Quick & Easy Pizza Dough Recipe (VIDEO)
This Easy Pizza Dough is perfect for busy weeknights or whenever a craving for pizza strikes. Sometimes, all we want is a hot and fresh homemade pizza on the table fast and this recipe delivers!
We’re definitely pizza lovers, and there’s nothing better than a pizza (or Calzone) made with homemade pizza dough. Watch the video tutorial below to learn how to make fast and easy pizza dough – the perfect base for all your favorite pizza toppings.
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EASY Homemade Pizza Dough
You asked for a family-friendly, quick pizza dough recipe, so we delivered (no pun intended). This quick pizza dough recipe comes together easily and bakes up hot and fresh with chewy, pillowy crusts in a fraction of the time.
Our original Neapolitan pizza dough calls for slow, cold fermentation. Which is great when you have the time! Meanwhile, this recipe comes together fast, so you can have homemade pizza on the table in two hours or less.
Quick Pizza Dough Video
Watch Natasha make this quick and easy homemade pizza dough. Learn how to make a perfectly bubbly, golden crust that’s ready to smother with pizza sauce, plus your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
This recipe makes enough dough for one large 14-inch diameter pizza crust. Below is a quick overview of what you’ll need, with the full recipe amounts available in the recipe card.
- Warm Water – We recommend using filtered water, warmed to 110-115ºF. Be careful that your water isn’t too hot as it may kill the yeast.
- Honey – Sugar is key when making dough. You can substitute honey with the same amount of granulated sugar.
- Olive Oil – Extra virgin olive oil adds richness to the dough and helps it bake up nice and crispy. Coating the bowl in oil also coats the crust which keeps it from getting soggy under the sauce.
- Yeast – We use active dry yeast. You can also use the same quantity of rapid-rise or instant yeast and follow the recipe as directed, keeping in mind that rapid-rise yeast will rise and proof slightly faster. If your yeast is refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before you start.
- Flour – Bread flour has a higher protein content and creates a better pizza crust texture.
- Salt – Don’t skip the salt – it’s key to a tasty pizza crust.
Sugar: The Secret Ingredient in Pizza Dough
Sugar (or honey) is important in quick-rise pizza doughs, as it helps to activate the yeast, and also breaks down gluten so that the dough is loose and pliable. This makes it easier for the pizza dough to expand in the oven to create those crisp, bubbly edges we know and love.
As the pizza crust bakes, it also undergoes what’s called a Maillard reaction: the sugars react with the proteins in the dough to create a flavorful, beautifully browned crust.
How to Make Easy Pizza Dough
- Activate the yeast – In a large mixing bowl, stir together warm water and honey. Sprinkle with yeast and stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes or until it begins to foam at the top.
- Add oil, flour, and salt to the bowl with the yeast mixture, using a wooden spoon to bring the dough together.
- Knead – Turn the dough out and knead for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour if it’s too sticky but keep in mind, It will start out a bit tacky but will become less so as you knead. Continue until the dough is smooth and bounces back when you gently press it with your finger.
- Rest – Drizzle a new bowl with olive oil, then place the dough ball into the bottom of the bowl and turn to coat. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise on the counter for 1 ½ hours, until it’s doubled in size. It’s time to turn your homemade dough into the pizza of your dreams!
Pro Tip: If your yeast isn’t foaming after 10 minutes, this could mean that your water was too hot or that the yeast you’re using is expired. You’ll need to discard the mixture and try again with fresh yeast.
Common Questions
Placing the dough in a warm spot, like a 100ºF oven, can help it rise faster. However, the crust texture turns out slightly better with a slower rise. Make sure it’s not too hot or you will kill the yeast.
Bread flour is our first choice for this quick pizza dough recipe since the higher protein content in bread flour produces a chewier crust with a better hole structure. You can substitute with all-purpose flour if that is what you have on hand.
Yes. To make two smaller pizza crusts, divide the dough into two portions and proof them in separate bowls.
Make sure your yeast forms a foamy layer when proofing which indicates your yeast is active and not expired. Also, ensure your water is warm, between 110˚F to 115˚F on an instant-read thermometer. If the water is too hot, it can ruin the yeast.
How to Make Pizza at Home
About 30 minutes before you’re ready to bake your pizza, get your oven and pizza stone preheated to 500ºF (an oven-thermometer is handy here). We recommend using a pizza stone, but you can also place an inverted baking sheet into the center of the oven instead.
- Shape the Dough – Gently roll the dough over your knuckles to start shaping it. Then, pop the dough onto a parchment-lined pizza peel and finish stretching and shaping the dough into a 14” circle. Leave a thicker crust around the edges.
- Add Toppings – Finish your pizza with your choice of sauce and toppings (see below for some of our favorite variations).
- Bake – Finally, use the pizza peel to transfer the pizza to your hot pizza stone. Bake at 500ºF for 10-13 minutes or until the crust is puffed and golden brown.
Pizza Toppings and Variations
As a rule of thumb, for a 12 to 14-inch pizza, we use one 1/2 recipe of red Pizza Sauce or White Pizza Sauce and about 12 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Margherita – use crushed whole tomatoes for sauce and top with fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil.
- Pepperoni – add 10-14 thin slices of pepperoni on top of shredded mozzarella.
- Hawaiian – with Canadian bacon and pineapple chunks.
- Chicken Pizza – with chunks of sautéed chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil
Pro Tip: Be careful not to overload your pizza with toppings or it will take longer to bake through.
Make-Ahead
This pizza dough keeps well. Here’s how to store your homemade pizza dough:
- To refrigerate: Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it refrigerate for up to 3 days. Take the dough out and let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before you make your pizzas.
- To freeze: You can keep this homemade pizza dough frozen for up to 3 months, and defrost it in the fridge overnight. Check out our tutorial on How to Freeze Pizza Dough.
- Reheating leftover pizza: You can reheat a slice of pizza in the oven, or toaster oven at 375˚F for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted. An air fryer is even faster at 350˚F for 3-4 minutes. You can also microwave for 30 seconds but the crust is more likely to get soggy.
This quick and easy pizza dough is sure to become a go-to for easy pizza nights. What are YOUR favorite pizza toppings? Let me know in the comments!
Pizza Pairings: Delicious Sides and Appetizers
Now that you’ll be enjoying homemade pizza on the regular, here are some easy sides to serve on pizza night.
- Dipping Sauces – Who doesn’t love a side of dipping sauce with their slice of pizza? Try Homemade Ranch, our easy Marinara Sauce, or Pesto.
- Salad – Serve with a classic Caesar Salad, or Caprese Salad.
- Appetizers – Garlic Bread or Bruschetta are great appetizers for a pizza party.
- Drinks – Keep it refreshing with sparkling water or Iced Tea.
- Sides – Meatballs pair well with pizza and add protein to the meal.
Easy Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm filtered water, 110-115°F
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp active dry yeast, at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 cups bread flour, plus 2-3 Tbsp more to dust or as needed
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
How to Make Pizza Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water (110˚-115˚F), honey, and yeast. Stir together and set aside for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. You should see it form a layer of foam at the top. This indicates your yeast is active.
- Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, flour, and salt and stir together with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Transfer to a clean work surface and knead for 5 minutes or until the surface of the dough is smooth and springy. The dough should be slightly tacky and will get less sticky as you knead. If it is too sticky to knead, sprinkle on a little bit of flour at a time until you have a workable dough, but don't add too much flour.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large clean bowl and swirl to coat the bottom. Add the dough ball and turn to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature (72°F) for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in volume.
How to Make Pizza With the Dough:
- About 30 minutes before baking, preheat your oven to 500°F with a pizza stone in the center of your oven, or use an inverted baking sheet.
- To easily transfer the pizza dough, Line your work surface with a large sheet of parchment paper (about 15”x 15”). Roll the dough over your knuckles to start shaping it into a pizza crust then place it on a parchment-lined pizza peel and gently stretch it to a 14-inch diameter circle, keeping a thicker crust around the edges.*
- Add your favorite sauce and toppings. Use a pizza peel or baking sheet to transfer your pizza with parchment paper to your hot pizza stone and bake for 10-13 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (timing can depend on oven temperature and thickness of your crust so keep an eye on it).
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha,
Can I knead this with the stand mixer using the hook attachment? if so, for how long?
thanks!
Hi Rosaria! I think that would be fine. I don’t have the exact time. I would follow the instructions listed above, continue to mix until the dough is smooth and bounces back when you gently press it with your finger.
Soo smart about the parchment paper! I love your recipes, thank you!
You’re so welcome! Glad that was helpful.
Using bread flour for pizza makes a dough that is more like bread than the crispy crust I prefer. I always use regular all purpose flour.
This was a complete fail for me. I used KA bread flour, which I weighed. It was so crumbly, like a dry cookie dough. I added more water but it still didn’t work. It continued to crumble and break, and it was gritty as if the flour wasn’t absorbing the moisture. I’ve never had a dough completely fail to “dough” before. Any guesses why?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t had that happen before. Was your flour expired? Are you certain you didn’t add an extra cup of flour?
Can you roll the dough out with a rolling pin? I like my pizza crust thin.
Thanks
Hi Michelle. You can if you’d like. But it can affect the texture and become more dense because the dough is likely to become overworked.
This recipe looks great. All I have in hand is instant yeast. Can I substitute that for the active dry yeast? And do I need to make any modifications to the recipe.
Hi MaryAnn, yes, that will work. Please see the notes on “yeast” in the “Ingredients” section above.
I use a pizza steel to bake my pizza. Can I still use the parchment paper or will it burn?
Hi Debra! I would look at the parchment paper type and see if it’s safe to use at such a high temperature.
Easy and quick to make and SO much better than store bought crust!
So glad you loved it, Sarah!
My family couldnt get enough of this pizza tonight and it will absolutely be a regular go-to for dinner. So delicious! Another winner in our books!
Hi Megs! That’s awesome! I’m so glad you found this recipe. Thank you for the feedback.
Can this be frozen to be used at a later time? If so, at what point in the preparation of the crust do you freeze it? Also what do you need to do once you thaw it out on the day you want to make a pizza? Do you thaw it and let it rise again?
Hi Kris, it sure can be, this is a freezer-friendly recipe. Under the Make-Ahead section of the recipe, please see my “To Freeze”note. I hope this helps
Ok – I tried the overnight dough and messed up the timing, had to toss it.
Today, I tried this quick dough and messed up somewhere… can you please clarify the make-ahead instructions/rise/refrigeration timing?
In Step 3, I put the dough into the clean, oiled, covered bowl and straight into the refrigerator because I was not going to bake the dough immediately after the rise time… I thought the video instructed to do this… I needed it 6 hours later and it had not rised for me.
I used 111 degree water, yeast foamed, mixed in ingredients as instructed, kneaded… not sure where I’m messing it up 🙈
Thank you for any guidance! My (your) carrot cakes are incredibly beautiful and on spot every time! I dough not know what I’m doing wrong with the pizza recipes 😆🙉
Hi Amber, with the make-ahead instructions, that works best overnight to give it a chance to slowly rise in the fridge then you would want to “Take the dough out and let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before you make your pizzas.” If you are only refrigerating for 6 hours, you might need an extra 15-30 minutes on the counter to help it rise more. There’s no need to toss the dough – it just needs a little more time to rise.
Thank you for this recipe and so many others. 😊😊 I made your red pizza sauce too it was awesome. So easy with your instructions and video
It’s my pleasure and happy to hear that! I hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try.
I made this pizza dough per recipe. It was awesome! I gave your recipe all the creditand had 3 happy mouths.Thank you for all your recipes 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Michael!
I love your recipes. They are all I need to make breakfast lunch and dinner. My wife can’t cook anymore so I have learned to cook and bake with the help of your recipes. I am not very good but thanks to you everything has tasted great. I get a kick out of your taste tests and all the expressions. You are so sweet.
Hi Ron! Thank you so much for the kind words. I’m so glad you love the recipes and find them helpful.
I want to ask you to write the ingredients in grams. In Europe we use everything in grams. Thanks!
Hi Plamen! You can click on “metric” in the recipe card and it will convert the recipe for you. I hope you love this dough.
Do you think this recipe would work in a bread machine? Kneading intimidates me!
Hi Helene, I haven’t tested that in a bread machine to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Love sausage and black olives. Another one to try is smoked oyster
They’re all delicious!
Natasha .. how does this quick pizza dough recipe compare to your overnight rise?
.. other than the time ..
also – can you use bread flour in the overnight recipe?
What are your thoughts on 00 flour?
Thanks so much for doing such a great job!
Appreciate you!
Hi Patty, the biggest difference is speed – if you need a quick pizza dough, this is the one you would use. If you want the restaurant style bubbly crust and are willing to wait a day, then the Overnight Pizza Dough is best (and the overnight is still my favorite in texture). I don’t use the 00 because I wanted to develop a recipe that was accessible to most people and I use all-purpose in the overnight one because it has less protein which I like for that pizza crust, but it also works with Bread Flour if that is what you have on hand. I hope that helps.
Sharky ate a plastic wrap phone that you have pizza dough covered and ran across some of the screen
Arthritis in my hands has become pretty bad. Can I use a stand mixer with a dough hook and get the same results? If so, approx how long and at what speed should I do it at? I have a Kitchenaid mixer.
Thanx for any insight.
Hi Roger! Yes, a stand mixer with a dough hook will work well for kneading the dough. Start at a lower speed and increase as needed, mix long enough for everything to come together then watch the dough the surface should be smooth and springy. The dough should be slightly tacky and will get less sticky as you knead. I hope you love the recipe.
Shark, he ate the plastic and ran across the front of your video
Good catch!
I realize I made a mistake and used 1 TB instead of 1-ts of honey. Will this ruin my pizza dough?
I hope it doesn’t!
This recipe is the exact same recipe of someone else’s that I follow except you switched the flour to bread flour. So I know it’s a good recipe. Also the same with your snickerdoodles recipe. Exact same as someone else’s I follow.
Many pizza dough recipes are similar (flour, salt, yeast, water) but ours is original in specific measurements and process. I test and develop my own recipes myself, making them repeatedly and tweaking constantly as I test. However, there are plenty of copycats and our recipes are copied frequently (most of the time without credit, sadly). I hope you give this one a try!
Should I set my oven temperature to a lower temperature if I’m not using a pizza steel?
Hi Victoria! This can also be baked on an inverted baking sheet without making any adjustments to the temperature. I hope you love the recipe.
Hi Natasha, if I were to refrigerate the pizza dough- do I refrigerate before or after the 1 1/2 hours rise time?
Hi Isabel! You can refrigerate the dough after the rise. See my “make-ahead” notes for instructions on refrigerating/freezing.
Used this pizza dough for our dinner last night, and it was so tasty! So easy and convenient!
Hi Sharina! I’m glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing.
This pizza looks delicious, can’t wait to try it and I saw the little sharky take the plactic wrap off the counter and run across the screen right before you started talking about your cookbook, which I preordered a while back, can’t wait!
Hi Bonnie! Thank you for preordering the cookbook. That means so much. I hope you love this recipe.
This pizza dough recipe is awesome and indeed super easy to make. The crust turns out so good, makes amazing homemade pizzas.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Matt!
I’ve tried lots of recipes for homemade pizza dough over the years, and this one is truly the easiest and best! My search for a perfect pizza crust is over…thank you!
I am so happy to hear that you loved the homemade pizza dough recipe! Thanks for the lovely review.
Hi Natasha, 2nd comment:)
I just wanted to Wish You a Happy Mother’s Day also!!!!
Hope you enjoy your day:)
Melinda
Thank you so much Melinda, that is so sweet and thoughtful and I hope you have a great Mothers Day weekend also!
Hi Natasha,
I really love this pizza dough and the white pizza sauce!!!!
I always have to make 2 pizzas and pepperoni and olives and some of us like pineapple!!!
I saw Sharky grab the plastic wrap, he is helping out too. How Cute
I am a big fan of all of your recipes, I have a recipe book with just your recipes. I am also asking for your CookBook for my Birthday!!!!
Love & Recipes
Melinda
We have fun with Sharky and try to be creative (we don’t want to be too obvious where he’s hidden and also not hide him too well). One time no one saw him because we hid him too well! I love your topping options. I think I would have once slice from each half of the pizza. Both combinations are delicious!
Hi Natashia,
Can I just use my Kitchen Aid to knead the dough. My hands are not strong enough to do the kneading anymore. Thanks, Phyliss
Hi Phyliss, yes absolutely! A stand mixer with a dough hook will work well for kneading the dough.
Natasha, I love your recipes but am having a tough time with this one. I have made the dough twice and both times it was so dry I had to add water. I weigh my flour. Any idea what might be causing this? I am sure it is operator error.
Hi Paige, I always see the opposite where I need to add more flour because it is too moist. Did you remember to add the olive oil? I double checked the flour and water measurements and they correct. Did you use 3/4 cup of warm water, making sure to measure in a liquids measuring cup?
I knew it was operator error! I forgot the olive oil! THANK YOU!
You are very welcome! The oil makes a big difference in the softness and overall texture of the dough also. I’m glad you figured it out. Thank you for reporting back.