Pizza Dough Recipe

Want to know how to make the best pizza dough ever? Want it to be just the right amount of chewy and crispy with beautiful scorched bubbles on the crust? Would you also like it if that pizza dough was super easy to make (no kneading required!) and made to bake in your home oven? Thought you might šŸ™‚

You're in luck; I finally figured out how to make high-end pizzeria quality pizza dough. Actually Jim Lahey did all the figuring out; I just followed the recipe. He was kind enough to share it with Bon Appetit (and, therefore, me) a few months ago. You can check out the rest of his recipes in his cookbook, My Pizza.

Pizza Dough Recipe


Tips for perfect pizza dough:

  • Put your rolling pin away! Seriously. Using a rolling pin will remove all the little air bubbles leaving you with bad pizza crust. Go put it away šŸ™‚
  • Turn your oven to the highest temperature for a full hour before baking the pizza. You want it HOT!
  • On a well-floured surface, stretch the dough, starting at the edges and moving in a circle around the dough (or a rectangle if you want to make flatbread)
  • Resist the temptation to flatten the pizza dough (see tip #1)
  • Make a fist with one hand and drape the pizza dough over your fist. Make a fist with your other hand and slowly rotate with pizza dough around in a circle using your two fists. The pizza dough will look a little like a blanket covering your two hands.
  • Once the dough is about 10-12 inches, drop it onto a lightly floured pizza peel or baking sheet.
  • Don't worry if it is oddly shaped, it will have more character this way!
  • Don't add too many toppings to your pizza. Less is more.
Pizza Dough Recipe
Pizza Dough Recipe

Pizza Dough Recipe

This pizza crust is straight out of your favourite Italian restaurant. It is actually even better than pizza crust I've had at many great restaurants. It's the best pizza dough recipe I've ever used, by far.

If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!

4.99 stars (72 ratings)
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Ingredients

  • 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping dough
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 ½ cups warm water

Instructions 

  • In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and yeast.
    3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
  • Add 3 cups of warm water and mix it with a wooden spoon until it becomes a rough dough. Then use your hands to gently bring the dough together to form a rough ball. Note: you may need to knead it a couple of times to get it to create a ball.
    1 ½ cups warm water
  • Transfer the ball to a large, clean bowl and it with a clean kitchen towel. Set the bowl aside in a warm (room temperature) draft-free location for at least 18 hours, or until the dough has more than doubled in size.
  • Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Take a corner of the dough and pull it towards the center of the dough. Repeat with the remaining 3 corners until you have a little package. If the 'package' is a little sticky, dust it with flour. Place the 'package' seam-side down on a lightly floured surface. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and set aside for 1 hour.
  • Working with one piece at a time, take the four corners of the rectangle and fold them in towards the middle (like a parcel.) Turn the seam down on a lightly-floured baking sheet and dust the top with flour. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel and set aside for at least 1 hour.

To make pizza:

  • Place a pizza stone (or a baking sheet turned upside down on a rack in the top ā…“ of your oven. Turn your oven on as high as it will go. Make sure it comes to temperature before baking the pizzas.
  • Generously flour your work surface, hands, and 1 ball of pizza dough. Press the pizza dough down in the center then gently push and pull the edges into a 10-inch circle. Try not to squeeze out the air bubbles; they're the best part.
  • Transfer the pizza dough to a well-floured pizza peel then top the pizza lightly with sauce and toppings. Slide the pizza from the peel onto the hot pizza stone and bake until the bottom is crisp and the top is blistered – about 5-6 minutes if using a pizza stone or 10-12 minutes using a baking sheet. Allow your oven to re-heat for 5 minutes between pizzas.

Notes

The pizza dough can be made ahead of time. Complete step 7 then wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for three days. Bring to room temperature for 2-3 hours before baking.Ā 
For more great pizza recipes, check out Jim Lahey's cookbook, My Pizza.
Serving: 1 pizza crust, Calories: 427kcal, Carbohydrates: 90g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 0.2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Sodium: 1165mg, Potassium: 127mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 0.3g, Calcium: 18mg, Iron: 5mg
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