What do we want? Pizza! When do we want it? Now! Homemade pizza is easier (and faster) than you think. It used to take hours to knead and rise the dough but not any more. My quick & easy pizza dough is made from scratch and is ready to use in less than 20 minutes. I takes longer to heat up the oven but that’s okay because the dough can continue to rest until the oven heats up… or the grill. Yes! I have made pizza on the grill, on a pizza stone on the grill, in the oven on a stone, in the oven on a pan with holes, and even in a cast iron skillet on the stove. You can see that a pizza lover like myself needed to find a way to make pizza dough as quick and easy as possible. And I have.
This recipe is flexible too. You can use either bread flour or all-purpose flour. The difference is subtle but I find the crust a little crispier with the bread flour. And… you can use either instant yeast or regular active yeast, the only difference being the temperature of the water. If you read the package of yeast you’ll see that instant yeast calls for hotter water (120° F) while active dry yeast requires water at 110° F. Did I say flexible? There’s even more. Once you put this dough together, you can also choose to let it rest for an hour or more. It will puff up and double in size. Or… (wait for it)… you can refrigerate it for pizza the next day, or the next 2 or 3 days. Refrigerating pizza dough does result in a better crust but I don’t always plan my dinners ahead. Here’s my typical pizza-making schedule:
An hour before dinner, I preheat the oven. Then I put the dough together and let it rest. While I wait for the oven I prepare my toppings and make a salad. I shred my own cheese because the pre-shredded kind does not melt the same. I slice toppings and try to remove some of their moisture for a crispy pizza. Once the salad is made, I roll the dough, put on the toppings, and put the pizza in the oven, which has had time to heat up by now. (don’t put pizza in until the oven is hot enough) While the pizza cooks, we have our salad. As soon as we finish the salad, the pizza is done, hot, crispy, and ready to eat.
I seriously don’t know anyone who doesn’t like pizza. And once you start making quick and easy pizza at home you will never want to get delivery again. It simply will never compare. Besides, you can make your own pizza healthier, with reduced fat cheese, healthy toppings, and a crust the way you like it. Thin crust? Just roll it thinner and make two. I hope this easy recipe motivates more people to make healthier and faster pizza at home.
UPDATE (June 17, 2020) Since posting this recipe I find myself more often refrigerating the dough overnight. The flavor does get better with time and the edges of the crust seem to puff up more when it cooks. My favorite method these days is using a wooden paddle and pizza stone. But no matter what, any kind of homemade pizza is the best! ?
Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I have now made your whole wheat breadgreat&used it 3rd time-rye- the rolls are great also but this little pizza dough 14times my go to secret-use it as a long tedious Lebanese flat bread with zartar&oil & lemon or pepper(mild)I’ve been a hit-little Itia got all the great grams notes 50yr ago(I did but yours with a loner rise are best
You’ve done it for me again Jenny. I really enjoy watching and listening to you. I made this pizza dough, but I did double it. I was really happy with the results. Thank you so very much.
My great nephews future wife needs gluten free dough any suggestions?
What’s the absolute longest time the dough can stay in the fridge before using? I think I’m over the 3 day mark now. 🙄
Can this pizza dough be frozen? And if so, for how long?
Can you double the recipe. I have a pizza oven and we sometimes make several smaller pizzas when we have a group over.
Yes you can! I double the recipe every time I make it and it comes out the same, which is great!
Does anyone have any tips on what to do without a pizza pan or a pizza stone? Can I just use parchment paper and a regular cookie sheet? Thanks! If I end up trying it, I’ll update you. 🙂
Sure! Just preheat a 12″ (or your size) cast iron skillet good and hot, pop in your pizza and bake!
OOPS! forgot to add: be sure your C.I. Skillet is well seasoned & non stick slick, also sprinkle it with a bit of corn meal for more authentic N.Y. style pizza.
Thanks Jenny! I’m going plant based and this is a great way to have perfect non-preservative pizza and ONLY my favorite toppings! When’s the best time to add the spinach and basil leaves?
Tasted great but came out a little dry? Any tips? I am at high altitude
Thank you Jenny! Who would have thought I could have pizza from scratch in an hour! I’ve been making an overnight pizza for a while but this is a game changer for those times I haven’t planned in advance!
Rather than flouring my work surface, I oiled my hands, and put the dough on an oiled piece of parchment. I gently spread the dough out, then I topped with sauce and cheese and slid the pizza with the parchment onto a pizza stone. Then baked at 500 for about 8 minutes. The extra oil added to the crispiness of the pizza and the parchment made it very easy to maneuver in and out of the oven.
Thank you Jenny! I made pizza for dinner tonight, using your pizza dough recipe. I used bread flour and cooked it on a pizza stone. I topped it with arugula and prosciutto (loosely used the Food Network’s recipe).
The pizza was delicious; the crust was thin and crisp.
Finding your website with your recipes is the very best thing about Covid! When I’m looking for a recipe, your website is the first place I look!
Thank you so much!
Marilynn
Thank you for updating your pizza dough recipe. I’m making it
for the first time. It has been refrigerated overnight. Do I bring it to room temperature before I put on the pan?
Thanks for your help and making my Covid days so much fun. I made your Baked Zite recipe yesterday. It was so good.
Love your Pizza dough recipe left it in the fridge for two days and I just used my hands to stretch it. I could have stretched it paper thin like Phyllo dough which I plan on doing next time, using feta and some small curd cottage cheese and rolling it up. You could even make an apple Strudel by grating and apple, adding sugar, cinnamon and 2 to 3 tbs Farina, drizzle oils or melted butter and roll up. Brush with butter or oil and bake at 375F about 25-30 min or until golden color.
Jenny, I absolutely love your recipes and videos. I finally got over my fear of yeast because of you. I made your no knead fruit and nut bread, AMAZING! Thank you, please don’t ever stop cooking…..xo
I just had to write to say how much I love your recipes, your YouTubes and your sunny, bubbly personality. I read your recent comment asking people to understand how busy you are. I do so understand and still feel the need to reach out to you. Your fans are here to support you. Bless you for giving us these easy ways to cook well. Thank you Jenny. G-d bless you. Keep safe.
Hello. I was wondering if this recipe could be doubled and if so, do you literally double all the ingredients for the dough? Is there anything that needs to be adjusted? I’m making calzones and want to make about four so that’s why I’m thinking I’d have to double the recipe. Thanks
Hi Jenny!
Whatever would we do without you? Being confined to the house, it’s really tough, togetherness was not meant to be like this! Lol! Anyway, making the pizza dough regularly, those amazing crusty rolls, lifesavers! All of your recipes to the delicious apple pie and and loaves of crusty bread. You do make it look easy. Cabbage rolls amazing! Thanking your mom and dad and grandma for passing these skills on to you! Really enjoying your way of baking, with lots of humour, it makes all of us laugh too in these tough times! Stay in, stay safe! God Bless!
I must say if I’m looking for a recipe now I go to Jenny can cook the recipes are easy and they work and visually they’re Excellent video presentations ?
Hello to my new favorite teacher ! Ive tried most of your breads and everyone is very glad of it.
Question. I’m supposed to use whole grain everything. Is there an adjustment to make to the pizza dough ingredients if i use whole wheat pastry flour?
Thanks Jenny !
I don’t know about adjustments since I have never made this whole wheat but I do know you should use whole wheat flour and not whole wheat pastry flour when working with yeast.
Judy Gormely,
I was wondering if you ever did try to make the pizza dough out of whole wheat flour? My mom can’t have sodium and my dad can’t have sugar so I’m also wondering if there are any other alternatives to use for these two items. I can use those packet sugars and was thinking of not using salt at all. At a loss trying to figure out new recipes for them both to eat. Any suggestions would be great!
Thank you
Liz
Hi Jenny.
I love watching all your cooking. Everything I make of yours is wonderful. I am stumped on how to proceed with the pizza dough for putting it in the refrigerator? Do I let it rise and punch down make a ball and refrigerate?then after 24 hours do I punch down and let sit on the counter
for how long? Could you help me out please We loved the pizza and I made another dough and was not sure what to do before and after refrigerating
and I had a problem working with it as
I don’t think I did something correctly.
Thank You For All You Do. Donna
You can refrigerate it right after kneading or even after it has rested for a while. Just cover it tightly with plastic, leaving room for it to expand in the fridge. To use it you should remove it from the fridge, leave the plastic on and bring it to room temperature. That should take at least an hour. Then shape and stretch to make your pizza – no punching down is needed.
Thanks
Hi Jenny
I just love watching you and your receipes are simple and wonderful.I love your bread and now tryed your pizza and is great as well but I have a question. If I refrigerate the dough do I first let it rise then punch down and put in frig?and after 24 hr’s or so do I punch it down again? and how long do
I let it sit out before I can work with it? I hope you can help me out. Thank you for all you do we enjoy you so much. Donna
Hello I love the easy recipe but you didn’t put the temperature I have to cook pizza and how long I leave it in the OVEN ????
The recipe says 500f 7-10 minuts on a pizza stone
Before or after the rise
Can the dough be frozen?
I never have but it looks like you can: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-freeze-pizza-dough-178431
Another terrific recipe from you that my family can now do without! I can’t believe how simple and easy it was. My hat off to you once again!
I have never made pizza before, and I was skeptical about even trying. I watched your video and said, “That looks easy”. So, I tried it. My husband said it was the best pizza he has ever had, and that’s a lot coming from him. He is a picky eater!! So, I just want to thank Jenny for the wonderful and easy recipie. I bake my at 450 degrees and then slide it out on the oven rack to get the bottom of the crust crunchy for 3 minutes. Very, very, Good Pizza!
Thanks,
Jenny
I love Jenny’s recipe because the dough handles beautifully. If you’ve never worked with yeast dough it’s perfect in its simplicity. It’s a great basic recipe that requires no weighing of ingredients, but once you’ve been spoiled with the 5-day doughs there’s no going back. Nothing else provides that artisan pizzeria taste or texture produced by the long fermentation. It’s as simple as that. This recipe is perfect because you can use it either way.
Using this dough the same day produces a somewhat better-than-frozen-pizza crust, which is reason enough to make it if you need pizza tonite. But for a much better crust, definitely use bread flour and increase the salt to 3/4 tsp. After letting it sit for a few hours on the counter, form your ball, roll it around in a lightly oiled bowl and put it in the fridge, tightly covered for even 24 hours before using. If you don’t notice a big difference you need a better quality flour. I don’t mean fancy-dancy/locally milled/organic yada yada, but see if they have King Arthur brand. I live in the least trendy area imaginable and our stores carry it.
Let that dough sit for THREE days and you could sell it. It’s that good. It takes no more effort to do this. It takes about ten minutes to make Jenny’s dough, including cleanup – you can make some every few days and always have it on hand in the fridge, ready to go. I make double batches and make sure there’s dough in the fridge for the weekend in case anyone pops over. I’ve yet to throw any out, but if I had to – it’s just flour and water, and won’t break the bank.
I’ve made it with regular flour and bread flour. If you’re using quality flours there’s definitely a big difference in texture. The bread flour provides a lighter, crisper crust, even if you make a thicker one. Stretching your dough keeps it light, whereas using a rolling pin compacts it, making it tough.
Home temperature matters, especially if you keep a very cool house like I do. I put my wood dough board on top of the stove while the oven heats up. My room-temp dough is only 61 degrees six months out of the year, and needs to rest on a warm board to relax enough to stretch.
I use a stone, two when necessary. I get the best results at 470-475 degrees for 16+ minutes. I like a rimmed edge to keep the sauce from running off, and that rim gets too hard at 500 degrees. That temperature and time has worked for me using thin crusts or thick Sicilian, regardless of the toppings, including uncooked bulk Italian sausage, in pans or on my stones, for over thirty five years. I’ve always used thick, heavy duty aluminum pans, though, and not non-stick, so there’s never been any burned-bottom issues.
I’m not a baker or even a foodie, just an old grandma. But I do know pizza, and you can’t go wrong with this recipe. Play around with it – you’ll be surprised at what it can do.
Thank you taking time so share so much good information!
Loving reading all these comments! Will make my first from scratch pizza dough due to this site. Thanks JJ !
Thank you so much for posting your wonderful recipes. My two boys and I love your pizza recipes. This dough is so easy that even my 14 year old makes his own pizzas, and even agrees it is better than delivery. I can’t thank you enough for helping me teach my boys the value of delicious, healthy meals with your recipes!
Hi Jenny can you plz tell me which temperature to set my oven for a margharita pizza in a pizza pan with and without holes.Thank you
425. You can follow my pepperoni pizza recipe, which is made on a pan with holes: https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/pepperoni-pizza/
Thank you for this recipe, Jenny! Now, I have a pizza dough recipe for life !! The crust is crispy, and oh so flavorful! Forget about the frozen pizza, the uncooked center and loads of additives. Forget about waiting forever for delivery. This crust has the perfect texture, and is so easy/fast to make! I made it for dinner tonight and my husband and I really loved it! I see this becoming a regular at home, specially after we have consciously cut down on fast food. I will send you a picture that I took before devouring it in < 3.5 mins! Thanks again!
You say you preheat the oven but I can’t find what temperature you set it at?
There is no temperature listed because this is only a recipe for the dough. Your pizza recipe would determine the temperature. If using a pizza pan like my pepperoni pizza, I bake it at 425. When using a pizza stone like in my barbeque chicken pizza, I bake it at 500. If you tell me what kind you are making and what equipment you are using, I may be able to suggest the best temperature.
Sooooo good!
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