Best Pizza Crust Recipe by SimpleGoodIdeas.com

If you love pizza and have tried different types of frozen pizzas, store-bought refrigerated pizza dough for homemade pizza, or even attempted biscuit dough pizza but was still disappointed, you must try this pizza dough recipe. Beginners, you cannot go wrong with it. I guarantee it will turn out perfect each time and taste absolutely delicious!

The ingredients list below is for 1 large pizza, but I usually double the amount so I can keep the remaining half of the dough in the fridge over night for a second large pizza for lunch.

Make sure to use bread flour and wheat flour for ultimate results; regular all-purpose flour will bake slightly faster and be more crunchy.

Ingredients:

1 cup water (bottled water only!)
1 tablespoon of sugar (or honey)
1 teaspoon salt (fine salt the best)
1 tablesoon of vegetabe oil (olive oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil, etc)
1 and 2/3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup pasta sauce (Ragu, Prego, tomato sauce plus tomato paste -see Step 10)
1 cup of shredded pizza cheese, freshly grated is the best (mozarella, and/or parmesan, asiago, white cheddar, monterey jack, etc)

Instructions:

1. Microwave 1 cup water (Ozarka bottle water is the best) for 30 seconds
2. Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar (or honey) until dissolved
3. Add 1 teaspoon of dry active yeast (usually half a packet if using packets, make sure to roll up the rest of the yeast in the packet to prevent air from entering and refrigerate the packet. Note, the bulk yeast in the dark brown bottle has never worked well for me, I prefer packets)
4. Let the liquid sit on the counter for about 3-5 minutes while the foam forms on top of the water
5. Meanwhile, whisk well 1 and 2/3 of bread flour, 1/3 of whole wheat flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt (do not add salt into liquid and do not forget to mix it well in the flour before adding yeast liquid mixture)
6. Add liquid mixture to the flour mixture, mix with spatula or plastic fork until together and use hand to knead until no dry flour left. The mixture will get stuck to your fingers, no worries. You do not have to knead dough, it will rise regardless.
7. Apply vegetable oil on both sides of the dough ball, cover with shrink wrap, and let sit in warm place (like inside turned off oven) for at least 45 minutes. The time is flexible here. If you planned ahead, for example, every Saturday night is pizza night, then for the best tasting pizza crust, place the mixed dough covered into the fridge for 24-36 hours for slow rising. Then leave on the counter 30 minutes to bring to room temp before baking. (NOTE: If you refrigerated your pizza dough longer than 2 days, do not make pizza, it will taste sour, but rather toss a ball of the dough on a parchment sheet into a preheated cast iron pan with lid at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes for an easy no-knead bread that will have a crunchy crust on the outside) If pizza was a last minute request and you are in a real hurry, then preheat oven to 100 degrees F, turn it off, and rise the dough for 30 mins-1 hour. Take it out, roll out into circle, and let it sit another 15 minites-30 minutes on the counter (I only let it sit about 10 mins after rolling because the crust will keep rising and we do not like it too bready even if rolled thin). If you used instant yeast (Rapid Rise), you are ready to roll out dough about after an hour and no need to let it rise second time.
8. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 C)
9. On the parchment paper, roll out dough into a circle about 1/4 inch thick with oily roller or pat it out with oily fingers. Do not use flour, the crust will turn into a crunchy chip after baking if you do.
10. Place the parchment paper with crust on the pizza pan and spread the sauce (some like it with sauce all the way to the edge, others prefer to have a crust edge for buttering). The amount will depend on the preference: some like a lot of sauce on their pizza, others prefer pizza not so saucy, so it may take some trial and error. For sauce, you can use your favorite spagetti sauce or a mixture of 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce with 1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste.
11. Place the pizza tray with rolled out crust and sauce on bottom rack into oven at 450F for 6 MINUTES. If your kids love saucy pizza, you can do 7 minutes.
12. Take out the pizza with sauce and set oven to broil. Meanwhile sprinkle your shredded cheese (act quickly not to let it cool too much) on top of the sauce and place the tray back in the oven on top shelf for 1 minute. Make sure not to take your eyes off the cheese as it will bubble up and brown very quickly. I like to use Kraft 5 cheese Italian mix and I grate some provolone from the block I buy at the deli. You can experiment to see your favorite cheese: mozzarella and parmesan shredded mix, white cheddar, Monterey Jack, 6 cheese Sargento Italian mix, etc.












NOTES:

1. Freeze pizza crusts ahead in air tight bags plus foil wrap for up to a month for a large pizza party. Make sure to defrost fully on the counter and bring to room temp before baking
2. Do not toss expired yeast. You can still use it, just substitute milk for water
3. Serve hot straight out of the oven for the ultimate pizza experience
4. If you add toppings, place them on top of sauce and bake for 6 minutes before Step 12 (the broiling of cheese).
5. NEVER use bad cheese or sauce for pizza. If either have signs of mold or fermentation, throw them away. If you want to prevent cheese from forming mold, keep it in the freezer.
6. ALWAYS ask your family members if they like their pizza saucy, cheesy, thick crust or thin crust, etc. It is best to bake separate small pizzas for each person than dividing various topping amounts on a single pizza. For kids, I recommend traditional Ragu or Prego spagetti sauce in a jar (smooth, not chunky) instead of tomato sauce-paste mixture because of slightly higher sugar content.


HELPFUL INFORMATION ABOUT PIZZA:

1. Pizza is good for you - homemade pizza from scratch meets many daily nutrionion requirements: carbs for energy, whole wheat flour for fiber, cheese and meat toppings for protein (our body's bulding blocks for muscle, hair, skin, blood vessels, etc), fats, and calcium. Pizza helps maintain a healthy relationship between 2 hormones: leptin (that tells us we are full) and ghrelin (that tells us we are hugry)
2. Tomato paste in the sauce mix is rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, fiber, phosphorus, zinc, Vitamins C, A, B, K, E
3. Lycopene in tomatoes is easier to absorb by the body because it is cooked in the sauce
4. Pizza is good food, and is best if eaten for breakfast or lunch. Try to plan pizza on calorie burning days with high energy activities level: workout days, running or hiking weekends, working in the garden, moving into a new home or apartment, ice skating/roller blading fun with the kids afternoons, etc.
5. Pizza can be LOW CALORIE-LOW CARB FOOD: make your pizza with thin crust, with small amount of mozarella cheese and little sauce but lots of veggie toppings like mushrooms, olives, green pepper, fresh tomatoes, onions, fresh basil leaves, etc.
6. BENEFITS SUMMARY: Low sodium with high calcium, fat, protein, veggie pizzas with thin crusts are great for blood pressure management, weight loss (low calorie carb with satisfying feeling of fullness from fibre), and important nutrients like magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium and vitamin B6 (that help produce sleep hormones serotonin and melatonin). The iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc maintain stronger bones, healthy skin, and nervous system.
7. EAT BALANCED DIET Homebaked pizza can help you maintain healthy weight by carb cycling: pizza on high carb days can help avoid low carb eating habits that slow down metabolism by burning less calories in the long run. Lean body mass leads to muscle loss and "adaptive thermogenesis", process of making weight loss extremely difficult. To help digest pizza even faster, drink plenty water with lemon, green tea, black tea, or freshly squeezed orange juice, beet juice, etc.


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