I’m so excited to share my best pizza dough recipe with you! I’ve started making more yeast breads and doughs this winter, and I’ve been very happy with nearly all of my results!
While I make this as a Kitchenaid pizza dough recipe, you can definitely make it by hand with no problems. Keep reading and you’ll find:
- Instructions for making this pizza dough recipe with your Kitchenaid stand mixer.
- Instructions for making this pizza dough by hand.
This post was updated in November 2022 to add additional instructions for making the pizza dough with a Kitchenaid mixer. I also added a printable recipe card. Don’t worry, the recipe itself wasn’t changed!
The Best Pizza Dough
I was under the impression that making homemade pizza dough was difficult. It’s not.
In fact, I have better luck making the dough in my KitchenAid stand mixer with a dough hook rather than using the dough cycle on my bread machine.
I also get a huge sense of accomplishment from successfully making my own pizza crust. It’s so fun to know that I made it myself and it turned out really well!
These are some of the items I use to make the best pizza dough recipe:
KitchenAid Professional Bowl-Lift Stand MixerBUY NOWStainless Steel Mixing Bowls by Finedine, Set of 6BUY NOWOXO Good Grips Wooden Spoon Set, Set of 3BUY NOW14.75″ Pizza Stone with RackBUY NOW
Believe me, I’ve tried many different recipes for making my own pizza dough. Thin crust. Deep dish. Stuffed crust. Herb-seasoned.
I’ve tried making other homemade pizza dough recipes by hand and I’ve tried other Kitchenaid pizza dough recipes.
None of them were the right recipe until I combined several of them to make my own.
This really is the best pizza dough recipe. It makes a pizza crust my entire family loves, and my friends were seriously impressed when I made the same recipe for them.
Even better, while I consider it a Kitchenaid pizza dough recipe, it can absolutely be made by hand!
I also love using this pizza dough in other recipes. These easy cheese pinwheels are a family favorite!
Best pizza dough recipe Ingredients
You’ll find full measurements for these ingredients in the printable recipe card at the end of this article.
Take a look at this list and make sure you have your ingredients on hand so you can easily make this pizza dough.
- light beer*
- warm water
- yeast (I buy yeast in bulk and store it in my freezer. 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast = 1 packet of yeast)
- white sugar
- salt
- olive oil
- bread flour or all-purpose flour
*If you don’t have beer, you can substitute the same amount of white wine or water.
Like just about every yeast dough, the amount of flour you use depends on many different factors. Start with 2 1/2 cups and add more until you (or your mixer) are ready to start kneading the dough.
How to Make This Dough By Hand, Without a Stand Mixer
Combine beer, water and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the sugar, salt and olive oil, then mix well to combine.
Add 1 cup of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it become a very loose, sticky dough.
Add more flour, 1/2 – 1 cup at a time, stirring and incorporating as much flour as you can with the spoon.
Add the rest of the flour and start mixing it with your hands, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 6-8 minutes, until your dough is smooth and firm.
Place the ball of dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
How to Make this Kitchenaid Pizza Dough with your Stand Mixer
Combine the beer, water and yeast in the bowl of your mixer, and stir it with a spoon until it’s combined.
Add in the sugar, salt and olive oil and stir again.
Put your bowl on your stand mixer and attach the dough hook. Put 1 cup of flour in the bowl and run your mixer on the slowest setting to form your dough.
Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is formed. Scrape the sides of your bowl with a spatula as needed.
When the dough is formed, let the dough hook run on low for 6-8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Place the ball of dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
How to make your Pizza Dough After it Rises
This makes a 16-inch round pizza crust. It can also be split into 2 smaller pizzas or 6-8 individual pizzas.
To bake: roll out your dough to 1/4″ thick and place on a hot pizza stone or a lightly greased round pizza pan.
Parbake at 425 for 4-5 minutes. Cover with desired toppings, then bake 8-12 additional minutes until crust is lightly browned and toppings are melted.
Serve and enjoy!
Speaking of serving pizza, I’ve had this pizza wheel cutter for over ten years and it’s the best I’ve ever used! It’s sturdy, it doesn’t wobble and it’s remained sharp for all this time. If you don’t like your pizza cutter, check out this one!
Be sure to check out my recipe for hot pizza dip with cream cheese. It gets destroyed at every party I bring it to!
Best Pizza Dough Recipe
The best homemade pizza dough recipe. It's delicious, easy and makes the perfect pizza crust. It can easily be made with a Kitchenaid mixer or made by hand.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup light beer or water
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more to drizzle
- 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Combine beer, water and yeast in a large mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the sugar, salt and olive oil, then mix well to combine.
- IF YOU'RE USING A STAND MIXER WITH DOUGH HOOK: Add 1 cup of flour to the bowl of the ingredients and use your mixer on low to slowly incorporate everything. Keep adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is formed. Let the dough hook work the dough for about 6-8 minutes until it's smooth and elastic. Continue to step #4.
- IF YOU'RE MIXING BY HAND: Add 1 cup of the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes a loose batter. Add 2 more cups of the flour and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, incorporating as much flour as you can with the wooden spoon. Finish mixing in the flour with your hands, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until dough is smooth and firm.
- Place the ball of dough in a clean, lightly-oiled bowl, and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes.
- To bake: Roll out your dough to 1/4″ thick and place on a pizza stone or a lightly greased round pizza pan.
- Parbake at 425 for 4-5 minutes.
- Cover with desired toppings, then bake 8-12 additional minutes until crust is lightly browned and toppings are melted.
Notes
Like just about every yeast dough, the amount of flour you use depends on many different factors. Start with 2 1/2 cups and add more until you (or your mixer) are ready to start kneading the dough.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
15Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 161Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 143mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
Heather says
this looks really good! I bet the beer adds a lot – I love making pizza at home, it’s so much cheaper and a great way to get my kid into the kitchen!
Brenda B says
Can you use honey instead of sugar?
Marybeth says
I think you can.
Matt says
You can. I’ve done it for a few years. Just another form of sugar that the yeast feeds on. I enjoy the flavor too.
Kelly says
I’m definitely bookmarking this one. This sounds so easy and definitely beats buying the packs of pizza crust every time. Such a money saver!
Crystal @ Simply Being Mommy says
I’ve never made pizza dough but I may just give it a try.
Sara says
Piece of cake (or dough) – go for it
Donna says
When using the dough hook on a mixer, I assume you don’t need to manually knead the dough, correct? Also what is “parbake”? Just baking for four to five minutes before topping it?
Marybeth Hamilton says
That’s correct. The dough hook does the kneading for you.
Charles says
I never made pizza dough but I’m going to try it can you also use that dough to make pepperoni balls
Marybeth says
Yes! I use it for a few different recipes that start with pizza dough.
judith a judge says
parbake means to bake 5 minutes or so without any toppings it keeps the middle from getting sogggy. i do it all the time
Karen says
Yes! Recipe says put in oven prior to adding toppings. 4-5 min. Par-bake
Ellie Lewis says
Can you bake this in an iron skillet?
Thanks
Marybeth Hamilton says
I don’t see why not. I’ve never done it before so you might have to adjust your cooking times and temperature.
Jacolyn says
If I put my Pizza Dough in the freezer after forming a ball…….then how long does it take to rise once out of the freezer…
Thanks,
Jacolyn
judith judge says
remove the night before and thna let come to room temp
Dawn says
We cook our pizzas in the iron skillet exclusively. We sometimes bake them and sometimes cook them in the pellet smoker. This crust recipe is my favorite and works very well in the iron skillet!
susan says
I always bake my homemade pizza in a 10 in cast iron skillet. I dust the bottom with cornmeal then place my rolled out dough. Bake for 10 min then add topping and bake until cheese is bubbly (8-12) . 450 F.
Karen says
Yummy. I thought the same when I took my iron skillet out of oven. We did a wood fired pizza event with about 20 families. Had several cooks and the wood fired ovens .. Everyone brought toppings. They were so crispy and cheesy good loaded pizzas. How ever you wanted. 12”inch style.
Making tonight. I have made many doughs before. Thought I’d try with the beer addition. Thanks.
Sandra Baker says
Oh my goodness!! An iron skillet would crisp the crust so well! Makes me think of the “Deep
Dish” from Pizza Hut. I may have to try that!
Dawn says
We only use this dough recipe and always use an iron skillet. We typically make our pizzas in our pellet smoker. This dough has been foolproof for us and everyone loves it!
CJ says
Can you freeze the dough? Or refrigerate? If so for how long?
Marybeth Hamilton says
Yes! It will continue to rise slowly in the fridge so make sure you put it in a big bowl. The yeasty flavor will also develop the longer the dough sits. I’m not sure how long it can be refrigerated for, but I’d use it within a few days.
judith judge says
dough can kep in refrig up to 3 days
Marlene says
I also buy bulk yeast. What is the equivalent amount to a package? I googled it and came up with 2 1/4 teaspoons; however I don’t believe that was enough for my cinnamon rolls recipe.
Marybeth says
I often use bulk yeast and that’s the measurement I use. 2 1/4 teaspoons = 1 packet of yeast.
Rita Reynolds says
My husband wants to try using a pizza stone on his Big Green Egg grill/smoker. He is planning to make six different pizzas. To this end, would you concur in doubling or tripling this pizza recipe?
Sharon Knutson says
I too buy bulk yeast,can you tell me how much is in a package of yeast?
Amber says
1 tlbs
Maggie says
Actually its two and a quarter teaspoons
Amber says
I made this with 3 1/2 cups flour. Way to much. I added more beer to fix it. I made a second batch with 2 1/2 cups. Was much better.
Maggie says
Amber, perhaps the 31/2 cups of flour was my downfall crust was dense and chewy I’ll give 21/2 cups a try, appreciate your input
Laura González says
The perfect pizza dough! And we made it on the stone on the grill/smoker… priceless!!!
Thank you Marybeth and Pura Vida from Costa Rica!!!
Renata Vandall says
I have tried various pizza doe recipies and in my opinion this doe is very flavourful and came out perfect. I used the kitchen aid mixer and as instructed I had to add an extra 2 Tablespoons of water to the doe mixture. This will be a regular recipe in my household. Thank you for posting it.
Ruth says
Can you make this with whole wheat flour?
Sammy Duncan says
dough
Sammy Duncan says
dough not doe dodo bird
Janet Hanley says
Tip-White vinegar works well if you don’t have beer.
I make sour dough bread every week so I was looking for a pizza dough recipe and I used this one last night and it came out great…except I added a cup of sour dough medium and 1 teaspoon of yeast. It took 2 hours for the dough to double in volume. ..the little bit of yeast helped
I baked it at 500 for 8-10 minutes. Was fantastic. I have the second half of the dough in a ziplock baggie in the frig. I’ll use it tonight.
Vyonne says
For step 5 can you use the Kitchen Aid hook again as I have arthritis in my hands and couldn’t possibly knead for that long?
Marybeth Hamilton says
Yes, I’m sorry that was confusing. I updated the directions for clarity, but you should definitely use the dough hook for all your kneading.
Shweta says
When we say refrigerate do we mean the freezer section or normal?
judith judge says
can you use regular beer instead of lite and can you use instant yeast
Maggie says
I made this dough today with disappointing results. While the dough was easy in my kitchen aid, rolled out easily, the finished result was a dense, chewy crust, not light at all. The dough rose beautifully so it wasn’t the yeast. I’m pretty sure hubby won’t like it, I’m stuck with a 16″ pizza.
Kate says
I followed this recipe exactly and it didn’t work. I’m going to try another recipe with less water perhaps?
Kristy says
So, in the kitchen aid instructions, it says to skip to step #5. You do NOT let the dough rise if you’re making it in the stand mixer? Why is that?
Chetty says
Always has to grow.
judith a judge says
yes you do have to let rise with stand mixer
Nathalie says
I wish I had read the comments before making this, 3.5 cups of flour is WAY too much, had to throw away the rock hard dough from my kitchen aid mixer 🙁 Next time will try 2.5 cups as someone else recommended.
Dustin says
Is there a recommended temperature for the beer?
Mary Beth says
Yes, wish I’d read comments earlier, too. 3-1/2 cups of bread flour was way too much. The dough wouldn’t come together. Gradually added warm water until it did, then continued with the mixer for 7 more minutes. It’s in the oven now with the over light on. Hoping for the best, butvthe dough is still really heavy and stiff
Victoria says
Recipe needs to be updated! I followed recipe exact and noticed the consistency wasn’t accurate. I read through everything again to THEN find a small note at the bottom below the recipe notes and ingredients. Sorry, but this note needs to be IN THE RECIPE! No one wants to waste 3 1/2 cups of flour during a pandemic.
Marybeth says
Thanks for your comment! The notation is in the article and in the recipe card. I make this recipe all the time and I always use exactly 3 1/2 cups of flour with perfect results. Regardless, I’m sorry you missed it. I’ll see what I can do to make it clearer.
Victoria says
I followed the recipe card exact using my kitchenaide mixer. ♀️ Not seeing the note below instructions at the time of making the recipe, which I see you’ve now updated…thank you…I had already measured the full 3 1/2 cups. I let my mixer do it’s thing but it stayed crumbly well after sufficient time. Being new to the world of homemade pizza dough…I wasn’t sure best way to fix my problem, if it could be saved at all!? I eventually read thru comments and problem solving tips which worked. I’m sure experienced dough makers could have easily figure it out but my suggestion was to help out the less experienced people like myself. How sensitive is yeast and can you keep working with it and adding more wet and it still rise!? Well, the answer is yes. Yeast is tougher than I thought and unlike pie dough… it can handle more handling and still rise just fine! On a happy note, once I added more beer to the full flour amount, the dough came together (no longer crumbly) and looked absolutely gorgeous after baking….as far as pizza doughs go!! We cooked it in a preheated cast iron skillet. It tasted great, too! My husband LOVED it (and so did I) and I’ll be making again. This is a great recipe and starting out with 2 1/2 cups will probably yield quicker results to the right consistency. Just gotta keep adding enough dry to the wet ingredients until it starts coming together because it will stick together once right amount is achieved.
Sue says
I have tried many homemade pizza doughs, this is by far the best one I have ever used. So easy with my Kitchen Aid mixer. I let raise for 5 hours just because I made it in the early afternoon and used it for dinner. Rolled it out thin on my pizza stone as that is the way we like our pizza crust. Everybody loved it! This will be my go to recipe every time!
Michelle says
This is my third time making this dough, but the first time using beer instead of water. The beer makes it so much more elastic, that I can actually get it good and thin doing the pizza throw. Just using water doesn’t make a difference when I throw it, but beer does. This is an amazing recipe, very good, very easy.
Marybeth says
That’s super good information to have! I wouldn’t have guessed that beer would change the dough’s consistency. Thanks for your comment!
Jess B says
My family tried this for the first time today and we LOVED it. I read reviews which gave me the best chance of success. I made two batches of dough b/c we make 1 small pizza 1 large pizza and a batch of garlic knots. One batch I used 2.5 cups and the other I used approx 2.75 cups. 2.75 seemed perfect. We were all raving at the taste and how soft the dough was cooked (not dense and dry). I used white wine instead of beer and it was perfect. I also let it rise for 2 hours on the counter due to my schedule but I’d do it that way again on purpose the next time. The next test is I’d like to make several batches in one day and then freeze to thaw the night before. If anyone has had success in this let me know. I plan on freezing it before the rise and letting it rise as it thaws. Any advice? Thanks for being truly “the best” pizza dough!
Wade says
What kind of yeast did you use? Instant yeast or active Dry yeast? I’ve made this recipe twice with instant yeast and it turned out great. I’m just not sure if there’s a better way to make it. Thanks!
Marybeth says
I’ve used both with similar results.
Lynn says
Is beer room temperature or cold
Phyllis Nemchek says
Idk?!?! Babysavers please help! My dough has been in a very warm place for an hour and has done nothing. I used fresh yeast but was wondering as well if maybe the beer should be warm?
Marybeth says
I’ve used both. Cold beer means the yeast will take longer to react and rise. So you can warm it up to room temp if you want to speed up the process a little bit.
Ken says
Any changes to the recipe for a deep dish pizza using a 14″ pan?
Cris says
I made the dough today. Can I parbake and then refrigerate and finish baking tomorrow??????
Marybeth says
Yes! I parbake for 5-7 minutes.
Phyllis Nemchek says
Idk?!?! Babysavers please help! My dough has been in a very warm place for an hour and has done nothing. I used fresh yeast but was wondering as well if maybe the beer should be warm?
Marybeth says
I would give it at least another 30 minutes to see if it rises. If it doesn’t show any difference than my assumption would be that your yeast is inactive.
Carol says
Is par baking a must? We will cook the pizza on our smoker
judith a judge says
yes it keeps the dough from getting soggy after you add toppings
James Baker says
One way to solve the different amounts of flour different commentors are using is to weigh the flour going into the recipe. I use 425 grams of flour and it comes out perfect every time.
Marybeth says
That’s great advice!
George Lagary says
Do not see a printable recipe card as I would like to print out this recepe. You should have link to print the recipe.
Jessica says
I’ve used this dough several times and always had good results – I never use the full 3.5 cups of flour. I usually make two separate batches of dough. The first I split into thirds and make stromboli. The second batch I use to make pepperoni balls. I also add honey to the recipe because my family like a sweeter dough. After the first proof I divide the dough into the portions using a scale, then let the dough proof again. Then I stuff the dough and let the dough proof a third time before baking. Turns out light and airy every time.
Monica says
Do we need to let the yeast bloom before mixing the flour?
Kathy says
We loved the crust. We made it one large pizza, best crust we have I have made! It will be our go-to pizza crust from now on. Thanks!!