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A thin and crispy instant pizza dough recipe that has no yeast and requires zero rising time – oh yes that’s right. Make this super easy pizza dough in around 5 minutes for perfect pizzas in a hurry.
I think I’ve said this before…yep definitely.
I could honestly eat pizza every day and be extremely happy!
I mean what kind of strange people are there in the world that don’t like pizza? I find myself craving pizza all the time, and quite rightly so I live in Italy, it’s allowed.
BUT what do you do when you’d really love pizza for dinner but you can’t wait 3-5 hours for the dough to rise?
You make instant pizza dough!
This instant pizza dough has saved the day so many times it has no yeast and requires no rising time at all so it’s perfect for last-minute pizza fixes or for a quick weeknight dinner.
Note: This dough makes thin and crispy pizzas if you’d like a thick crust pizza dough then check out our tips below or follow our traditional dough or Sicilian pizza recipes.
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Pin ItInstant pizza dough Vs traditional pizza dough
Ok so let’s talk about the differences between this instant pizza dough and regular traditional dough.
Because this pizza dough has no yeast or no rising time it’s not as light and airy as leavened pizza dough is (don’t think this means it’s a dense dough because it’s absolutely not it’s light and crispy).
We don’t have time for the dough to rise, we need pizza now and we need pizza fast, right? I think that’s a pretty good compromise.
It may not be as light and airy as the regular stuff but there is absolutely no compromise in flavour with this dough. I use this recipe to make pizzas all the time and I never feel like I’m missing out on something.
It makes incredible thin and crispy pizzas every time and I’m always fully satisfied afterwards unless you put pineapple on it, ok now it’s ruined.
Top Tip: If you love making homemade pizzas or hosting a pizza party for friends and family then be sure to check out our simple guides to the best flours to use and the best tools for making all kinds of delicious pizza at home!
How to make pizza dough without yeast – step by step
There are only four simple ingredients needed to make this yeast free pizza dough, flour, warm water, olive oil and salt.
Top Tip: you can use Italian tipo 00 flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour to make this pizza dough. Make sure to check out our quick guide on the best flour to use for all kinds of homemade pizzas
Make the dough – Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a small well in the middle. Add the warm water and mix together with a spoon. Once the dough starts to come together add the olive oil (photos 1-4).
Knead it – Knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface to form a ball, don’t over knead it doesn’t take long at all only a minute or two and it’s done (photos 5-7).
Roll the dough out – Cut the dough in half to make two large pizza for sharing or in four to make individual pizza and roll out very thin (around 3mm) on a work surface lightly dusted with flour (photo 8).
Preheat the oven – Bring your pre-heated baking or pizza trays out of the oven and lightly dust with flour or semolina and carefully place the pizza base on top (photo 9).
Assemble and bake – Add your desired topping and bake for around 10 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.
Top tips and recipe FAQs
- Using cups – when measuring out the flour with cups make sure to spoon it into the cups and not pack it too tightly.
- Kneading the dough – don’t over knead the dough, do it just long enough to shape it into a smooth ball.
- Prepare your baking tray – make sure to lightly dust your baking tray with semolina or flour before adding the pizza dough. This stops the pizza from sticking, makes it easy to remove and helps with a crisp base.
- Less is more – Don’t over-fill your pizza with toppings and sauce or it’ll be too heavy for the thin and crispy base and might not cook through.
- The best pizza sauce to use – try out our Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce for a great pizza sauce.
- Step by step recipe – don’t forget to check out our helpful step by step video and photos showing how to make this recipe.
There is no baking powder in this recipe because it tends to dry the dough out however if you’d like to make a thicker crust instead of thin and crispy I suggest adding around 1/2-1tsp to lighten the dough.
Make sure to pre-heat your oven and the pizza trays to the highest temperature, when you add the pizza dough it will start to cook the base immediately. If you are going heavy with the toppings or are using toppings with a lot of moisture I suggest baking the pizza crust without toppings for 5-10 minutes then add your toppings and bake until golden.
Yeast free dough doesn’t brown very well but that doesn’t mean it isn’t cooked or crispy. To achieve a golden brown crust try adding in 1/2 tsp of sugar to the dough and brush the raw crust with olive oil to give it some added colour.
I find that shredded mozzarella works best as fresh balls of mozzarella have a lot of moisture and excess water which can take much longer to melt.
Absolutely, just like traditional pizza dough this yeast free dough freezes beautifully. Make sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminium foil or put it in a sealed container, thaw completely before using.
More pizza recipes and topping ideas
- Anchovy pizza (pizza Napoli)
- Quattro Stagioni (four seasons pizza)
- Cheesy Basil Pesto Pizza
- Spring Vegetable Pizza
- Pizza with Sausage and Red Pepper Sauce
- Quattro Formaggi Pizza (Four Cheese)
If you’ve tried this No Yeast Pizza Dough Recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW US on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST or sign up to our NEWSLETTER to see more of our delicious food
Looking for more popular Italian recipes? Check out our incredible Eggplant Parmigiana (eggplant parmesan), Classic Beef Ragu or Mushroom Ravioli.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Instant Pizza Dough – No Rise No Yeast
Ingredients
- 3 cups 00 flour or all purpose flour , (400g) plus extra for dusting
- 1 cup warm water, (240ml)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, (20ml)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to the highest setting or at least 450F/230C and place clean baking trays/sheets inside.
- Add the flour to a bowl. Make a small well in the middle and add the salt and warm water.
- Mix together with a spoon for a few seconds, when the dough starts to come together add the olive oil.
- Using your hands bring the dough together then tip it on to a lightly floured work surface. Knead for a few seconds to form a ball, the dough should be soft and smooth.
- Divide the dough into two balls, roll out into large pizza bases until around 1/4 inch (1/2cm) thick.
- Carefully transfer the pizza bases to the trays and top with sauce and desired toppings. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden, bubbling and melted and the base is crispy.
Notes
- *When measuring out the flour with cups make sure to spoon it into the cups and not pack it too tightly.
- Don’t over knead the dough, do it just long enough to shape it into a smooth ball.
- Pre-heat your baking tray/sheets in the oven while making the dough so they are hot when placing the pizza on top.
- Make sure to lightly dust your baking tray with semolina or flour before adding the pizza dough. This stops the pizza from sticking, makes it easy to remove and helps with a crisp base.
- Don’t over-fill your pizza with toppings and sauce.
- I find that shredded mozzarella works best as fresh balls of mozzarella have a lot of moisture and excess water.
- Leftover pizza dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and foil then frozen.
- Try out our Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce for a great pizza sauce.
- We also have a recipe for traditional pizza dough with yeast!
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey,
I just had a go at this. It mostly worked well, I think I need to tweak my toppings! But, how do you roll it out please? With a rolling pin or by hand? and to what thickness? Also, what does the semolina flour do? Is that a taste thing more than anything else?
Thanks!
Hi Sam, you’ll need a rolling pin to roll it out, it’s much easier especially for getting an even thickness, you want to roll it out to roughly 3mm (1/8 inch). Semolina flour is commonly used in Italy to stop the bases sticking to the tray/pizza stone and helps give a nice crispy base but you could use a little extra normal flour instead, it doesn’t impact the flavour just make sure it’s lightly dusted. Thanks so much and hope you enjoy!
what will happen if i use cooking oil?
Hi Sarah, if it’s sunflower or vegetable oil it should still work fine in this recipe but the taste will be slightly different. I recommend olive oil for best results.
How does the texture of this differ from dough with yeast? Also does this recipe really have no rising ingredient like baking powder? How will it be different if ever?
Hi Melissa, no there are no rising agents in this recipe. This dough will give you great thin crust pizzas. Because there is no yeast in it, it won’t be as light as traditional dough but it means there is no waiting time or much work involved either. You can make your pizzas straight away which is a great time saver too, I use this dough A LOT and love it.
Tried this last night with all purpose flour. Added an extra tablespoon of warm water and turned out perfect!
Can you make this dough and freeze them to use for later? I would love to make a whole batch of this and store them in my freezer.
Hey Liz, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. I’ve never frozen this dough before but I’ve frozen traditional pizza dough (with yeast) and it worked great so I’m pretty sure it would work. I’d divide the dough into portions before freezing then let it thaw out in the fridge overnight before using. Hope this helps! P.S I’m going to try this out for myself too 🙂
Hi, I followed the recipe and I couldn’t even roll the dough, it needed way more water so I added some. It looked really nice when I pulled it out of the oven except it sadly tasted soo much like flour :'( as advice for people reading this in the future I used baking flour, so I would not recommend trying it my way, thanks for the recipe anyway, Pizza is my fav too!!
Hey Brooke, so sorry to hear the pizza dough didn’t work for you. If the baking flour you used was self-raising and had baking powder in it then that may have been the problem. I’ve never tried making this dough with baking flour but I’ve made it 100’s of times using 00 flour which is an extra fine wheat flour or plain flour (I know 00 isn’t so easy to find). Do you use metric or imperial measurements? I work in metric measurements since I’m from the UK and always use my scale to measure water, 1ml is equal to 1g. I always find it to be much more accurate than using a measuring jug. If you’re using imperial measurements then I’ve added cup measurements for the water as well as fluid ounces and I’ve just changed 3 5/8 cups to 3 cups + 3 level tbsp of flour. I’ve only just managed to get myself true American cup sizes so I can trust the measurements 100% instead of relying on conversions. I hope this helps if you plan on giving it a second go, a lot of people love the recipe and I’ve always had success with it. You can read more reviews on Pinterest here https://it.pinterest.com/pin/551550285606492052/. Hope you have a great Christmas!
Sounds so easy!! I have a question, what would use on the pan instead if you don’t have semolina flour?
Thank you
Hi Alita, you could use polenta or just dust it with regular flour, either one will work great.
Hi – do you use self-raising or plain flour? This recipe looks amazing and can’t wait to try it! I crave pizza every day 😋
Hi Olivia, I use 00′ flour which is a strong bread flour, great for making pizzas. If you can’t get that then use bread flour or all purpose flour that’s more readily available in the supermarket, that should work fine. Ha I crave pizza pretty much every day too, enjoy!
how big are the final pizzas according to these ingredients? are they 2 x 12 inch or 2 x 10 inch?
Hi Imo, the dough would make 2 x 12 inch pizzas. I usually make two large tray pizzas with this recipe that are 15 x 12 inches.
Super idea to not use yeast..this has tempted me enough to make a note of this recipe & make it this weekend! 🙂 Thanks.
Brilliant, I hope you enjoy!
I LOVE making pizza from scratch, but the waiting is always so tricky. I will have to try this recipe!
I know, unless you’re well prepared this recipe is perfect for last minute pizzas!