Easy No-Knead Pizza Dough
This hands-off, no-knead pizza dough is the only one you ever need. Just mix together, let rest for 6-24 hours, then make pizza.
Servings: 8 slices
Calories: 230kcal
Equipment
- 12-inch pizza pan
Ingredients
No-Knead Pizza Dough
- 187 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 ½ cups; see notes for whole wheat flour)
- ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (for a 6-hour rise; see notes for quantities for other rising times)
- ⅜ teaspoon table salt
- 141 milliliters water (5 ounces; ½ cup + 2 tablespoons)
Pizza Toppings
- ½ cup pizza sauce (5 ounces) (a heaping ½ cup)
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese (8 ounces; shredded)
- 3 ounces pepperoni (or other toppings as desired)
Instructions
No-Knead Pizza Dough
- Mix together the flour, yeast, salt, and water until a rough ball forms. Add a tiny bit of extra water if the flour doesn't all mix in.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise on the counter for 5-6 hours, until dough has about doubled in size.
Shape and Pre-Bake
- Preheat oven to 500F. (475F is okay if your oven has issues.)
- Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Roll the ball of dough loosely in flour, then roll out until it's about the size of your pizza pan.
- Grease your pizza pan if food tends to stick to it; this is more common on roughened up pizza pans. Use the rolling pin to transfer the dough to the pan. Tuck, but don't stretch, the dough into the corners.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. The crust may shrink a bit; this is ok. Use a fork to gently deflate any bubbles.
Top the Pizza
- Top the pizza with the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni or other toppings.
- Bake the pizza for around 12 minutes, until the cheese is molten in the center.
- Cool 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Bread flour also works, and may make for a chewier crust.
I usually use 120 grams all-purpose flour, and 67 grams whole wheat flour, for a 2:1 all-purpose-to-whole-wheat ratio.
This recipe assumes around 6 hours of rising time, give or take an hour. You can use ½ teaspoon yeast for a "short" 3 hour rise; ⅛ teaspoon yeast for a 10-12 hour rise; or 1/16 teaspoon yeast for an overnight/20 hour rise. Although the 3 hour rise bakes well, it will not taste as good as any other amount of rising time.
This dough should be wet, so add extra water if the dough is dry or doesn't come together. This is common in the winter.
You can pat the dough into place on the pizza pan, instead of rolling the dough out. If you pat the dough, definitely oil the pan.
You don't need to form a large handle for this pizza, as it will carry the risk of becoming too hard if you need to bake your pizza longer.
Do not overload your pizza with sauce. Otherwise, use the quantity of toppings you prefer.
You can bake at 475F if your oven doesn't heat well or smokes at high temperatures. At 475F, I prefer to put my pizza on the lower rack. Don't do this if using parchment paper or if food burns on your lower rack.
Calorie count calculated in MyNetDiary and assumes you've used the quantity of ingredients above to make a 12-inch pepperoni pizza. It is an estimate only.
Calorie count of the pizza dough alone, without sauce and toppings, would be 87 calories per slice, or 681 calories for the dough for the entire pizza. This is the amount of calories in the flour; calories in yeast are negligible.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Lazy Pizza Dough
Originally posted July 2014. Completely rewritten and overhauled, with new instructions and photos, in March 2025.
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcal
