Easy Pizza Dough

Updated Feb. 14, 2024

Easy Pizza Dough
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(4,781)
Comments
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This pizza dough is very easy to put together, and it's enough for four 10-inch-diameter pizzas. To make it even easier to roll out, prepare it ahead, and refrigerate it overnight. Refrigerated dough will keep several days. It may also be successfully frozen and thawed. Keeping preweighed individual frozen dough balls on hand makes it easy to have pizza whenever you like. (Thaw dough overnight in the refrigerator or leave at room temperature for several hours.)

Featured in: Pizza, Made With a Light Hand, California Style

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Ingredients

Yield:4 dough balls (8 ounces/225 grams each)
  • 2teaspoons/5 grams dry active yeast
  • cups/625 grams all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2teaspoons/5 grams kosher salt
  • 2tablespoons/30 milliliters olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

317 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 191 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put 1¾ cups/420 milliliters lukewarm water in a mixing bowl (use a stand mixer or food processor if you prefer). Sprinkle yeast over water and let dissolve, about 2 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add flour, salt and olive oil and mix well until flour is incorporated and dough forms, about 5 minutes. It may look a little rough or pockmarked.

  3. Step 3

    Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn dough out onto surface and knead lightly until it looks smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces, about 8 ounces/225 grams each.

  4. Step 4

    To use dough, form each piece into a smooth, firm ball, and place on a flour-dusted or parchment-lined baking sheet. (If you froze the dough, leave it at room temperature for several hours first, or defrost overnight in the refrigerator.) Flour lightly, cover loosely with plastic wrap and top with a kitchen towel. Leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. Each dough ball will make a 10-inch diameter pizza.

  5. Step 5

    If you'd like to refrigerate the dough, wrap dough pieces individually in resealable zipper bags and refrigerate for several hours or, for best results, overnight; you can also freeze it for future use. (You can skip this rise in the refrigerator and use the dough right away, but this cool, slow rise makes it easier to stretch and gives the pizza a crisper texture and more nuanced flavor.)

Ratings

5 out of 5
4,781 user ratings
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Comments

Yes to this recipe! I'd like to clarify a few things for newer cooks for which some things aren't as easy to interpret here: -All-purpose flour is just fine to use -Once your dough is made you can immediately freeze what you won't use in the coming few days, OR put in fridge to slow rise(you'll need an hour @ room temp before oven), OR leave on counter covered in plastic and towel for use in 1/2 hr -Get your pan/sheet/stone hot as oven heats up -Oven temp 500, cook for 8-10 minute

At what temperature and how long do you cook this?

For those interested in learning more about making pizza, head to www.pizzamaking.com. There is also a terrific resource located at http://doughgenerator.allsimbaseball9.com/ which has recipes for several different styles of pizza with an interactive feature that changes the quantities depending on how many pizzas you want to make. Very handy!

Made this as directed (using the overnight refrigerator rise). Got my Ooni screaming hot, patted then tossed, topped and baked. As delicious as it was easy. I made a second batch substituting whole wheat flour for half the AP. The dough balls didn’t rise as much, and I wasn’t able to toss them effectively due to their stiffer texture, so I rolled them out with a wine bottle. They turned out not quite as nice in flavor or texture as the base recipe, but I have to say they baked up nicely and my wife and kids still eagerly gobbled the pizzas down.

What if I have actual pizza flour (King Arthur)? Can I use that instead of A/P?

Have made this fresh, overnight, and defrosted from frozen. It works best as an overnight/long rise, I find defrosting the dough leaves it a little too wet for my liking.

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