How to Make and Freeze a Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe
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Simple, homemade pizza dough is a baker’s best friend. Easy to make, and delicious to eat. With only 5 ingredients, it’s perfect for pizza night, or to make ahead and freeze.
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It’s one of those things you learn quickly when you have kids streaming through your house. They love pizza all the time, at all hours of the day and night.
I love pizza, too, just with a healthy twist to my toppings. An easy solution is to have pizza dough on hand and ready to go. This is my Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe.
I love to make a couple of batches of this dough or break it into 4 balls instead of 2 for smaller pizzas and freeze it. It’s incredibly convenient.
You can always buy pizza dough in the freezer section of your market, but when you can make your own, it’s just a bit more satisfying!
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Homemade Pizza Dough Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make your own homemade pizza dough. The exact measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Instant yeast: You can also use active dry yeast. See the “notes” section in the recipe card.
- Granulated sugar to active yeast
- All-purpose flour
- Salt: I prefer sea salt but use what you have
- Olive oil
Kitchen Equipment Needed to Make Pizza Dough
No special equipment is needed to make this simple recipe. While I love making it in a stand mixer (because it’s just super simple), it can also be made using a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Set aside a separate clean mixing bowl for when it rises.
How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough
Step-by-step instructions, including making it in a stand mixer, are in the recipe card below, but here is a simple overview.
- Combine flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Drizzle in warm water and olive oil until combined with the flour. Add water as needed until the dough comes together and is slightly tacky and elastic.
- Knead the dough on lightly floured surface until smooth; a couple of minutes. Then form into a ball and place in a clean, olive oil coated bowl.
- Let rise until doubled; about 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. This should only take a minute or two. Form the dough into a ball.
- Deflate the dough which can be used immediately, refrigerated, or frozen.
To Freeze Pizza Dough:
I love to make extra dough for this reason! While I can always buy it at the market, there’s something special about having your own homemade pizza dough ready to go.
When freezing, divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a ball and wrap in parchment, waxed paper, or plastic wrap. Place the dough into a ziplock freezer bag. This way when you want to take just one out, they’re not sticking to the others.
Using Frozen Pizza Dough:
When making pizza at home, pull the frozen dough out of the freezer the night before you make it, or even the morning of. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter. You will want the dough at room temperature before making the pizza.
Then simply roll out the dough, as usual, brush the dough with olive oil and add your favorite toppings. Bake in a 450ºF oven for 10-15 minutes!
Tips:
While the recipe in this video varies slightly, it’s a great visual on kneading and shaping pizza dough!
More Pizza Recipes You’ll Love
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- Roasted Street Corn Pizza with Pancetta
- Easy Teriyaki Chicken Pizza
- Simple, Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
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Homemade Pizza Dough: How to Make and Freeze Ahead
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant dry yeast 1 packet *see note
- 1 – 1 ¼ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
- 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for the bowl
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in warm water and olive oil until combined with the flour. Add water as needed for consistency. The dough should be slightly tacky.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. This should only take a minute or two. Form the dough into a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl coated in olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in volume, about 30 minutes.
- Punch down, and divide into 2 balls of dough that will later form two pizzas. The dough can be used immediately, stored in the refrigerator, or frozen. If refrigerated, it’s best if used within 24 hours.
Notes
Yeast
If you’re using active dry yeast, add the yeast to 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the sugar and let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. After proofing, add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and blend just until the dough forms.Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
I used this dough to make one sausage & broccoli stuffed bread and one pepperoni stuffed bread and they came out AMAZING!! I was going to snap some pics but my two teenagers and their two friends ate most of it before I could take them!! Super simple and quick!
Yay! Thank you, Dena, for trying the recipe and letting me know how you liked it. With kids around my house– I know exactly what you mean!
May I have the recipe?
Hi Maria, I have added this recipe to a printable card located at the bottom of the post. Here is the link: https://www.31daily.com/make-freeze-favorite-pizza-dough-recipe/
Can you make this in the bread machine
I’ve not tried this recipe in a bread machine. Although that sounds like a fantastic idea. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work if your bread machine can handle 2 cups of flour.
My dough was dry and tough. I feel like 1 cup of water isn’t enough.
I actually made this pizza dough this morning as well. Time to restock the freezer for easy pizzas. When first mixing the dough, before rising, it should feel slightly tacky and heavy. After rising, it becomes super easy to handle. Add additional water, like 1 tablespoon at a time, if you need extra moisture. I tested it with 1 additional tablespoon this morning and the dough fell apart. The ratio can change slightly with the weather too. Here is what the dough looks like before rising — taken this morning.
I tried a different recipe called for 1 1/2 you should experiment with it .just a suggestion 😁
Sounds tasty, but not very quick. The pizza dough in the freezer, seems to require a day ahead thought. Which is fine but not always convenient. If you rolled the dough out before freezing, would it thaw out quicker? I love your recipe, can’t wait to try it. I’m just wondering why you freeze the dough in a ball?
Debbie
The dough is simple and quick to make. And yes, if making pizza from frozen dough does require defrosting overnight in the refrigerator. Rolling the dough into a disc would work too — and actually is a great idea!! I’m going to try it the next time I need to refill the freezer. Thanks for the input!!