The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

This homemade pizza dough uses three different types of (easy-to-find) flours for the perfect texture, taste and chewiness. Best of all, it’s ready to go in under an hour. If you’ve been searching in vain for a great pizza dough recipe, look no further!

When it comes to food, I’m easily tempted by the next shiny object. I might make a brownie recipe and declare it the be all end all, and that the search is over blah blah blah. Then a month later I’ll stumble upon this hypnotic video on Instagram and I’m practically sprinting to the kitchen to try “the world’s best fudgiest brownies“.

The one recipe I am supremely loyal to though is my pizza dough recipe. For years, I never had much luck with homemade pizza dough, and would sheepishly put a ball of frozen dough in my cart whenever the craving struck. Then one day I decided to put on my big girl pants and conquer pizza dough once and for all.

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I tweaked and tinkered with this recipe for a long time, but then I finally got it and I have not looked back since. I honestly can’t imagine a chewier, more flavorful, less cardboardy crust and so I am done looking. Done.

I’m also sharing all this hard work with you, dear reader, because, well, I have my moments.

Alright, let me explain why I think this is the best pizza dough ever.

Semolina

I think the addition of semolina is really what sets this pizza dough recipe apart from most others I’ve seen. Semolina is a coarse flour made of durum wheat. It’s often used to make homemade pasta and is pretty easily found in most grocery stores. I particularly like Bob’s Red Mill semolina. It adds great flavor and texture to this dough.

All-purpose vs. bread flour

My first attempts used just all-purpose flour, as I’d seen in many recipes. I found the texture too crispy, not chewy enough, and the taste kind of bland. So I experimented with incorporating varying amount of bread flour, which is higher in gluten and contributes more “chew”.

As it turned out, the specific ratio was critical. Too much bread flour and the dough was dense and hard to chew. I find the ideal ratio to be exactly half and half, for the best texture.

It takes less than an hour to make

I’ve seen pizza dough recipes that call for up to a week of fermenting. Although a long fermentation builds flavor, I’ve found that the above mix of flours makes for a very flavorful dough, without the long wait.

This dough takes only 45 minutes to an hour to rise, making it perfect for last minute pizza cravings.

Here are a few of our favorite pizzas featuring this dough.

Pepperoni Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Veggie Pizza

Enjoy xx

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Products I Used to Make this Pizza Dough

5 from 1 vote

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The Best Homemade Pizza Dough

This homemade pizza dough uses three different types of (easy-to-find) flours for the perfect texture, taste and chewiness. Best of all, it's ready to go in under an hour.

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword pizza crust, pizza dough

Prep Time 10 minutes

Proofing Time 45 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 162 kcal

Author Ann

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 2 teaspoons quick-rise (bread machine) yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup warm water
• olive oil for coating the bowl

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flours, semolina, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and stir together with a dough hook, just until it starts to come together.

2. Fit the dough hook to the stand mixer and mix on low speed for about 5 minutes until the dough comes together in a smooth ball. The dough should still be quite sticky, but if will not come away from the bowl, add an extra tablespoon of flour and continue mixing until it comes together. Do not add too much flour or the crust will be tough. 

3. Drizzle a little olive oil down the inside of the bowl and roll the ball of dough around to coat it and the inside of the bowl.

4. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled in size. (When our kitchen is particularly cold, I like to turn the oven on for a couple of minutes, then turn it off so that the inside temperature is like a hot summer day, and let the dough rise in there.)

5. Punch the dough down and roll back into a ball. Sprinkle some semolina onto a piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough out or spread with your fingers into whatever shape you like. 

6. Add your toppings and bake (ideally on a pizza stone) in an oven preheated to the highest temperature it will go (mine is 550 degrees F), 8-12 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Nutrition Facts

The Best Homemade Pizza Dough

Amount Per Serving

Calories 162

% Daily Value*

Sodium 294mg 12%

Potassium 80mg 2%

Total Carbohydrates 32g 11%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Protein 6g 12%

Calcium 0.6%

Iron 7.7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.