Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

If you come to my house for dinner, chances are I will feed you my homemade pizza.  Probably because pizza is the one meal that I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say they didn’t like. 

I mean, I’m sure there is SOMEONE out there who just don’t like pizza, but I haven’t met them.  And if I did I would probably stand there awkwardly not knowing how to respond to the fact that they actually preferred life without one of the best inventions ever created.

homemade pizza dough

Also, since I have kids, most of the people that come to our house have their own kids.  And it’s a well-known fact that kids will always, always be happy with pizza on their plate.

A good way to stay out of the drive-thru line is to have quick meals at home.  This easy pizza dough recipe can also be frozen so that you can always have a quick meal waiting for you.  I’ve been known to make 8 pizzas at at time and throw them in our deep freeze just for moments like that. 

However, even without having frozen pizza on hand, this dish doesn’t take all that long.

I use mozzarella cheese in this recipe but I have been known to use marble cheese as well.  Marble cheese tastes delicious on pizza so I encourage you to try it sometime!

This is also just a very basic pepperoni and cheese pizza recipe because….kids.  Whatever you are in the mood for, add to your pizza.  Sometimes I can convince my kids to eat pineapple and ham on it.  Other times we make  separate BBQ chicken pizza for the adults.  I will share that pizza in another post to come!

Making your own pizza dough is very doable because it uses very basic ingredients that most people already have in their kitchen.  As long as I have cheese in my fridge I usually have all the things I need to make a pizza for dinner!  Pizza night is one of our family’s favorite things!

This recipe uses all-purpose flour, but feel free to substitute half of the white flour with whole wheat flour. 

The recipe in print form is at the end of this post, so if you want to skip all these visual steps, head on to the end to find the best pizza dough recipe you’ll use again and again.

EASY HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

You will need:

For the dough

  • 3 cups of warm water
  • 5 tsp of active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 3/4 cup of oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 7 1/4 cups of flour
  • Oil to grease the pan

For the toppings

  • 1 cup of tomato sauce
  • 5 cups of grated marble cheese
  • Pepperoni
  • *Whatever else your heart desires*

Mix together 1/2 a cup of water, yeast, and sugar.  Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to allow the yeast to “proof”.  You will know it is ready when it gets foamy.

yeast proofing

In a separate large bowl mix the rest of the water, oil,  5 cups of the flour, and the salt.

mixing pizza dough

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir until all mixed.  Add the rest of the flour a bit at a time until it is no longer runny or sticky. You don’t want it too dry though.  When the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl is when you’ve added enough flour.  If the dough is too wet add additional flour.

knead it on your countertop for a few minutes, then roll it into a nice ball, place it back in the bowl, and cover it with a tea towel.  Let it rest for 10-20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Let’s get the pans ready!  Spread some oil on the pans to grease them.  

Divide your homemade pizza dough into two balls, or three depending on the size of your pans.  If your pizza pans are 14 inches in diameter you will get 2 pizzas.  If they are smaller you may even get three pizzas.  If you don’t have a pizza pan, use baking sheets.

Roll each dough ball out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin to about a 1/2 inch thick until it is close in size to your pan.  If you like thin crust pizza, roll it out thinner than a 1/2 inch.

And yes, I did have my 11 year old help roll the dough so I could hold the camera to take a picture.  Turns out it’s impossible to roll out dough AND take a picture at the same time by yourself.

Transfer it over to the pan.  Use your fingers to push up the dough to the sides.

 

Now the fun part! Cover with sauce.

sauce on pizza

And then add cheese, pepperoni, and other favorite pizza toppings of your choosing.

uncooked pizza

Stick it in the oven and cook at 400F for 14-16 minutes until golden brown.  If your pans are smaller it may take less time.  Be sure to keep an eye on it.

Take it out, and try to be patient when your kids ask 8765 times in the first 5 minutes of it coming out if it is cool enough for them to devour.

If you wanted to make homemade pizza dough for your freezer, right after you roll out the dough and put it in the pan you would pop the crust in the oven for 3-4 minutes. 

After you take it out you can let it cool and because you cooked it for a few minutes it should be stiff enough to take off the pan.  You can then put your toppings on, wrap it up with cling wrap or freezer bags, and stick it in the freezer. 

When you need a quick meal on a busy night, all you need to do is take the frozen dough out of the freezer and pop it in the oven!

The other freezer option is to take the ball of dough without cooking it and wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it that way.  You’ll need to thaw it out before you can roll it into a flat pizza crust for your pizza pans.

After all this typing I am really wanting a piece of pizza.  Even though I ate 3 pieces about 2 hours ago.

pizza

Homemade Pizza

Make your own pizza at home!
Prep Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2 pizzas

Ingredients
  

For the dough

  • 3 cups warm water
  • 5 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 7 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup oil (I use canola)

For toppings

  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 5 cups grated marble cheese
  • Pepperoni

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425F
  • Mix together 1/2 a cup of water, yeast, and sugar.  Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to allow the yeast to "proof".  You will know it is ready when it gets foamy.
  • In a separate bowl mix 2.5 cups of water, 5 cups of the flour, and the salt.
  • Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir until all mixed.  Add the rest of the flour a bit at a time until it is no longer runny or sticky. You don't want it too dry though.  When the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl is when you've added enough flour.
  • knead it on your counter top for a few minutes, then roll it into a nice ball, place it back in the bowl, and cover it with a tea towel.  Let it rest for 10-20 minutes.
  • Spread some oil on pizza pans to grease them.
  • Divide your dough into two balls.
  • Roll your dough out on the counter to about a 1/2 inch thick until it is close in size to your pan.  If you like thin crust pizza, roll it out thinner than a 1/2 inch. Transfer the dough carefully to the pizza pan.
  • Put sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and whatever toppings you want on the dough.
  • Stick it in the oven and cook at 400F for 14-16 minutes.
Keyword pizza, pizza dough

 

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