The Best Pizza Dough Recipe. Possibly Ever. Seriously. (2024)

First and foremost, I have to give 100% credit for the Best Pizza Dough recipe to America's Test Kitchen. Probably 8 or 9 years ago, I watched the episode on PBS, I scribbled down the recipe and I've been hooked ever since.

Over the years, I think I've changed it very little. The original recipe was for a deep dish style pizza. I've stretched it out and used it for normal style crust, too.

My husband swears to me that his favorite pizza in the world, in his whole life, that he has ever eaten anywhere is the one using this dough. So...here you go, the secret to how I keep this man married to me....

I can remember pizza dough disasters in my lifetime. Remember those little box kits that you made when you were a kid? Yeah, those totally sucked.

And of course, I've made little pizzas on biscuit dough. Meh.There is always the store bought variety. They are so-so to moderately good.

If you aren't familiar with break making or dough making, this recipe can seem a little intimidating at first. Trust me, it isn't. There are a lot of steps, but just take it one step at a time. Print it out, read it before you start.

It is super easy, and once you get the hang of it, you will have a bad-a** recipe in your arsenal that will impress everyone. Best Pizza Dough Ever, promise.

This recipe makes enough dough for two pizzas. (Either two 9 inch deep dish, or two 12 inch traditional style crust.)

Adjust your oven rack to the very bottom, and turn the oven on to 200 degrees. Once it reaches 200, turn the oven off. This is where the pizza dough will rise.

Grease a large bowl with some olive oil or cooking spray. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.

In a glass measuring cup, warm milk to about 110 degrees. What is 110 degrees? Like really warm bathwater. Don't over think it, just zap the milk for 15 seconds, stir, zap again, stir, until it feels like bathwater.

Dissolve sugar in the warm milk and stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Pour the milk mixture slowly into the flour mixture. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour and milk together and keep stirring until the dry and wet ingredients are combined.

(Yes, you can totally use a KitchenAid stand mixer and dough hook for this best pizza dough recipe. It really doesn't take that long to do it by hand. If your arm gets tired, hand off to a kid or hubby.)

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Keep working the wooden spoon around and around in the dough, stirring the thick dough until it becomes smooth. This takes about 5-10 minutes if doing it by hand. Trust me, it will happen.

Shape the dough into one large ball, and place it in the greased bowl. Flip it over. Cover the bowl with a slightly damp warm towel, and place it inside the warm oven.

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Leave it until it doubles in size, or about 30 minutes.Once it doubles, divide the dough in half.

For deep dish pizzas : Get two 9 inch cake pans. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a each pan. Shape each dough ball with your hands or a rolling pin into pan sized circles. Carefully place the dough on top of the oil. Be careful to not let the oil seep over the dough.

Cover each pan with foil or plastic wrap, and set in a warm area for 20 minutes. The dough will puff up.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Leave rack in bottom. Top each crust with ½ cup of your favorite sauce (may we recommend ours?), cheese and your favorite toppings. Bake for 18 minutes and serve!

The olive oil in the bottom of the pan "fries" the crust, so you get that perfect crisp with a chewy soft center. So good.

For traditional crust pizzas:With your hands or a rolling pin, shape and stretch the dough into 12 inch circles. Lightly grease two pizza pans (or prepare your pizza stone). Carefully place the dough onto the pans and let rise for 15 or 20 minutes.

Top with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings, and bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

📖 Recipe