Learn how to make the BEST Homemade Pizza Dough with this simple step by step recipe + video and gluten-free option! The method is easy but yields the perfect American pizza crust with a thick, soft, and chewy interior and a nice crispy, golden brown exterior. The dough is also great to make ahead and freeze in batches!
Pizzzaaaa! I think there’s hardly anyone who does not like a good pizza, right ?! Especially, when it’s made with the best homemade pizza dough that’s lovely thick and fluffy “American Style”, I could really get into it! But the best thing – this vegan pizza dough works also great using gluten-free flour!
The Best Homemade pizza dough
Sometimes I also make an easy ‘spelt pizza‘ or if I want something that’s healthier, I opt for a gluten-free low-carb ‘cauliflower pizza‘. Usually, I have always a batch of prepared pizza dough in the freezer. So I can easily thaw it at any time when I crave pizza. The yeast dough is absolutely perfect for freezing – you’ll love it! For example, if you want to eat a pizza for lunch, you can simply take it out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw at room temperature. Really handy, right?!
Furthermore, you can always vary the pizza toppings to your liking. Not only do I love a good classic Italian pizza with fresh tomatoes, vegan mozzarella, and olives but also a green pizza with flavorful garlic, healthy spinach, and vegan non-dairy cheese. However, if you are not vegan, feel free to use normal dairy cheese.
“American” pizza dough – thick, chewy and fluffy!
Yeast is essential if you want the pizza dough to be really thick and fluffy. For the preparation of yeast dough, start by dissolving the yeast in water and a bit of sugar and set it aside for a few minutes. In the meantime, whisk together the flour and salt in a bowl. Once the yeast mixture starts to get foamy, add it to the flour mixture along with the olive oil. Now mix the ingredients until the liquid has been absorbed by the flour. Then transfer to a floured working surface and knead with your hands (or use a mixer) until a smooth dough forms.
Finally, place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm spot. The yeast likes it cuddly and needs a warm area to rise. Once the dough has doubled in size, it’s ready to use. However, if you want to bake the dough the next day, simply place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.
How to make the perfect crispy pizza!
If you want a crispy pizza, I highly recommend using a pizza stone. It extracts moisture from the dough during baking, which helps to make the pizza dough perfectly crispy. Simply preheat the pizza stone in the oven and place your best pizza dough straight on top. If you don‘t have a pizza stone, you can use a regular baking sheet. Just be sure to preheat it to high heat in your oven before placing the dough on top. Once hot, line it with parchment paper and place your prepared pizza with desired toppings on top. Then put it in your oven on the middle rack and bake!
Anyway, if you fancy a homemade thick and fluffy BEST “American pizza”, this dough recipe is what you are looking for!
If you try this best vegan pizza dough recipe, please leave a comment and a rating on how it turned out! And if you take a picture of your crispy pizza and share it on Instagram, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka, because I love seeing your remakes! Happy cooking!
The Best Pizza Dough
Author:Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose or spelt flour or gluten-free flour, *see notes
- 20 g fresh yeast ½ cube (or sub 2 tsp dry yeast)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 350 ml lukewarm water or dairy-free milk, *see notes
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
*Note: Please watch the recipe video for visual instruction!
- Mix water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and allow to rest for 5 minutes, or until foamy.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Form a mold in the center, then pour in the foamy yeast mixture and olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon or chopsticks to combine. Then transfer to a floured working surface and knead with your hands (or use a mixer) for about 10 minutes, until a smooth dough forms.
- Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave to rise for at least an hour in a warm spot.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it into two portions. Cover again and let rise for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven with a pizza stone or baking sheet to 428°F (220°C).
- Stretch and roll out the dough on a floured work surface to be about 0.6-inch (1,5 cm) thick.
- Then top with your favorite toppings (e.g. tomatoes and vegan mozzarella or garlic mushrooms and spinach). Brush the sides with a bit of olive oil if you like, and bake your pizza on the pizza stone or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about 8-10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- For a gluten-free pizza, you can replace the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend 1 to 1.
- If you want a softer dough, you can use plant-based milk instead of water.
- You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
- You can also wrap the dough tightly in cling foil, then place it in a freezer bag and freeze for future use.
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Hi Bianca! I had this recipe bookmarked some time ago and now after some months when I looked at it again to make it, I think something has changed at least for the method. Specifically I remember that there was double kneading and rising involved, but cannot remember the exact timings when to do so. Can you please leave a reply with the former recipe that was posted here before the current one? I tried this one as well, it’s good but the previous one I remember was much better for my taste.
Thanks!
Hi Alex,
we updated this recipe with new photos and a recipe video showing you how to make it but it’s still the same recipe and method! 🙂
Best,
Bianca <3
Mmmh das war so lecker. Yummy 🤤
Deine Rezepte und Essen sind einfach super. 🥰
Das freut mich wirklich sehr! Dankeschön! 🙂
I have to say this is the best pizza dough recipe that I have ever made. This is even better than the pizza dough that I purchased at the store. It was easy to make the directions were great to follow and came out with great results. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
So glad you love this pizza crust recipe! 🙂
Thank you so much for your great feedback.
Lots of love,
Bianca <3
Making the dough today (again 😉)..it is the best recipe I’ve used to date and the fact that it freezes and retains its great structure and taste it recommends it even more!
So glad you love this recipe!
Thank you! 😊
I’ve made the dough a few times now and it always tastes great. However, it is so sticky and gooey that I have to add more flour (more than a little). Doesn’t form into a ball, sticks to my bowl and I have to scrape it out and the amount on my hands is frightening. I know heat and humidity have a lot to do dough but this seems more that usual. I keep checking the measurements to see what I did wrong. I use a scale. I live in the desert so it seems it would be too dry rather too wet. I see that no one else has this problem. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong?
Hi Marlena,
Honestly, I have no idea because I’ve never made pizza dough in the desert.
Maybe you could add more flour until it doesn’t stick anymore?
Absolutely brilliant pizza base , really love the crunchiness and taste , this is going to be my favourite base for pizza .
So glad you love this recipe!
Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! 🙂
Hi Bianca, which flour did you use to make this dough?
Anw, thanks for sharing amazing recipes ❤️
I usually use all-purpose flour! 🙂
Very good recipe. We got 4 pizzas out of the dough. Very delicious!
So glad you enjoyed this pizza! Thank you so much for your amazing feedback! ❤️
Hi Bianca, can you make the pizza dough gluten free? Can I use gluten free flour or Buckwheat flour instead of normal flour? Thank you very much!
I haven’t tried it yet but you could Male my simple gluten-free quinoa pizza! 😊
Hi Bianca! Thanks for your awesome recipe 🙂 I made it for the first time last week and it was delicious. I’ve just made it again today to freeze. I kneaded it twice as stated in the recipe, but I was wondering if the dough needs to be kneaded again after being frozen? Thank you very much!
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you! 😊
The dough doesn’t need to be kneaded after freezing but you can do it a few seconds before rolling it out as desired! 😊
Best, Bianca