Easy pizza dough (no-knead or short rise method)

This homemade easy pizza dough has a thin crust and an airy rim – just like in Italy! The recipe makes 1 pound of pizza dough, is vegan, and only needs 4 ingredients.

It yields either 1 sheet pan pizza or 2 individual ones. You can make the dough without kneading overnight, or right away in about 1 hour with a bit of kneading. No special equipment needed!

Taste and texture

Letting the pizza dough rise (= ferment) for longer times often adds deeper flavors and makes the dough nicely workable. But this dough works surprisingly well even with a short rise of 1 or 2 hours. It has high water content, which can be a bit annoying when kneading by hand but this will make an airy crust!

The pizza dough is flavorful and is suitable to accommodate quite some toppings; think mushrooms, cheese, artichokes and tomatoes. If topped with a moderate amount of tomato sauce, the bottom will stay crispy and you will be able to eat this pizza on the sofa in front of the TV one-handed, a must at my place! I love to use this crust for the burst cherry tomato pizza, mushroom cheese pizza, or spinach and artichoke pizza.

How to make 1 pound pizza dough

A lot of recipes, including mine, call for 1 pound of pizza dough. This is the perfect amount to make 2 main servings. You will only need 4 ingredients, namely flour, water, salt, and yeast. Simply use the amounts given in the recipe card below to make roughly 1 pound of pizza dough. It’s super easy.

Vegan pizza dough

Every pizza dough is naturally vegan. Since the dough only contains flour, water, salt, and yeast (sometimes olive oil) this pizza dough is appropriate for a vegan diet.

Pizza dough without olive oil

This dough does not contain any oil. I have made hundreds of homemade pizzas, with and without using olive oil in the dough. The difference, at least in my opinion, is barely noticeable, if at all. Of course feel free to add a tablespoon of olive oil – in that case simply use 1 tablespoon less water or add a bit more flour.

No-knead dough or short-rise dough

You have 2 options: Either you let the pizza dough rise for about 10 hours without kneading, or you will have to knead it for about 10 minutes to use it right away after a 1-hour rise. In both cases, the goal is to develop gluten in the dough, which will make the dough workable and easy to stretch.

No-knead: Instead of kneading, a no-knead bread relies on time to develop gluten, strength, and flavor in the dough. So if you want to skip the kneading, simply mix the ingredients in a bowl, cover the bowl and let it rise between 8 and 15 hours at room temperature. I usually do this overnight and bake the pizza for lunch the next day.

Due to the long fermentation, you only need a tiny amount of yeast ( ⅛ teaspoon) or the dough will become overproofed. If you forgot to reduce the amount of yeast but intended to do an overnight-rise anyway, just put the dough in the fridge right after the mixing and let rise there. This will get you the same result as the cool environment retards the fermentation.

Instead of overnight you can of course make the dough in the morning and bake the pizza in the evening. Perfect for Friday night pizza. When the dough has doubled or even tripled its volume and is dotted with bubbles it is ready to use.

Short rise: If you knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes after combining the ingredients, you can let it rise, covered, for about 1 hour to double in volume and use it right after.

Use stand mixer or hands

How to knead pizza dough for the best result? You don’t! If you let it rise overnight, you do not need to knead it at all since the gluten will slowly develop overnight.

If you don’t have the time for an overnight rise, you can either use a stand mixer with attached dough hook or knead the dough by hand. The result is the same. Since the dough has a relatively high water content, it will be a bit sticky to knead it by hand, but gets better after about 5 minutes.

How to handle sticky dough

If the dough is too sticky to knead it by hand and keeps aggressively sticking to your hand, simply let it sit for 10 minutes covered. This is called ‘Autolyse’. The flour particles absorb some of the water during this time, which makes the dough less sticky.

If the dough is still super sticky after the short rest, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough is still moist and a tad sticky, but doesn’t stick to your hands anymore. Only add as much flour as necessary since the crust and the rim will get less airy the more flour you add.

Shape, top, bake

After the long or short rise, transfer the dough to a generously floured working surface, tuck the edges of the dough up to form 1 ball for a 13x18 baking sheet or 2 smaller balls for individual pizzas. Flip so the seam side is down and let dough relax for 5 minutes.

Then, stretch the dough into 1 rectangle or 2 circles, leaving the rim thicker. If the dough resists or shrinks back while stretching, let it rest again for a few minutes.

Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet or use 2 sheets for individual pizzas if they don't fit on one sheet. Add desired sauce and toppings and bake in the preheated oven at 425°F / 220°C for 15 minutes. If you bake 2 individual pizzas at once, rotate sheets halfway through.

Sheet pan pizza dough

Using 1 pound of dough will make a 13x18 inch sheet (also called half-sheet or cookie sheet), which will make 2 mains, or enough for 4 people to snack to a drink.

If the pizza is supposed to serve as an appetizer, I simply slice it into 16 small squares so that everybody can nibble while chatting, watching TV, or playing games.

Pizza dough for individual pizza

Instead of making one sheet pizza, you can divide the dough and make 2 individual round pizzas, about 8-inch (20 cm) each.

Double the recipe

I often double the recipe and make 2 sheets of pizza. It is so convenient to have some leftover pizza to bring to work the next day for lunch! Sometimes I double the recipe but keep one half of the dough in the fridge. It keeps well for at least 2 days in a lightly oil-coated container. Use it to make another pizza or for some delicious flatbreads.

1 dough, many recipes

You can use this recipe not only to make pizza but other dishes too! Use the dough to make Italian Focaccia, make some flatbreads in a skillet that are a perfect side for Indian food like dal, or double the recipe to make a wonderful loaf of crusty no-knead bread in a Dutch oven. See, that’s why I suggest to make a double batch.

Recipes to make with this pizza dough

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Easy pizza dough (no-knead or short rise method)

This 4-ingredient, easy pizza dough (1 pound) has a thin crust and an airy rim – just like in Italy! Overnight or short rise method: Make the dough without kneading overnight, or right away with a short 1-hour-rise and a bit of kneading. The pizza dough is vegan and yields either 1 large sheet pan pizza or 2 individual ones. No special equipment needed! For make ahead instructions up to 2 days in advance see notes below.

Author: carbgirl.com

Total Time1 hour hr

Yield: 2 individual pizzas (8 inch/20cm) or one 13x18-inch sheet

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (180 ml) water
• ⅛ teaspoon instant yeast or active dry yeast (use 1 teaspoon or 3.5g for short rise)
• ¾ teaspoon (4 g) fine salt
• 2 cups (250 g) bread-flour or all-purpose flour (both work fine!)

Instructions

Long rise (8-15 hours or overnight):

• In a large bowl, add water, yeast, and salt. Stir until salt has dissolved, about 15 seconds. Add flour and stir with a cooking spoon until combined, about 1 minute.
• Cover as air-tight as possible using a mixing bowl with a fitting lid or a bowl covered with a damp towel and a plate/cutting board on top. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 8-15 hours, until the dough has doubled or tripled in volume and appears bubbly and puffy.

Short rise (1 hour):

• In a large bowl, add water, yeast, and salt. Stir until salt has dissolved, about 15 seconds. Add flour and stir with a cooking spoon until combined, about 1 minute. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes by hand or using a stand mixer with dough hook.
• Cover with a lid or damp towel and let the dough rest on the counter until the dough has doubled in volume, about 1 hour. At cool room temperature it can take a little longer, at warm temperature (in the oven with light on, in summer etc.) it will take shorter.

Both versions:

• Transfer dough to a generously floured working surface, tuck the edges of the dough up to form 1 ball for a 13x18 baking sheet or 2 smaller balls for individual pizzas with 8-inch/20 cm. Flip so the seam side is down and let dough relax for 5 minutes.
• Stretch the dough into 1 rectangle or 2 circles, leaving the rim thicker. If the dough resists or shrinks back while stretching, let it rest again for a few minutes.
• Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet or use 2 sheets for individual pizzas if they don’t fit on one sheet. Add desired sauce and toppings and bake in the preheated oven at 450°F / 230°C (or to 425 °F / 220 °C if using a fan-oven) for 15 minutes. If you bake 2 individual pizzas at once, rotate sheets halfway through.

Notes

Make ahead:

If you have made the recipe for short rise dough (higher yeast amount) but want to bake the pizza 10 hours or up to 2 days later, tightly cover the bowl after mixing the dough and let it rise in the refrigerator.

If you schedule doesn’t allow you to bake the bread after the long rise overnight (small yeast amount), you can put the bowl, tightly covered, in the fridge for up to 2 days.