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Simple, 4-Ingredient Homemade Pizza Dough
By Alexandra Stafford
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Last Updated: 11/04/2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Made with 4 ingredients — flour, water, salt, and yeast — this simple, no-knead pizza dough recipe can be ready start to finish in 3 hours. It produces a pizza with a ballooned edge and crisp but pliable crust. You can use the dough the same day you mix it or store it in the fridge for up to 5 days (or freeze it!). 🍕🍕
Let’s get straight to it. This is a 4-ingredient, high-hydration, no-knead dough. It is the simplest of the simple homemade pizza recipes and, in my opinion, the tastiest, too. If you have time to prep your dough a few days in advance, you’ll be setting yourself up for serious pizza bliss (read on to learn why) but know that you can make excellent pizza, start to finish, in 3 hours.
The first step to making excellent pizza at home is to get comfortable working with high-hydration pizza doughs. Here’s why:
Why High-Hydration Pizza Dough is Best For a Home Oven
High-hydration doughs, such as this overnight focaccia, are doughs made with a high proportion of water relative to the flour. This high proportion of water creates a pizza crust that stays crisp but moist during the cooking process with beautiful air pockets throughout.
How? Understand this relationship, understand everything:
The lower the oven temperature, the higher the dough hydration. And conversely: The higher the oven temperature, the lower the dough hydration.
A great way to understand this concept is to look at the makeup of a classic Neapolitan-style pizza dough. Neapolitan-style pizza is characterized by a blistered and ballooned outer edge with a soft, thin (and sometimes wet) center. Contrary to what you might expect, Neapolitan-style pizza dough is on the lower end of the hydration spectrum: 60 to 65%.
The reason Neapolitan pizzas emerge light and airy with nearly wet centers is because they cook in 60 to 90 seconds in 900ºF ovens. In this short period of time, very little water evaporates from the dough, which allows it to retain its moisture.
When you bake pizza in a home oven, which can only get up to 550ºF, the baking time is longer, during which time a lot of water will evaporate. If you were to bake a 65% hydration Neapolitan pizza dough in your home oven, you will be left with a dry, tough crust due to all of the moisture loss during the long bake.
So, in sum: to prevent your crust from being dry and tough in a home oven, it needs more water from the start.
Working With High Hydration Dough
Working with high-hydration dough can be tricky, and the best way to deal with it is to handle it gently. During the shaping process — the point at which you are stretching your ball of dough into a 10- to 12-inch round — take care to use a light touch. When you handle the dough minimally, you preserve the bubbles created during the rising. See these bubbles? …
Those bubbles become these ballooned textures throughout the dough:
4 Tips for Making Excellent Pizza at Home
1. Use good, unbleached, and unbromated flour. King Arthur bread or all-purpose flour is my favorite.
What is the difference between bread and all-purpose flour? Mostly the protein content. KAF bread flour has a higher protein content (12.7% protein) than the all-purpose flour (11.7% protein). A dough made with bread flour as opposed to all-purpose flour will absorb slightly more liquid and will therefore be slightly stiffer. If you live in a humid environment and often find your dough to be too wet, using bread flour may help.
What about Tipo 00 Flour? Tipo 00 flour is the flour required in the production of D.O.C. Neapolitan pizza. Contrary to popular belief, the “00” is not an indicator of protein content. It refers, rather, to the fineness of the milling, “00” being the finest grade in the Italian classification system. It is known for the extensible gluten structure it creates in pizza dough. When you use Tipo 00 flour, you may find your dough to be much wetter than when you use bread flour, so you may need to adjust the recipe slightly: use less water or more flour.
While I love using tipo 00 flour (Petra 5063 being my favorite) in my outdoor oven, today I find I get better results — better oven spring and browning — in my home oven when I use bread flour or all-purpose flour, namely KAF, whose flour contains a small amount of malt, which helps with browning.
2. Don’t be afraid of salt.
Salt is important in pizza dough not only for flavor but also for strengthening gluten and controlling fermentation. My preference is Diamond Crystal kosher salt or Baleine fine sea salt, both of which dissolve quickly.
How Much Salt to Use: The rule of thumb with pizza dough is that the weight of the salt should be 2 to 3% the weight of the flour. For this recipe that is 10 to 15 grams. I use 15 grams of salt, and I do not find the dough to be too salty.
Flaky sea salt for finishing. I sprinkle every pizza I bake with Maldon Sea Salt just before it sliding it into the oven.
3. Invest in a Baking Steel.
The single best and easiest/most affordable step you can take to make better pizza at home is to invest in a Baking Steel. In short, steel is a more conductive cooking surface than stone. This means heat transfers more quickly from steel to food than it does from stone to food. Why is this important for pizza? Serious Eats’ Kenji J Lopez Alt offers this explanation:
“How does the baking surface affect hole structure? Well those crust holes develop when air and water vapor trapped inside the dough matrix suddenly expand upon heating in a phenomenon known as oven spring. The faster you can transfer energy to the dough, the bigger those glorious bubbles will be, and the airier and more delicate the crust.”
4. If time permits, make your dough several days in advance.
Why? Because: during a long, slow, cold fermentation, enzymes in both the flour and the yeast will break down the starches in the flour into simple sugars, which will contribute both to flavor and to browning. Moreover, during this time in the fridge, the dough will relax, making it easier to stretch into rounds on baking day.
PS: Simple Sourdough Pizza Crust Recipe
How to Make Pizza Dough, Step by Step
Whisk together flour, salt, and instant yeast (SAF is my preference):
Add water, and …
… mix to form a sticky dough ball:
Let rise in a warm spot till nearly doubled, about 1.5 hours.
Turn out onto a floured work surface.
Divide into four portions and …
… ball up, using as much flour as needed.
If you are baking pizza immediately, let the dough rest for another hour before shaping. Otherwise, transfer the balls to storage containers and stick them in the fridge. These Kevjes Dough Storage Vessels have become my favorite:
When it’s time to bake, transfer the dough rounds to a lidded vessel such as a DoughMate or a 9×13-inch baking dish covered with plastic wrap (to prevent the dough from drying out), and let the rounds sit for about an hour at room temperature.
When the dough has proofed, gently stretch it into an 11-inch round, using lightly floured hands:
Transfer the round to a peel lined with parchment paper.
Get your toppings ready. For a classic Margherita pizza, you’ll need tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil.
Spread about 2 ounces of tomato sauce over your dough.
Top with about 3 ounces of mozzarella. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake on a preheated Baking Steel at 550ºF for 5 to 6 minutes. Shower with fresh basil out of the oven.
The beauty of the Baking Steel + high hydration dough: oven spring.
Troubleshooting
Why is my pizza dough too wet?
It is possible that given your environment and the type of flour you are using, you are using too much water relative to the amount of flour. The fix is simple: reduce the amount of water. Ideally, you are measuring with a scale, so you can ensure you are measuring accurately and making meaningful adjustments. Try holding back 50 grams of water and seeing if that helps.
That said, please read above about the importance of using a high-hydration pizza dough in a home oven. If your dough, upon being mixed, is unable to form a sticky dough ball, you likely need to reduce the water. Reference the video for dough texture.
Why is my pizza dough soggy?
There are several culprits here:
- too much sauce, cheese, and/or toppings
- oven not hot enough
- too short of a baking time
Solutions:
- Invest in a Baking Steel. Read why above.
- Try laying the cheese on top of the dough; then the sauce. The cheese might provide some insulation from the sauce, thereby preventing the dough from getting soggy.
- Consider employing a parbake: bake your pizza “naked” for one minute; then continue baking for 4 to 5 minutes more once topped.
- Try using semolina on your peel.
- Before stretching your dough ball into a round, slick it lightly in a bit of olive oil.
- Use a lighter hand when topping.
PS: If you’re looking for more pizza-making guidance, check out my New York Times bestselling cookbook, Pizza Night, which includes 52 pizza and 52 salad recipes, one pair for every week of the year, as well as five simple desserts 🍕🍕🍕
Simple, 4-Ingredient Homemade Pizza Dough
- Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 pizzas 1x
Description
Made with 4 ingredients — flour, water, salt, and yeast — this simple, no-knead pizza dough recipe is a snap to throw together, and you can use the dough the same day you mix it or store it in the fridge for up to 5 days (or freeze it!). If you love pizza with a ballooned edge and crisp but pliable crust, this pizza dough recipe is for you.
**Attention Pizza Fans: My new cookbook, Pizza Night, is here.**
NOTES:
- This recipe yields 4 rounds of dough. The recipe can be halved but know that the dough can be refrigerated for up to five days. I refrigerate individual rounds of dough in Kevjes dough storage containers.
- The dough can be frozen, too. After the first rise and after you transfer the portioned rounds to quart containers, this is your opportunity to freeze. Transfer the quart containers to the freezer for as long as 3 months. To thaw, remove a container (or more) and let thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day or thaw at room temperature for 4 to 8 hours. Then, proceed with the recipe.
Ingredients & Tools
- Measure Accurately: As always, for best results use a scale to measure. I love this Ooni scale for its precision, especially when measuring smaller quantities of salt and yeast.
- Peel: This is my favorite.
- Parchment: These rounds are so handy for making the transition from the peel to the Baking steel or pizza stone.
- Yeast: SAF Instant Yeast is my favorite. If you need to use active dry yeast instead of instant, sprinkle it over the lukewarm water and let it stand for about 10 minutes or until it gets foamy before adding to the other ingredients.
- Warm place to rise: Here’s a trick for making the perfect warm spot for the dough to rise. Turn the oven on and let it preheat for 1 minute; then shut it off. The temperature will be between 80° F and 100° F. you should be able to place your hand on the oven grates without burning them.
- Flour: You can use bread flour and all-purpose flour here but if you live in a humid environment, I would consider using bread flour if you can get your hands on it. If you are in Canada or the UK, also consider using bread flour or consider holding back some of the water (see next paragraph). Reference the video for how the texture of the dough should look; then add water back as needed.
- Water: I find the sweet spot for me to be about 418 grams of water, which is roughly an 82% hydration dough. That said: If you live in a humid environment, if you live abroad, if you are using all-purpose flour or Tipo 00 flour, if you dislike handling wet doughs, consider starting with 400 grams of water, which will lower the hydration to 77%. If the dough feels dry, add water as needed to get it to the right consistency (reference the video).
- Salt: The rule of thumb with pizza dough is that the weight of the salt should be 2 to 3% the weight of the flour. For this recipe that is 10 to 15 grams. I tend to use 12 to 15 grams of salt, and I do not find the dough to be too salty, but I have a high salt tolerance. Use an amount appropriate to your tastes and preferences. Finally, I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt, but you can use fine sea salt or whatever salt you like.
- Toppings: In the notes below the recipe, find the toppings for a classic Margherita pizza and for a kale, parmesan, and crème fraîche pizza. See above for 6 other favorite pizza recipes.
- Timeline: Make it Tonight: Plan on 3 hours start to finish from when you mix your dough to when you turn out a freshly baked pizza. Make it Tomorrow (and beyond): Method 1: Mix your dough today, let it rise for 1.5 hours (roughly). Portion it into 4 balls; then transfer to the fridge for up to 5 days. When using dough you’ve stored in the refrigerator, remove it one hour prior to baking.
Ingredients
Please Read All Notes Above Before Proceeding
- 4 cups (512 g) bread flour or all-purpose flour, plus more for assembly
- 3 to 4 teaspoons (10 to 15 g) kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) instant yeast
- 1.75 to 2 cups (400 to 454 g) lukewarm water
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast. Add the water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the water is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Pour a drop or two of oil over the top and rub with your hands to coat. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in bulk. (Note: Optional Step: If time permits, 30 minutes after you cover the bowl, perform one set of stretches and folds: grab an edge of the dough using a wet hand and stretch it up and in. Repeat this 8 to 10 times, grabbing a different edge each time. By the end, the dough should transform from shaggy in texture to smooth and cohesive. I find performing a set of stretches and folds gives my dough more strength and ultimately more lightness.)
- Prepare the oven: If you are baking the pizzas right away (as opposed to refrigerating the dough for another day), place a Baking Steel or pizza stone in top third of oven and preheat oven to its hottest setting, 550°F. Be sure the Baking Steel heats for at least 45 minutes once the oven temperature reaches 550ºF.
- Ball up the dough: Cover a work surface or cutting board liberally with flour — the dough is very wet, so don’t hesitate to use flour as needed. Turn the dough out onto your floured surface and use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 4 equal portions. With floured hands, roll each portion into a ball, using the pinkie edges of your hands to pinch the dough underneath each ball. If you are not baking the pizza the same day, transfer each round of dough to a storage container (see notes above), cover, and store in the fridge. (At this point, if you plan on freezing the dough, transfer the vessels to the freezer for up to 3 months. See notes above for thawing.) If you are baking right away, let the balls sit on their tucked-in edges for 30 to 60 minutes without touching in a lidded, lightly floured vessel such as a DoughMate or a 9×13-inch pan covered with plastic wrap.
- Proof the dough: If using refrigerated dough, pull out a pizza round (or as many as you wish) from the fridge 60 to 90 minutes before you plan on baking. Transfer the rounds to a lidded, lightly floured vessel such as a DoughMate or a 9×13-inch pan covered with plastic wrap.
- Make the pizzas: Handling the dough as minimally as possible, shape the dough into a 10″–12″ round. If the dough has proofed sufficiently, you should be able to pick it up and stretch it very easily using the back of your hands. Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a pizza peel, and pour a few drops of oil into the center of it. (Note: the oil is optional. It’s especially helpful if you find shaping dough using the backs of your hands tricky.) Transfer the dough round to the parchment-lined baking peel.
- Top pizza as desired or to make the Margherita pizza: spread 2 ounces of tomato sauce over your pizza dough. Top with 3 ounces of mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. To make the kale and crème fraîche pizza: Place the kale in a small bowl, drizzle lightly with olive oil, season with sea salt, and toss with your hands till the kale is coated in oil and salt. Spoon crème fraîche over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border or so—I use 1 to 2 tablespoons per pizza. Sprinkle with the garlic and a handful of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Top with the kale.
- Bake the pizza: Shimmy the pizza, parchment paper and all into the oven. Bake the pizza until the top is blistered, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Shower basil over the pizza Margherita. Cut and serve. Discard parchment paper.
Notes
Margherita Pizza:
- 2 ounces tomato sauce, such as this one
- 3 ounces fresh mozzarella (if using buffalo mozzarella, drain before using)
- olive oil
- flaky sea salt
- fresh basil
Kale & Creme Fraiche Pizza:
- extra-virgin olive oil
- a couple handfuls of baby kale
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic
- Sea salt, such as Maldon
- 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
- grated Parmigiano Reggiano, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American, Italian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
824 Comments on “Simple, 4-Ingredient Homemade Pizza Dough”
Amazing pizza dough. First time I was able to make pizza at home and there was no uncooked layer in the crust. I had to add a dribble or too of water more than recommended but that might have been user error.
Great to hear, Devin! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi,
Thanks so much for this recipe! I don’t always manage to plan ahead and sometimes you just don’t want to wait 24 hours for good pizza dough. I made it last night and it was fantastic- light, chewy, delicious!
Happy February, Alexandra
So wonderful to hear this, Alexandra 🙂 🙂 🙂 And I hear you…sometimes there is just no time to plan ahead. Thank you for writing 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
This is the recipe for the best pizza I’ve ever made. No need to try the new pizza place in town or look for any other pizza dough recipe!
So great to hear this, Nellie! Thanks so much for writing 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
I made this pizza dough and it was delicious! Thank you! I need more practice with shaping the dough. How do I prevent a rip/hole when stretching the dough? It is difficult to shape the dough to 10-12 inches without ripping it. Thanks! Becky VW
Hi Rebecca! Great to hear. A few thoughts: First, yes, shaping does take practice. I like to hold the edge of the dough with two hands and let gravity do its work — the weight of the dough will stretch it out as you move your hands along the edge of the dough.
Another thought: were you working with cold, refrigerator dough? Or did you make the dough the same day? I ask only because your dough will be stronger after some time in the fridge — it will develop more gluten.
Do not recommend. Poor gluten development led to an easy tearing dough. Had to trash.
Stick with the babish recipes.
Yum, this recipe looks so good! I was wondering if you have tried to make it with gluten free flour? I would love to know and if you had good results. Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!
Hi Ali! I have not. Gluten-free baking is very tricky. Here is my one gluten-free bread recipe, which might be a good reference: Gluten-Free Peasant Bread Recipe
HI! Do you know what the active dry yeast equivalent would be as an alternative to instant? and would the recipe change at all otherwise with that?
Use the same amount! And you’ll want to sprinkle it over the lukewarm water and let it stand for 15-20 minutes to activate it. Then proceed with the recipe.
Hi! I made this dough yesterday and felt it was relatively easy to make. I didn’t have the tall containers you had, so I put the dough in my typical plastic rectangle food storage containers and popped them in the fridge over night. They don’t look to have grown or bubbled AT ALL and now I am concerned to bake with them today. Is this okay if they didn’t change at all in the fridge? Thanks!
It should be OK… I’m probably too late here. Did the first rise go OK? As in, did the dough rise and nearly double in volume?
We used KAF bread flour, barely stretched the dough, and only did the three hour rise/prep, but this was easy and delicious, especially with margherita toppings. Our new go-to! Thanks!!!
Great to hear, Emily! Thanks so much for writing and for sharing your notes 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
All of the info you shared was so valuable and helpful. I never felt confident about working with such a wet dough, but it was great once I leaned into it! And I made some substitutions (some I had to – my active yeast never bloomed, so I had to use the rapid rise I had), and it still came out great. I ended up using a blend of flours – 2/3 all purpose, and 1/3 whole wheat – and the flavor was good!
Also, I’ve always gone against advice and rolled my pizza dough to make it easy, but the wetter dough actually made using my hands easier.
Anyway – thanks for your tutorials and this recipe – super fun and tasty!
Wonderful to read all of this, Rose! Thanks so much for writing and for sharing your notes. Wet sticky doughs definitely take some getting used to, but they are worth it in the end. Glad you found the experience both fun and tasty 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
Great recipe! Have been making pizza dough for years using NYT recipe and then cooking directly on grill grates. Super delicious. Wanted to get a baking steel for indoors during winter and first use of this dough recipe was awesome results and super easy to make/work with. Purchased a cheaper steel from Steelmade that is great. This high hydration recipe is perfect for the steel and very easy to stretch if you follow the tips here. It wouldn’t work as well to transfer pretopped for the grill but I will continue to use for indoor use!
Great to hear, Cassie! I find the steel surface makes all the difference — glad you are having success as well! And I think you’re right: this dough is a little too fragile/wet for grilling, but I think if you were up for experimenting next summer, you could use the same recipe but hold back some of the water to lower the hydration/make it easier to work with. Thanks for writing!
Oh dear, I keep making this and making this and making this….
So great to hear this, Sharon 🙂 : ) :). Thanks for writing.
Ali, Can’t thank you enough for sharing this pizza dough recipe (and all of your tips!).
Purchased a pizza steel more than a year ago and used their recipe and instructions. It was a disaster. Retired the steel to a cupboard. Came across your pizza recipe (when I was making your Peasant Bread for the hundredth time.). Tried your recipe, pulled out the steel, followed your instructions and had fabulous results! Easy, fun and the best homemade pizza ever. You are one talented lady! Thank you.
So nice to hear this, Bobbie! Thanks so much for writing and thank you for your kind words, too … means a lot 💕💕💕💕 I’m so glad your Steel is back in action. I find it makes such a difference for pizza. Also: yay re peasant bread!
So, I was making the overnight focaccia recipe for a group hang that got canceled last minute and was hoping to turn it into pizza dough. Is the first rise absolutely critical? (I feel like that is a hard yes, but hey – I’m new to baking!) It’s been in the fridge for 24+hrs, it’s probably a no go but thought I’d see if it might work?! I’ve made both recipes in the past which is why I knew they were so similar – still getting the hang of my forming my pizza dough, but really have enjoyed the results – the crème fraiche/kale pizza was SO YUM, thanks for sharing.
And while I am here, a couple more ?s: I ALWAYS have to add more water – I assume that’s bc I am not using instant yeast – any suggestions there? I also wanted to see if I should be using a pinch more ADY for these recipes?
Hi Lisa!
Yes, the first rise for the focaccia (and all breads) is critical.
So glad you liked the creme fraiche + kale pizza … that’s my fave!
Regarding the water: Are you using a scale to measure? Where are you located. The water amount is not affected by the amount of yeast.
Hello
Apologies if this has already been answered but can you freeze the dough and if yes when should I do it
Thank you!,
Yes! Freeze the dough after you ball it up and transfer it to quart containers.
Thank you so much!
Is this before or after you let it rise?
Sorry ignore my question below I just saw it in your recipe thank you! 🙈🙌
I love your peasant bread, and have made it several times. I want to try this recipe but would like to make only half the amount. Will it work to halve the recipe?
Yes! Go for it.
This recipe was awesome, I can say that it’s a little bit of a learning curve working with a more wet dough. But practice makes perfect right? My only question is do I place the rack on the very highest slot in the oven, which puts mine at about 3 inches away from the burner, or do I put it on the second highest about 5 inches away from the burner. I did not get the charred crust like in the pictures so I may have been putting it on the wrong slot. It still turned out great but not charred. Thank you for your time.
Definitely takes practice getting used to a wet dough — so glad you liked it!
I do put my Steel on the very top rack, but that is a personal preference. I find I get the most charring when it’s way up top.
Regarding the charring, I think it’s a combination of factors: ideally, the charred spots are air pockets that bubble up and blister because the dough is so thin in those spots. You will get more of these with practice, as it requires gentle handling of the dough. Sometimes, the charred spots are due to residual flour left on the dough, which might look visually appealing, but which doesn’t actually taste that good.
I worry less these days about getting charred bits on top because sometimes this causes the cheese to overcook. As long as my cheese is melted and everything up top is looking good, and as long as the bottom looks evenly browned, I’m satisfied!
Hi! I’m not sure what I did wrong, I weighed the ingredients (I have to say, the weighted measurement of the salt seemed way more than 2 teaspoons and the flour less than 4 cups, but I know weights are more exact that volume measurements, so I went with it). Initial rise was great. I sectioned into 4 balls, they were SMALL. I got a slight rise in the fridge overnight in 2 qt containers. When I went to shape the dough it was a disaster. Fragile, and such a small amount of dough in each ball that it was as if I were making personal pizzas. The crust never really cooked (stayed pale, barely rose during baking).
All in all a huge fail for me. But not sure where I went wrong?
So bummed to hear this! OK, questions:
• What type of salt are you using?
• What type of flour are you using?
I’m surprised the dough balls seemed so small! The balls should roughly be 245 grams each, which is only slightly smaller than the “industry” standard, which is about 250 grams.
I don’t know where things might have gone wrong. It sounds as though the dough over-fermented, but this rarely happens with this yeasted recipe — it’s more of an issue with sourdough. Did you place the dough in a warm place to rise? Sometimes if the rising environment is too warm, it can cause the dough to over-ferment, which means it will basically lose all of its power during that initial rise and won’t recover in the fridge. How many hours was the first rise?
Hi Alexandra!
My dough is looking great so far, done the first proof. Quick question, have you ever used a cast iron pizza pan? If so, how would it compare to the steel? I have stone and cast iron pizza pans already so not sure if it’s worth the investment.
Thanks!!
Hi Lauren! I use my cast iron skillet when I make skillet pizzas, and it works great, but requires a little more finesse to get the crust nice and golden — I could it both in the oven and on the stovetop. The Steel is really great for making Neopolitan-style or thin-crust or New York Style pizzas that are baked free-form. Steel conducts heat better than stone and iron, so it transfers heat to the dough faster and will help your oven act closer to a pizza oven than any other material. That said, I would definitely experiment with your stone and cast iron pizza pans first. If you are happy with the crust, just keep using them!
Prepping a batch for dinner tonight. I have made this many times and my pizza is always perfect! I used to make the sourdough version, but have converted to this one to save time and it might be better?
Great to hear this, Robby! I love when easier recipes/methods also taste better. Thanks for writing!
How do you manage this so the parchment paper doesn’t burn?
Hi Adam! The parchment does darken a bit, but it never catches fire. You can also remove it after 1-2 minutes of cooking if you wish.
Had pizza made with this dough this weekend at a friend’s house, and I can’t wait to make it at home this week. One question, though my entire family loves pizza, my kids also love calzones. Do you think this recipe will work well for calzones? Since its such a wet dough, will it tear when stretching over the fillings to shape the calzone? I did help making the pizzas so am familiar with the texture of the dough, but concerned that it is so tender it tear rip as I shape. Thank you!
Tess
Hi Tess! I think it will work great for calzones. I would consider holding back some of the water at the start — 50 grams or so to make the dough slightly more manageable. And that’s it! Use flour as needed when stretching the dough out, and you should be good to go. Good luck!
Excellent, thank you! Can’t wait to make a double batch – one for my son’s birthday party calzones, and one for pizzas the day after 🙂 Thanks for the quick response!
Si fun, Tess! Happy Birthday to your son 🙂 🙂 🙂
I consider myself somewhat of a pizza enthusiast, and this is the only dough recipe I will be using from here on out. It’s delicious!!! fluffy yet crispy, great flavor and pretty easy to make. I added Italian breadcrumbs and some seasoning to the bottom of the dough before cooking to give it a bit more texture. Yum! Thank you
Great to hear, Haley! Italian breadcrumbs + seasoning sound delicious. Thanks so much for writing!
Hello Ali, I’m in pizza depression. I make your Peasant Bread and it’s not only a hit, easy to make but now a regular in my home. So I thought this pizza dough recipe would be the same. I followed all the directions to the letter and baked it on a steel but the crust came out very chewy. I plan to make this pizza until I get it right but why so chewy? I did cut the water back by an 1/8 of a cup per your suggestion and I used KAF bread salt. Please help because otherwise the flavor of the crust was great.
Ali, please disregard my previous post. I figured out why my crust was way too chewy. First I need to use the regular amount of water. Second, I noticed the dough balls were cracked on top because I didn’t coat them in oil. And third, I was in a hurry and didn’t let my dough balls rise for an hour. I’m pretty sure all this combined created the perfect storm for overly chewy pizza. I am passionate about bread and especially pizza and I will be making this recipe again. And I have your book o order and can’t wait to get it. I rarely buy cookbooks, but I just had to have this one. Thank you Ali for all your smarts about cooking and baking.
Hi Barbara! Thanks for commenting and following up. Great to hear the peasant bread was a success. It does sound as though using the right amount of water and letting the dough proof longer will make a difference.
Questions: do you live in a dry environment? ‘m mostly curious about when the dough balls began cracking — was that in the fridge or during a room temperature proof? And are you using a scale to measure? I
I hope the next attempt is more successful! Thank you for your kind words 🙂 🙂 🙂
I never ever rate anything. I had to rate this pizza dough recipe. I did not make the topping (I made my own) I made only the dough. OMG take it from a true Italian, this dough recipe is the absolute best! I can’t wait to make it again. It is light & airy, fluffy, crunchy, tasty and the best is I didn’t have to knead it. It was amazing! And boy did I stuff myself tonight. Thank you for a great recipe!
So great to hear this, Cheryl 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to write and rate it. So glad you loved it 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
This is the pizza dough recipe I’ve been searching for! So perfect, I’ll only use this recipe from now on.
So great to hear this, Jordan 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi! Okay, I’m trying to hack this recipe because the shorter rise time is more manageable for me than your Jim Lahey version (which i love!) I’ve made this version 4-5 times, but most times the dough has still been SO wet and, though bubbly and lovely, VERY difficult to shape and not tear after overnighting in the fridge. Like, it tears every time. It still tastes marvelous, but your videos demonstrate a different consistency dough than mine. I am using a scale and bread KA bread flour. Do I need to add more flour before putting into containers overnight? Or more flour when shaping? How do do I get these girls to be a little more hearty to the touch? Thank you!!
Hi Alison! I think you just need to start with less water. Great to hear you are using a scale. Next time, I would hold back 50-75 grams of water. Another thing you can do is this: after you mix the dough (with less water), let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Then use wet hands to stretch and fold the dough: grab a side and pull up and toward the center. Turn the bowl and repeat 8 times or so. You should notice a difference in the texture of the dough after you complete all of the folds. Then proceed. This will make your dough a little stronger. Let me know how those girls behave when they’re a little less hydrated 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wonderful suggestions! Thank you so much! I both decreased the water and did the stretch and fold and my dough was much less fragile and still tasted amazing! You are such a great teacher:) Cheers!
Great to hear, Alison 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
Oh Ali, thank you, it turned out fabulous !!!!!!!!! My people love pizza and now I’m confident I can do this at home.
Eva
Great to hear, Eva!! Thanks for writing 🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕
Can you use Gluten Free flour?
Not as a 1:1 swap. I would google gluten-free pizza crust… you probably need an egg or two for stability.
Love your pizza dough! I have now purchased the baking steel and now need the peel – do you recommend The wood or steel?
Yay! Great to hear all of this. I have both a wood and steel peel, and I am partial to wooden peels.
I’m 80 & didn’t realize The baking steel is so heavy – do you store in your in oven.?
Hi Carole! I have two ovens, so often I do simply just leave mine/store mine in the oven. If that works for you as well, go for it!