Homemade pizza dough is fast, easy, and inexpensive. Try this easy pizza dough recipe for yummy pizza nights at home!
Like many Americans, my family loves pizza. We used to have regular pizza and movie nights on Friday nights, before the teen years started. Now, we still have pizza nights, even though they are not as often as they once were.
And while it may seem so much more convenient to order pizza delivery, I think it’s much more fun to make pizza from scratch.
Plus: homemade pizza dough saves money and can be healthier for you!
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Homemade pizza dough vs. store-bought pizza dough
Here’s a quick comparison of homemade pizza dough versus store-bought pizza crust.
Which costs less?
Let’s compare the cost of homemade pizza dough versus store-bought pizza crust. At my local Safeway store, a 2-pack of Boboli pizza crust costs $8.59. At home, we spend just around $4 on ingredients to make four 12″ pizza crusts. Plus, we almost always already have the ingredients needed to make pizza dough on hand.
THE WINNER: Homemade pizza dough is less expensive than store-bought.
Which is healthier for you?
Making pizza dough from scratch really just requires four base ingredients – flour, yeast, water, salt. The recipe below includes a couple of additional ingredients – small amounts of sugar and olive oil – that I like to add to mine.
Store-bought pizza crust, on the other hand… Do you really want to know what’s in that crust? Here’s what’s in Boboli pizza crust: Shell: Unbleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Reduced Iron, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Water, Soybean Oil, Milk Casein, Yeast, Salt, Sugar, Mozzarella Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, and Enzymes), Preservatives (Calcium Propionate, Sorbic Acid), Modified Cornstarch, Sodium Phosphate, Whey, Lactic Acid, Natural Flavor, Beta Carotene (Color), Garlic. Sauce: (Water, Tomato Paste, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Modified Cornstarch, Spices, Citric Acid).
Wow. That’s a mouthful. A mouthful of stuff you don’t need in your pizza crust!
So while there are a few alternative crusts that claim to be healthier, check the full ingredient list. I think you’ll be surprised that they, too, contain some wacky ingredients to make them shelf-stable.
THE WINNER: Homemade pizza crust is so much healthier for you than store-bought!
What you need to make pizza dough from scratch
You probably already have these ingredients in your pantry. To make homemade pizza crust, you need:
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- quick rise yeast packet
- salt (I use kosher, but you could use regular in a pinch. Ha! Get it? A pinch — of salt?)
- water
- olive oil
How to make homemade pizza dough
Making pizza dough from scratch requires just about 10 minutes of hands-on time. This consists of pouring the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt into a stand mixer with a dough attachment and mixing the ingredients together until they come together and form a dough ball.
Then you’ll allow the dough to rise for a couple hours.
Finally, you’ll need a few minutes to gently knead and roll out the dough.
Super simple, right?
Bake your pizza
Once you have rolled out your dough and placed your toppings on it, it’s time to bake the pizza!
Most average sized pizzas will bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes.
If your dough is thicker, try baking your pizza at 400°F for 15-25 minutes, as you don’t want the top and bottom to burn while the middle of the dough is underbaked.
Definitely watch your pizza carefully as it bakes.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can store homemade pizza dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. You can also wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap and freeze it for up to a few months.
FREEZER TIP: I like to wrap it in disc form, and then place in freezer storage containers for additional sealing to keep them from getting frostbite.
In addition to classic pizza sauce, I love using homemade pesto on my pizzas. You can also use homemade barbecue sauce for a BBQ-flavored pizza.
More pizza night recipes
Here are more pizza night recipes to enjoy at home!
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Easy Pizza Dough
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 – 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 pkg instant yeast (or 2¼ teaspoons)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 – 1/2 cups water, at 110°F
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with a bread attachment, add flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Mix on low until combined. With the mixer running, slowly add the water and 2 tablespoons olive oiI and mix until dough starts to form a ball. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky. If the dough is too dry, try adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time.
- Grease a large bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Place the dough ball in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm spot. Let the dough rise until it's double in size, which takes about 1-2 hours.
- Once the dough has risen to about double its size, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface and then continue to top and bake using your favorite pizza recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
“Notes
Makes: two 4-inch pizza crusts, approximately 6 servings.”
Impressive!!!
LOVE this dough recipe and have it bookmarked. We have dough rising as we speak and I am also making your copycat CPK Thai Chicken pizza recipe once life returns to normal and we can get all of the ingredients!
We love making our own pizza, although I do tend to cheat and buy a ready made base. This looks nice and easy
It really is! Thank you, Kara!
Pizza is my favorite comfort meal and glad to learn about this recipe from scratch.
It’s one of mine, too! You can never go wrong with a good pizza!
wow, I would totally use this recipe. I always get overwhelmed when making my own pizza though. Saving the recipe for sure. Thanks!
It definitely can seem overwhelming, but it’s not as daunting when you actually do it. Thank you! :)
Homemade crust is SO MUCH MORE DELICIOUS!! We user a similar recipe a couple times and it always turns out great. We’ve also tried adding herbs to it which works well.
Ooh! The herbs are a great idea!
We have pizza night once a week. I am wondering if this would still work with gluten free flour?
I do love this pizza dough recipe it’s easy and looks really delicious. For me, a home-made dough pizza is more healthier compared to the one we bought from the market.
That’s definitely one of my motivations, too! It’s nice knowing all of the ingredients in my food :)
I have never tried making my own pizza dough but you made it sound so easy. I will have to try your recipe. This is going to give me a more delicious pizza topped with all the stuff my family loves!
It really is easy! Just a few steps. Let me know how you like it! Thank you, Kristine!
I can’t wait to make this for pizza night on Friday! Nothing beats an easy and delicious pizza dough that doesn’t require all my time and work.
Yay! I hope you love it. Let me know how it is! Thanks, Jacque!
Now that I can make pizza dough easily at home, we’ll be having regular pizza nights from now on. :)
Yay! I hope you love it! Thanks, Anita! :)
We love having pizza nights at our house! This looks super easy to make!
I hope this recipe comes in handy, then! Thanks, Beth! :)
Homemade (almost) is always the way to go, and having an easy go-to recipe is key! This pizza crust looks great, Marlynn, and so versatile, too!
Thanks so much, Renee! :) I prefer homemade as well!
This dough was so delicious for pizza night over the weekend – thank you!!
I’m SO glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the nice review! :)