In spite of sounding cheesy, pizza is truly one of my favorite foods, since it has endless possibilities and usually includes some of my favorite ingredients: bread, tomatoes, and cheese.
The best thing is that when you make your own homemade pizza crust from scratch, pizza is one of the cheapest dinners that you can cook. It is also freezer-friendly, so you can always keep some in your pantry and ready to thaw if needed.
And since all of the ingredients are pantry staples, you can make it whenever you want, without any planning ahead.
Let’s discover this delicious Pizza recipe with Apronese everyone.
What is in Homemade Pizza Dough?
While there are many different types of pizza dough out there in the world, this particular recipe is one of the easiest and only requires the following ingredients:
- Water
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Flour
- Olive Oil
This recipe makes a crust that is crispy on the outside, but still tender on the inside, and is easy to prepare.
This particular recipe makes a crust that is crisp outside, and tender on the inside. With the proper use of a rolling pin, you’ll get a result that is more reminiscent of a crispy thin-crust pizza.
It is recommended that you toss the dough by hand, gently stretch it, and leave a certain amount of thickness so that you can get that crispy, yet tender, big bubbles on top.
What Kind of Yeast Can I Use?
Please note that the instructions below will work with either active dry yeast or instant yeast. If you are looking for a pizza crust without yeast, you might be interested in my No-Yeast Pizza Dough recipe.
How to Freeze Pizza Dough
The pizza dough must be kneaded before being formed into a ball. Once the dough ball has been formed, coat it with a small amount of oil so that it will not stick to the plastic, and then cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Put the dough ball in a heavy duty freezer zip top bag and label it and date it, and then freeze it until it is solid.
How to Thaw Pizza Dough
The night before you intend to bake the pizza, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator. As the dough thaws, the dough will rise slightly. You can also let the pizza dough thaw at room temperature, which will take about two hours, so that you know it is thawing properly.
If you want your pizza dough to thaw, you need to remove it from the plastic package. Place it in an oiled bowl and cover it loosely with a clean towel while it thaws.
With your homemade pizza crust, you’re going to need some homemade pizza sauce to go along with it.
Homemade Pizza Dough
In comparison to store bought pizza dough, homemade pizza dough is incredibly easy to make and is a lot cheaper. Make ahead a batch the night before and freeze the rest for later use.
Author: Beth
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups warm water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp yeast* ($0.08)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.05)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour ($0.30)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
Instructions
- Make a mix of the yeast, sugar, and warm water and allow it to sit for about five minutes or until a thick layer of foam forms on the surface. Turn the yeast water over and allow it to sit for another five minutes.
- Then, while you are waiting for the yeast to grow, add 1 cup of the flour and the salt to a large bowl, and then stir thoroughly to make sure everything is well combined.
- It is recommended that you add the olive oil to the yeast water, and then pour the mixture into a bowl with the flour and salt. As you make further additions of flour to this bowl, add between 1/4 and 1/2 cups, until it becomes thick enough so that you cannot stir it with a spoon anymore.
- After turning out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, reduce the heat to medium, and knead for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour as you go to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface.
- There are three options you have at this point: you can either knead the dough tonight (one hour after it has been kneaded), use it tomorrow (allowing it to rise overnight in the refrigerator), or you can freeze the dough within a month (freezing the dough).
To Use the Pizza Dough Same Day
- It is advised that you place the kneaded dough back into the mixing bowl, drizzle it with some oil, and then carefully turn it so that it is covered with oil. Cover the bowl loosely and let the dough rise in a warm place for about one hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- Avail of this skill and learn how to stretch or roll out a crust into a circular shape between 14 and 16 inches in diameter, place it on a pizza pan, then top it with your favorite sauce and toppings. Bake the pizza in an oven preheated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes until the crust has browned and crispy edges.
To Use the Pizza Dough the Next Day
- As far as the dough is concerned, it will be even more delicious if it has been allowed to proof in the refrigerator for 18-24 hours before it is stretched, topped, and baked. Once the dough has been rolled out and coated with oil, it needs to be refrigerated for 18-24 hours. It is important to let the dough come to room temperature before it is stretched, topped, and baked.
To Freeze the Dough for Future Use
- It is important to form the dough into a ball, then coat it with oil, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in a freezer bag before you place it in the freezer. As soon as the dough is ready to be used, place it on the counter for one hour before you start to make it. Before stretching, topping, and baking, the dough should be at room temperature.
*active dry or instant yeast
Nutritional
Serving: 1 serving ・ Calories: 272.05 kcal ・ Carbohydrates: 51.13 g ・ Protein: 6.85 g ・ Fat: 4.05 g ・ Sodium: 591.85 mg ・ Fiber: 1.98 g
The nutritional values shown here are only estimates. Please see our nutrition disclaimer.
How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough – Step By Step Photos
A simple and classic recipe for making pizza crust can be found here. First prepare the dough by dissolving 1 tsp instant yeast in 3 cups warm water and 1 tbsp active dry yeast in 1 tbsp sugar.
After the yeast water is added, let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the yeast water develops a thick layer of foam on top of it.
The two cups of all-purpose flour must be mixed with one teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl while the yeast blooms. It should be mixed well.
The yeast mixture should be diluted with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and then it will be poured into the bowl with the flour and salt. It should be stirred until it forms a fairly smooth mixture.
Adding more flour gradually, about 1 to 12 cups at a time, will allow you to bend the spoon and mix the mixture properly so you can no longer stir it with it.
After it has formed a ball that cannot be stirred with a spoon any longer, you should turn it out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface once it has formed a ball.
It is important to add a little flour as you knead the dough so that it won’t stick.
Once kneaded, you should have used about two cups of flour in total, as the salt should have been mixed in the flour at the beginning of the process.
The amount of flour used can vary based on the humidity and the amount of other factors. Once you have risen the dough, you can either make a pizza on the same day, refrigerate it, make pizza with it the following day, or freeze the dough for later.
If you want to make a pizza the same day as it was made, place the dough ball back into the mixing bowl, add a tiny drizzle of oil to the mixing bowl, and turn the dough over to cover it in the oil. The oil will keep the dough from drying out while it rises.
I would recommend covering the bowl with plastic wrap and allowing the dough to come to room temperature for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
The pizza dough should be stretched or rolled out to 14-16 inches and placed on a pizza pan. The pizza sauce can be added to the pizza pan and the oven should be preheated to 450 degrees.
You can also choose your favorite toppings for your pizza…
Using a preheated oven, bake the crust at a high temperature for 10-12 minutes, or until the toppings and crust are browned and bubbling nicely.
Take a slice and enjoy it!
Yes, Apronese believes that, with this recipe, anyone can make and eat Pizza at home simply and quickly. Everyone, please review how I do it in the comments below.
