Pizza is an all time favorite all around the globe. But what if you could make the best Italian pizza at home? That’s exactly what you get here: a popular, authentic Italian homemade pizza dough recipe.
This recipe is the first of my 4-part How to make homemade pizza series (1. Making the pizza dough; 2. Shaping your pizza dough; 3. Pizza sauce and toppings; 4. Baking your pizza). In this first step I’m going to show you how to make the best authentic pizza dough at home.
Next step: How to shape pizza dough »
Tips For Making Pizza Dough at Home
- Some recipes tell you to use bread flour for your pizza dough. While that obviously wouldn’t hurt, I find that by using regular all purpose flour you’ll also get a fantastic crispy homemade pizza that everybody will love. Of course if you think, you can use bread flour or type 00 flour for your pizza, like the popular Antimo Caputo 00 Pizzeria Flour.
- For the best results, you should definitely use a scale. I tried to give you the exact cup measurements, but when making a bread dough (pizza dough is a type of bread dough) going by weight is a pro tip.
- Italians use fresh yeast for their pizza dough. In fact this was the first time I used the active dry one, only to be able to publish this recipe. As my personal experience, I would say both versions turned out to be great. The one with the dry yeast was easier to stretch, and it yielded larger pizzas.
- I find pizza dough is best if you let it rest for 2-4 days in the fridge before shaping and baking it.
Tips When Making Pizza Dough With Measuring Cups
- The perfect pizza dough should be completely smooth. It shouldn’t stick to the side of your bowl, but still feel a little bit wet when you touch it.
- All measurement cups are slightly different, and your flour humidity can also affect how your pizza dough turns out. Adjust ingredients accordingly to get the desired consistency (see above).
- If you use a scale, it’s easier to have the same size pizza dough for each of your homemade pizzas. This recipe yields about 1700 g (60 oz) pizza dough in total. You need 280 g (10 oz) of dough for a regular size pizza, and 140 g (5 oz) for a small pizza.
Ingredient Amounts For Different Servings
In this table I give you the exact ingredient amounts for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 regular size (12-14 inch) pizzas.
| 1 pizza | 2 pizzas | 3 pizzas | 4 pizzas | 5 pizzas | 6 pizzas | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 1/3 cups | 2 2/3 cups | 4 cups | 5 1/3 cups | 6 2/3 cups | 8 cups |
| Active dry yeast | 1/4 tbsp | 1/2 tbsp | 2 1/4 tbsp | 1 tbsp | 1 1/4 tbsp | 1 1/2 tbsp |
| Extra virgin olive oil | 2/3 tbsp | 1 1/3 tbsp | 1/8 cup | 2 2/3 cups | 2 cups | 2 1/2 cups |
| Water | 3/8 cups | 3/4 cups | 1 1/4 cups | 1 2/3 cups | 2 cups | 2 1/2 cups |
| Sugar | 1/3 tsp | 2/3 tsp | 1 tsp | 1 1/3 tsp | 1 2/3 tsp | 2 tsp |
| Salt | 1/3 tsp | 2/3 tsp | 1 tsp | 1 1/3 tsp | 1 2/3 tsp | 2 tsp |
Next Step
Once you’ve made your pizza dough (see this recipe), it is ready to be shaped and baked – of course with your favorite toppings and the best pizza sauce. For the next step in the How to make homemade pizza series click here: How to shape pizza dough ».
Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups flour 335 g
- ½ tbsp active dry yeast 5 g
- 1 ⅓ tbsp extra virgin olive oil 20 ml
- ¾ cups water 200 ml, lukewarm
- ⅔ tsp sugar
- ⅔ tsp salt
Instructions
- Start making your pizza dough by measuring out your dry ingredients. Add flour, active dry yeast, sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Add olive oil and lukewarm water.
- Using your dough hook, knead your pizza dough for 10 minutes.The perfect pizza dough should be completely smooth. It shouldn't stick to the side of your bowl, but still feel a little bit wet when you touch it.
- Place your dough in a large bowl, previously oiled with about 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. Move it around with the hand so that all parts should be covered with oil.
- Let it proof covered for 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes, push the air out of the dough.
- Cut the pizza dough into equal pieces – 1 for every pizza. For the amounts in this recipe, cut it into 2 equal pieces, about 280 g each.
- Form a ball from each of the dough pieces. Start by making a circular motion with your palm of your hand, with some pressure. Then release the pressure gradually until you get a nice ball shape. Put the balls on a lightly floured work surface. Dust them with some more flour, and let them proof covered with a kitchen towel for another 15 minutes.
so far, so good 👍