Skip to main content

No Knead Pizza Dough

Pizza night just got easier with this quick no-knead pizza dough! Plus, I’m sharing all of my best tips for making pizza at home in your oven.

No Knead Pizza Dough

Friday night Pizza Night has been a regular fixture in our house for years. And while my basic pizza dough recipe was a favorite for a long time, I’ve moved on to this amazing no-knead pizza dough and I’m never going back.

No Knead Pizza Dough Video Tutorial

My recipe requires just 5 ingredients and less than 5 minutes to mix together, then it rests on the counter until you’re ready for it! This pizza dough has great flavor, a nice chewy texture, and it’s a delicious foundation for your favorite pizza topping combinations!

No Knead Pizza Dough

Why you need a Pizza Night in your home

  • Takeout is always an option, but homemade is better!
  • This pizza dough recipe is easy and foolproof. Even if baking with yeast intimidates you, I promise you can do this no problem.
  • There’s a quick learning curve when it comes to making pizza— it won’t take long before you’re a pro.
  • Homemade pizza is a lot of fun to make! We experiment a lot with different topping combinations, and no two Pizza Nights are ever the same.

Do I have you convinced? Let’s get baking!

No Knead Pizza Dough

Ingredients you’ll need

This recipe makes enough dough for two 14-inch pizzas. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

Why I bake with Red Star Yeast

While you can use active-dry yeast in this recipe, I like that instant yeast greatly reduces the rise time. Most no-knead recipes require a longer than usual rise time, but this no-knead pizza dough can be used in just an hour. Which means you can enjoy pizza night even sooner!

Not only is Red Star Quick-Rise Instant Yeast fabulous in pizza dough and other bread recipes, Red Star Yeast is dedicated to helping and educating home bakers. Be sure to check out the Baking Resource Learning Center section where you’ll find information and tips for Red Star products and every single step of the bread baking process.

How to make easy no-knead pizza dough

It seriously couldn’t be easier:

  1. Mix all ingredients. Add everything to a large bowl and mix with a spoon or dough whisk. Mixture will be a little shaggy, and that’s okay.
  2. Let rise. Cover and let dough rise for 1-3 hours. I prefer a 2-hour rise time, but since we’re using instant yeast you can get away with using it sooner, and it’s okay if you let it go longer too. This dough is very forgiving!
  3. Portion and shape. Divide dough in half and quickly shape into a ball using floured hands. This video shows the shaping method I use, if you need a little help.
  4. Roll out. Add flour to your countertop and dough as needed, then roll out to a round about 12 inches wide. If you want a thinner crust, roll it out to 14 inches. Don’t worry about making it a perfect circle. If the dough resists rolling and springs back, let it sit for 5 minutes then try again.

Now on to the fun part, adding toppings and baking!

Add your favorite pizza toppings

You can get as creative as you like! Here’s a few suggestions:

  • Sauce— Red sauce, white sauce, olive oil, and pesto are all great options. I usually keep it simple and use a store-bought sauce.
  • Cheese— You can use almost any cheese you like, but we usually stick to mozzarella. Either sliced fresh mozzarella or shredded brick mozzarella work great, but produce slightly different results. Parmesan, feta and goat cheese are great accent cheeses that can be used in addition to or instead of mozzarella.
  • Veggies— The sky is the limit when it comes to vegetable toppings. Slice veggies thin so they cook quickly, and pre-cooking items like onions and mushrooms will create more caramelized flavor.
  • Meat— Use pepperoni, ham, bacon, sausage, ground turkey/beef, etc. All raw meats should be cooked beforehand, as the pizza baking time is so short.
  • Greens— Leafy herbs and greens like arugula and basil should be added after baking. Spinach can be added before or after, per your preference.

Adding too many toppings will weigh down your crust, making it harder to transport it to the oven, and prevents it from rising and baking properly. Overcrowded toppings will produce steam, adding even more soggy moisture to the pizza. In addition to the sauce and cheese, I generally add no more than 3 toppings.

Okay, our pizzas are ready for the oven. Time to bake!

No Knead Pizza Dough

How to bake pizza in your oven

After years of perfecting homemade pizza in my kitchen oven, here’s what I recommend:

  1. Move oven rack up. Place the top pizza rack about 6 inches from the top of your oven. This way it’s closer to the heating element and your pizza will brown better.
  2. Bake at a high temperature. I bake my pizzas at 500°F. A high temperature causes the gas trapped inside the dough to expand very quickly, creating a light and fluffy crust.
  3. Preheat oven for longer. Preheating for at least 30 minutes ensures it’s super hot throughout.
  4. Use a pizza stone or pizza steel. When the pizza is baked on a hot stone or steel, the dough starts cooking immediately, similar to what happens in a traditional brick pizza oven. The pizza cooks faster, in about 8 minutes, and the light and fluffy crust is golden and crisp on the outside. Preheat your stone or steel in the oven for the entire preheat time so it’s very hot.
  5. Finish under the broiler. If you’d like even more browning, turn on the broiler for the last minute of cooking.

More pizza tips

  • After its initial rise, this no-knead pizza dough can be stored in the fridge for up to a week before using. This is a great option if you want to make your pizza dough farther ahead of time, or if you want to save one of the pizza doughs for another night. Let chilled dough come to room temperature before rolling.
  • I used a ceramic pizza stone for years and it produced great pizza. I recently switched to a pizza steel and I’m amazed by the difference. The pizza steel makes for an even better crust, but it is more expensive than a pizza stone and it’s very heavy and difficult to move around in your oven. Both are great options, and the links I’ve provided are to the products I actually own.
  • If you aren’t ready to invest in a pizza stone or steel, use an inverted sheet pan and make sure to preheat it along with the oven. It’s not quite the same, but will still make delicious pizza.
  • To easily transfer pizza from the countertop to the oven, your counter should be well-floured and toppings should be added right before baking. The longer the dough sits on a surface, the more it will stick, especially if it’s weighed down by toppings. Use a sprinkling of cornmeal in addition to flour to create a barrier between your counter and the pizza dough.
  • A pizza peel makes transferring the prepped pizza into the oven so easy. You can use a wood pizza peel, but I prefer to use a metal pizza peel as it’s thinner and more easily slides under the pizza.
  • If you don’t have a pizza peel, or if you’re nervous about pizzas sticking to the counter, assemble and bake the pizza on a sheet of parchment paper. The crust won’t be as brown or crispy, but it’s a fine starting place.
  • If your oven doesn’t heat to 500°F, use its highest setting.
  • In the summertime we usually opt to make our pizza on the grill to avoid turning on the oven. See my complete guide on How to Grill Pizza.
No Knead Pizza Dough

No Knead Pizza Dough

Pizza night just got better! This no-knead dough can be made ahead, then just shape, top and bake.
Yield 2 (12- or 14-inch) pizzas
0

Reviews

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups (270g) warm water ((120-130°F))
  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons or 7g) Red Star Quick Rise Yeast
  • 2 teaspoons (10g) salt
  • 1 tablespoon (20g) honey
  • 2 tablespoons (17g) olive oil
  • 3 1/4 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
  • Additional flour or cornmeal, for dusting
  • Pizza toppings, as desired

Instructions

  • Add water, yeast, salt, honey, olive oil and flour to a large bowl. Mix with a spoon or dough whisk to make a thick shaggy dough.
  • Cover and let rise 1-3 hours at room temperature.
  • Divide dough in half and shape each half into a ball using floured hands.
  • Add flour to countertop and dough as needed to prevent dough from sticking. Roll out to a round about 12 inches wide. If you want a thinner crust, roll it out to 14 inches. Don’t worry about making it a perfect circle. If the dough resists rolling and springs back, let it sit for 5 minutes then try again.
  • Add desired toppings, then bake in a 500°F oven for about 8 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is melted.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

After its initial rise, this no-knead pizza dough can be stored in the fridge for up to a week before using. Let chilled dough come to room temperature before rolling.
Recipe by Completely Delicious.

Did you make this recipe?

We want to see it! Tag @redstaryeast and use hashtag #redstaryeast


Annalise is a self-taught baker-turned-blogger behind the site Completely Delicious. She stumbled on her passion for baking after college, attending culinary school briefly, before taking her quest for learning into her kitchen. She has an intense sweet tooth — on her blog you’ll find recipes for layered cakes, cookies, pies and more. Additionally, she hopes to teach others what she’s learned through baking tips and tutorials. She currently calls Utah home, where she lives with her husband and two boys.

Review & Comments

Marrufo | Reply

How would this come out cooked in a cast iron pan as a pan pizza?

Red Star Yeast | Reply

Hi Marrufo,

It would work well baked on a cast iron. Follow the instructions to preheat the cast iron the same as the pizza stone.

Happy Baking!

Sally | Reply

I’m using your sourdough yeast packet, and plan to keep one of the risen dough balls for later. My question is… can I freeze the second ball, like i buy in my supermarket, or is that not possible with the sourdough type?

Red Star Yeast | Reply

Hi Sally – Yes, you may freeze the dough – ideally after rolling out to a 12-inch circle to allow dough to freeze faster (this decreases damage to dough structure and yeast). More information on freezing dough can be found here >> https://redstaryeast.com/blog/holiday-baking-guide/. You could also par-bake the pizza crust: https://redstaryeast.com/baking-with-yeast-guide/#baking. Thaw dough overnight in refrigerator before proceeding with recipe. I hope you will find this information helpful.
Happy baking!

Leave a Reply

Made the recipe? Rate it!