Easy pizza dough that anyone can master! This recipe takes 6 simple ingredients and transforms them into a beautifully squishy pizza dough base ready to be loaded up with all of your favourite toppings. It’s a great recipe to make with kids!
When I was growing up my parents ran a popular Italian restaurant that was famous for its freshly made pizzas. Everyone raves about my Ma’s pizzas to this day and will do anything to get one!
Now with all that history of pizza-excellence in the family, you’d think I was a natural from the get-go but it’s not the case. The pressure to make pizzas that are up to the same high standards as my Ma’s led to many years of being too scared to try haha! Finally, I decided enough was enough and I have been making them on a weekly basis ever since (with some pretty epic toppings too I might add – check out my Sunday Slice series on Instagram Reels).
These easy pizza bases contain just 6 simple ingredients (flour, yeast, olive oil, salt, sugar and water) and after 7 minutes of kneading and a little patience to let the dough rise in a warm place, they transform into a beautifully squishy pizza crust that turns out perfectly every time.
Quick links:
Why you’ll love this Easy Pizza Dough
Simple, minimal ingredients. This recipe uses just 6 ingredients – bread flour, instant yeast, olive oil, sugar, salt and water.
Fun to make. There is something therapeutic about kneading bread dough – pressing, stretching and rolling it for 7 minutes until it is a smooth ball. It’s a great easy pizza recipe to make with kids, they’ll have fun stretching the dough out and adding their favourite toppings.
Freezer friendly and ‘make in advance’. You can make this dough in advance and store it in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for up to 3 months – just defrost it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before using.
Top tips
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Always proof the yeast: Don’t skip step 1 of the recipe – always proof dried yeast to make sure that it’s alive and working. To proof yeast add it to a jug with a little warm water and sugar; after 10 minutes it should have started to go really frothy which means it’s working. If it doesn’t go frothy your yeast should not be used as it won’t rise the dough.
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Rise until double in size: Once you’ve kneaded the dough into a ball, put it in a large bowl, cover it and set it aside in a warm (not hot) place to rise. Once it has doubled in size it is ready to use – this usually takes around 45 minutes but keep an eye because if your kitchen is particularly warm it could take less time and if it’s a cold day it could take 15-30 minutes longer.
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Use a metal tray to bake: Don’t use a pizza stone for this recipe, a metal tray works best. It doesn’t have to be a round pizza tray, any metal tray will work.
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Bake HOT until golden:
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Make sure your oven is fully pre-heated because pizzas need to be cooked at a hot temperature.
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After 15 minutes in the oven check the underneath of the pizza base to see if it is cooked – it’ll be ready when the underneath is starting to go a light golden colour.
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Don’t check your pizza too soon – you need to keep as much heat in the oven as possible!
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Cover the top of the pizza with tin foil if it’s cooked on top but the underneath still needs a few more minutes.
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Storing: If you’re making the pizza dough to use later then pop it in a reusable bag and seal it up (but not too tightly as it will continue to grow in the fridge).
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Fridge – Place the bagged dough in the fridge and use within a couple of days. Bring the dough to room temperature before attempting to stretch it out.
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Freezer – Store the bagged dough in the freezer and use within 3 months. Take it out of the freezer 24 hours before use and put in the fridge to defrost. When you want to use the dough, take it out of the fridge an hour before use to bring it up to room temperature before attempting to stretch it out.
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FAQs
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Do I need to use high protein flour? Ideally yes but don’t stress if you can’t find one easily in your local supermarket – any strong white bread flour will do the job.
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Can I substitute olive oil for a different oil? Ideally not as olive oil adds a unique flavour.
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Can I make this pizza dough gluten free? We have tried this recipe using gluten free bread flour but it produces a very different pizza base. We recommend using a regular bread flour if you can eat gluten.
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Can I make this dough ahead of time? Absolutely yes! Make the dough, let it rise and then split it into four portions. At this point you can place each portion in a reusable bag, seal it and place it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Just bring the dough to room temperature before attempting to stretch and shape it.
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Can I freeze this pizza dough? Yes! Make the dough, let it rise and then split it into four portions. At this point you can place each portion in a reusable bag, seal it and place it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost it in the fridge for 24 hours and then bring it to room temperature before attempting to stretch and shape it.
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Loved this Easy Pizza Dough? Here are some more staple vegan recipes to try
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How to Make Vegan Sweet Shortcrust Pastry – this recipe uses ground almonds and cold coconut oil to add a beautifully crisp, light and flaky texture.
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How to Make Vegan Hot Water Crust Pastry – this pastry is beautifully crisp and stands tall; holding its shape without a soggy bottom in sight! It’s perfect for homemade, rustic, savoury pies.
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Domino’s Garlic Bread Fakeaway – This impossibly soft baguette is slathered with a perfectly seasoned herby garlic butter.
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This Peruvian Sweet Potato Bread is beautifully sweet with a soft and fluffy interior that pairs perfectly with smashed avocado and a dash of chilli sauce.
I hope you LOVE this recipe for Easy Pizza Dough! Share this recipe with someone you think will enjoy it and don’t forget to tag @aveganvisit on social media when you try out the recipe – I absolutely love seeing your re-creations! Enjoy 🙂 x
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The Video Recipe:
The Easy Pizza Dough Recipe:
How To Make Easy Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 60 ml warm water (*see notes)
- 7 g yeast (dried)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 750 g strong white bread flour (**see notes)
- 2 tsp salt
- 90 ml olive oil
- 300-400 ml room temperature water
- pizza toppings of your choice
Instructions
Prep the dough:
- To a small jug or bowl, add 60ml warm water, yeast and sugar. Be careful not to get your sugar and salt mixed up here! Stir together and set aside for 10 minutes to go frothy.(***see notes)60 ml warm water, 7 g yeast, 2 tsp sugar
- Add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and stir until combined.750 g strong white bread flour, 2 tsp salt
- Add the olive oil to the flour and stir until roughly combined. You’ll see little globules of oil within the flour.90 ml olive oil
- Once the yeast mix is frothy, add it to the flour mixture and stir it in. Add 300ml of the room temperature water and then add a little more if necessary to bring the dough together into a ball. You want to have picked up most of the flour from the bowl but for the dough not to be too sticky to handle (you shouldn’t need to go above 400ml of water).300-400 ml room temperature water
- Lightly flour a surface and your hands and knead the dough for seven minutes until it is smooth and elastic, kind of like the texture of bubblegum.
- Put the dough in a bowl, cover it and set it aside in a warm place to rise (prove) for 45 minutes, at which point it should be roughly double in size. You may need to leave it slightly longer if you have a cooler room or it may be ready slightly sooner if your kitchen is particularly warm - aim for the dough to have doubled in size.
Make the pizzas:
- Lightly flour a smooth surface and your hands. Turn the dough out onto the surface and divide it into four roughly equally sized sections.
- If you don’t want to cook up all four bases, at this stage you can choose to wrap the dough and put it in either the fridge (for a couple of days) or the freezer (for up to 3 months), just defrost the dough and bring it to room temperature before use.
- To stretch the dough into the desired shape, first form it roughly into a ball with your hands. Place it on the surface and press it gently with your finger tips about 1cm in from the edge and work your way around in a circle so that it flattens out.
- When it is the shape of a small pizza, pick it up and hold it by the edge with the rest of the dough hanging down towards the bench. Turn the dough a little at a time so that you go full circle, this allows gravity to do the work of stretching the dough for you.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured 10” pizza tray or a regular baking tray and do any final shaping on the tray. Try not to make your pizzas bigger than 10”, otherwise you’ll lose some of the beautiful soft squishyness!
- Top the pizzas with your toppings of choice and then set the bases aside to prove again for 20 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 220°C fan (240°C conventional / 475°F / gas mark 9).pizza toppings of your choice
- Place in the preheated oven and cook for around 15-18 minutes. Check the pizza by lifting the base carefully off of the tray; if the underneath is still very pale, put the pizza back in for another 2-3 minutes. They are ready when the underneath is just starting to colour. If you have a lot of toppings they could take a little longer to cook.