When I was working as a pastry chef, I didn’t just make desserts; I also worked the line, making fresh pizzas. This six-ingredient, foolproof pizza crust combines my professional experience and love for pizza to create an easy, homemade dough that you can make in under an hour, with no fancy flours needed!
Crispy on the bottom and pillowy-soft and chewy on the inside, it’s the perfect base for your favorite toppings (like my ultra-crispy cast iron skill pizza). So skip the delivery tonight and make the best pizza dough at home… it will be the most satisfying meal you’ll ever make!
Let’s Make It!
1
Activate the yeast in warm water and honey. You’ll know it’s ready to use when it looks foamy! If you don’t see any activity after 5 minutes, you will need to use a fresh packet of yeast.
2
Mix in the dry ingredients. For ease, I recommend using a stand mixer! If mixing by hand, you can mix it in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
I loved how easy this recipe was to make, so I even turned it into mini cheesy parmesan bread bites. They make the BEST appetizer or snack!
3
Knead the dough until it is smooth. It should clean the sides of the bowl and feel soft and tacky!
4
Shape the dough into a ball. Cup your hands around the sides and move them from the top to the bottom. This will stretch it into a tight ball to help it rise properly.
5
Let it rise in a warm spot. It should double in size. The time it takes for it to rise can depend on how warm your kitchen is, but it typically takes around 30 minutes.
6
Roll out your pizza crust and top with your favorite toppings. Roll the dough to your desired thickness. You can also portion it into smaller sizes for mini pizzas! If using a pizza stone, be sure to preheat it before transferring the dough on top.
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Quick & Easy Chewy Pizza Dough
Equipment
- stand mixer with dough hook attachment
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a stand mixing bowl, mix together the warm water, yeast, and honey. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to become active and foamy.If you are not seeing any activity after 10 minutes, I recommend starting over with a fresh packet of yeast!2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 cup (211 g) warm water, 1 tablespoon (18 g) honey
- Add the flour, olive oil, and salt.2 3/4 cup (335 g) all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon (10 g) olive oil, 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Knead the dough on low speed for 8-9 minutes or until it is soft and smooth, and cleans the sides of the bowl. If the dough is sticking to the bottom and/or sides of the bowl, add extra flour 1 teaspoon at a time until it forms a single ball.
- Shape the dough into a ball.
- Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl and cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled, about 30-40 minutes.In my kitchen it takes about 30 minutes!
- Lightly punch down the dough to remove any excess air.
- Roll the pizza dough to your desired thickness, then transfer it to your baking sheet or pizza stone.
- Add your favorite sauce and desired toppings, then bake at 475 F/250 C for 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness. When the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbling, it's ready!
Best pizza dough ever!
So happy to hear that Ashlie!!
Can this be made with gluten free flour in place of the all
Purpose flour?
I’m not sure if it will work, I’ve never tried it with gluten free flour before!
Can this dough be frozen or can I prepare it with all the toppings and freeze until I want to cook it?
The dough can definitely be frozen! I would wrap it really well and store it in an air tight container or freezer bag. I haven’t tried freezing it with the toppings but I’m positive that would work as well!
Just found your recipe on Pinterest. Absolutely loved it, this is now my go to recipe for pizza dough. Thanks for sharing!
This was my first attempt at homemade pizza dough and it was a hit! All the picky-eater kids approved, too! The only thing I changed was using “00” flour because I had it on hand.
Highly recommend this recipe even if you’re a newbie to homemade pizza!
I had to mix the ingredients by hand and couldn’t get all the flour incorporated. The dough ended up lumpy. Even though I was worried about the outcome, my husband enjoyed it even more than his own recipe! 😄
I only have instant yeast.. is that okay? Do I still have to put it in water with honey?
Instant yeast will work! You can just add it into the bowl with the other ingredients it does not need to be activated in warm water first.
Thanks.
I want to make a little bigger than mini pizzas to freeze so I can easily have something to eat in a crunch.
How do I do this? Can I place the toppings on the dough and then freeze them? And pull them out to bake when I’m ready? Can they be baked straight from the freezer? Should the oven temp be any different?
You should be able to put the toppings on the dough and then freeze them. I would just bake them from frozen and watch for that golden brown crust and cheese to know that they are done baking!
I turned on to this recipe for soft, chewy pizza dough. I halve the recipe for one pizza (freeze the other half). My question now is: how to bake the dough so it remains chewy…it is hot oven for a few minutes, or is it lower oven with longer bake time? I’m leaning toward hot oven for shorter bake time but I want to hear from others. I don’t want crispy bottom crust (but edges are okay)…I want doughy crust even after baking with traditional pizza ingredients. thanks to all!
So glad you’re enjoying the dough! A hot oven and shorter bake time will give you that chewy, doughy texture. Try baking at 475–500°F for about 8–12 minutes, depending on how thick your crust is.
I love it!! This recipe is my go to for calzones!
yes! calzones seems to be the perfect answer for this dough!
WOW, I have been making homemade forever. This is now going to be my go to recipe, I could tell before it came out of the oven that this pizza dough is special. Can’t wait to browse your other recipes. Thank you so much for sharing your craft 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻
That seriously means so much, thank you!! I’m honored this is your new go-to, especially coming from someone who’s been making homemade forever. Hope you find lots more favorites!
If I’m doubling the recipe, when would I separate the dough?
I would separate it after it’s fully kneaded!
This is the best pizza dough! Just like a great restaurant. Thanks for sharing.
Fool proof! This was so easy. The photos were a nice guide. I made one giant pizza. Next time I will split in two to try for a thinner crispier crust!
This recipe came out great for me. I was able to get two large pizzas with this recipe and they cooked up beautifully on the grill! Great summer dinner for the family!
I had to reread this recipe several times to make sure I really did measure correctly – my dough was soup. A TEASPOON of flour at a time? All together to get it to not be a slurry I used 4+ cups of flour. Way too much liquid. A whole cup of water for the yeast? This recipe went so wrong for me I literally have no idea how this worked for anyone?
Hi Taylor, if you’re sure you measured everything correctly it’s more likely a humidity issue. I note in the post that if you live in a humid area you may only need half of the liquid (1/2 cup vs. 1 cup) to account for the excess moisture in the air.
Yeah I kept having to add flour and got to the point where I just took it out and balled it up myself.
Katie, as I mentioned if you live in a humid environment you may only need half the water. If not it’s more likely you are not measuring the ingredients properly.