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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”
Why the full 1t or 4g yeast? I’ve always used the 1g /1/4 tsp in the Lahey recipe and done 2 day rise in fridge.. is it for quick rise same day? And always seems to come out better somehow when I divide the dough in thirds. Ordered your book, can’t wait. Thanks as always.
Hi and thank you 🙂
In the book, I use much less yeast. Yes, the higher amount of yeast is mostly if you want it to rise in a timely manner. You can absolutely reduce the amount of yeast and employ a long, slow rise before balling up the dough and refrigerating it.
I use your peasant bread pizza crust from your cookbook. It is soo good that we’ve started having Friday pizza night. Even my super picky youngest son loves your crust. I’m super excited about your pizza cookbook coming out.
So nice to read this, Renee 🙂 🙂 🙂 And thank you so much re book. Friday nights are our pizza night as well. Thanks for writing!
Hi Ali! I did the make ahead method #2 and my dough hasn’t risen at all after 11 hours in the fridge. I halved the recipe, using 256g APF, 2g instant yeast, and about 180g water (plus salt). Did I do something wrong, or does it just need more time? Thank you!
Hi! And apologies for the delay here. You didn’t do anything wrong… just needs more time. Did you end up giving it more time?
Hi Ali, thanks for the reply. Yes, it’s been in the fridge 4 nights now and it’s barely doubled. I don’t know what went wrong.
I would remove it and let it rise at room temp and see if anything happens. What kind of instant yeast are you using?
To me, it seems like either a water temperature or yeast problem. Was your yeast expired? Was your water too hot (above 40 degrees Celsius)? I’m going to try this recipe out with my sister in a few hours, hopefully I won’t face this issue as this recipe seems promising and majority of the reviews are positive 🙂
Amazing recipe,
I always wanted to make pizza napoletana but some of the recipes are long and a bit complicated,
This one is super simple and very tasty,
I just put a little more flour at the beginning because the dough was a little too liquid.
But overall is was perfect.
Thank you for the recipe.☺️
Great to hear, Anca! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Never in my life did I think I’d be making really good pizza at home, but here I am on my 9th straight Friday of pizza night at home! This dough is so easy, so delicious. I ended up getting the baking steel and those round parchment sheets a few weeks ago. Absolute pizza heaven! Thank you!
Awwww Lauren! This makes my heart sing 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
Could you cook your pizza crust (dough) and then add your toppings and THEN freeze it. For uses like meal prep or taking a meal to a new mama? Thanks!
You can! I have not totally perfected the method and go through phases where I try and try, and then I stop experimenting, and then I forget what I’ve done, so I’m afraid I can’t totally advise, but it definitely will work. I would parbake for 90-ish seconds; then top; then freeze.
Just a question about your note that those in Canada might want to use less water. Canada is a big country, so wondering if this is applicable to places with high humidity, or high or low elevation, or is it because of the flour that is available to us here? I
It’s because of the flour — I think the ap flour might absorb water differently. This note is a result of troubleshooting with many people over the years from Canada (and the UK) — bread flour just seems to work better.
Thank you! I rarely see bread flour in the store so I’ve been replacing 1 T per cup of AP with vital wheat gluten. Not sure where I learned that trick — maybe from you?
Not from me, but that’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I am in Canada (west coast) and used the regular (RH) AP flour (with the full amount of water the recipe calls for) and it turned out great.
Great to hear, Hilla! Thanks for writing.
Hi I do not like any black on my pizza. Can I bake at about 180 degrees celcius with fan oven?
Sure! It will likely take a lot longer… I’d start checking it after 10 minutes.
Made the dough and let it sit in the fridge for a few days in those large deli containers. Absolutely delicious and going to make more now to have for this weekend!!! I do have a question, my dough rose and kept rising in those containers in the fridge like even popped the lids off a few times. Is that ok? I mean it tasted amazing but wasn’t sure if it was suppose to do that because store bought dough is in balls and not like that.
Hi! Great to hear! Yes, it’s fine, but not ideal, especially if dough seeps out and makes a mess of your fridge or potentially dries out. Next time, try using even less yeast: 1/2 teaspoon.
I’m really excited to try this recipe! I was wondering, would the parchment paper burn while baking the pizzas at 550?
It doesn’t! Do not use it under the broiler.
Hi Ali!
I notice that you show a wooden pizza peel in your photos. Do you have a recommendation as to whether a pizza peel should be wooden or metal?
Thanks for another great recipe! Even when using other recipes, I am finding that changing the proportions to yours tends to work better.
I am partial to wooden peels! This Epicurean peel is my favorite. Thank you for your kind words 🙂
I got to this page from an email. The email had a photo of a squash blossom pizza. Is that recipe anywhere? I can’t find it on this site. It looks amazing!
Amy, hi! It’s not on the blog… see if this link works (it will take you to Instagram). I do have this recipe in my new pizza book, Pizza Night, out April 16th.
Made this tonight and it was amazing! 87% hydration level. Only wish my oven would get hotter— tops out at 500 degrees. Mixed lemon with ricotta and then topped with roasted asparagus and prosciutto strips. So good! Thanks for all your amazing recipes. Love them all!!😋😋
YUM!!! Great to read all of this, Julie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing these notes.
Made this recipe for the first time, using the baking steel + parchment rounds you recommended, and I am blown away by how well the pizza baked up in my home oven. I could cry over how much I love the crust! I have been searching for the perfect homemade margherita pizza recipe for a long time now, as restaurant pizza is expensive and not always very accessible. I also did not want to spend hundreds of dollars on a pizza oven. I’m so glad I tried your method first! Thank you so much for the detailed instructions. I did have one question, though I’m not sure if this affected the final bake or not – I used active dry yeast and followed the instructions to make lukewarm water. After the rise at room temp, I portioned the dough into fourths and placed them in clean yogurt containers. They had two full days in the fridge. I’m noticing now that my dough did not rise in those containers nearly as much as the ones in your pictures. Is this because I used active dry yeast instead of instant? It’s definitely fresh and I have used it to make other things. The pizza looks like it baked up the way it was supposed to though, so I am not sure if I even need to worry about it. Just curious for next time!
Hi Anna! Great to read all of this. Thanks so much for writing 🙂
The lack of rise in the fridge may be due to using active dry yeast — I use SAF instant yeast and it is more concentrated/powerful. That said, it’s also possible your fridge is simply colder than mine. Regardless, it doesn’t matter if you got great results!
Can you par-bake this dough and then freeze the shells to thaw and top later?
Yes! Love doing that 🙂
I love this pizza recipe, especially the way the pizza puffs when it hits the heat of the oven. I used it to make BBQ chicken pizza. I did have two problems which I need to figure out how to correct. The pizza when hot was somewhat saggy (cue the knives and forks)- once it was less hot it was fine to eat by hand. It probably would have benefited from a short parbake. The second problem is that I didn’t get much char on the edges of the top crust (did put it directly on a pizza steel). I had it around 12″ from the top of the oven, so maybe it needs to bake at a lower position.. I love baking it on parchment – no more deformed pizzas – and the bottom crust was adequately browned. This is the kind of pizza I really love – a hybrid of Neapolitan and Sicilian styles.
Hi Mary,
Great to read all of this. Questions for you: How hot does your oven get? And how long are you preheating your Baking Steel for?
I actually get the best results, when my Steel is on my top rack (so, very close to the top of the oven). And I try to preheat the Steel for at least 1 hour.
Also: Are you cold proofing your dough balls for any amount of time?
Hi Ali, Thanks for responding. I cold proofed for a little over 24 hours and the dough was beautiful when I took it out of the fridge (I used bread flour, btw) so no complaints there. I am very on board wit the high hydration…that’s a great tip.
My oven goes to 550 degrees which is the temperature I used to bake the pizza. I did not, however, preheat the steel for 1 hour. My oven does have a true convection setting and I am thinking of trying that as an experiment next time (I have not found one recipe yet that calls for using convection.) I usually keep the rack just under the highest level so that I can turn on the broiler if necessary. However, I had read several recipes that encourage baking the pizza low (or even on the oven floor) to take advantage of the heat from the bottom of the oven. I am not sure how well that would work with my oven.
I have another dough ball in the freezer which I will make on Saturday. I will try pre-heating the oven for an hour and baking it high up to see what happens.
OK, got it, again, great to read all of this.
Definitely try 550ºF convection roast — that may definitely help with the browning, and if time permits, try preheating the steel for at least 1 hour. It is definitely worth experimenting with your steel in different locations in your oven — I always encourage people to do this because what works for me in my oven might not work as well for you in your oven.
I asked about the cold proofing because time in the fridge allows enzymes in both the flour and the yeast to break down the starches in the flour into simple sugars, which will contribute both to flavor and to browning. 24 hours is great! You may have even better results with 48 hours.
If the longer preheat of the steel doesn’t work, you can also try reducing the water slightly. You could try holding back 25 grams of water and see if that makes a difference. Finally, a 60-90 second parbake might sold all of your soggy-crust woes 🙂
This pizza crust was a-ma-zing! It was chewy, crunchy and so good. The only thing was I think I got it too thin in the middle because the first bite or 2 was a little soggy but it was still so good. My stone heated for at least 45 mins at 550 degrees and I just made the dough today so it was not cold proofed. Any suggestions would be helpful cuz this will be my go to pizza dough from now on!
Great to read all of this, Jody! Questions for you before I make suggestions:
Are you using a scale to measure?
What type of flour are you using?
Ali
One of the best pizza dough recipes I have ever used, hands down! Easy to follow, works with a busy schedule and makes 4 pizzas at once?! Amazing. Made two pizzas day of after cold proofing in the fridge for about 4hrs then coming to temp on counter as she suggested. I left one in the fridge for a use later in the week and another I froze. Wanted to try around all 4 methods and see which I like best. I baked on parchment, on a pizza stone at 525 (as high as my oven gets) and it worked well.
My only complaint is if this pizza goes a few minutes too long, the outer crust really becomes inedible. I am all for a good crunchy crust, but it should still have that pull and it lacked that.
Next time will try par baking the dough first, then baking for less with toppings to see how it comes out as far as light and fluffy.
Great to read all of this, Jenna! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of your notes. Parbaking for 1 minute or 90 seconds will definitely help promote a crisp crust and properly cooked toppings.
Hi Alexandra!
I make this so much, you’d think I’d have it memorized. I finally wrote it on a piece of paper to stick to the fridge, but that has finally disintegrated, so I just now wrote in pen on the back of our 100 year old kitchen cabinet, where I hope it will live for another 100!
Hi Ali,
Just discovered this recipe and am very excited to give it a try, but have one question. I am planning on trying this recipe during my upcoming visit with my brother and his family. He has one of those home pizza ovens which we are planning on using. I don’t know what brand it is or how high the heat goes, but in general do you think we would have to adjust the water amount if it goes above 550? Have you tried one of these ovens?
Is it a table top electric oven like the Breville? If that is the case, I do recommend lowering the water slightly: try 360 grams water. That will lower the hydration to 70% and will make the dough more forgiving. If there’s too much water, the dough will burn before it cooks through and the crust will taste a little doughy. Let me know what brand the oven is if you have a chance!
Lol, seems that it is not really an oven. It’s one of those models that opens like a waffle maker, and your only option is on/off. Some users have estimated that it doesn’t get much higher than about 410 farenheit. The product description doesn’t say anything about temps, just that it is 1400 watts.
🤣🤣
OK, got it. I don’t think you’ll need to reduce the water in the recipe then 🙂
Hello!
I’ve done this recipe and it works perfectly! I’ve just bought an Ooni oven though and I’m not sure if it’s going to work the same due to its high amount of water. Do you have any tips for this? Thanks!
Hi! I’d reduce the water to 360 grams. THis will bring the hydration down to 70%. You may want to add a set of stretches and folds 30 minutes after you mix the dough — this will help the dough come together if it’s a little dry upon mixing. I also like to cook my pizzas at a slightly lower temperature: between 650-750ºF for 2.5-3 minutes.
Looks amazing! How well does this dough work without parchment paper? It’s not really supposed to be heated beyond 420-450, and I don’t love the idea of overheating silicone oil into my pizza. Thanks!
I would suggest using the parchment paper for the transfer, then opening the oven 1 minute later and pulling it out. Of course, you can try transferring the dough to the steel without parchment, but it is a wet, sticky dough. You’ll definitely need to use semolina or rice flour or ap flour on the peel.
I have an Ooni pizza oven and I wonder which of the pizza crusts you would recommend with the Ooni? I was thinking that I might try prebaking the crust ahead of time (in the oven) so I can use a higher hydration recipe like the Sicilian or 4 ingredient crust and then just cooking in the Ooni to melt cheese and do the final cooking and get a little of that smoky flavor. Do you have any other modifications that you’d suggest using an Ooni?
I like your parbake idea! Sounds fun.
When using this dough for the outdoor oven, I like to reduce the water to 360 grams. You may need to add a set of stretches and folds 30 minutes after you mix the dough to help it come together in a more cohesive ball. I also cook my pizzas at a slightly lower temp: 650-750ºF for 2.5-3 minutes.
Love the recipe! Made it one day and fixed pizza the next per recipe. I cooked on our outdoor grill preheated to 500 degrees. Put the pizza on grill mats. The pizza doesn’t stick to grill mats and can easily be turned as needed. After too many recipes to count, this one was perfect; light, crisp, and delicious! It is fabulous!! Thank you!!
Wonderful to hear this, Camille! Can you elaborate on the grill mats? I’m on intrigued! Sounds like a good thing to pick up before summer!
I get these on Amazon. Great for a lot of other uses but work really well for pizza on the grill. Grill Mat Set of 6 – 100% Non-Stick Reusable Mats for Gas, Charcoal or Electric Grills – Easy to Clean – 15.75 x 13-Inch, Black
Ordering them now! Thanks so much. I’m really excited about this 🙂
Tonight I made your 4 Ingredient Pizza Recipe, amazing flavor, taste, and texture.
Your 4 Ingredient Pizza Dough Recipe is straightforward. I am grateful that you added the following suggestions:
(1) How you prepare your lukewarm water; and (2) Warm your oven for one minute, shut oven off, place mixed dough bowl with damp towel covering mixed dough in oven for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until double in size. These are wonderful and helpful suggestions.
Great to hear, Bernadette! Thanks so much for writing. So glad those tips were helpful 🙂
Hi, the pizza dough is almost ready to go into the fridge. I don’t have a pizza steel or stone right now. Do I bake it at 500 degrees for 5-8 mins? I usually use a tablespoon of olive oil in the pizza pan. If I have a gas stove does that make a difference? Thank You!
Hi! Are you going to use a sheet pan? Regardless, yes, get your oven as hot as possible. Gas won’t make a difference!
A few thoughts: you could preheat a sheet pan (one you don’t care about) for about an hour and use that as your cooking surface. Or you can use a cast iron skillet… do you have one?
Delicious, quick, and simple. I used Bob’s Red Mill bread flour last time, so tried Caputo 00 with 1.75c water. Next time will try two. Turned out great but I’m after those bubbles! Used clay, now strongly considering a baking steel.
Great to hear! It’s all about experimenting until you pinpoint that magic ratio of flour to water given your environment and the flour you are using. Good luck!
I am planning on making your Neapolitanish pizza dough from your new book. I would like to use TIPO 00 flour instead of AP flour. ( Because I have an abundance of it .) Would I use the same amount of flour and water that you have in the recipe?
I love your Pizza Night book .
Thank you, Deborah! So nice to hear. If you are using the book recipe, I would use 550 grams of Tipo 00 flour, and I would consider using less water. Maybe try 400 grams to be safe. Based on how this batch turns out, you can use more (or less) than 400 grams of water next time around. Hope that helps!
A friend of mine recommended you to me – I am so excited for this simple pizza dough! We are planning on trying to cook it on our Blackstone. Do you have any experience or tips for doing it that way? Thanks!
Oh I wish I did! I’m dying to get one. Question: are you able to set it to a certain temperature: like 550ºF? And keep it at that temperature?
It’s like a stovetop dial that the temp is just low/medium/high, but the high can get up to 650. Looks like we will be doing some experimenting!
Update: we preheated the Blackstone to medium-high and put olive oil on the burner (not the dough itself), cooked one side for about four minutes, flipped it and added toppings, let it cook for another six – ten minutes, and it turned out SO yummy! Highly recommend
Fantastic! Thank you so much for writing and sharing these notes. So helpful for me when people ask… really appreciate you taking the time to report back.