Thin Crust Pizza Dough With Video

What’s better than an artisan style Italian pizza? As you may know, we’re a bit pizza obsessed around here. Alex and I have spent years researching the best way to make artisan pizza at home, including several trips to Italy. We’ve created our best pizza dough recipe, our seriously good easy pizza sauce, and our very best Margherita pizza. But over the 10 years of research, we haven’t made a true thin crust pizza recipe…until now. We’re thrilled to unveil this easy pizza dough recipe!

Watch how to make thin crust pizza! (1:30 min)

Dough can be tricky. It’s easiest to learn how to make and stretch dough by watching. Though we can’t come to your kitchen, we can virtually! Here’s a step by step video of Alex making the dough, from kneading to shaping. It’s so helpful, and takes only 1 ½ minutes to watch. We highly recommend watching this before you start!

What makes this easy pizza dough?

Let’s be honest: making homemade pizza dough takes a little effort. What makes this thin crust pizza dough recipe easy? In a sentence: You don’t need to stretch the dough. Stretching pizza dough isn’t hard, but does take a little practice! You can tear the dough, or it can become uneven. This thin crust dough recipe requires no stretching at all. Just roll it out with a rolling pin!

A side benefit: it’s healthier!

Here’s a side benefit of this easy dough. Thin crust pizza is a tiny bit healthier than the standard pie. Why is it healthier? Well, there’s less dough and therefore less calories overall! One piece of thin crust has less calories than a piece of “standard” pizza. So if you’re watching your waistline, thin crust is a good way to go.

Thin crust pizza dough ingredients

This thin crust pizza dough recipe requires very few ingredients, so it’s important that you use exactly what we’ve listed in the recipe card below. Here’s a breakdown:

Tipo 00 or all purpose flour: Tipo 00 flour is a type of Italian flour that makes for fluffy, supple dough. These days most grocery stores sell it, or you can find it online. All-purpose works just as well if you can’t find it.Yeast: Use instant or active dry yeast (both are different from bread machine yeast).Kosher salt: Use kosher salt, not table salt! If all you have is table salt, use ¾ teaspoon since it is saltier than kosher salt.Water & olive oil: These round out the ingredients to get just the right texture.Semolina flour or cornmeal: You’ll use cornmeal or semolina flour to dust the pizza stone before baking — any type will work!

How to make thin crust pizza

Making thin crust pizza dough is a fairly easy process: the only “hard” part about it is the timing. Here are some things to consider about how to make pizza dough:

Hand knead the dough, or use a stand mixer. You can use your hands for this easy thin crust pizza dough recipe! You don’t need any special equipment at all. A KitchenAid or stand mixer works well too and makes it totally hands off. The kneading time in both cases is 8 minutes. It takes 45 minutes to rise before baking! While it’s easy, thin crust pizza dough is not necessarily quick. Most of the time required for making the dough is letting it rise. Start making your pizza dough about 1 hour before you’d like to eat your pizza to account for the rise time. For best results, cook on a pizza stone and pizza peel. The two pizza making tools you need: a pizza stone to cook the dough at very high heat, and a pizza peel to remove the dough from the stone (we recommend this Aluminum Peel or Super Peel).

For even better flavor, make it in advance!

Want the very best flavor in a thin crust pizza? Refrigerate the pizza dough 2 to 3 days prior to baking. This step is totally optional! But for the very best dough, make it in advance and store the dough in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. This makes it naturally ferment and brings a nutty, complex flavor. It’s not required, but it makes for a great flavor!

Best thin crust pizzas recipes!

The best part of making thin crust pizza dough? Topping it! Here are a few of our very favorite pizza topping ideas to eat with this dough (or browse our favorite pizza recipes):

Best Margherita Pizza The classic! It features basil, mozzarella, and bold tomato pizza sauce. Everything Basil Pizza An epic pizza all about BASIL, with pesto and loads of fresh basil!Cheese Pizza Like your favorite delivery cheese pizza, but infinitely tastier.Best Homemade Pizza or Italian Pizza The best way to make pizza at homeBest Healthy Pizza Loaded with veggies and sprinkled with Parmesan, with a tangy bold red sauce and a thin crust. Taco Pizza Topped with refried beans, cheese, romaine, tortilla chips, and of course — ranch. In a word: WOW.Vegan Pizza The veggie pizza toppings are so full of flavor no one notices it’s cheeseless.