How to Make Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Watch Chef John make super-easy no-knead pizza dough. See more

READY IN 18+ hrs

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Read Reviews (16)

"This pizza dough produces a very nice pizza crust--flavorful, tender, with just the right amount of chewiness." — Chef John

Directions

Stir whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil, and warm water with a spatula until formed into a sticky ball of dough that pulls away from sides of a large bowl, about 3-4 minutes.
Cover the bowl with a light cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) for 18 hours, until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 550 degrees F (280 degrees C). Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with more flour. Form the dough into a rectangle, and cut it into four equal parts. Shape each piece into a ball, stretching and tucking the dough to create a smooth surface, adding more flour if needed. Cover the dough balls with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
To shape the dough, sprinkle the surface with flour and lightly pat flat. Use a rolling pin to form a thin disk about 9 inches in diameter.
Transfer the formed crust to the prepared baking sheet and top as desired. Bake on the bottom rack for 4 minutes, move to the middle rack and bake for 5-6 minutes more minutes, until the bottom is crispy and the top is lightly browned. Move to cooling rack to cool slightly before serving.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 10 mins
COOK 10 mins
READY IN 18 hrs 35 mins

Footnotes

Cook's Note:
Additional all-purpose flour may be needed if the dough is too sticky and wet.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Mar 09, 2012

okay, I just watched the video of chef john making this but I swear he just used 16oz of flour to make 4 pizzas. This calls for 4 cups or 32 oz of flour and says it makes 4 pizzas so I'm confused. I will make it tomorrow then come back and update my review after I figure out what the hey is going on.

—Carol

See full review »

Most Helpful Critical Review

Oct 30, 2012

Didn't work out very well for me but it was my first time making pizza dough

—huyana8

See full review »

21 Ratings

Apr 12, 2012

This dough is pretty good but it really needs more like 3 1/2 cups flour. If you watch the video Chef John weighs the flour - 16 oz - which equates to closer to 3 1/2 cups rather than 3 cups. I made the dough the night before - let it sit until the next afternoon - I made pizza for the kids when they came home from school. They love pizza and this was no exception.

—Baking Nana

See full review »

Mar 16, 2012

This recipe reminds me of the artisan bread in five minutes a day recipe I found on the NY Times website. The bread recipe is made in an ice cream bucket and does not have olive oil, otherwise it is a similar recipe and my favorite bread EVER!

—wayschool

See full review »

May 12, 2012

I was a little leery about leaving this out all nite. Whipped up a batch of this dough last nite & made a pizza this morning. Turned out Jawsome. the only thing I did differently was to poke holes in the dough up to an inch around the edge. Keeps the center from rising

—tgmcooks

See full review »

Jul 24, 2012

I think you pretty much "nailed-it " on this thin crust pizza recipe.I've subsequently tried six other thin crust recipes from this website,and this beats them all. I have two suggestions though.One is that I think the yield should be 3 pizzas,with a little left over.You have to stretch the dough so far in a 9" pan that there is only a 1/2 crust.Secondly I found by increasing the cooking time on the bottom shelf to 6 or 7 minutes really crisps the bottom up.(Without a pizza stone my oven doesnt get hot enough).Otherwise this crust is perfect. Now if I could only find a thick crust pizza recipe that was this good,but that is a whole different animal.

—winepboston

See full review »

Apr 14, 2012

This recipe was excellent! When baking it's important to weigh the flour. If you don't have a food scale, the texture of the dough will tell you if you've added too much flour.

—susan

See full review »

Apr 15, 2012

Really good pizza dough! A little weird the first time I mad it though, I think I didn't add enough flour.

—Auddyvlc

See full review »

Edit

Glad you liked it! Your friends will, too:

Did you tweak the recipe? Edit and save your own version of it!

Edit this recipe

More Recipes Like This See all

Bread Machine Thin Crust Pizza Dough

Master Pizza Dough

Pizza Dough I

Italian Pizza Dough

Neapolitan-Style Pizza Dough with Garlic and Italian Seasonings

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Mike's Homemade Pizza

Pizza Dough III

New York Italian Pizza Dough

World's Easiest Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Nutrition

Calories
485 kcal
24%

Carbohydrates
89.3 g
29%

Cholesterol
0 mg
0%

Fat
8 g
12%

Fiber
3.9 g
16%

Protein
12.4 g
25%

Sodium
732 mg
29%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Serving Size: 1/4 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 485
Calories from Fat: 72

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8g 12 %
Saturated Fat 1.1g 6 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 732mg 29 %
Potassium 154mg 4 %
Total Carbohydrates 89.3g 29 %
Dietary Fiber 3.9g 16 %
Protein 12.4g 25 %
Sugars 0.6g
Vitamin A < 1 %
Vitamin C < 1 %
Calcium 3 %
Iron 55 %
Thiamin 90 %
Niacin 74 %
Vitamin B6 5 %
Magnesium 13 %
Folate 116 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.