Easy Pizza Dough

Let me start by asking you a question – what does Saturday night mean to you?
For some people it is a chance to let their hair down after a long week at work, perhaps having a drink with friends or going out dancing. For me its an evening to chill out and veg out in front of the TV. Perhaps not the most exciting Saturday night in the world but from a young age I’ve associated Saturday nights with good home cooked food and something interesting to watch on the TV, all snuggled up on the sofa.
Saturday nights were one of the few times my Dad was in the kitchen when I was growing up. Although he’s the better cook out of my two parents (sorry Mum!) it was down to Mum to put dinners on the table mid-week.
Come Saturday night my Dad would be a flurry of activity in the kitchen, either cooking up sizzling fajitas, a bold spicy curry or making pizzas from scratch.
On pizza nights, I remember him calling my sister and I to the dinning room table – there wasn’t a lot of room in the kitchen. All of the ingredients would already be laid out and we’d get our hands stuck into the mix of flour, yeast and olive oil giving it a really good knead.
For me the dough wasn’t the fun part, but instead loading the fresh pizza base with toppings! I always got carried away and mine would take by far the longest to cook.
Now, aged 24, I still love staying in on a Saturday night cooking with Jon and pizza or calzone is a firm favourite.
This easy pizza dough recipe has been used by us hundreds of times. And, as it makes enough for 4 medium pizzas we often have a couple of balls of dough tucked away in the freezer. (That’s right, this dough not only keeps for up to a week in the fridge but you can freeze it too!)

Page Contents
Easy Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 500 grams white bread flour
- 15 grams fast action dried yeast made up to the packets instructions
- 75 millilitres olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 millilitres water this does not include water required to activate your yeast
Instructions
- In a small bowl, activate the yeast according to the packets instructions.
- In a separate large bowl mix the flour and salt.
- Next add in the olive oil and yeast. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until a ball forms.
- Tip out on to a very lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and bounces back when gently poked.
- Leave to prove for 1.5 hours or until at least doubled in sizesizesizesizesizesizesizesize.
- Cut the dough into four portions and roll out until half a centimetre thick.
- Smother the dough with sauce and toppings then bake in the centre of your oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and your toppings have cooked.
Nutrition
nce you’ve mastered the dough, all you have to do next is master your toppings. My only advice would be to avoid using more than 4 flavours and not to overload the pizza, otherwise the toppings will take longer to cook. A high heat is also essential so whack your oven up as high as it goes!
For now I’m just sharing the dough recipe – it’s up to you what you do with the top! But watch this space as over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing my first forray into making my own mozzarella which you can see on top of the pizza here!
Did you cook with your parents when you were younger? Is there anything you remember vividly cooking with them like I do?
Perhaps you cook with your children now? I’d love to hear in the comments.
I'm really pleased that as a student you still find time to make your own pizza, and not just order the takeaway! It looks yummy 🙂
Lol although dominoes is tempting its probably qicker just to mix up some of your own dough 😛 (and definitely cheaper!) and im a big fan of getting messy in the kitchen haha! 🙂
Oh wow it doesn't need any rising time? I am definitely trying this recipe next time!
I just made this 🙂 it was lovely! Made double the mix and me and my brother had a pizza each.I put tomato pasata on and cheese 🙂 beautiful! 🙂
I'm glad you enjoyed it AmyLou!Emma
Your pizza looks delicious! I use Jamie's 30 mins recipe too, it's so much easier than doing it properly and it's still yummy. xx
nice pics and a wonderful info in your blog.
Beautiful looking pizza – really scrummyI've always loved making homemade pizza!
Reblogged this on Welcome to Supper in the Suburbs and commented:
I’ve updated my Easy Pizza Dough recipe to make it even clearer and simple. Never buy store bought pizza again!
Nothing beats home made pizza – one of our family favourites!
Hi Elizabeth 😀 thanks for dropping by!
Homemade pizza is awesome isn’t it?! I dream of having a proper wood fired pizza oven one day. That would be heaven.