July 20, 2017

The Best Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

The best easy pizza dough recipe is made with only 6 simple ingredients and comes together in about 10 minutes. We use this dough for everything from traditional pizza to breadsticks and more!

There are a few skills that I feel are essential for being a good mom. Making homemade pizza is one of them. I don’t know why, but being able to make a mean pizza is important to me! I meal plan based on genre. Friday at our house is pizza night! Every Friday I make a version of one of the following: pizza, deep dish pizza, personal pizzas, sheet pan pizza, calzones, Stromboli, or pizza rolls.

For all of my pizza options, this is the super easy pizza dough that I use. You can’t go wrong with a simple dough that works every time. It only has 6 simple ingredients, and it’s very forgiving (you really can’t ruin this dough, trust me!).

For this recipe I have also included my favorite pizza baking method (because those two things go together). It’s very pizzeria in style. The dough is a medium thickness, the bottom gets nice and brown, and the cheese around the edge gets crusty, edging on burnt. Mmmm…that crusty dark cheese! Don’t be tempted to overload on cheese and toppings. With pizza, more is not always better. The crust won’t cook through if you get too crazy, and very few things are grosser than doughy pizza.

The best easy pizza dough recipes is made with only 6 simple ingredients and comes together in about 10 minutes. We use this dough for everything from traditional pizza to bread sticks and more!

Tips and Tricks for making Easy Pizza Dough:

I have added my recommendations on how to cook the pizza but you can really cook this however you like. Press it in a sheet pan, in a pizza pan, in a cast iron skillet,or however you like to make pizza.
If you don’t want 2 large pizzas, make 1 large pizza and a batch of breadsticks with the second half of the dough.
Looking for a fun Friday night activity with the kids? Use this dough to make mini or individual pizzas. Let the kids do the rolling and top with what they like. My kids love DIY pizza night.
The rising time if very flexible. The longer it rises, the more fluffy/bready the baked dough; the shorter it rises, the more chewy/dense it will be. I just let it rise as long as it takes me to prep my veggies, cheese, and sauce.
Looking for the best (and easiest) pizza sauce recipe? You’ll need 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, and 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes. In a small sauce pan, cook the oil and garlic together over medium heat until the garlic starts to smell good. Add the tomatoes and simmer until it thickens a bit, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. DONE! Really. Three ingredients and it tastes amazing!
This is a very simple and forgiving recipe. Be sure that your yeast isn’t out of date and that your water isn’t boiling (too hot will kill the yeast) and you should be good to go. You really can’t ruin this dough!

Craving more? Subscribe to Bless this Mess to get new recipes, meal plans, and a newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment, pin it, and don’t forget to tag a picture #blessthismesseats on Instagram. I love to see your kitchen skills in action!

The Best Easy Pizza Dough Recipe

The best easy pizza dough recipe is made with only 6 simple ingredients and comes together in about 10 minutes. We use this dough for everything from traditional pizza to breadsticks and more!

Author: Melissa Griffiths
Yield: 2 large pizzas

Ingredients

For the easy pizza dough

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 T. yeast
1 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil
6 to 6 1/2 cups flour

For the Pizza

Pizza sauce (about 2 cups)
Cheese (about 4 cups)
Toppings

Instructions

To make the dough

In a large mixing bowl, add the water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil. Allow mixture to stand for 5 minutes.
Add one cup of flour, and mix to combine. Add another cup of flour and mix through. Mix by hand for 1 or 2 minutes. The dough should be the consistency of cake batter. Add another cup of flour and mix until well combined. Add flour until you can’t mix it by hand very well.
Sprinkle some flour on your table and turn the dough onto the table. Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed. This should take 6 to 10 minutes of kneading. You can also do this part in a stand mixer if you have one.
Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it rise in a warm place for 15 to 60 minutes (This time varies a lot for me – I just let it rise according to how long it is until dinner time).

To make the pizza

While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to heat, too. I would recommend using a stone for baking this pizza. If you don’t have a stone, you can turn your biggest cookie sheet upside down (so that the flat side is up) or use a rimless sheet. If you are using a stone let the stone heat for 30 minutes. If using a baking sheet, let it heat for 10 minutes.
When the oven is hot, cut your dough in half. Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper that is 18 inches long. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough (on top of the parchment paper) into a 12 to 14 inch circle. The dough should be about a half-inch thick. Top with 1 cup of pizza sauce, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, and toppings of your choice.
When the pizza is all ready, slide the pizza, which is on the parchment paper, onto a rimless cookie sheet or one that is upside down. This will help you get the pizza to the oven.
Open the oven and slide the pizza which is still on the parchment paper, from the cookie sheet onto the hot baking stone or hot cookie sheet. I just tug on the edge of the parchment paper with my hands and slide it onto the stone. BE CAREFUL! Your oven is set to 500. It’s super hot, obviously! Make sure the babies are out of the way and be careful when sliding the pizza into the oven.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the top is bubbly and the edges are starting to brown. When the pizza is done, tug the edge of the parchment paper and slide the pizza back onto the cookie sheet you used to transfer it to the oven. Again, be careful!
Let your stone reheat for 10 minutes. While the stone is heating, repeat the whole thing with the second half of the dough and bake the same way.
Enjoy, enjoy enjoy!

Notes

I serve it right off of the parchment paper (which gets all dark and cooked looking) or I’ll tear off a new piece and serve it on a crisp white sheet of parchment. Very pretty!

Don’t want to pull the hot parchment in and out of the oven? No big deal! Press half of the dough into a greased cookie sheet, add toppings, and bake at 400 degree for about 25 minutes (until the bottom of the crust is a nice golden brown. Making sheet pan pizza is my favorite quick and easy way to make pizza for a crowd!

And there you have it, the best easy pizza dough on the block. You can’t mess this one up friends, even if you don’t consider yourself a baker or tend to be wary of making yeast doughs. You can do it!

This recipe was originally published in February 2012 and republished in July 2017 with new pictures, new text, and an updated recipe based on retesting and reader feedback. Enjoy!

July 13, 2017

Homemade Subway Bread Recipe

Perfect homemade Subway bread recipe, just like the restaurant. This recipes makes a perfect copycat loaf of Subway bread for sandwiches at home.

I’ve been subjecting myself to a crazy thing that I saw a friend on the interwebs doing. I don’t know if she made it up, or saw it somewhere and wanted to do it, but either way, it’s crazy. She vowed to only spend $20 a week for a whole month. $20 for food, gas, eating out, EVERYTHING! Everything except for bills and things you have to pay.

After a harsh slap in the face when we did our taxes and a few other bumps in our road, I decided it was something that I wanted and needed to do, too. The timing is great for me. Since we are planning on moving in a few weeks I don’t mind that this little project is going to eat up my food storage (less to move!), and every penny saved before April 15th is needed… who knew you should be paying quarterly taxes when you become self-employed?! We missed that memo

$20 gets you nowhere, really. Last week I bought 4 gallons of milk, 2 loaves of bread, 6 tomatoes, and a package of salami. This week I need to buy gas (should have filled up before I decided on this little adventure…) and milk will suck up the rest. I wasn’t even going to tell you about it because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I think being accountable will be good for me.

All that being said, I needed a Subway sandwich on Friday and I needed one bad. I had $6 left for the week and one foot-long isn’t enough for our family of 5. So I decided I’d just make some at home (and spent the money on enough salami for about 6 sandwiches). The key to this was finding the perfect homemade Subway bread recipe. Those sub buns are key! I decided to just make white bread too which isn’t normal for me, but I really wanted to make sure I felt like the experience was a treat.

You guys, they turned out amazing! Really and truly. Plus, it wasn’t all that hard to do. Next time I’m going to double the recipe so that I have some leftovers and I’m going to try to freeze them. Lucky for me, I found a jar of pickled banana peppers in the pantry too. My sandwich was half banana peppers and half everything else because those are my favorite thing ever.

The homemade Subway bread was just perfect. It had a very soft crust (thanks to a little butter and letting them steam in a towel as they cooled) and a light middle, and it kind of smashed into nothing when you ate it. Just like the real thing. Sure, Subway is cheap, but it’s pretty fun to make them at home. Your family will be shocked and amazed at your mad skills and you’ll be able to put on as many banana peppers as your heart desires. Best deal ever!

Here’s a picture of the dough after it has risen. Below is a picture of the sub buns rolled out and ready to rise (they’ll be about doubled in size before baking). Isn’t bread dough pretty?

Tips and Tricks for Making Subway Bread at Home

If you haven’t ever made dough before, the goal is to add just enough flour for it to be a soft but not sticky dough. If you add too much flour, you’ll end up with Subway bricks instead of bread.
No stand mixer? This recipe can be made by hand, just be sure to knead it for a full 8 minutes. That’s a long time but developing the gluten helps the bread to be soft.
This recipe works well with half whole wheat flour mixed with half all-purpose flour for whole wheat sub buns.
I have had a few people email me and say that just before baking they brushed the outside of the dough with olive oil or butter and then sprinkled on some Italian seasoning and some Parmesan cheese for a great homemade Subway Italian Herb and Cheese bread. I can’t wait to try this myself.
I love making this bread and putting on these vegan meatballs. Tasty meatless meal!
This bread froze just about as well as other breads. It was still soft but seemed a bit dryer after freezing. Fresh is best but they do freeze and thaw well.
Like pickled banana peppers as much as I do? Check out my recipe on how to make easy refrigerated pickled banana peppers (great use for extra garden or farmer’s market produce).