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Italian Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe

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This is the best thin crust pizza dough recipe in the world! It’s easy to prepare, and it has an amazing fluffy yet crispy edge with a thin center.

Thin crust cheese pizza on marble slab.
Thin crust pizza on marble slab.

The battle of thick crust versus thin crust. I’m team thin crust and Shane’s team thick crust. For years we had to take turns choosing the pizza because we always wanted different crusts. Thanks to this amazing thin crust pizza dough recipe, Shane has officially joined team thin crust! Now we can finally both enjoy the same pizza without compromising.

This pizza dough is genuinely magical. It uses far less yeast than most pizza dough recipes, which gives it with a much better flavor.

The edge crusts are still fluffy, crispy, and chewy, and the center is thin and lets the toppings shine.

Hand kneading pizza dough ball.

Do the quality of ingredients matter for pizza dough?

I try not to specify certain the level of quality of ingredients in my recipes because I want them to be accessible to everyone. Pizza dough is one place where I feel like the quality really matters. I use good olive oil, organic all-purpose flour, organic granulated sugar, and fine sea salt.

Since the ingredient list is so short and simple, the flavors from higher quality ingredients really shine in this recipe.

That’s not to say that I spend a ton of money on my ingredients. Our ingredients are all from Costco and are a great value.

Pouring olive oil on pizza dough ball.

Why is this pizza dough so sticky?

Before you dive into making this recipe, know that it is a sticky dough. You haven’t misread the recipe or done something wrong. That’s why it’s important to knead the dough by hand on a heavily floured surface for a minute after kneading it in the stand mixer. Even though the dough is surprisingly sticky, I promise this dough is worth the extra effort and sticky hands. This water to flour ratio yields such an incredible crust that you will love.

Oiled pizza dough ball.

Can pizza dough be frozen?

Yes! Here’s how to freeze pizza dough for use later.

Let the dough fully rise, then portion it into the size dough balls you’ll want to use later. You can freeze pizza dough for up to 3 months. Once you’re ready to use it, all you have to do is let it thaw in the fridge overnight!

Can pizza dough be refrigerated?

Yes! In fact, letting the dough rise in a roomy covered container in the refrigerator for 24 hours will yield the MOST delicious pizza crust. Just be sure you put it in a container that leaves plenty of room for it to rise.

Pizza dough with pizza sauce on baking sheet.

If you can’t already tell, we are big fans of pizza. Try using this dough with any of my pizza recipes! This is my go-to dough recipe, and is the one I use for all of the pizza recipes on this site.

Yield: 1 Large Sheet Pan Crusts or 2 Standard Crusts or 4 Individual Crusts

Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe

Thin crust cheese pizza.

This is the best thin crust pizza dough recipe in the world! It’s easy to prepare, and it has an amazing fluffy yet crispy edge with a thin center.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 10 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup hot water (as hot as possible from the tap is fine)
  • ½ teaspoon active dry yeast (I use Red Star)
  • ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour (plus more for flouring surface)
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil (plus more for oiling the dough ball)
  • Cornmeal (optional, for dusting the baking sheet)

Instructions

  1. Mix the hot water, yeast, and sugar together in a medium sized bowl. Let proof for five minutes, it should be very lightly foamy on top when it’s ready. There isn’t much yeast in this recipe, so you’re not looking for significant foam - just a trace of bubbles.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the flour and salt.
  3. Add the olive oil and yeast mixture to the flour.
  4. Using the dough hook, pulse the mixture a few times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix a bit by hand so that no flour is left unincorporated at the bottom of the bowl.
  5. Set the stand mixture to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes.
  6. Flour a work surface and your hands. Turn the dough out onto the work surface (this is a sticky dough).
  7. Work the dough on the floured surface for about a minute until it feels less sticky.
  8. Oil the dough with about a teaspoon of olive oil and transfer to an oiled bowl.
  9. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes (it won’t visibly rise much during the 30 minutes and that’s OK).
  10. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 500F (preferably for at least 30 minutes).
  11. Dust your baking sheet with cornmeal if using (I recommend this if you’re not confident in the non-stick abilities of your sheet).
  12. Cut the dough ball into two pieces if making large pizzas or four pieces for individual pizzas (if making a large rectangular sheet pan pizza, leave whole).
  13. Gently stretch your dough ball out by hand and place on baking sheet.
  14. Top with your desired toppings.
  15. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
  16. Remove from the oven carefully (the sheet will be very hot), cut, and serve warm.

Notes

I made this recipe in Canada. Canadian all-purpose flour has a higher protein content than American flour, and is more similar to bread flour in the U.S. I've heard from lots of people that used all-purpose flour in the U.S. and was told that the recipe turned out wonderfully for them, too. So, you can make the recipe with either flour, but if you want it to turn out as closely as possible to mine, I would recommend bread flour if you're in the U.S.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1/8

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 2gCarbohydrates: 25.7gFiber: 1.1gSugar: .3gProtein: 3.5g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

Tag @KeyToMyLime on Instagram so we can see your delicious meal!

Please let me know what you think of this recipe in the comments and on Instagram! @keytomylime #keytomylime

Be sure to pin this recipe for later!

Thin crust cheese pizza on marble slab.

Looking for a recipe for a thick crust? Sally’s Baking Addiction has a recipe for Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza that looks delicious.

Try making this delicious thin crust pizza dough recipe at home!

Thin crust cheese pizza.

12 thoughts on “Italian Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe”

  1. Do you think you could add a little sourdough starter to this recipe and cut down a little on the yeast? I am wondering what that would do to the crust.

    Reply
    • Hi Angela, I haven’t tried it with starter instead of yeast, so I don’t know if it would work. This recipe already uses significantly less active dry yeast than a lot of pizza dough recipes. From the bit of research I just did it looks like the yeast in this recipe is roughly equivalent to 1/4 cup of starter – if you use starter instead of yeast, you’d also want to start with about 2 Tablespoons less water and 3 Tablespoons less flour than the recipe calls for. If you try it with sourdough starter instead of yeast, please do let me know how it turns out! -Alexa

      Reply
  2. Hi!
    Love the recipe. Am gonna try this soon as it sounds easy and yumm. A quick q though… If I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast (that’s what I have available at home, how much should I use?

    Reply
    • Hi Sana, The amounts of instant yeast vs. active dry yeast would be the same, you just wouldn’t need to proof the yeast first if you use instant yeast. Hope that helps! -Alexa

      Reply
  3. Please correct instructions NOT to use tap water as hot as you can get it. Anybody who knows pizza or baking knows too hot water will kill the yeast.The water should be very warm but not hot. For active dry yeast at least 105, 110-115 ideal, no higher than 120F. Once you go over that they start dying and all yeast killed at 130-140. The portion of warm water of say 3oz for the yeast should be separate from cold water for the remainder needed. Any oil should be added last after the water has fully been absorbed by the flour, otherwise the oil will deter the hydration because oil and water don’t mix. You should let the dough rest after mixing in the cold water then warm yeast water before adding the oil. This is called autolyse.

    Reply
    • Hi Mike, Thanks so much for the detailed feedback! I wrote the recipe as it worked best for me, but I think your advice will be super helpful for the other readers. Thanks again for taking the time to leave your input! Best, Alexa

      Reply
      • I followed the recipe instructions. I didn’t use tap water “as hot as it can get” because our tap water is from a well that is very saline. However, I did heat the RO water for about a minute in the microwave to get it as hot as the tap water gets. I don’t know if it matters that it might kill the yeast because, given that this is a recipe for thin crust pizza, I don’t want it to get thick. I just want the taste of yeast.

        Reply
    • Hi Nina, You can definitely make this without a mixer! You’ll just need to mix it by hand, and then knead it by hand for about 8 – 10 minutes (or until the dough is smooth and elastic). I find it helpful to rotate the dough 90 degrees every minute or so (it helps me knead everything evenly). Hope that helps! – Alexa

      Reply
  4. Hallelujah!!! I finally found a thin pizza crust recipe that I will pretend is my own! It is perfect! Just the right combination of crisp and al dente!! I have tried so many pizza crust recipes to find one that resulted in the product that my husband and I are devouring tonight. Your instructions are perfect as it resulted in the best thin crust for pizza that I have ever found. Thank you, thank you!

    Reply

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