This Homemade Pizza Dough Is So Easy: Kneading Optional!

Homemade pizza dough is so easy, so why are you opting for takeout? This recipe is knead- and no-knead friendly and includes a hearty San Marzano sauce to boot! The garlic and basil additions to this dough recipe create a flavorful combination that pairs well with many toppings. However, if your flavor is plain dough, this recipe has you covered since it tastes great either way! Try my topping suggestions if you want ideas to make a classic pizza the whole family will enjoy.

Why Making Homemade Pizza Dough is Easy

• It takes only a small handful of ingredients to pull off a great-tasting dough. The trick is in the technique.
• I’ve made homemade dough hundreds of times, trying different techniques, pans, and ingredients. We are a pizza family (understatement), so let me take the guesswork out of the equation.

Kneaded Pizza Dough

Kneading is a technique that involves repeatedly pressing, folding, and stretching the dough to develop gluten proteins. Gluten provides the structure and elasticity needed for a good pizza dough, giving it the proper structure and texture. This doesn’t sound very easy, but I promise this homemade pizza dough is easy to knead and shape if you follow my instructions. 

Pros

• Faster Gluten Development: No need to wait 24 hours, so if you’re planning tonight’s dinner–kneading is the way to go.
• Consistent Texture: Kneading helps to ensure that the dough has a uniform texture, making it easier to handle and shape.
• Better Rise: Kneaded dough is more likely to rise well in the oven, giving your pizza a fluffy, crusty texture.

Cons

• Time-Consuming: The kneading process for this recipe takes 5 minutes, but some recipes go even longer, over 10 minutes. There is such a thing as over-kneading the dough, and 5 minutes is a good balance.
• Physical Effort: Kneading by hand requires manual effort, which can be both a challenge and therapeutic experience. 
• It Seems Intimidating: Kneading may be a bit intimidating if you are new to making pizza dough, but I write “seems” for a reason. There is nothing to be intimidated by! Check out the simple method in the next section, and follow the visuals. 

Kneading Method

1. Shape the dough into a rectangle, with the short end facing you. Grab the edge of the dough farthest from you.
2. While pressing gently down on the center of the dough, pull the far edge and place it on top of the end closest to you, essentially folding the dough in half.
3. Press the seam gently together with the palms of your hands.
4. Rotate the dough 90°.
5. Repeat, pulling the far end of the dough and placing it on top of the end closest to you. Press the seam gently together with the palm of your hands. Repeat steps 2-4 for five minutes; the dough should spring back when you press on it at this point, and it should feel tacky but not stick to your hands.
6. Once kneaded, use the outer edges of your hands to shape the dough into a ball while rotating the dough and pressing gently into its base. The dough should tighten with each rotation until it becomes relatively smooth.

Tips for Making Homemade Pizza Dough Easy, the Kneaded Way

• Please keep your hands lightly floured as you work with the dough, especially at the beginning of the kneading process, since it will be sticky.
• If your hands get covered in too much dough, rub your hands together with some flour (a flour wash) to remove the dough parts.
• I like to sprinkle extra flour on the sidelines of my work surface for quick access.
• With this recipe, you should not add more than 2 Tbsp of flour to the dough during the kneading process to achieve 75% hydration.

Using a Stand Mixer Instead

You can knead the dough with a stand mixer by following these steps:

1. Make a shaggy dough following the recipe.
2. Add the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment.
3. Turn on low speed for 1 minute.
4. Add 1 Tbsp of flour, and turn the stand mixer onto medium speed for four additional minutes.
5. Add 1-2 Tsp of flour to a clean work surface, and scrape the dough onto it. With floured hands, shape the dough: use the outer edges of your hands, gently press into the base of the dough on all sides, rotate, and repeat until a ball forms. Continue with the recipe as stated.

No-Knead Pizza Dough

No-knead dough, as the name suggests, does not require kneading. Instead, the dough is mixed in a bowl and left to rest for an extended period, usually up to 24 hours. During this time, the gluten develops naturally, and the dough becomes elastic. 

Pros

• Effortless: No-knead dough is straightforward to make. There is no KNEAD for kneading (see what I did there?), so it is much easier on the arms and hands.
• Short Prep Time: This dough comes together in minutes, requiring only a few essential ingredients and a bowl. The chill time, however, is what takes the longest.
• Consistent Texture: No-knead dough has a uniform texture that is easy to handle and shape.

Cons

• Long Chill Time: This is a dough you make when you know you want to have pizza in the next day or two. It takes 24 hours of chill time in the refrigerator for the dough to finish rising and developing gluten, but you save your arm strength that would have been spent kneading.
• Lack of Control: With the no-knead dough, the gluten develops naturally. Since this occurs in the refrigerator, there is a risk of under or over-development. Check on the dough frequently. 
• Can Rise Poorly: Dough that isn’t kneaded may not rise well when baked. I use a combination of proofing the initial dough outside the refrigerator, deflating and shaping it in the bowl, and finishing the rise in the fridge. As the dough comes to room temperature as you stretch it, it will continue to rise. I split the no-knead dough in half for the recipe video and saved one portion for another night. I still got a 12″ thin-crust pizza that ended up rising more than expected, which I attribute to my approach (toot toot).

Ingredient Notes: Dough

• Active Yeast: Active yeast is used to help the dough rise. Check the expiration date on your yeast to ensure it is still active before using it. If you use instant yeast instead, whisk all ingredients together (except the water and oil at this point). Pour the warm water into the mixture, and stir until most of the flour is incorporated. Add the oil, and finish mixing to create a shaggy dough.
• Granulated Sugar: Sugar is used in pizza dough to feed the yeast, helping it to grow and multiply. This leads to a better rise and a lighter texture.
• Bread Flour: Bread flour is a high-protein flour designed explicitly for yeast-based baked goods like pizza dough. It gives the dough a chewy, crusty texture that is perfect for pizza. Ideal hydration for bread dough is around 75%, and if you’re using all-purpose flour instead, aim for 70% hydration. To achieve this, use the same flour weight, but cut the water to under a cup. Then, add up to 2 Tbsp of flour in the kneading process.
• Basil: Basil adds a subtle herbal flavor to the pizza dough. You can use fresh or dried basil, depending on what you have. One tablespoon of fresh basil = One teaspoon of dried basil, but feel free to experiment with other herbs. 
• Minced Garlic: Minced garlic adds a delicious flavor to the dough, but it can be skipped if you’re not a fan.
• Kosher Salt: Salt is essential in pizza dough as it helps to control the yeast and enhance the flavor. Use kosher salt, which has a coarser texture and a more distinct flavor than regular table salt. Fine sea salt also works well.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: EVOO is added to the dough to give it a rich flavor and a tender texture. Add it toward the end of the mixing process, which prevents oil from repelling the water and impacting texture.

Tips for Spreading the Crust

• Let the dough come to room temperature before stretching it.
• Do not roll out the dough with a rolling pin. This will pop any air pockets in the dough and create a dense crust.
• Stretch the dough with oiled fingers on an oiled pan, not flour. This will contribute to the crust’s crispiness, and you’ll avoid adding too much flour, which can make it rigid and dry.
• Use your fingertips to press into the center of the dough and create an outer crust edge (see the image below). Once there is enough space in the center of the dough, start incorporating the outer edges of your hands to stretch the dough gently. Stretch the dough by slowly pulling your hands apart, but not with too much force that the dough tears. Finish stretching the dough with your fingertips, as this will help create air pockets, resulting in a delicious underside to the crust.
• If you stretch the dough and it won’t hold shape, wait 10 minutes and allow it to rest before continuing to try. The gluten will relax, and you can continue stretching. Repeat as necessary until you reach the desired shape.
• If the dough tears, pinch any holes closed with surrounding dough and then flatten with your palm.
• If you plan on using a pizza stone or steel, I recommend stretching the dough out on lightly floured parchment paper (no oil). Trim the parchment paper slightly larger than the pizza size for baking on the steel/stone.

See? Homemade pizza dough IS easy.

Tips for Baking Pizza

• Use a nonstick pizza pan, ideally one with ridges (not holes) that will help to create air pockets, add texture, and brown the underside. This recipe calls for setting your oven to 450°F / 232°C, so the pan used would need to work with that heat.
• Set your oven rack to the lowest level. Heat comes from the bottom, and baking the pizza on the lowest rack will help to brown the crust while not burning the top.
• Pre-bake your pizza crust before you add any toppings–it takes about 4 minutes at 450°F / 232°C. This helps jump-start the browning of the underside while also ensuring you don’t end up with a soggy crust from adding too many toppings. The dough will have a matte finish when it is done pre-baking, but it will still be very soft.
• Don’t put raw/uncooked items such as chicken, beef, or bacon on a pizza. Precook those items before using them. The goal is to bake the pizza quickly, so any toppings that will take a while to cook should be handled ahead of time (I’m looking at you, caramelized onions).
• If you use a sauce like the one with this recipe, cook it ahead of time to simmer the flavors together and get the best result. Throwing raw sauce on a pizza is fine, but the depth of flavor will not be there in the final product due to the lack of simmering the flavors together.
• You can apply sauce to the whole pizza, but dotting it on the surface instead, interspersed with the toppings, will prevent a soggy crust while allowing other flavors from the toppings to shine.
• For additional baking tips, peruse my FAQ page.

Using a Pizza Stone

If you’re using a pizza stone or steel:

• Preheat the stone or steel in the oven.
• Stretch the dough on a sheet of high-heat parchment paper (425°F / 218°C or higher), and trim the paper to just larger than the pizza size. Slide the pizza onto the stone/steel with the parchment underneath, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pizza with parchment and add toppings before placing back on the stone/steel. Since the pizza does not cook for an extended amount of time and the size of the parchment paper is slightly larger than the pizza, the paper should stay intact. But keep an eye on it since parchment can catch fire if the oven is set too high and the parchment stays in for an extended period. [Do not broil with parchment paper!!]

Why San Marzano Sauce?

San Marzano tomatoes, named after the region in Italy where they’re grown, are preferable for making Marinara and pizza sauce (which is similar in flavor but has a thicker texture). They are a type of plum tomato that is sweeter with fewer seeds and less acidity.  The region’s unique growing conditions make a San Marzano tomato so flavorful. Still, there are many “San Marzano-style” versions out there with tomatoes grown in the US, as Martha Stewart describes on her blog. An authentic San Marzano tomato is marked by a DOP-certified seal (Denominazione d’ Origine Protetta), which tells you that it is grown in a particular region.

San Marzano-style versions will still contribute to a delicious sauce–I’m just a stickler for authenticity! This homemade pizza dough is so easy to make as it is, especially the no-knead version if you plan, so why not pair it with a robust sauce that takes only minutes of prep but yields incredible results?

Ingredient Notes: Hearty San Marzano Sauce

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This ingredient facilitates combining flavors as the sauce cooks and adds a distinct, enhancive flavor.
• San Marzano Tomatoes: See the previous section for my soapbox. 
• Sweet Onion: Sweet onions are used in this recipe for their mild flavor and natural sweetness. They help to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and contribute to the overall sweetness of the sauce.
• Garlic Cloves: Garlic cloves add a bold, savory flavor to the sauce that complements the onions and tomatoes.
• Oregano and Basil: Oregano and Basil are classic herbs often used in Italian cuisine, including pizza sauce. They add a warm and fresh herbal flavor that complements the sauce’s sweetness.
• Kosher Salt: Salt is essential in pizza sauce as it helps to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients and balance the sweetness. 
• Celery Seed: Celery seed adds a subtle, earthy flavor to the sauce. It pairs well with the other ingredients.
• Sugar: Sugar is used in this recipe to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and complement the savory flavors. 
• White Pepper: White pepper adds a subtle, spicy kick to the sauce. 

Storage

This homemade pizza dough is easy to make, so prepare extra for storage! Pizza dough can last up to 3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It can last up to a month frozen if wrapped in plastic wrap.

Homemade pizza sauce can last up to 5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container (and longer if appropriately canned).