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Homemade Pizza Dough

This "Wicked Easy" homemade pizza dough recipe yields 2 pounds of dough that you can easily turn into a thick, crisp, and chewy pizza crust for your family right in your own home!

Ingredients used for garlic bread or knots

The pizza dough ingredients consist of warm water, yeast, sugar, olive oil, flour, salt, and my secret ingredient garlic powder!

Yeast, warm water and sugar in bowl of mixer

The first step is to activate the yeast by whisking it with the warm water and sugar in the mixer and then letting it rest for 5 minutes.

The dough for making garlic knots in the mixer bowl

We then add in the olive oil, salt, garlic powder and flour; and mix until the dough comes together.

The garlic knot raw dough kneaded on the counter

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 to 4 minutes. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke the dough with your finger and if it slowly bounces back, it is ready to rise. If it doesn’t, keep kneading. 

The raw garlic knot dough in a bowl waiting to rise

Place the dough into a bowl that has been lightly greased with oil or a non-stick spray. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature for an hour or two until it has doubled in size. 

A bag of store-bought pizza dough that can be sued for garlic knots

You can also use store bought pizza dough if desired, which will allow you to skip the previous steps. Store bought dough can be very helpful when you are short on time.

Raw pizza dough ready to be shaped into garlic knots

When the dough is ready, remove from the bowl and punch it down to release the air. Then use floured hands or a rolling pin to shape the dough on a lightly floured surface.

Two boys making homemade pizza

This is a great activity to kid your kids involved with. My sons love to create and cook their own personal customized pizzas!

You can form the dough into any shape desired and top with store-bought or homemade tomato sauce and then a variety of cheeses and ingredients.

Pizza dough in a square sheet pan
A white sheet pan pizza topped with cheese

In these photos, I form and shape the dough into a sheet pan and top with a delicious white pizza sauce and some shredded mozzarella! Click this link to see our White Pizza recipe post!

A white sheet pan pizza just going in the oven to bake

Bake your pizza on lightly greased pan or on a pizza stone in a 450*F or hotter oven until done. 

A freshly baked white pizza on a cutting board
Two pizzas on a cutting board waiting to be sliced and served

When the pizza is done, transfer to a cutting board, and then slice and serve it immediately! Cover leftover pizza tightly and store in the refrigerator. Baked pizza slices can be frozen up to 3 months. 

This recipe yields two pounds of dough, enough for two 12-inch pizzas. You can freeze half or all of the dough if desired. To do so, divide the dough in half after it rises. Then lightly coat the two dough balls with olive oil or non-stick spray and place them into individual zipped-top bags and seal tightly (squeezing out as much air as possible). Freeze for up to 3 months. 

To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then proceed with the rolling, shaping and forming of the dough as needed.

Pizza Dough – This pizza dough recipe can also be used for calzones, strombolis, and garlic knot rolls! Click this link to see our garlic knot recipe post.

The stromboli recipes can be found in the video below!

Homemade Pizza Dough

Follow this recipe for a an easy to make pizza dough that can be used for pizza, calzones, strombolis, and/or garlic knot rolls!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 2 pounds

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/3 cups Warm water approximately 105*F / 40*C
  • 2 1/4 tsp Instant yeast
  • 1 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 3/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
  • 3 1/2 cups Flour

Instructions
 

  • Whisk the warm water, yeast, and sugar together in a bowl. Cover and allow to rest for about 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
  • Add the olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and half of the flour. Mix to combine and then add the remaining flour. If using a mixer, beat on low speed using the dough hook or paddle for 2 minutes. If just mixing in a bowl, use a wooden spoon or your hands to combine the dough.
  • Turn the mixed dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 3 to 4 minutes. After kneading, the dough will feel a little soft and should slowly spring back when poked with a finger. If it doesn't, keep kneading and then try again.
  • Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and turn to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl and allow it to rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours or doubled in size.
  • When the dough is ready, punch it down to release any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half with each half making one 12" pizza. Using floured hands or a rolling pin, gently flatten the dough into the pizza shape desired. You can flatten into a traditional pizza disc shape or into the size and shape of the pan being used to cook it in. For a free formed pizza, use your hand to shape the dough into a 12" circle, lifting and pinching the edge of the dough up to create a lip around the edges. Then place onto a cookie sheet or directly onto a baker's pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal.
  • Cove the shaped dough lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare your pizza toppings. The variety of cheeses and toppings that you can put onto your pizza is endless.
  • To prevent the sauce and/or fillings from making your pizza crust soggy, brush the top lightly with olive oil before topping. Use your fingers to push indents into the dough surface as well to prevent bubbling. Then sauce and top your pizza and bake in a preheated 450*F oven until done. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of your pizza and the amount of toppings, but generally 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Freezing Instructions: This recipe yields about 2 pounds of dough, enough for two 12" pizza, or 16 garlic knot rolls. After the pizza dough rises, you can cut it into 2 balls and then put them into individual zipped-lock bags after lightly coating them with olive oil or nonstick spray.
Keyword calzone, Dough, garlic bread, knots, Pizza, rolls
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