Quick and Easy Pizza Dough (Thick or Thin Crust)

There's no need to wait for pizza night with this quick and easy pizza dough that is ready in less than an hour. One recipe lets you make a thick and chewy crust or a thin and crispy crust. It's up to you!

A Little History of Pizza

We like to think that pizza and Italian cuisine go together like German cuisine and sausages, but the real story is that Pizza is a relatively newcomer to the Italian menu.

Sure, people have been eating toppings on bread since ancient times. But, it more closely resembled focaccia bread with toppings.

Pizza as we know it today, was invented in the coastal town of Naples, Italy in the early 1800s. This was a town of hard working people who needed quick food, and pizza became their answer.

Wouldn't you like to be the guy who decided to put tomato sauce on focaccia bread before adding the toppings?

Pizza Comes to America

When Neapolitans imigrated to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they brought  their trusty food for a hard day's work with them.

And pizza began to spread across New York and to other cities like Chicago and St. Louis.

The first known pizzeria in the US opened in the early 1900s in Manhattan. (It was a place called Lombardi's, which is still open today!)

Making Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza dough starts with a basic bread dough. We like to add a little olive oil to our dough to give added flavor and to make the dough nice and supple to work with.

Traditional pizza dough recipes will have you rise the dough a couple of times in order to develop dough flavor and texture. While this does create a tasty dough, it's not the best when you're craving pizza NOW!

That's why our pizza dough only goes through one, short rise time if you want a thick crust pizza and NO rise time if you want a thin and crispy crust pizza.

Our Quick and Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

What we really love about this pizza dough recipe is that one recipe is so versatile.

With this one recipe, you can make a thick and chewy crust pizza in 1 hour, OR you can make a thin and crispy crust pizza in only ½ hour.

You can also substitute ½ of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour if you want to give your crust a little extra heft, fiber, and flavor.

Finally, we LOVE adding a little garlic and basil to our pizza crust recipe. It might not be traditional, but we're crust lovers, and the flavor that a few extra spices gives the pizza is phenomenal.

Feel free to omit the garlic and basil if you want a very traditional crust. Or, experiment with some other herbs and spices. Granulated onion, oregano, rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes will all change this crust in a unique way.

That way, you can tailor your crust to your pizza!

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5 from 4 votes

Quick and Easy Pizza Dough (Thick Crust or Thin Crust)

This basic recipe can be put together two ways, giving you a thick crust pizza in 1 hour or a thin crust pizza in ½ hour. It will yield 1-12" thick crust pizza or 1-14" thin crust pizza.

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 1 pizza

Author: Sarah | Curious Cuisiniere

Ingredients

• 1 c warm water, 105°F
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (1 pkg)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 c unbleached all purpose flour, divided*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic (optional)
• 1 teaspoon basil (optional)

Instructions

For A Thick Crust

• Mix the sugar and warm water, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the yeast and set the mixture aside to rest for 5 minutes, until foamy.
• Slowly mix in the oil, 2 ½ c of flour, salt, and spices (if using).
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few turns, adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until a soft and supple dough forms.
• Roll the dough out to a 12 inch circle, leaving a thicker rim around the edge, and place it onto a greased pizza pan.
• Brush the dough with a little olive oil and prick it, lightly, all over with a fork. Set it aside to rise in a warm, draft free place for 30 minutes.
• While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 375F.
• Once the dough has risen, par- bake it in the preheated oven for 5-7 min, just until puffy.
• Remove the crust from oven. Top you pizza as desired. Then, return the pizza to oven to finish baking for 15-20 min.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

For A Thin And Crispy Crust

• Preheat your oven to 375F.
• Combine the yeast, sugar, 2 ½ c of flour, salt, and spices (if using) in a bowl.
• Mix in the oil and warm water slowly until the dough comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few turns, adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until a soft and supple dough forms.
• Roll the dough out to a 14-15 inch circle, and place it onto a greased pizza pan. Brush the dough with a little olive oil and prick it, lightly, all over with a fork. 
• (This dough doesn’t need to rise.) Place the dough immediately into the preheated oven to par-bake for 7-10 min, until lightly golden.
• Remove the crust from oven. Top you pizza as desired. Then, return the pizza to oven to finish baking for 15-20 min.
• Remove the pizza from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

*You can use ½ and ½ white and whole wheat if you want some extra flavor

Making the dough ahead of time:
This dough may be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 10 days after making.
Or, it can be frozen for up to 3 months. Let the dough come to room temperature before rolling out to make your pizza. (For refrigerated dough this takes about 30 minutes on the counter. Frozen dough should be placed in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours, before warming on the counter for 30 min.)

Sarah - Curious Cuisiniere

Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.

www.curiouscuisiniere.com/about/