Name: Quick Basic Pizza Dough
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 70 min
Ingredients: 2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) active dry yeast (not rapid-rise); 2 tablespoons sugar; 0.25 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for dusting

Prep Time:

10 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 10 mins

Yield:

2 pounds

Our go-to pizza dough recipe is easy enough for beginners, so you can treat the family to an at-home pizza night. Learn how to make pizza dough by following our simple recipe that uses just six ingredients—and they're probably ones you already have on hand (the exception might be the sachets of active dry yeast). There's no need to buy specialty flour imported from Italy; we use all-purpose flour for this recipe. The dough comes together quickly, but needs about an hour to rest in a warm place so it will double in size before you form it into pizza crust.

How to Ensure Your Yeast Is Active

In the first step of the recipe, you sprinkle yeast into a bowl of warm water and let it stand for five minutes. The yeast should start to foam fairly quickly, and by the end of the five minutes, the whole surface of the water should be covered in a rich layer. If it looks just the same as it did when you started, the yeast is dead, and therefore your pizza crust won't rise. If the yeast is dead, toss out the mixture and start the recipe over with fresh yeast packets.

The Right Way to Measure Flour

The success of your pizza dough depends on measuring the flour accurately. The most precise way of measuring is by weight, but not everyone owns a kitchen scale. Correctly measuring flour by volume involves the spoon and level technique, which prevents you from packing the flour down (and winding up with too much).

How Long Should Pizza Dough Rise For?

Rising time can vary, depending on the temperature of the rising place, as well as the age of the yeast. This dough will take about an hour to rise, but the more accurate way to judge readiness is when the dough has doubled in size.

Ingredients

2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) active dry yeast (not rapid-rise)
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for dusting

Directions

Quick Basic Pizza Dough Ingredients — Grant Webster

Proof the yeast:

Pour 1 1/2 cups warm water into a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Grant Webster

Grant Webster
Add sugar and oil:

Whisk sugar, oil, and salt into yeast mixture.

Grant Webster
Mix dough:

Add flour and stir until a sticky dough forms.

Grant Webster

Grant Webster
Place dough in bowl:

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and brush top with oil.

Grant Webster
Let dough rise:

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Grant Webster
Knead dough:

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 1 or 2 times before using.

Grant Webster

Grant Webster

Making the Dough Ahead

You can make this dough up to two hours ahead of time and keep it in an oiled bowl in the fridge.

Freezing

Wrap dough in plastic and freeze in a resealable freezer bag for up to three months. If you plan to use it in a recipe that calls for half a batch, divide it before freezing.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you let pizza dough rise too long?

Letting dough rise too long is known as overproofing. The dough becomes too light and airy, but may actually collapse in the oven, resulting in dense, tough pizza crust. You can tell dough is overproofed if you poke it with your finger and the indentation stays, rather than bouncing back. However, you can usually fix overproofed dough by punching it back down to squeeze out all the air bubbles, and then resting at room temperature for 15 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

Should pizza dough be at room temperature before you roll it out?

Cold pizza dough will be almost impossible to roll out—it will just keep springing back to its original shape. The dough needs to come to room temperature for proper shaping.

How do I know the pizza dough is ready?

Your dough is perfectly risen and ready when it has doubled in size, and springs back when you poke it with your finger.