The Secret to the Best Pizza Ever

Homemade pizza dough, the secret to the best pizza ever.

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I don’t like to brag but I make some pretty delicious pizza. I know, I know. I said the same thing about my chocolate chip cookies, but the pizza is pretty BA if I do say so myself. Pizza is, after all, the perfect food. It’s portable, cheesy, and it is the perfect bite! I know it’s very easy to order a pizza these days, but I think everyone should give homemade pizza a try! And the secret to great pizza is all in the dough.

I have 2 basic tips when it comes to making pizza. One, it all starts with the dough. It’s part art and part science when it comes to pizza dough. And don’t be surprised if you have to try a couple of times for it to be perfect. Don’t get me wrong, if you make this dough it will turn out great! But if you want it to be perfect, you may need a couple of cracks at it. Tip number two is invest in a pizza stone. It is a game changer people. Trust me.

The first step in making pizza dough is the yeast mixture. Mix yeast into warm water (around 105-110 degrees). Add some sugar to give the yeast something to eat. Honey works as well. I prefer sugar but to each his own. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until nice and bubbly.

Once the yeast has proofed, add flour, salt, and olive oil and mix until the sides of the bowl are clean. Put the dough into a greased bowl and let rise for as little as 1 hour, up to 4 hours.

Before!

After!!

Now you are ready to build your pizza!

Slather on some sauce, toppings, and cheese. A majority of the time we have plain cheese pizza so that is what I made for this blog post. But we have also used sausage, pepperoni, bacon, and chicken as toppings. It’s glorious either way!

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with your pizza stone inside. Bake for 3-5 minutes. Remove the parchment paper from under the pizza and finish backing for an additional 1-3 minutes. Once the cheese is golden and bubbly, remove the pizza and the stone and let the pizza rest for 5 minutes. I know it’s hard to resist, but you can!

Look at those bubbles!! Is it just me or do pizza bubbles make you outrageously happy?! Pizza in general makes me flipping happy. I could seriously have it every day. And this pizza dough recipe is so easy that it makes it possible for me to make pizza quickly any night of the week. I hope you give it a try!

My go-to Pizza Dough inspired by Lauren’s Latest

Makes 2 pizzas!

Ingredients

1 c warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups bread flour (give or take 1/2 cup based on kitchen conditions)
1/2 c Pizza Sauce
1.5 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Pour one cup of warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add yeast and sugar, stir, and let sit (proof) for 5-10 minutes or until mixture bubbles and foams.
2. Add in 2 cups of flour and mix until incorporated then add salt as dough is mixing.
3. Turn off mixer. Depending on the consistency of your dough, add more flour, up to a cup. You want the dough to be slightly tacky but not completely sticky.
4. Turn mixer back on and add olive oil.
5. Stir mixture on low for 6 minutes. 6 minutes is the magic number!
6. Once the dough is smooth and the sides of the bowl are clean, turn off the mixer.
7. Grease a large mixing bowl with Crisco or butter. Place rounded loaf into the bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm, dry place for 1-2 hours.
8. Place pizza stone in oven and turn oven to 500 degrees.
9. Divide risen dough into 2 equal size pizzas.
10. Using your hands, stretch out dough into a 10-12 inch circle on a piece of parchment paper.
11. Once the pizza is the size you would like, spread 1/4 c of pizza sauce onto the dough.
12. Add shredded cheese.
13. Bake for 5 minutes. Then remove the parchment paper and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly.
14. Take the pizza and stone out of the oven and let the pizza sit on the stone for an additional 5 minutes.
15. Slice and serve!

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