Easy Pizza Dough – Perfect Pizza in 30 Minutes!

Super Easy Pizza Dough – Perfect Pizza in 30 Minutes

Pizza is one of our favorite foods and when I worked full-time Friday night was “Pizza Night”, which I looked forward to even more than the kids because it meant that I didn’t have to cook.

Once we decided that I would leave my job to stay home with the kiddos pizza delivery was not in the budget but I did start buying the frozen pizza at the grocery store.

A few weeks ago a reader challenged me to try making my own pizza from scratch so I gave it a whirl — and I am never going back.

It may seem scary to make your own pizza dough from scratch but it’s really not that difficult, and it’s much cheaper and healthier

[For my gluten free friends check out our Cauliflower Pizza Crust or our Chebe Bread Pizza. ]

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients.

I feel super “domestic” as I mix the dough by hand while remembering scenes from Little House on the Prairie. If you have less of a need to re-create the pioneering days or you just hate getting your hands messy by all means allow your bread maker or stand mixer to do the work for you.

Mix the ingredients until they begin to cling together then turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for about five minutes or until you can form a nice smooth ball of dough.

At this point, if you like thin crust pizza simply divide the dough in half, press it into your greased pizza pan, add your toppings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Bam! You have homemade pizza in 30 minutes!

We like a thicker crust so I place the dough ball in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover it with a clean, damp dish towel and set it in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. (If your house tends to be cooler you can preheat your oven to 170 degrees while you are mixing the dough, turn the oven off and place the dough in it.)

After the dough rises it will be almost double in size.

Dump the dough out of the bowl on a lightly floured surface, divide it in half and roll out each half.

Place the rolled out dough onto a cookie sheet. My cookie sheets are different sizes so the same amount of dough in the smaller pan makes thicker crust pizza.

Add your favorite toppings. We used pepperoni with black olives and pork sausage sauteed with red onions. Cook the pizzas at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until the dough begins to brown on top.

My Instagram of the finished product (by the way are you following me on Instagram? Click here. 🙂 )

Super Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

PRINT RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS

6 cups flour

2 tablespoons yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 1/4 cups warm water

If you want to get crazy, add a 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon of dried basil.

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix dough by hand: 

Place flour into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.

Add yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and water and stir until combined.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5–10 minutes or until a smooth ball forms.

Mix dough in a stand mixer:

Place flour into the bowl of a stand mixer and make a well in the center.

Attach the dough hook.

Add yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and water and mix on low to for about 3 minutes.

Turn to medium and knead for 5–10 minutes or until a smooth ball forms.

For Thin Crust:

Once you have a dough ball divide it in half and press each half into a greased pizza pan or on a cookie sheet. Add your favorite toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn a nice golden brown.

For Thick Crust: 

Place dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean, damp towel. Set in a warm place for 30 minutes or until dough has doubled.

Turn dough out on a floured surface and punch the dough to remove excess air, knead lightly.

Divide dough in half and roll it out.

Press each half onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Add toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown (or bake at 500 degrees for around 10 minutes until crust is crispy and lightly browned).

To Freeze:

Divide dough ball in half and place each half in an airtight zip top freezer bag. Freeze for up to 4-6 weeks.

When you are ready to use the dough remove it from the freezer bag and place it in a greased bowl. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Roll out dough and press into a greased pizza pan.

Add pizza toppings of your choice and bake according to directions above.

You May Also Enjoy: