This easy homemade pizza crust recipe is sure to be a hit! It uses only simple and basic ingredients you likely have in your cupboard already and takes less than 2 hours to make. With this easy-to-follow recipe, you’ll have a great base in no time for all your favorite pizza recipes!
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“Without bread all is misery.” – William Cobbett, British journalist
I’m pretty sure Pizza Night has been a staple in America for pretty much ever. Whether it’s homemade, store-bought, fresh, frozen, or delivery. I feel it’s pretty safe to say most of us don’t go more than a week without eating pizza in some way shape, or form.
For the longest time, my family ate frozen pizza from the grocery store, or take n’ bake pizzas we’d get from Papa Murphy’s. And for the longest time, I thought making homemade pizza was hard, that it would take a lot of time and effort, especially making homemade pizza dough for crusts, but man was I wrong.
I don’t remember what exactly sent me down the rabbit hole of homemade pizza, but something or another did. And boy was I surprised when I learned making homemade from scratch pizza was just as easy as making any other meal. Today, though I still eat my fair share of pizza from other places, homemade pizza is one of my favorite things to eat and make.
And my homemade pizza recipes don’t stop with this easy homemade pizza dough recipe either! No, I also have my own homemade pizza sauce recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to whip up and several go-to pizza recipes my family enjoys regularly.
If making your own pizza dough has ever seemed daunting, or you feel you are finally ready to take that leap and start making homemade pizza. I would recommend hanging onto this simple pizza crust recipe! It’s a great base and works well for pretty much any kind of pizza, You can make it as thin or thick as you like, and it can be whipped up and in the oven in 2 hours or less!
Homemade pizza crust
I’ll be honest this recipe might be one of the hardest recipes I’ve ever created. I spent months, trying to nail down a good recipe and good techniques for making homemade pizza crust. In other words, I did all the hard so you don’t have to! And finally created a very basic, very easy pizza dough that everyone is sure to love.
Usually, I’m pretty extreme with my pizza crusts and tend to prefer only either end of the spectrum, I either want cracker thin or deep dish. More often than not I tend to reach for my quick and easy homemade sourdough pizza crust recipe.
However, not everyone in my family shares my love of sourdough or my love of thin pizza crusts. They kept asking when I was going to make a ‘regular’ pizza crust. So I set to work, creating this recipe.
Now I’m not going to try and claim that this is the best homemade pizza dough or the only easy pizza dough recipe out there, as a matter of fact, there are millions. But this is my favorite pizza dough recipe:) and one that seems to have checked all the boxes a pizza crust should.
It is easy to make, needs only 6 simple ingredients, and can used to create any favorite pizza, thin crust, hand-tossed, deep dish, etc. And the process of creating this recipe I learned a few helpful tips to help ensure that homemade pizza crust always comes out great!
If you are new to cooking from scratch or are looking for an easy go-to pizza crust recipe then look no further, I’ve got you covered! This recipe is easy to follow but packed full of tips and tricks to help you master the art of pizza crust making, and ensure you get the best pizza crust every time!
How to make homemade pizza crust
Ingredients
- active dry yeast –also called instant yeast
- white sugar
- sea salt
- warm water
- olive oil
- all purpose flour – You can also use bread flour
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water, gently mix, then set aside for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes the yeast mixture should be bubbly and alive, it should also smell very yeasty. If the mixture is not bubbly there is a chance your yeast is dead. I would recommend checking the date of your yeast, as well as the water temperature. It is important to use warm water, not hot water, as hot water might kill the yeast. The yeast may also be dead if it is too old.
Add the salt, olive oil, and flour to the mix until it comes together in a ball. I like to use my Danish dough whisk for this, but you can a kitchen mixer with a dough hook attachment or your hands.
The dough should be sticky but not wet. If your dough is too wet, add additional flour to the dough, roughly a 1/4 cup at a time until it is no longer wet. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and need for knead for 4-6 minutes.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, or saran wrap and set it in a warm place to rise.
Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Turn the dough ball out onto a floured surface and divide it into 2 equal parts. At this point, the dough can either be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until you are ready to use it. Or it can be used imminently.
Baking Homemade Pizza Crust
Preheat the oven to 474 degrees F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Or grease them with oil. Set aside.
With a rolling pin roll the pizza dough into your desired shape on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the dough to your prepared baking sheets.
Top the pizza crust with your favorite toppings, and transfer the pizza to the oven.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are bubbly.
Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes then slice and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Kneading pizza dough is an absolute must! Kneading the dough helps to activate the yeast and will give you a better and faster rise.
Keep in mind that the rising time for this recipe tends to vary slightly. Depending on the temperature of your house, what time of year it is, and where the dough is rising will affect the time. Sometimes it takes more time sometimes it takes less.
Uncooked pizza dough can be kept tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you are ready to use the dough take it out of the fridge and allow it to warm up to room temperature before rolling and baking it.
Any leftover cooked pizza can be stored in the fridge for 5-7 days.
I more often the not use baking sheets or a sheet pan to bake my pizzas. You can use whatever you prefer. A pizza stone, pizza pan, or pizza steel will all work great with this recipe!
Check out these homemade pizza recipes!
Jalapeño Pineapple Pepperoni Pizza with BBQ sauce
Heirloom Tomato Pizza with Garlic Butter
Easy Homemade Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1 cup warm water Use warm water, not hot water, as hot water might kill the yeast.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour You can also use bread flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water, gently mix, then set aside for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes the yeast mixture should be bubbly and alive, it should also smell very yeasty.
- Add the salt, olive oil, and flour to the mix until it comes together in a ball.
- The dough should be sticky but not wet. If your dough is too wet, add additional flour to the dough, roughly a 1/4 cup at a time until it is no longer wet.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and need for knead for 4-6 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, or saran wrap and set it in a warm place to rise.
- Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Turn the dough ball out onto a floured surface and divide it into 2 equal parts.
- At this point, the dough can either be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until you are ready to use it. Or it can be used imminently.
Baking instructions
- Preheat the oven to 474 degrees F.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Or grease them with oil. And set aside.
- With a rolling pin roll the pizza dough into your desired shape on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the dough to your prepared baking sheets.
- Top the pizza crust with your favorite toppings, and transfer the pizza to the oven.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are bubbly.
- Allow the pizza to cool for 5 minutes then slice and enjoy!
Karen
Your pictures are so good! I need to try pizza crust again bc I’ve never gotten it good enough to repeat. Looking forward to trying this recipe!
anexpressionoffood
I hope you enjoy it! This recipe is super easy and yummy and turns out perfect every time! My sister who rarely cooks loves it and says it’s beyond easy to make!