brianlagerstrom.com
The Easiest Actually Good Pizza Dough - No Mixer
Sometimes you just want a quick, easy, nostalgic pizza and I have designed a pizza recipe that checks all of those boxes. This pizza dough recipe is perfect for those in a hurry and it tastes great. it reminds me of those frozen, rising crust pizzas.
Prep
2h
Cook
15 min
Total
2h 15m
Serves
4
Instructions
- 01
Mix warm water with olive oil, yeast, salt, and sugar then use a sturdy spoon to gradually add 680g (about 5 1/3 cups) of all-purpose flour to the bowl and combine until flour has hydrated and has formed into a clump of dough.
- 02
At this point, switch to mixing using your soaking wet hand. Grab and squeeze the dough repeatedly until ingredients are fully incorporated and dough is homogenous.
- 03
Cover the bowl with a lid and let the dough ferment on the counter for 30 minutes.
- 04
Wet your hand to prevent sticking, and perform a series of strength-building folds. To do this, grab a corner of the dough, stretch it out gently, and fold it back over itself. Repeat this process 4-5 times around different parts of the dough.
- 05
After folding, flip the dough so the seams are underneath. Shape the dough into a tight ball by rounding it up from one side to the other while tucking under to create tension. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 60 minutes.
- 06
After the total fermentation time of 90 minutes, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- 07
Divide into four equal pieces, each weighing about 280g.
- 08
Shape by folding the sides inwards and turn 90 degrees to repeat, then flip over and roll into a ball to strengthen further.
- 09
Spray a baking tray with olive oil and place the pre-shaped dough balls on it. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes to relax before pressing the dough out into a pizza and topping.
- 10
To make the pizza in a cast iron pan instead, press a dough ball into an oiled cast iron skillet until it's about 8 inches in diameter. Let it rest covered for 10 minutes, then finish pressing out into the pan.
- 11
Dress the dough with sauce and your preferred toppings.
- 12
Bake in a preheated oven at 550°F (285°C) for 10-12 minutes for the pan pizza or 9-10 minutes for a hand-tossed version on a pizza stone or steel.
- 13
Allow pizza to cool on a wire rack afterwards for 5 minutes.
- 14
Into a high sided container add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar, basil, oregano, chili flake, garlic powder, and onion powder. Spin with immersion blender to break down to smooth, but still has texture.
Variations & swaps
Key Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- These are some of the ingredients I want to specifically call out in this recipe. The full list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- All-Purpose FlourI’m using Bob’s Red Mill unbleached AP here and I recommend you do the same. As of the time of posting this recipe, it’s one of the only widely available flours that delivers predictable, consistent results for home bakers. You don’t need bread flour for this recipe. In a 90-minute dough, the extra protein of bread flour doesn’t buy you enough strength to justify the trip to th…
- Instant YeastInstant yeast is non-negotiable for this recipe. It goes straight into the dry ingredients without blooming and it’s the mechanism that gets this dough from mix to oven in 90 minutes. Active dry will work in a pinch but you should bloom it in the warm water first and expect a slightly slower rise.
- Warm Water (86°F / 30°C)Warm, not hot. You want the water warm enough to wake the yeast up fast but nowhere near hot enough to kill it. If it feels like comfortable bath water on your wrist, you’re in the zone. Cold tap water will still work, it’ll just push the ferment out toward two hours.
- Sugar20g of sugar does two things: it gives the yeast a quick food source to get rolling, and it helps the crust brown deeper in a 550°F oven. This is not a sweet dough — you won’t taste it in the finished crust.
- Olive Oil20g of extra virgin olive oil in the dough adds a little fat for tenderness and flavor. It also makes the dough more extensible when you go to stretch it. Use real extra virgin for this.
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