Same Day Pizza Dough
This Same Day Pizza Dough Recipe is for you if you’re someone who wants pizza dough that’s easy to stretch and has great flavor and texture, but it’s tonight you want it and not tomorrow. While this same day dough takes longer than one or two hours to make, you’re also someone who knows that if you only have one hour til pizza, you’re getting delivery!
So read on for all the detailed tips and tricks for making pizza dough in one day and a ton of suggestions for how to slow things down or speed it up depending on your schedule. Or just grab the flour, hit that purple Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make pizza!
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Ingredients
This same day pizza dough recipe differs from my overnight pizza dough in two important ways because it does not have the benefit of time:
- If you bake sourdough bread, you know that your bread has more flavor if you cold retard it for days. With a same day dough, I add garlic and a good amount of salt to make sure my pizza dough doesn’t taste flat.
- Overnight pizza dough lets the gluten relax, which makes for easy stretching. With a same day pizza dough, you need a flour with enough gluten to stretch without tearing despite skipping that relaxation step.
Choosing the right flour for pizza dough
I always think it’s better to make pizza with the flour you have than not make pizza at all! But the right flour can make that easier and tastier:
- High-gluten bread flour: With the most protein (~13–14.5%), this flour develops lots of structure and chew and those big, bubbly edges.
- Regular bread flour ~12–13% protein makes for a stronger gluten network and a chewy crust with crisp edges. It’s a versatile choice that balances strength and tenderness.
- 00 pizza flour: ~11–12% protein is a finely milled Italian flour traditional for Neapolitan pizza. It makes a soft, silky dough that stretches easily and bakes up with a tender, only slightly chewy crust.
- All-purpose flour: at ~10–11.7% protein is less elastic than bread flour, which can make it more prone to tearing. Once baked, an all-purpose flour pizza crust will be thin and flat. Use if it’s all you have.
- Cake flour – at 10% protein, cake flour is a low-protein flour that creates tender baked goods, but don’t use it for pizza dough or bread!
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe tips and tricks
First, combine the flours, salt, garlic, and yeast. You can throw in a bit of grated Parmesan here too if you like. Add the water and olive oil, mix and knead.
Making pizza dough in a stand mixer is quicker and a bit easier, but it’s not essential. Kneading will take about 5 to 7 minutes in a stand mixer, at least twice that if you’re kneading your pizza dough by hand. The pizza dough should be smooth and elastic, slightly tacky but not sticky.
Shape the dough into a ball and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the pizza dough rise until it has doubled in size, is nice and puffy, and a fingertip pressed into it bounces back slowly.
Divide the pizza dough into four and shape into rounds. If you have 9 by 13 inch pans, I put two balls each into two pans, seam side down, with a little bit of semolina or bread flour to prevent sticking, cover them loosely with a kitchen towel, and let them rise for a few hours.
When it’s time to make the pizza, stretch a dough ball, one at a time. Use a rolling pin as a last resort, because it will crush all your glorious air bubbles that will puff your dough.
I start by gently stretching the dough between my hands, using my knuckles. When it starts to ge thin, I place it on a lightly floured counter and use my fingertips to gently press and stretch the dough. As a final stretch, go round and round, gently pulling out the dough edge just a touch wider.
Sauce with your favorite tomato pizza sauce, basil pesto, and all of your favorite pizza toppings. Cook in a super hot home oven or an outdoor pizza oven until the dough is puffed and just starting to brown.
Pizza dough timing: speed it up or slow it down
Speed it up: Use water that’s warm to the touch, add a pinch more yeast, and place the dough somewhere slightly warm (like inside the oven with the light on). This can cut rise time nearly in half.
Slow it down: If you need to pause or slow it down because it’s super warm in your kitchen, you can halve the yeast, place it in your basement, or even refrigerate the risen dough balls. Just let them come to room temperature before stretching.
Recipe FAQs
Pizza dough will tear if the gluten hasn’t been well-developed, either because of a low protein flour or it wasn’t kneaded quite long enough. You can also tear pretty much any dough if you try hard enough, so be gentle!
Yes — after the first rise, refrigerate overnight. Shape it into balls about three hours before pizza, more or less depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
Yes. Freeze as balls after the first rise, then thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before shaping.
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Recipe
Same Day Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups (390 grams) bread flour plus more for when stretching dough
- 3 cups (390 grams) high gluten bread flour
- 1 tablespoon (16 grams) salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated or powdered garlic
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon (1 to 2 grams) instant yeast see notes
- 1¾ cups (405 grams) water, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon semolina flour to prevent sticking during rise, or use bread flour
Instructions
Same Day Pizza Dough Recipe
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or other large bowl, combine the flours, salt, garlic, and yeast.3 cups (390 grams) bread flour, 3 cups (390 grams) high gluten bread flour, ¼ to ½ teaspoon (1 to 2 grams) instant yeast, 1 tablespoon (16 grams) salt, 1 teaspoon granulated or powdered garlic
- Add the water and olive oil and mix. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook once the dough comes together.1¾ cups (405 grams) water, plus more as needed, 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky. Add small amounts of flour at a time if it is too sticky, or add a teaspoon of water if it is too dry.
- Form the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled in volume.
- Two to three hours before making pizza, divide the pizza dough into four balls. Place the individual dough balls in a metal pan or baking sheet with a little bit of semolina or bread flour to prevent sticking, cover them loosely with a kitchen towel, and let them rise.1 tablespoon semolina flour
- On a floured countertop, flatten one ball into a disc and then work your way around the dough, gently stretching it out to 12 to 14 inches. If it becomes difficult to work, with the dough snapping back, let it rest for a few minutes before trying again.
Notes
To use frozen pizza dough balls, put them in the refrigerator overnight to defrost. Then remove them from the refrigerator about 4 to 6 hours before making pizza.
Nutrition
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