We talk all the time about how great homemade food is, not just because we consider cooking to be a relaxing and satisfying experience, but because it’s so much more budget-friendly than going out and spilling all your money at a fancy restaurant.
Plus, it never hurts getting compliments from your friends and family–they’ll be talking for years about that delicious chicken cacciatore.
However, today we aren’t talking about chicken, but we go all in with THE Italian dish. Want a hint? When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie/ That’s amore.
And if that wasn’t clear enough, here is another hint: we gave you an excellent marinara sauce recipe.
Yep, it’s time to talk about what holds everything together–literally, so today’s article is about an authentic Italian pizza dough recipe.
Needless to say, the pizza is a symbol of Italian tradition, recognized worldwide. Its humble beginnings were as a loaf of bread, enriched with all sorts of ingredients.
This has, of course, evolved over the years, but something that hasn’t really changed is the preparation of the dough itself.
All you need is flour, water, yeast, and salt, which can be used in different quantities and forms, depending on how thin or thick you want your pizza to be.
Our authentic Italian pizza dough recipe will give you a crispy base perfectly suitable to be covered with fresh tomato, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil.
Extra tip: The key to get an Italian style pizza like in the picture above is to use a pizza stone trust me! It makes pizza just like your best pizzeria place.
You would also need a wooden pizza peel to transport the pizza from the counter to the oven!
Needless to say, the recipe will be a success! Trust us, people will urge you to open your own pizza restaurant.
Best pizza dough we’ve tried yet…and I’ve been on a search trying many to find the perfect homemade pizza dough. Thanks so much for the great recipe. It’s a keeper!
The pizza looks fantastic! no exaggeration! but oh boy, this isn’t going to be difficult for someone like me, my cooking skills are 0.5/10. But I’ll give it my best to make this work. thanks for sharing!
Simply amazing recipe thank you! The pizza stone made a total difference, thanks for the tip!
What kind of yeast ?
Hi Ginette – For this recipe you can use the active dry yeast and it will turn out great.
Can this be frozen?
And what oven temp do you recommend?
Yes, it can be frozen. It is recommended that you freeze it before the leavening. Once you decide to use it, leave it overnight to defrost so you’ll have the whole day for the dough to leaven – if you are makinh the pizza for dinner.
As per the temperature, the higher the better. The pizza stone should be very hot, I usually set the oven to max and once it’s reached its max temperature I leave it for 15 minutes so that the pizza stone is thoroughly heated. With some electric ovens might be harder to heat it to the max, while with some older gas oven, it might be easier as they don’t have a set temperature and you can probably reach higher temperatures than with the electric ones. When I put the pizza in the oven I always monitor the first pizza through the oven window to make sure that it’s cooking correctly.
Shape into pizzas and cook until they JUST start to go brown.
Take out the oven and leave to cool.
Wrap individually and freeze.
When needed, add toppings to the FROZEN base, and put in your pre heated oven for around 4 minutes (keep an eye on the first one, as your oven will dictate the time)
Easy, healthy, convenient, fast food.
Looking forward to making my own REAL pizza.
Awesome Kevin! Please let us know how it turns out!
Hello, thank you for this. In your recipe it says flour 00. I am not sure I have this. I just have plain white flour. Will this be ok?
Ciao Sam – Any high protein flour is comparable, I usually use all-purpose or bread flour when I don’t find 00.
I do not have a pizza stone nor is one available in my country (Ecuador). What to do if you don’t have a pizza stone?
Hi Linda, you could try to go to your local tile shop or hardware store and ask for a “baking stone”, which can be unglazed ceramic tiles, unglazed fired clay tiles and quarried tiles. If you can’t find it, you can still cook the pizza on the oven tray, it will turn out the same though.
What temperature do you suggest when baking?
I set mine to 500 F. The temperature should be set to the maximum your oven is able heat.
Excellent, simple, authentic tasting recipe, thank you.
I’ve found the imported 00 flour from Italy is my absolute favorite, and leaving this dough to ferment for a few days is really good.
I use a “Pizzaque”. It’s a propane pizza oven with double (stacked) pizza stones inside. It heats to 850/900° in about six minutes, max. AND makes perfect black bubbles in the edges, like in Italy. If I really want the true wood fired flavor, I put a small smoker box filled with wood shavings in the pizza oven, to give the woody smoke aroma… ❤❤
Thank you! I am so happy that it turns out great for you. Thanks for suggesting the oven, I am actually looking into buying one of the backyard ovens myself. Cant’t wait to have really authentic Neapolitan pizza at my home!
instead of a pizza stone, can a cast iron skillet be used?
Hi Correne – I have never tried it honestly. My guess is that it wouldn’t be the same thing, but maybe it turns out ok. If you do try it, please let us know how it turns out!
I use a cast iron skillet all the time. I start off with the skillet hot and with a couple of tbls of good olive oil in it. After the bottom has browned a bit I transfer the skillet to the oven over a stone and reduce the temp to 400ish. I watch it mostly to determine the temp. Love the results…
You say let it rise in the oven but don’t say anything about temperature? I assume it’s meant to be on?
Thanks
Hi David – The oven should be off when the dough is rising.
This recipe is very close to the Vera Pizza Napoletana recipe I use except I use a longer second rise. Works good in my wood fired oven. Good stuff.
Thanks Jon! I’d love to try one of your pizzas from the wood fired oven!
Should you sieve the flour?? Thanks in advance
Ciao Laurie, no there’s no need to sieve the flour for pizza.
Hi there, this looks amazing! I will try it this evening. One question I still have tho’, I will use the oven, I’ve read in the above comments that you’ve said max temperature should be used, but for how long? When do you know that your pizza is ready?
Thanks!
Ciao Pati – Like in an authentic pizzeria, you’ll want to check the pizza while it’s cooking through the oven window. The eye will tell you when it’s ready, it will also depend on the max temperature your oven will reach. Usually in mine it takes about 6-8 minutes. Grazie for stopping by and let me know how your pizza turns out!
Absolutely amazing pizza dough. Although it takes patience as far as letting it rise, it is worth the wait. Also, make sure to use a scale and not US measurements. It does make a big difference!
Looking forward to trying your recipe! I read on another site, that after the first resting, to punch down the dough to remove air bubbles then divide it and roll into balls. If this necessary or would you advise against it?
Hi Gordon – It’s not strictly necessary but it will turn out a better pizza if you divide the balls into balls a few hours before making the pizza and let them rest. Thanks for stopping by!
what is gr? grams?
Yes correct.
I’ve been looking for a pizza dough recipe to try vs purchasing dough from my pizza restaurant. I can’t wait to try this out, I have 2 pizza fanatics in my home. my question is can this dough be made as a thick/hand tossed pizza as well as a thin crust pizza?
Hi Tina. Yes this recipe can be used for both types of dough. Let us know how it turns out! Ciao!
i dont understand g ect could soemoen give me the reciipe with cups and tabl etc
Thoughts on leaving the dough to rise overnight?
You can leave the dough rising overnight, if that’s the case I suggest using less yeast.
How much yeast should you use?
Hi Damo, 3gr is sufficient
I eat low carb but I am trying to find the perfect pizza crust. Do you think this pizza would turn out just as good using the 00 gluten free flour?
I never tried this recipe using gluten free flour, but I think it would turn out equally delicious!
Hi thanx for sharing your pizza dough recipe. I’ve just made a batch & now waiting for it to prove. Can’t wait to make my green pesto pizza with sweet peppers. Garlic. Onions. Kale & torn mozzarella. My mouth is watering lol
My mouth is watering too! I hope it all turn out great!
Best pizza base I have ever made, and I’ve made a lot. I cheated a bit,used a breadmaker, and added a little more yeast.
The result was a great textured chewy but crisp crust, absolutely perfect.
So glad to hear Don! Thank you for stopping by – ciao!
I would to have the ingredient measurements in US measure?
Hi Steve, thanks for stopping by. We’ll add US conversions soon, in the meantime you can convert the ingredients using the search engine.
Any thoughts on shaping the crust? Do you use a rolling pin or just stretch it by hand? I’d love to learn how to twirl it.
Hi Varley – rigorously by hand. The secret for the best outcome is not to spend to much time stretching the dough, it will preserve all the air stuck in the dough.
I just wonder if 3 gr of yeast iwill be enough
Hi Nancy! Yes, it’s enough as long as you follow the directions in the recipe. Please let us know if you have any other questions or if you make it, how it turns out. Ciao!
Hi, is there a reason why you add the salt after the water and not together with the other dry ingredients at the very start?
Hi Aga – Yes, the salt can kill the yeast if it gets in direct contact with it.
Ciao,Thanks for the recipe!
I have a question, should I turn on the oven from top and bottom at the same time or just top is enough?
Ciao Mahsa, the oven should be turn on from top and bottom at the same time.
Hii! Thank you for this recipe, I’m wondering how much it yields.
Ciao! It yields 4 pizzas of 9-10 inches of diameter.
If you don’t have 00 flour would regular plain flour work?
Thanks
Hi Pete – Yes, any high protein flour is comparable to 00 flour. Here in the US I usually use all-purpose flour which has good amount of protein and it turns out great. But bread flour, which has an higher amount of protein than all-purpose, is even better.
If using bread flour instead of 00, do you use the same amount?
Ciao Tammy – yes, you would use the same amount.
can I use all-purpose flour?
Hi Anna – Yes, you can use all-purpose flour.
Hi, I’m from Malta, this is definitely the best pizza dough I ever made. Thank you.
Grazie mille Frances! Glad you like it.
This is my third time using this recipe and it’s my go to crust! Everyone raves about it!
Thank you Amy! Glad you like it! I am going to make it this weekend too
“Turn the mixer on”. What if you haven’t got an effing mixer??? Every recipe makes the same ignorant assumption
Hi Jim – You can use the same procedure but using your hands.
Nice attitude Jim. Hope you pizza works out OK.
I hope his marriage doesn’t
Wait until Jim hears he needs an oven to cook it.
Try some elbow grease.
yah jim use ur hands
Does this recipe really only call for a little over 1/2 teaspoon of yeast for 8 cups of flour?
Hi Cindy – If that is the conversion of the above metric units in US customary units, then yes. I prefer using the metric system when cooking.
I’m looking forward to making this with my son. We don’t have a stand up mixer but rather a food processor, how long do you suggest we knead it for? Thank you!
Hi Myra, no problem if you don’t have a mixer, you can totally make it by hand. You can knead it for about 15/20 minutes.
Hi, I heard that in Italy they rest the dough in the refrigerator for days before using, have you tried this or recommend?
Hi Judie – Yes, there are different leavening processes you can follow. It depends on the type of yeast you use, its quantity and of course…how much time you have on hand. Not every pizzaiolo chooses to leave the dough resting for days before using it. It is usually common to follow a 24h leavening, however most of the pizzas that is made at home in Italy follows a shorter process.
A longer leavening process will result in a better digestible dough and it will add taste and fragrance to the pizza.
If you decide to try a longer leavening (the most common is 24h), I would reduce the amount of yeast to 1gr.
I’m confused how much flour to use. I can’t find a proper conversion to cups. I googled and find so many different answers. I found 4 cups – but it was so watery.
Hi Trisha – 1kg of flour equals to 8 cups.
Highly recommend buying a electronic mail scale if your going to make bread products. Far more accurate to use weight over volume.
I made this in a hurry and it came out sooooooo great!!!!! I added a bit more water than it was called in the recipe but it was simply delicious!!!!
Glad you liked it! Grazie mille!
Looking for oven temperature.
Ciao Sheena – I suggest warming up the oven to maximum (500F). Here is another comment about temperature.
Hi there, I’d like to know if you’ve had success keeping your dough in the fridge overnight or freezing it?
Hi Lucy – Yes I had. Didn’t it work for you?
Thanks for the recipe! Excited to try with my boys :)
Could I freeze some of the dough? Would you freeze before that last proofing stage?
You can freeze it after the last proofing, simply wrap the dough balls with baking paper and then store them individually in plastic bags. You can keep them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Grazie Kathy and let us know if your boys will like it! (I hope they do!)
Tried this for the first time and it was pretty good, only thing is that it needs more salt, ill try 18g my next attempt… Also this is a lot of dough so be prepared to freeze some unless you have more than two people eating.
Grazie mille Isaac! Sure, if you think it needs more salt. I usually add less when I add more toppings. Let us know how it turns out!
What kind of yeast do you use for this recipe?
Ciao Megumi – I use dried yeast.
I’m sorry but here in Canada we have instant dried yeast and Active dry yeast…which one do I use.
Ciao Jen – Instant dry yeast will work perfect.
Thanks for this recipe!! I am only a novizio when it comes to pizza. I started with this recipe a year ago and it launched my mission toward maestro. I have used it for every pizza, it is so easy to make the outcome consistent. Grazie, grazie, grazie!!
Grazie mille Chris! I am very happy that the recipe turns out great. I hope you’ll keep mastering towards your ideal perfection. I am always try to improve every time I make pizza too! :)
Hi – I’m going to try this recipe, please post what is comparable to oo flour here is USA …
Thank you
Hi Cynthia – you can use all-purpose flour or bread flour, check out this comment here
Yeast instructions usually say to prime the yeast by mixing in with water and a bit of sugar, but in this recipe, the yeast is added directly to the water. To confirm, this recipe does not require starting the yeast before adding to the water?
Hi Brian, no it’s not required to use sugar to activate the yeast. The yeast will activate in contact with water and the sugars contained in the flour.
First try was a success. Hand kneaded the dough and it was therapeutic! Oven was 550 degrees and the pizza was on a cookie sheet. It took a little more than 8 minutes. Now I need a good sauce!
That is awesome Yvonne! I am glad it came out great. As per pizza sauce, I use San Marzano tomatoes, I blend them before and then add the sauce straight on the dough.
I made this pizza at the weekend, after a disaster using someone else’s recipe a few weeks ago. It was AMAZING!! I have been to Napoli and been lucky enough to eat in both the famous pizzerias and this was so authentic! Thank you so much. I have already given your recipe to 2 of my friends as they said my pizza looked so good. Can’t wait for the next one. I have the dough in the freezer, so don’t even need to do the work!
That’s awesome! Grazie mille for sharing your experience Suzanne, I am glad it was a success!
Thank you for this recipe!!!!! It is amazing!!!!!!!
So glad you liked it Lauren!
Grazie!!!
My first try at making my own dough. I loved it. It was so easy and delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Great Dough! I made homemade pizza for the first time tonight and it came out delicious. Although when I took my dough out of the oven after rising for 3+ hours there was a hard film on top. Any way to avoid that? Thank you!
Awesome! Glad it turned out great. Was the dough in contact with air? If so, I would suggest using a plastic film to cover it to prevent it from drying.
Hi Nonna,
from india,
can i use Sourdough instead of yeast for Pizza Base,
a dry Sourdough with reactivate,
I’ll try my best w/o yeast upon your best advice,
My best regards from India
Hi Khadija, welcome! I have never tried it with Sourdough but I know people use it with great results. I have used fresh sourdough to make bread instead, usually you mix it first with a bit of flour and water and then you add it to the rest of the flour.
Hey,
I´m making this tonight and i wanted to know, do i have to bake the pizza dough first or can i put my toppings on the raw pizza dough, before i put it in the oven like at the pizzaria ?
very excited
Ciao Sabrina – You can put the toppings on the pizza dough before putting it in the oven, just like in the pizzeria :) Grazie and I hope you’ll have a great dinner.
Potrei dimezzare la ricetta? E se sì, si può ottenere un buon impasto lo stesso?
Grazie.
Ciao Angelina, si puoi dimezzare la ricetta. Dopo un paio di volte che provi diventa più facile e adatti la consistenza a tuo piacimento.
excellent post and very good recipe, thanks for sharing it, I really liked it.
Love the look at this, will give it a go this weekend! If i do the 24hr rise, should i leave it at room temperature or in the fridge?
Awesome! You can let it rise in the fridge overnight and take it out 3-4 hours before preparing it. The temperature of the dough should come back to 24C (75F) degrees – that’s when it is ready to be prepared.
Simple and easy recipe to follow – we bought a kitchen aid and are trying the recipe the second time with it to compare difference between hand knead and kitchen aid.
Fantastic! Glad it turned out well, please let me know how it turns out using the Kitchenaid! Grazie mille
this is a wonderful recipe the pizza is fantastic but i can’t get the black bits on the cooked pizza. I use 00 flour, stone and oven at 500 degrees what am i doing wrong?
Fantastic! I am glad it turned out great! The leoparding of the crust will happen when you cook the pizza in a wood-fired pizza oven, unfortunately not on a conventional oven.
We love this recipe but we find as we are cooking our doughs the last 2 of our 4 keep rising on the bench are are quiet thick, even if rolled out, should we put the dough balls waiting to cook in the fridge to stop rising? Ours also stick to the pizza stone even with flour on so asking for ur advise there?
Ciao Melissa! So happy you like the recipe! I have a dough plastic bin that I usually use to store and cover the pizza dough balls. If you don’t have it, you could cover them with plastic film. If the dough is left in contact with the air, this will create a hard layer due to the air drying out the dough. It’s better to leave it outside of the fridge as the dough should be at room temperature before putting in the oven.
As per the pizza sticking to the pizza stone, does it happen every time? If you move the pizza from the pizza peel to the pizza stone correctly, the dough will cook over the stone and it will not stick to it. Sometimes it happens that the dough is so thin that it could create holes where the cheese and the sauce drips on the stone. This can cause the stickiness you are mentioning.
Hi I just want to thank you for your recipe. I tried the pizza dough yesterday- and they turned out great – though they were cooked in though I only had a metal tray to cook them on in the oven.
Plus I made the dough by hand !!
Thank you – I cannot wait to try the sfogliatelle next.
Your comment made my day Lynn – grazie mille! I am glad your pizza came out great! Let me know how the sfogliatelle turn out!
Hi, do i need a pizza oven for this to work ?
Ciao Leyana – no, you can cook it in your electric oven, however for best results I would suggest using a pizza stone.
I’ve been making home made pizzas for a few years now and decided to try lots of different dough recipes. This one is now my go-to for traditional Neapolitan pizza. So easy to make in the morning of a pizza party and consistently great result. Our young kids love to help preparing the dough too.
Cooked at 400-450 Celsius in a wood-fired oven for about 2-3 minutes and looks like it’s straight out of a shop in Napoli. The base/crust usually gets the most comments / compliments!
Thank you for sharing and making me a better pizza cook :)
Grazie mille! I am glad you liked it
I have used this recipe for around 2 1/2 years making pizza almost every Sunday + some days during the week. Very simple very authentic, great tasting much better than any bought bases I have found. Better than any store bought bases, no matter what they cost! I scale it down by 2/3 . Using 330 grams 00 Strong protein Flour (pizza and bread flour not just 00) but still using the same amount of yeast, everything else is 1/3. (330gm Flour, 200ml water and 5gm salt, I still use 3-4 grams yeast. This makes good sized 2 pizza bases which suits my pizza oven. I was using the pizza stone in our oven but found a gifted bench top pizza oven as good if not better. It wasnt a cheap one and works very well. The trick is to preheat the stone (set to max for 10-15 minutes) after the stone is very hot, turn the thermostat down while you are making the pizza, then turn the thermostat to max again when the pizza is in the oven. If you leave the whole thing on max, it tends to burn the pizza base whereas if you turn it back, then turn it up, the top element is on for the duration of the cooking.
I use the dough setting on the breadmaker which takes 45 minutes. then leave for another half hour. After this I either hand nead the dough and divide for immediate use or nead down and put in the fridge (in a plastic bag) for a day or two. The dough is better the longer you leave it at least 24 hours. Still makes good bases if used straight away but taste is much much better if left to ferment. The advantage of using strong protein flour and letting it ferment, other than for taste improvement is that it becomes very easy to stretch very thinly which results in a very light crusty exterior and soft chewy internal texture. 10 out of 10. As has already been said a good pizza oven or at least a pizza stone makes all the difference. I use a Masterpro Ultimate benchtop pizza oven, not as good as a woodfired but a lot better than a conventional oven (even with a pizza stone). You need the heat which you generally cant get from a conventional oven.
In a perfect world you’d have a proper woodfired pizza oven. I started off using a Webber Gas bbq turned up to max using a terracotta tile. Results ranged from woodfired quality to cremated. Not a fault of the dough but the bbq heat was very difficult to regulate. Then, using our Smeg oven with a pizza stone, the results were very consistent but not as good as the bbq (or as bad) purely through the lack of heat. Then got the benchtop one which, with a bit of practice gives excellent results. This dough is so good it will may you want to buy a woodfired pizza oven!
Brilliant recipe never failed. I cheat! I simply put everthing into the bread machine on the dough cycle, 45 minute later you have the best pizza dough. As I have said in my previous post, I use the same amount of yeast for 1/3 of the portion the ratio’s of everything else remain the same. I think the extra yeast counters the salt? not sure but come out perfect every time. I tried experimenting with a few different ideas but found the original recipe to be the best. A couple of tips, 1. dont make the pizza on the pizza peel it will probably stick. 2. try to keep the undeside as flour free as possible. dry flour on the base will burn. If you are having trouble transferring the pizza onto or off of the peel use polenta (instead of flour) or put the raw pizza base onto baking paper. If using baking paper, place onto the pizza stone then remove the baking paper after around 1 minute. If the pizza stone is hot enough this should work. I hope this helps.
I made this dough last night! Yumm. I halved the recipe, added a teaspoon of unrefined sugar, and otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Perfect pizza dough and helped me make the best pizza of my whole life <3
I preheated the stone at 550°F in the oven for 1.5 hours. Topped the dough with red pesto, shaved garlic, basil, cherry tomatoes, basil, lemon zest, buffalo mozzarella and baked until lightly golden. Topped with olive oil and truffle buratta. Saved the other half of the dough for lunch today. The pizza size, when dough is split, is great for one person or two to share with a salad or other side.
Grazie mille Courtney! Glad you had a great meal! I am going to try your toppings when I make it next, yummy!
Hi, I have fast acting time saver dry yeast. Would this work for your recipe? What quantities if so and would I need to change the prove time? Thanks
Ciao Steph, you could try to incorporate the yeast in the flour directly and then add the other ingredients. Don’t refrigerate the dough, instead let the dough rise in a medium-large bowl covered with plastic wrap at room temperature or inside the oven (turned off) until it doubles in size.
Hmm pizza dough turned out way easier to roll out than the Trader Joe’s dough I bought. I used a kitchen aid and pizza stone and though the bottom was perfectly crispy, it rose in the oven and was way too thick of a crust. Felt like bread in my stomach, could only eat a couple slices. What am I doing wrong?
Ciao Ben, maybe try to thin and stretch the dough a bit more next time.
great recipe
I made this by hand because I didn’t feel like dragging out the kitchen aid. I make homemade pizza and crust often and think I’ve found my favorite recipe. Grazie!
So glad you liked! Grazie mille Tori!
Hi! I’m really looking forward to making this. i had a question, 00 flour isn’t available in my country, would you recommend replacing with 000 or 0000? which would work better? Thank you!!
Ciao Mora! In which country are you living? Try to find a flour with a high gluten content.