Pizza Dough Recipe – Immaculate Bites

Why Have an Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

Honestly, making homemade pizza isn’t the sexiest or most exciting topic to discuss. Most people drool over the pizza TOPPINGS, not the crust. But times are changing, and a lot of people are doing a deep dive into how to make the best pizza crust.

Better yet, you don’t even need toppings if it’s a good pizza crust. Just a little garlic butter or olive oil, and you’re good to go. So, I’m glad to have my go-to recipe on hand. Besides, it’s super easy once you get the hang of it.

So, let’s jazz up the pizza dough to make it as appealing as the toppings. Shall we dive right in?

Pizza Dough Ingredients

With flour, water, yeast, and salt, you can make a pretty decent pizza dough. But you probably know I don’t settle for pretty decent; there has to be an extra “something something” to make a recipe stand out. In this recipe, I decided to use the following ingredients to create the BEST-EVER pizza dough:

1. Yeast – To activate the yeast, you’ll also want warm water (ideally around 105-110℉/40-46℃) and sugar. 
2. All-Purpose Flour yields a softer crust than bread flour. If you like a chewier crust, go for the bread flour.
3. Flavor – Garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt give it more flavor.
4. Olive Oil makes a softer, more tender dough. Again, feel free to leave it out if you prefer chewy.

How to Make Pizza Dough

Make the Dough

• Activate Yeast – In a large bowl, combine warm water, sugar, and instant or active dry yeast. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes foamy. (Photo 1)
• Dry Ingredients – In a medium mixing bowl, mix the flour, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt. Mix to combine. (Photo 2)
• Make Dough – Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time and mix after each addition. Add olive oil and use a wooden spoon or clean hands to stir vigorously until the mixture is fully incorporated. An elastic ball will form that starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
• Knead – Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 6-7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. The dough should still be slightly sticky but manageable with your hands. (Photo 3)
• Rise – Drizzle a separate, large, clean bowl generously with oil and use a pastry brush to brush up the bowl, including the sides. Place dough in the dough and cover with a kitchen cloth. Place in a warm place and let it rise for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough doubles in size. (Photo 3)

Make the Pizza

• Preheat oven to 425°F (215°C) so it will have reached temperature once your pizza is ready to bake. (For a crispier crust, go as high as you can. Probably 500℉ (260℃) is as high as you can go.)
• Roll – Once the dough has risen, use your hands to gently deflate it and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Knead briefly until smooth, 3-5 times. Roll the dough out into a 12″ circle with a rolling pin, or pat it out with your hands. (For thin crust, divide the dough into two balls and roll them out.)
• Form Pizza Crust – Line a pizza pan with parchment paper and transfer dough to the pan. Either pinch the edges or fold them over to form the crust’s edge. Poke holes all over the center with a fork to keep the dough from buckling up in the oven.
• Toppings – Add desired toppings (pizza sauce, cheese, veggies, pepperoni, etc.) and bake in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until cheese melts and the toppings are done.
• Serve – Let cool for a minute or two, slice, and serve.

Recipe Tip: Be careful not to overload your pizza with toppings so it cooks evenly and the crust doesn’t get soggy. Also, leave the center free of toppings for even baking. A trick I learned in my restaurant years.

Pizza Toppings Ideas

Some people love a simple cheese and pepperoni pizza, while others love to heap on the flavor. Here are some ideas:

1. Pizza sauce can be pretty versatile. Marinara, spaghetti sauce, pesto, roasted red pepper sauce, ranch dressing for a white pizza, and bolognese all work
2. Pepperoni, salami, ham, and other cold cuts
3. Sliced onions (red or white)
4. Italian sausage (or another favorite sausage)
5. Bacon and prosciutto
6. Black and green olives
7. Mushrooms
8. Red, yellow, and green bell peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, etc.
9. Grated cheese (mozzarella, Fontina, Gorgonzola, goat cheese, manchego, kashkaval, and provolone for a start)
10. Crumbly cheese (blue cheese, feta, etc.)
11. Spinach and feta with black olives is an excellent combination
12. Fresh mozzarella, Marzano tomatoes, and basil with a drizzle of olive oil make a margherita pizza
13. Ham and pineapple is my favorite pizza and a must on the list, my friend. BBQ chicken and pineapple are also incredibly delicious.

Tips and Swaps

1. I love olive oil‘s flavor for this recipe. But feel free to replace it with cooking oil like canola, sunflower, soybean, vegetable oil, etc. A Neapolitan pizza crust doesn’t have oil, so you could leave it out for a chewier crust.
2. Sourdough pizza crust is the bomb. For a sort of Neapolitan pizza dough recipe, it’s 500 grams of flour, 300 grams (or ml) water, 50 grams of active sourdough starter, and 10 grams of salt. It should be enough for two pizzas. Stretch the pizza dough out to the desired size and thickness instead of rolling it out.
3. Pizza stone. Place the pizza stone in a cold oven, heat to 500℉ (260℃), and gently slide your pizza onto the stone. Bake it until the crust slightly browns and the cheese melts. Take the pizza out and turn off the oven.
4. Pizza oven. If you’re one of the lucky ones with one of these babies, have fun. Most pizza restaurants cook them around 600-800℉ (315-425℃).
5. Flammkuchen. Not authentic, but roll the dough out thin, smear it with sour cream, add some caramelized onions and sauteed mushroom with some Fontina cheese, and bake it for a French-German pizza twist.

Make-Ahead and Storage

You can make and refrigerate it covered with plastic wrap for up to a week (longer fermentation makes tastier dough). Or freeze the balls of dough in airtight bags for up to six months.

Thaw the pizza dough if frozen, bring it to room temperature, knead it, and let it rise again. Roll it out and have fun with the toppings!

What Goes With Pizza

Beer! Oh, I don’t have a recipe for that. Breadsticks, garlic butter, and a tossed salad are great. And use any extra dough for a fruit pizza for dessert. Yum!

More Amazing Italian Recipes to Check Out 

1. Bruschetta
2. Chicken Cacciatore
3. Focaccia Bread
4. Chicken Marsala
5. Shrimp Scampi Pasta

This blog post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated with additional tips and gorgeous photos