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.
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!
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.
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
Please note that as an Amazon affiliate, we earn a small commission if you purchase a product at no additional cost to you.
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.
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:
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
The Best New York Style Pizza Dough
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
- 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.
- Use the Pizza Dough Calculator
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
Nutrition
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
Hi, I tried the 1x quantity this morning, which calls for 6 c flour and 2 1/4 c water. I mixed it in a kitchen aid with a dough hook, as per the instructions, and was really surprised by how sticky it was– somewhere between dough and thick batter. I gradually added more flour– maybe 3/4 c or more, to get it to stiffen up enough to release from the sides of the mixer bowl and form into balls. Should it be this sticky when it goes into the fridge containers? Or did I do something wrong?
yes, it looks like the 6 cup version of the recipe is not the same hydration as the one below it – thanks for bringing this up. I’ve added 0.5 cup flour. The weights are most accurate – if you have a kitchen scale, that’s the best method to make pizza dough. That said, the higher hydration dough you have now will make an excellent pan pizza – spread it out on a pan and let it rise for an hour or two (if it’s chilly in the kitchen).
Thanks for the speedy reply! I’m planning to make pizza tonight, and I’ll post how it turns out. I always feel like a scale is a lot slower, but I’ll give it a try next time. Thanks again!
It’s my pleasure Fred – I really appreciate the heads up! I always use a scale so I’m glad to have learned this.
Been using this recipe for 3 years! It’s my goto pizza recipe when I have the time to ferment it in the fridge. Absolutely love it! Wanted to take the time and say thanks. Amazing!
Thank you Jeff! I appreciate that a lot. Glad you are enjoying it 🙂
I’ve made all four of the dough balls into pizzas since I originally posted, and they all turned out GREAT!
The dough seemed sticky to me when going into the fridge, but after aging in the fridge and then coating with flour, it wasn’t sticky when stretching it out. Also the tips were very helpful, and I haven’t seen most of those with other recipes. I even dug around and found my kitchen scale in preparation for trying again this week.
Full disclosure: I went to school in NYC, eight years in all, and pretty much lived on the pizza. Unfortunately, nothing that I’ve found in NE Ohio quite measures up. The same goes for recipes I’ve tried at home. However, this recipe nails it, so now I’ll have to avoid gaining 20lbs! Anyway, thanks again for the great recipe!
Wonderful, thank you Fred! I’m so glad you loved it!
Fred, (EX), if you follow the 1 pound recipe just add a little more flour if needed, you want it sticky, you’ll notice if you speed up your kitchen aid with dough hook, instead of breaking and sticking to sides, she will eventually pull away from bowl and stay in a ball on the hook. I run it pretty fast and you’ll see that the dough stretches away from hook hitting the bowl and returning. If you run it slow, she’ll just keep sticking to the bowl and tear and seem to make a mess. I run at like a 6 speed and for 10mins, she rocks pretty good but comes out great. Then try and place a bowl under it when you lift head so she goes right into oiled bowl, she’s sticky so it’s better than using your hands, you’ll need to use one finger to get it off hook. You don’t want to add so much flour that she doesn’t stick at slow speed, it’s too dry then. Never use measure, always scale flour, you’d be surprised how many times she’ll change when adding to a cup/measure.
Recipe implies that sugar is optional? What’s the pros/cons of including the sugar, or not?
It’s highly suggested because it helps browning when using a home oven. No cons to using it unless you are opposed to small amounts of sugar in your food.
This was the third dough recipe I tried and I stopped looking. Everyone loves pizza so it’s fun to wow people. I made one variation and tasted the variation vs the control and I found that adding a heavy pinch of kosher salt provides a little more flavor, but I could be making that up.
One thing and this is probably inadequate experience or something, but my dough always sticks to the counter or peel no matter how much semolina or AP or a combination of both I put under it. I have a large bamboo cutting board that provides the most slip, but some part of it always sticks. I use a kitchen scale so I’m not quite sure where I’m going wrong.
Thanks for the kind words, Brian and more salt sounds good – I think this recipe uses a standard 2%. When you are ready to open your dough ball (ie, form into the pizza), are you dipping it in flour? I like to flour both sides very well and then I also rub flour into the wooden peel just before I transfer the dough onto the peel. I hope that helps a bit!
This is a wonderful recipe. Putting the dough in the refrigerator is a definate plus as it gives the dough that much more flavor. I kept the dough in the refrigerater for 24 hrs. Yum !❤️
Agree – the cold proof is such a game changer – glad you like it! ❤️
The recipe looks great.
Has anybody tried baking this dough in a ooni oven? Curious if the result will be good.
Thank you
Hi Abb,
Yes this works great in the oven and cooks in less than a minute in the ooni pizza oven. Taste best out of the pizza oven.
Tried a few pizza dough recipes and I always come back to this one. I sometimes make a few adjustments but subbing in just a little whole wheat flour( 1 to 2 TBS) I also brush garlic butter on the crust just before its done baking.
Everyone who tries this recipe says I should open a pizza restaurant.
Thanks Marie for the recipe! Everyone who I made pizza for loves it and wants the recipe.
So I send them here.
I love the idea of adding some whole wheat – I do this for my sourdoughs and it adds a lot of flavor! Brushing the crust sounds amazing too! Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to comment, Michael 😃
I have been trying to make a good pizzeria stye pizza for years. Tried all kinds of recipes. Most were good, BUT no where near like a pizzeria pizza. I found your recipe a couple of years ago and have not bought a pizza since!!!!
This just popped up in my e-mail! Thanks for the measurements for a 1 pound dough!!!!
I’ve made this dough year ago and it was wonderful. This time around I didn’t follow the recipe properly and added slightly warm water. Have I ruined the slow rise?
I think you’ll be okay. The purpose of the cool water is to prevent the dough temp from getting too high but since it’s a cold rise dough it should be fine. Enjoy!
I’ve been making this pizza dough recipe for years. Living in Costa Rica and got tired of paying $18 for pizza that wasn’t good. I found this recipe and it’s perfect. My friend’s all ask me when I’m making pizza again. So having friends over for pizza tomorrow. Love this recipe.
You state that the water temperature is important but don’t mention a temperature (just barely cold–don’t know what that means. Most bread recipes seem to suggest 100-110 F. What do you recommend for this recipe?
I don’t mention exact temperature because the recipe is geared for a home bakers who have room temps and fridge temps that will vary slightly and so I wouldn’t worry too much about an exact temp. That said, if you want to measure, I’d shoot for high 60s. Edited to add that you mention a pretty high water temp. With machine mixing, the dough temp will increase even more and then the bulk rise could happen too quickly. We want low and slow to coax out the best flavor always 🙂
is the same amount of yeast for active dry versus instant?
I have always used them interchangeably but some info says you needs 25% more active dry – so for each teaspoon of instant, you’d use 1 1/4 of active dry yeast
I’m not someone who leaves comments, but this recipe needs to be the exception—I’ve used it to make pizza for years. It’s truly the best pizza dough recipe I’ve ever used. And the accompanying video imparts a magical technique. Thank you!
Thanks Jamie! It’s my favorite and I’m so glad to share it with everyone.
I followed this perfectly on the .5 option. Doesn’t even make come close to making 2 12” pizzas. Get your maths correct
Peter, the recipe at the top of the card makes 3 lbs of dough – if you halved it, it should make 1.5 pounds which is 24 ounces. 12 ounces for a 12 inch pizza is pretty standard. I wonder if you made 1/2 pound instead? You can try our Pizza Dough Calculator Tool to customize and make what you need. I assure you the math is spot on and has been for over 10 years now.
I, too, have been using this recipe for years and don’t normally leave comments.
But, thanks to this amazingly detailed recipe, it comes out perfect every time. When my son’s friends hear I am making homemade pizza, they stay the night.
(Smile)
No more expensive restaurant pizza for when we host friends.
I Absolutely love this recipe, the dough comes out perfect every time. I’m so happy you added the multipliers for ingredients. I make 16in pizzas with my outdoor oven and the crust reminds me exactly of New York style pizza. I moved to Texas 4 years ago and truly missed pizza back home. I tried other recipes and I will never try another again. thank you for sharing!
After living in Colorado for 37 years we retired to Minnnesota (and low altitude) and have discovered baking – wow! The advice you gave was great and it made the best dough to date. We were anxious and only let the dough rest for 40 hours – next time we’ll try for 72 hours but once the pizza ignition sequence begins it sure is hard to wait – LOL. I look forward to your broiling tips (sorry if I missed them).
Enjoy!! Always so glad to hear this! 👏👏👏
I knead the dough in a stand mixer for 10 mins. it only got to 65 degrees it is 63 degrees in my house put it in the fridge did I mess up should I start over….thank you
sorry dough got to 75 degrees……. Mike
nah you’re fine – it’s more concerning if it gets too hot then gluten starts breaking down and it takes too long to cool down also.
Hi. I am hoping to make this but am confused by how the recipe shows up for halving/doubling. The recipe shows as “1x recipe for 3 pounds of dough” starting with 6c of flour and directly below it says “1x recipe for 1lb of dough” with 2.25c flour.
I want to make enough dough for like 1 14″ pizza so I am not sure how to accomplish that since I am not totally sure how much pizza the bottom recipe makes? Is it half of the top (so 2 14″ pizzas, then if I halve it using the 0.5 button, it would make one?)
Good question, I’ll modify the subheads. I provided recipes to make either 3 pounds of dough for 4 medium sized pizzas or 1 pound of dough for 1 large pizza. You can ignore the 1x – it simply means you’re not doubling or halving the recipe but that’s implied so I think it’s confusing. Thanks for the question!