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The Best New York Style Pizza Dough and 14 Tips for Success!!

I’ve been making a lot of this NY style pizza dough recipe …. The obsession started a while back, and I’ve finally found a recipe that I love the best! After years of experiments (and I mean years!), I am now using this recipe based on recommendations from the many fine pizza makers at www.pizzamaking.com and the late great Dough Doctor, Tom Lehmann.

best New York Style pizza dough recipe

Making Pizza Dough at Home

Making NY style pizza dough is definitely somewhat of an art form. There are so many variables that can be changed aside from the ingredients alone. For example, these variables include:

  • oven temperature
  • temperature of the water used to make the dough
  • proofing methods (room temp vs cold rise)
  • order of adding the ingredients (yes, this makes a big difference!)
  • mixing time
  • use of autolyse
  • use of poolish (I don’t do this or the one before, although I have in the past)

And then of course, the toppings which can be simple or as complex as you’d like. But don’t worry too much about all of this – my method is easy and straightforward. Plus, you will make better dough than 99% of the pizza chains out there. You will not want take out anymore!

best new york pizza dough recipe cheese

My Favorite Pizza Dough: The Big Secret (How You Proof the Dough)

My all-time favorite dough is NY style dough, which really is classic pizza dough that is stretched out into a thin crust pizza. This type of pizza dough contains water, flour, salt, instant yeast, and olive oil (and sugar especially when baking in a home oven, to help browning).

After it is mixed, it is proofed (left to rise/ferment) in the refrigerator for a minimum of 24 hours and up to 72 hours (it can also be frozen) – this is the big secret.  I’ve used the dough up to 5 or 6 days afterwards, so you can essentially prepare dough for the week.

This recipe produces a crisp yet foldable crust that is tender, light, and flavorful and will make enough for four 14-inch pizzas. You can easily double or half the recipe to make 2 or 8 pizzas.

slices of ny style pizza

Fourteen Tips for Success

Tip 1: Choosing the flour

Use high-quality flour – I like to use King Arthur’s all purpose or bread flour; higher protein (ie, bread) flours work best. However, I prefer all-purpose flour because I like a lighter, airy crust.

Tip 2: Adding the yeast

Do not add instant dry yeast (IDY) directly to cold or cool water – you may shock the yeast (add the IDY to your flour instead) (please note that IDY differs from active dry yeast, which must be activated by adding it to water).

Tip 3: How much yeast?

Use only enough yeast to “get the job done” – yeast eats the sugar in your flour to produce its leavening effects – I find that if you use too much, your dough will be tasteless (this is just my opinion); however, it is a fact, that too much yeast can make your dough taste bad. Most recipes out there, some of them in well known, published books contain too much yeast!

Tip 4: Cold ferment that pizza dough!

Always use your refrigerator.  The best NY style doughs “ferment” or “cure” in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to 48 72 hours. This is called a “cold rise” (vs warm rise on your kitchen counter).

The refrigerator is used to retard (or slow) the dough’s fermentation, allowing that distinctive flavor to come through (ever wonder why some pizza crust tastes different than others, despite the fact that they are both made from just about the same exact ingredients? – this is a big reason why!)

When your dough rises too quickly, the flavor will not develop optimally. Slow rise = MUCH better flavor.

Tip 5: Weigh those ingredients!

Use a scale to weigh the flour instead of using a measuring cup – it is much more accurate and will yield superior results. I’ll admit, I resisted doing this for a loooong time. Just do it. You’ll be glad you did and your dough will be more consistent and much improved.

Tip 6: Add oil last

Mix the oil in as the last step, after the flour has all been incorporated. This is important to allow the flour to hydrate properly.

Tip 7: Flour your dough balls

Before tossing or opening your dough balls, flour them *very* well on each side (if you are a beginner) to ensure they do not stick to your counter or pizza peel. I sometimes use a bit more flour after I begin spreading them.

Tip 8: Keeping those rims a bit puffy

Take care not to “degas” the rim of your pizza as you are spreading your dough! Do NOT ever use a rolling pin! There are many different methods to spread/open your dough ball. I hope to add a few pictures someday of this process.

Tip 9: Baking pizza in a home oven

Ensure that your oven is preheated for a sufficient amount of time (about 1 hour) and bake the pizza within 6 to 8 inches of the top of your oven (ie, your broiler) so that the tops browns sufficiently in conjunction with the bottom of the pizza.

Do not place the stone near the bottom of your oven. I made this mistake for too many years.

After your stone has been preheated sufficiently, the heat from the stone will cook the pizza from the bottom and you can switch the broiler on if you find you need more browning on the top (I now use the broiler to bake my pizzas…more on this sometime in the future).

If you find that your cheese is browning well before your rim attains sufficient color, use partially frozen cheese (ie, place shredded cheese in the freezer while the oven is heating up) and cold sauce or you can drizzle just a bit of olive oil on top of cheese.

Tip 10: Use a pizza stone or steel

Use a pizza stone if you have one. The stone with draw moisture out of the dough and produce a beautifully crisp crust. I use a pizza steel because my stones kept breaking.

Tip 11: Use just the right amount of sauce

Do not use too much pizza sauce – it will make your pizza soggy

Tip 12: Find the right kind of cheese

Do not use low fat cheese to top your pizza or pre-shredded cheese (the former will not melt sufficiently and the latter contains additives that prevent the cheese from sticking together and therefore does not melt very well). The best is low-moisture, whole milk mozzarella.

If you must use pre-shredded cheese, I’ve found that adding the sauce on top of the cheese helps with the melting. Also, do not use too much cheese; apply it sparingly so that you can achieve that mottled NY pizza appearance.

Tip 13: Flour your pizza peel

Use semolina or flour on the bottom of your pizza peel to prevent the pizza dough from sticking but be careful not to overdo it because it will burn.

Tip 14: Learn to launch that pizza

Give the pizza peel a few very small quick jerks to make sure the pizza will easily slide off your pizza peel before attempting to transfer pizza to the oven, and more importantly, rub flour into the peel before placing the dough on top.

Essential Equipment

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I adore my baking steel; it’s transformed my home pizzas into restaurant-quality and better. You will love this! A kitchen scale streamlines measurement with remarkable accuracy, while a pizza peel is essential for smoothly sliding pizzas into the oven. And proofing boxes provide an optimal storage for pizza dough fermentation, enhancing flavor, texture, and elasticity.

Baking steel

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Kitchen scale

$55.49
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Pizza peel

$28.98
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Proofing

$45.99 ($23.00 / Count)
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Please visit our SHOP page for more recommended tools and equipment to make restaurant-style NY-style pizza at home!

How to Stretch the Pizza Dough

A nice video (from The GoodFellas Pizza School of NY), showing how to stretch the dough:

YouTube video

How to Freeze Homemade Pizza Dough

  • After mixing dough and dividing into balls, place dough in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
  • Place dough balls on baking sheet lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper, cover loosely with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (~ 2 to 3 hours or up to overnight).
  • Wrap frozen dough balls individually in plastic and store in zipper-lock bags for up to 4 weeks.
  • When ready to bake, transfer unwrapped dough into the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours before making pizza.
  • Bring dough to room temperature for 20 to 60 minutes before baking (less time for hot kitchen/summer and more time for cool kitchen)

Pizza Dough Calculator

Need more dough? Less dough? Try out our new Pizza Dough Calculator to calculate the weights to get it just right!

Have More Questions?

Please See My NY Pizza FAQ

If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below! SUBSCRIBE for more recipes.

📖 Recipe

photo of a NY style pizza with slice missing

The Best New York Style Pizza Dough

The best, authentic NY pizza dough recipe for making pizza dough at home. This is the best thin crust pizza ever! You will never want take out again!
4.90 from 660 votes
Author: Marie
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Resting time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 21 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 32 slices
Calories 91 kcal

Equipment

  • pizza stone or pizza steel for baking
  • Standing mixer optional or hand knead
  • kitchen scale highly recommended instead of volume measures

Ingredients
 

Original Recipe for Four 14-Inch Pizzas; want to make more or less? Use the pizza dough calculator

  • 6.5 cups (796 g) all purpose flour or bread flour (weighing is most accurate!)
  • 2 1/4 cups (493 g) water barely cold water (17.4 oz per 2 1/4 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon (3.5 g) instant dry yeast
  • 2.5 teaspoons (15.6 g) salt
  • 2 teaspoons (7.8 g) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon (11.8 g) olive oil

1 Pound of Dough (~454 grams) (use the pizza dough calculator to make more or less dough)

  • 2 1/4 cups (274.5 g) all purpose flour or bread flour
  • 3/4 cup (170.2 g) water
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions
 

Mixing the Dough

  • Place water in mixing bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, mix salt and yeast (and sugar if using) into flour
  • Combine flour/salt/yeast mixture into water and mix until all the flour has been incorporated.
  • After flour has been totally incorporated, add oil and knead for about 4 to 5 minutes (see note)
  • Test final dough temperature, which should ideally be between high 70s to low 80s (optional)

Dividing and Rising

  • Divide dough into 4 equal pieces (using a digital scale if possible; each ball should weigh 11.5 oz [~326 grams]), shape into a ball, and place in greased, sealed quart-sized container or oiled/greased freezer bag and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours (After much experimenting, I have concluded that I like 3 days best but day 2 is good too).

Assembly and Baking

  • The following day, remove your dough balls within 1 hour or less of baking and allow the dough to come to room temperature. (the dough will tend to blister more if the dough has not been allowed to come to room temperature however, I often bake coldish dough without problems, just some bubbling)
  • In the meantime, place your pizza stone in oven and preheat at 550 degrees (depending on thickness of your stone and your oven’s power) for at least 1 hour
  • Open each dough ball using care not to degas, transfer to a pre-floured pizza peel (or on parchment paper), and top with your favorite sauce, cheese, or other toppings.
  • Transfer pizza from peel to oven or slide parchment paper onto preheated pizza pan/stone and bake for 4 to 6 minutes each until browned on top and cheese has melted but not burned.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

Weighing Ingredients 
  • Use of weight based measurements is highly recommended instead of US Customary. You will need a kitchen scale. 
  • METRIC amounts DO NOT correspond exactly to the US Customary amounts because, for example, 796 grams equals 6.4 cups (and most can’t measure 0.4 cups or 0.22 cups). Recipe was based on grams.  
TO MAKE MORE OR LESS DOUGH
KNEADING
  • If you want to use the dough the next day, knead a little more (slow speed for about 8 to 10 minutes)
  • If you have time to let the dough rest for 3 days, knead for 4 to 5 minutes, low speed or hand knead.
TO FREEZE THE DOUGH:
  • After mixing dough and dividing into balls, place dough in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
  • Then, place on baking sheet lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper, cover loosely with plastic wrap and freeze until firm (~ 2 to 3 hours or up to overnight).
  • Wrap frozen dough balls individually in plastic and store in zipper-lock bags to store for up to 4 weeks (longer may work, but results might vary).
  • Before using, transfer unwrapped dough into the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours before making pizza.
  • Bring dough to room temperature for 20 to 60 minutes before baking (less time for hot kitchen/summer and more time for cool kitchen). 
BAKER’S PERCENTAGES:
  • calculate your own using baker’s percentages: 62% hydration, 0.4% yeast, 2% salt, 1.5% oil, and 1% sugar or use my new pizza dough calculator. 
Have more questions? See our pizza dough FAQ
Nutrition is estimated for one slice of pizza without any toppings. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1SliceCalories: 91kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 3gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.4gSodium: 183mgPotassium: 29mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.3gVitamin A: 0.5IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 4mgIron: 1mg
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Try these other pizzas and this NY pizza sauce: 
Buffalo style (one of my absolute favorites)
White with prosciutto
White with spinach and feta
Pizza sauce 

1,823 Comments

    1. you could invert a cookie sheet – I started out by doing that (and then use another cookie sheet to slide the dough onto it). If you have parchment paper, that might help – you could shape the dough on the parchment paper and then slide onto the cookie sheet. You can’t simply slide onto the rack – I’d imagine that the dough would sag through the grates.

      1. Thank you! The cookie sheet was my back up plan. I wasn’t sure how sturdy the dough is.

      2. 5 stars
        I have been making this dough almost weekly. It’s phenomenal and I’m making all my friends jealous with the pictures I’ve been posting. I have been using parchment and a baking sheet with good results. I’m going to try grilling it next week.

  1. Hi Marie……Gary here……Hope you and your entire family are well….I finally got around to making pizza yesterday after 3+ day cold “cure’ in the fridge……hand kneaded as you suggested. GREAT recipe….light and easy to manage dough which yielded a thin crust. I made 2 balls from the recipe…placed in glass bowls with a drop of EVOO on the bottom of bowl….and covered with plastic wrap. Took out of fridge 1+ hrs…pre-heated oven over 1hr at 550. Tossed dough…threw some grated Parm-Reg. onto the sauce (used RAOS) with a bit or oregano,,…whole milk mozzerella (fan of Polly-O) pepperoni….and a drizzle of EVOO. Threw some Arugula on as well after it came out of oven…..Done in less than 10 minutes on my stone….Had to cut a small bit from tossed dough to fit my peel and stone….today I will use it to make your Garlic Knots!!….Next time I will try using bread flour and instant yeast as opposed to All-Puropose flour and regular dry yeast…..I have a feeling it may yield an even better product. Otherwise…..do you have a recipe (or can you refer one) for Sicillian dough or can I use this recipe? Thoughst?……Thanks for your help……

    The Amateur “Pizza Maker since I could reach the table at”……..65+ years….and THIS is a great recipe. Try it folks.
    Gary

    1. I don’t have a sicilan dough recipe but there is a GREAT recipe by a guy in Philly (he owns a pizzeria) and the recipe is for pan pizza, square pizza I absolutely love it but not sure if it’ll be thick enough for you. check out his instagram to get an idea of his pizza style (recipe is for square pizza only)

    1. Sure! I’m not sure exactly how much dough though..,experiment a little – depends on size of your pan and your preferred thickness. Obviously it’d be more of a pan pizza but still delish

  2. 5 stars
    I just need a little direction – and it could simply be the flour I am using. I am using all purpose. I took the dough out and I find it wants to stretch back. Just have a couple of questions. When I remove it from the fridge – do you take the dough out of the containers and let them sit ‘naked’ on the counter, or do you just leave them on the counter in the containers? The dough recipe is fantastic. Love the flavour. The stretching part gets me though. Only thing I can think of is either perhaps the flour I use isn’t working with the recipe, or i didn’t let them warm up properly before stretching.

    Love the flavour!

    1. I usually leave them naked on the counter which has been floured lightly and let them warm as I preheat the oven. If your dough won’t stretch just let it rest a little between tries and it helps to relax it a bit.

  3. 5 stars
    Simply AMAZING… amazing crust!!!! I grew up in NYC, but I have been residing in California. I have yet found a great tasting pizza dough tasting like New York’s pizza… it’s just blah. But this is simply delicious !!!! Just as I remembered fighting for the pizza crust. My 6 years old said , you make better pizza than the pizza place mom. I love this crust!! lol…… Thank you sooo much. I love the details and explanation of your recipe! I appreciate the video of stretching the dough. I was able to follow and did the same… it more like the correct dough made it worked. Appreciate you so much. never store bought dough or pizza again. I

    1. I’ve never tired that but it should work. If you have parchment paper that might help too (placing the dressed pizza on parchment on the tray and then it will slide off easier…otherwise just make sure to flour the bottom well so it doesn’t stick

  4. Do you put each dough ball into a quart bag? Or all of the dough? I found this part of the directions confusing… Thanks!

  5. 5 stars
    Best dough I have ever made and I tried quite a few recipes! The video on how to stretch the dough is awesome. Most of the recipes I’ve tried are tasteless and say to use a rolling pin to stretch the dough….WRONG!

    I have a question…how do I freeze extra dough? I’m making more dough today and want to make a double recipe for future use.

    1. I’m glad to hear it! I usually just freeze any leftover in individual freezer bags…take it out of the freezer the morning of or night before you want to bake and place in fridge. Take dough out of fridge about an hour before ready and make sure to flour well on each side as it will have excess moisture from freezing.

      1. Hello,

        I’ve just made some dough, and also wanted to freeze some. Do you out it straight into the freezer or let it rise in the fridge then freeze it?

      2. You can actually place it directly in the freezer (no rise first) but I’ve also placed leftover dough in the freezer (after 3 days in fridge) and it worked fine too

  6. I followed this recipe to a tee, I weighed out all the ingredients and I kneaded it in a stand mixer for 5 minutes on low. It came out way too sticky, I was confused when the recipe said to shape into balls because I could barely get the dough off my hands. I let it rise in the fridge thinking it will eventually fix itself but that never happened. What am I doing wrong?

      1. I’m not familiar with that flour….I wonder if maybe the protein content is a bit low. My only suggestion is to try and use a different flour next time maybe something labeled for bread to be safe…in the US, King Arthur and Bobs red mill and gold medal all purpose or bread would be good widely available choices. Hope your dough turns out ok.

      2. I will try to do that next time! I just wanna say that even though the dough was hard to work in my case, it tasted excellent when I made it into a pizza. It was a bit of pain but I will definitely revisit this again.

      3. If you’re going to use 00 flour, you might want to look up pizza dough recipes for 00 flour.

      4. Hi! I tried this for the first time tonight. I had the same issue as Liam. My dough was super sticky and the day in the fridge didn’t help. The pizza turned out pretty good still but definitely not how I think it should have been. I used King Arthur all purpose flour and also followed the recipe to a tee (I think)…but maybe I put too much olive oil? Any suggestions? Thanks!!

      5. Maybe Kneading it longer or next time add a tablespoon more of flour…sometimes the weather affects the dough and flour protein may vary a bit from batch to batch

  7. I only have regular yeast..Fleishmans…not instant. Do I use the same 1 tsp and do I mix it first with warm water before adding to flour etc. Thanks……

  8. Me again……I only have regular yeast…not instant. Do I use your same measurement (1 tsp) and first add warm water to it for it to bloom…before adding it to flour etc. Thanks…..stay well. Gary

      1. You should be fine using the recipe as the written unless your package directions say to activate the yeast first (if so I’d take a small amount of the water from the recipe to activate it first)…

      2. Thanks…….Take care of yourself and family…..Going to make your recipe today……I’m 66 now and have been making….or trying to make the perfect NY crust since I was about 9 years old!!…..The past few years I have been buying balls of dough from my favorite spot in NYC……Hopefully this recipe comes close.

  9. 5 stars
    Love this crust. It makes a great hand-tossed pie with flexible and crunchy crust. I’ve been using the recipe for 2-3 years now. It reminds me of the pizza from this great little restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge. Not sure, but I think it was Grimaldi’s. Been there twice in the past, but it’s been years. No matter, this is the closest thing to what I found in Brooklyn, which was the best pizza I’ve eaten.

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