Basic Pizza Crust
1 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1¼ cup warm water (110℉)
3½ cups flour
1½ tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Set aside for 7 minutes until yeast blooms.
Put flour and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached*. Add bloomed yeast and mix on low until mixture turns into a smooth, soft dough (about 5 minutes). Don’t over knead.
Cover loosely and let the dough rise for 45 minutes. Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 36 hours. The dough will more than double in this time so make sure your bowl is big enough!
Grease a 15”x10” baking sheet and press dough into the bottom of the pan. If a thinner crust is desired, use this dough to make 2 crusts.
Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 500℉.
Bake the crust for 5 minutes and remove it from the oven.
Top with desired toppings and bake for an additional 8 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are bubbly.
*You can do this step by hand, it will just take a little longer.
8 servings, 220 calories per serving (crust only)
Hack: Use this basic pizza crust to make Barbecue Spaghetti Squash Pizza or Homemade Pepperoni Pizza!
Hack: Pizza crust can be stored for later use after the initial 4-minute bake. Wrap well in plastic wrap or tightly sealed freezer container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 4 weeks.
Hack: Pizza cooked with toppings can be stored as described for the pizza crust above.
I have been a lover of pizza since I was a kid and this made me love your page so much. It felt like a blessing coming across your page. I immediately rushed and showed my fiancee, the minute i came across this and we have planned to prepare this on the next weekend. Thanks for sharing this
I’m glad you’ve decided to give it a try! I’m also a pizza fan and there’s nothing better than a homemade crust.
Thank you for getting straight to the recipe and not going into a speech about how you discovered the magic of yeast on a snowy winters evening while sitting next to the fire place with a magic fairy. I appreciate the lack of 50 ads popping in while I’m trying to read the recipe. So thank you for a simple and smooth experience. You’ve gained a loyal reader because of this
Pizza is my go to food. Always. I always prefer homemade dishes. I have been looking for a good dough recipe. I cant wait to try it soon.
You just made me LOL! I am also not one for lengthy backstories or pop-up ads and more than one website has lost me for that very reason. It’s nice to see I’m not alone. Thank you!
You know, it’s like you read my mind, as I am sitting here and I am hungry and pizza did come to my mind, I love wood-fired pizza at home often as it just tastes amazing. I am definitely going to try this recipe as I love a slightly thicker and crispier crust, adding all my favorite toppings will make this a definite winner. Thank you so much for sharing!
You have a wood-fire pizza oven? I’m soooooooo jealous! 😉
When I find recipes for dishes on your site that I also make, I always check the ingredients first to see if you add something like that that I don’t.
I see we have the same ingredients for the pizza dough and we make it in a similar way, and really, the dough is very tasty and crunchy.
I haven’t been making homemade pizza for a while now, and you’ve inspired me to be on the lunch menu soon these days. Thanks!
Friendly greeting,
Nina
Thank you for taking the time to look it over. Enjoy your homemade pizza!
Hi, thanks for this recipe of how to make a basic pizza crust. I am surprised to see that you will have to keep the dough in the refrigerator for 4 to 36 hours that a very long time, but I think it is worth it since that when the multiplication happens, LOL. thanks again for this interesting recipe.
This pizza dough uses less yeast than bread dough, which gives it a denser consistency. When you rise it slowly in the refrigerator, it slows the rise and adds to the flavor! It also gives you the convenience to make it ahead of time.