Make Quick Homemade Pizza Dough For Less Than $1
Think you have to spend a lot of money – or time – to have regular family pizza nights? Think again – this homemade pizza dough recipe is the answer to a meal that won’t break the bank.
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Homemade pizza dough from this recipe has been the basis for our family’s standard Saturday pizza nights ever since our kids were little.
Individual pizzas using this dough was one of the first recipes I published back when I started the site, and the dough is the basis for my favorite type of pizza – Chicken Pesto Greek Style Pizza.
But I’ve never published the pizza crust recipe alone, and since it’s such a big part of our regular menus, I thought it would make it easier for you to find and use just the dough recipe (which, by the way, can also be used as the basis for this pesto bread recipe and this calzone recipe).
After discovering and adapting this recipe (originally in a Betty Crocker cookbook we got for a wedding gift a long time ago…), it was like I won the menu lottery or something!
I would make individual mini pizzas and everyone could choose what to put on them. And when kids are little and picky, this was a wonderful thing! Brian and I would load up on the vegetables and they kids would have…cheese.
But as the kids grew older they started adding more vegetables until by high school we were all pretty much eating the same thing. And so I started making just one big pizza at that point, because it’s a little quicker than making the individual sizes.
But the individual pizzas? Those are still one of my go-to menus for company because everyone can choose what they want on it, which is so nice when you’ve got a mix of picky kids, vegetarian, or other special diets.
Especially if you’re hosting new friends that you haven’t learned their tastes yet. They’ve been very popular for kid’s parties and sleepovers, too.
The best thing about this crust, of course, is that it can be ready for toppings in 15-20 minutes – or 30 minutes when pre-baking – which is quicker than going to buy a pizza for most of us (unless you live around the corner to a pizza place…).
Not to mention it’s SO much cheaper to make your own pizza than buying one, even one of those ready-to-bake pizzas. In fact, the crust costs just pennies:*
- flour – .35-.40
- bulk yeast – .12
- honey – .05
- olive oil – .20-.40
- salt – .01
Isn’t that crazy? .73 to .98 for enough pizza crust to serve a family of 4 to 6!
Puts those $20 to $30 pizzas in a whole new light – and even the $10 pre-baked varieties.
Just for fun, let’s total the toppings for a basic cheese pizza to see how much that would add:
- 8 oz. cheese is around $2-2.50
- 8 oz. can of tomato sauce is usually around .40 (you can add garlic and your own seasonings to make it pizza sauce for a few more pennies) if you don’t can your own pizza sauce.
So you can make a cheese pizza for less than $4.
Of course you can add a lot more toppings to this basic pizza and the price will go up, but if you make a simple pepperoni pizza, it would only add about $2.00 for half of a typical package, which usually covers this size pizza, bringing the total well under $6.00.
*Prices are generalized from a brief web search at the time of publishing, but these are pretty close to the norm and give you an idea of how cheap pizza crust is to make.
How to Make Homemade Pizza Dough
You’re going to love how easy this is, too!
Mix up your ingredients – no kneading required, but do let the mixer run until the dough clears the sides of the bowl (or turn it over a couple times if making by hand). Let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
It will rise a only a bit, but look puffier. You can let it sit for longer and it will rise more, but I’m always in a hurry, and we don’t really notice a difference in the finished crust when it’s risen longer.
I used to think you had to try to toss your homemade pizza dough and only use your hands to form the crust, or it was somehow ‘cheating.’ Duh.
I now just shape it into a general rectangle (if I’m using a baking sheet like pictured – shape into a general circle if using a round sheet or stone) and let a rolling pin do the rest of the work to get the dough evenly flattened. Then just finish the edges by hand once the dough is rolled as much as it will go.
We’ve learned that pre-baking the crust is a key for us to be able to load it with toppings and still get it cooked all the way to the middle. Pre-baking is optional, but try it if you often have gummy centers.
Five to six dollars for a pizza with ingredients you control and feeds 4+ with a couple pieces leftover (sometimes…)?
That’s pretty much the reason we’ve been able to have pizza nights for years and not go broke. Plus I’ve always felt good about serving our pizza with ingredients I can choose.
Pizza is never a ‘junk food’ when you control the ingredients!
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Make Quick Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add yeast to a mixing bowl and pour the 1 cup of hot tap water over it and mix.
- Add the remaining ingredients and let the mixer run at medium speed until the dough clears the side of the bowl (you can do this by hand: beat vigorously for 30 strokes).
- Let dough rest in the bowl 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven and prep the toppings.
- On a large baking sheet or pizza pan/stone, sprinkle a bit of cornmeal. With oiled hands, remove the dough from the bowl and pull/shape into a general rectangle or circle (depending on your pan), then lay it on top of your cornmeal coated pan. Using a rolling pin or your hands, flatten and stretch the dough to fill the pan.
- Bake the dough for 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven (you don’t have to, but it ensures a fully cooked center crust, no matter how many toppings you add).
- Remove prebaked crust from the oven and spread with your toppings: sauce, shredded cheese, cooked meat and chopped vegetables.
- Place topped pizza back into oven and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and toppings are browned.
- Slide the whole pizza from the pan to a cutting board and slice into pieces.
Notes
Nutrition
Here are some ways we use this homemade pizza dough:
Chicken-Pesto Greek Style Pizza
1 Hour Chicken-Spinach Calzone
Made it on a round pizza pan, too much dough and crust didn’t have much flavor.
Even tho I pre baked it it was still undercooked in the middle.
Going to try it again and use a cookie sheet, hopefully it will be a thinner crust.’
I didn’t put honey in as I cannot have it.
You definitely can make this a thin crust by dividing it and rolling it out thinner, Donna. Also feel free to add more salt or herbs if that’s better for you.
I tip for fully cooked middles is to roll it thinner in the center and make the edge crust bigger. Hope next time is the charm for you!
Thanks for the tip.
When I reheated the next day the crust was crispier, which I like.
Oh, good!
Can I use my food processor with dough blade?
Sure, that should work!
So for the flour. Is it 2 1/2 cups white Trecia total or 2 1/2 plus 1 cup wheat?
2 1/2 cups total. If you’re going to do WW, I often replace 1 cup with WW as all WW is a bit heavy for us.
This is fantastic! I did add 1/4 cup of Italian herbs, 1/4 cup of parmesean and a tbs of garlic powder to the dough. It is out of this world and is the only crust we make now 🙂
Sounds perfect! Thank you for reviewing!
Tried this today and it was a hit! We loved it! It was so easy and really good! Can’t wait to make it again!
Yay! Thanks so much for taking the time to post a review, Tami!
I just wanted to let you know that I made your pizza dough recipe tonight for supper and it was VERY good! My husband said he thought it was better than Papa Murphy’s. Since we are complying with the social distancing measures I joked that maybe I should call it “Quarantine Pizza”! 😉 I will definitely be making the recipe again, both the taste and the texture were amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe with us.
So glad you all liked this – yep, easy pizza is great for “staying in.” 🙂
What kind of yeast are you using?
I’ve use both dry instant yeast and regular active yeast for this recipe, either work.
Can I put the ingredients in my breadmaker on dough cycle?
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work!
The best ever. Just tried it today love it
Yay!
The “pigs in a blanket” dough was so easy and fast and wow does it taste delicious.
So happy I found this recipe! Thank you. It turns out perfect every time. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. I share this recipe with everyone!
Wonderful, Shannon!
So easy! I mixed in the vitamix and took two seconds!
Awesome, Pam!
My go to pizza recipe.
I use my cast iron skillets in the oven.
Crust turns out better than any restaurant!
Thanks for this recipe❤️
Awesome, Shannon – love to hear this!
Can I prebake then refrigerate and continue baking next day?
Yep! You can even freeze for longer.
How many packets of yeast. My store only carries 1/4 oz packets. Im thinking 3 but not sure.
1 packet.
I made this pizza dough last night and my family and friends LOVED it! Thanks for such a great recipe. We will definitely make Again!!
This may sound stupid….but do you add the oil into the pizza dough while mixing or is it just to rub on your hands while handling the dough? And do you oil your pizza pan? Thank-you
No stupid questions, Peggy. 🙂 Yes, you put oil in the dough – and I also put it on my hands when needed. I do not oil the pan, just sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal.
I made this tonight because I was short on time and hadn’t prepped my normal pizza dough. I was afraid it wouldn’t have time to rise because I was using active dry yeast, not rapid rise. This turned out great! I also doubled it to make 2 pizzas, we are a family of 6, and it was perfect. I thought it was very pliable and easy to roll/stretch out. I will definitely come back to this recipe!
Glad you found this great alternative to traditional crust and enjoyed it, Robin. Thanks for the review!
Can you freeze the dough and use it later? It’s my favorite recipe for pizza dough but I’m hoping to freeze some for even quicker dinners in the future.
Yes, Amanda, you can! I’ve done it a couple times with good success – both as a dough and at the pre-baked stage.
Hi
Can i used whole wheat flour instead of unbleached flour?
Thanks
Yes, I often do – the crust will be a little bit heavier, but that’s often not an issue with pizza since it’s a base for all the toppings.
I want to share the pic too. But here no option to show u. Love you.
Sorry – you can upload a picture to our Facebook page if you’d like!