Perfect Pizza Dough

This is one of the easiest and most delicious pizza doughs I’ve ever made. Thin, crispy and chewy, it’s the perfect vehicle for any number of toppings.

Basic ingredients of flour (I use unbleached AP), yeast, salt, sugar and water are barely stirred together “ no kneading! “ to form a shaggy dough that’s left to rise (or store in the refrigerator to allow the flavour to develop further) in an oiled bowl. Once doubled, it’s spread on an oiled baking pan and allowed to rest again.

Before any toppings are added, the dough is baked in a very hot, pre-heated oven for a few minutes. I can’t tell you what a difference this step makes, not only in this recipe, but in other pizza dough recipes I’ve used since: it virtually eliminates the soggy top and bottom crusts that plague so many pizzas, especially those with heavy toppings. The baking is completed after the toppings are added.

I hesitated before making this the first time as I don’t own a pizza stone, but I’ve had excellent results without it. I normally do 4x the recipe (but only ~2x the oil) for 5 people.

Our go-to pizza dough, we make it nearly every week. This is a no-knead dough so it's incredibly easy, perfect for a novice bread maker or for anyone who needs to spend more time on toppings, salad, etc. The recommend King Arthur Italian-style flour makes a noticeably light, crisp crust, but the all-purpose version is nearly as good. Letting the dough sit overnight in the fridge gives nice flavor. And the portion size is somewhat small, it serves two modest appetites. We double it for a family of three.