizzas so delicious ! All the family love it !

    Reply

  5. Our pizzas were very good! This made 2 very large pizzas (we stretched them to cookie sheet size). We cooked both at the same time however the pizza on the top didn’t get as nice of a crust as the bottom one did, so next time we’ll either cook one at a time or switch them part way through.

    Reply

  6. I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it worked great each time! Watching salt intake right now, so I put 1 tsp salt and added some dried oregano and Italian blend herbs. Baked at 425F for around 18 minutes. So yummy! Thanks for this great recipe!

    Reply