Active Time
90 minutes
This pizza dough recipe is by no-knead king Jim Lahey. It's only 3 ingredients—you've got this.
Ingredients
Makes six 10"–12" pizzas Servings
7
4
1
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. While stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add 3 cups water; stir until well incorporated. Mix dough gently with your hands to bring it together and form into a rough ball. Transfer to a large clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) in a draft-free area until surface is covered with tiny bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size, about 18 hours (time will vary depending on the temperature in the room).
Step 2
Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Gently shape into a rough rectangle. Divide into 6 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, gather 4 corners to center to create 4 folds. Turn seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour; set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining portions.
Step 3
Let dough rest, covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, until soft and pliable, about 1 hour.
Step 4
DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap each dough ball separately in plastic wrap and chill. Unwrap and let rest at room temperature on a lightly floured work surface, covered with plastic wrap, for 2–3 hours before shaping.
To Make the Pizzas
Step 5
During the last hour of dough's resting, prepare oven: If using a pizza stone, arrange a rack in upper third of oven and place stone on rack; preheat oven to its hottest setting, 500°–550°, for 1 hour. If using a baking sheet, arrange a rack in middle of oven and preheat to its hottest setting, 500°–550°. (You do not need to preheat the baking sheet.)
Step 6
Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough generously with flour and place on a floured work surface. Gently shape dough into a 10"–12" disk.
If Using Pizza Stone
Step 7
When ready to bake, increase oven heat to broil. Sprinkle a pizza peel or rimless (or inverted rimmed) baking sheet lightly with flour. Place dough disk on prepared peel and top with desired toppings.
Step 8
Using small, quick back-and-forth movements, slide pizza from peel onto hot pizza stone. Broil pizza, rotating halfway, until bottom of crust is crisp and top is blistered, 5–7 minutes.
Step 9
Using peel, transfer to a work surface to slice. Repeat, allowing pizza stone to reheat under broiler for 5 minutes between pizzas.
If Using a Baking Sheet
Step 10
Arrange dough disk on baking sheet; top with desired toppings. Bake pizza until bottom of crust is crisp and top is blistered, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a work surface to slice. Repeat with remaining pizzas.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (597)
Back to TopThis is by far the best pizza dough recipe I’ve ever found, I’ve been making homemade pizza for 20 years. I make this dough at least once a month. It reminds me of East Coast pizzeria-style pizza which you can’t get out West where I live. This quick, easy recipe yields SIX pizza crusts better than the crust on any delivery pizza I’ve ever had. This recipe + a pizza stone make for the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten.
Anonymous
Colorado
7/22/2023
This is it; the HOLY GRAIL of homemade pizza dough. After literally years of experimentation with this technique and that, I am finally satisfied with the end product utilizing this recipe. No kneed is the key to a soft, chewy crust. Even the slightest agitation of the dough causes way too much development of the gluten, thus the ubiquitous toughness in the end product (the bane of my previous attempts). The moisture content and the lack of developed gluten makes this dough a bit tricky to handle but once adapted to, no worries. The alcohol produced after18 hours at room temperature adds a beautiful sweetness to this dough. This is a truly “designer” dough, not at all like the product produced by the large corporate pizza chains. Thank-you, Jim. The odyssey searching for the perfect pizza dough recipe is now over; it is finally checked off the bucket list.
The Mighty Achaean
Bellingrad, WA
8/20/2022
You need no other pizza dough than this. Excellent souring with the 18hrs over night rest and great aeration in the dough. Unused balls freezer perfectly for easy weeknight dinners. Dough can be a bit sticky, but simply flour your own hands before handling. Thin, crisp, and perfect every single time.
Laura
Toronto
11/2/2021
I’ve been making this pizza for a number of years now. Wow, it’s wonderful. I usually make the pizza on parchment paper which makes the transfer to the baking stone smooth and easy. I recently moved into a house with a gas range and discovered that the broiler is in a drawer below the oven. No way there’s enough room in there for the baking stone, and if there were, the pizza would be directly under the broiler. Anyone else successfully dealt with this?
Cee
Colorado
10/24/2021
Delish!I think it is a lot like no knead bread, but making pizza instead.I love it!;)
The great 8 chef
Illinois,CH
6/8/2021
I love this recipe. I’ve made it several times and always with great success.
May June
Seattle, WA
12/20/2020
I think the dough was very stucky and hard to work with. I left it in the fridge for 4 days. The crust was very good but again I struggled with the stickiness
Anonymous
Faroe islands
12/19/2020
Excellent recipe. Easy, chip, healthy, loved by all ages. The most thing I like in it - you may prepare it once and have all the week using one by one dough ball every morning for my dear kids as a fantastic, hot, fresh, exciting breakfast. Hawaiian, Italian of all region, Thai, Asian and even Ukrainian variants of topping add fresh splash detail to our boring "gray" November routine. Thank you so much. Hugs from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Tatiana
Kyiv, Ukraine
11/17/2020
Simplicity itself. Even better if you pop it in the fridge to develop. Divide before you go to work. Stick it back in the fridge. Lift it out as soon as you get in/ oven on/ glass wine - cook next night.
Anonymous
Scotland
6/24/2020
I have been making this recipe for years. This is without a doubt THE perfect pizza dough recipe. And, - unused dough balls freeze beautifully, just pop in a plastic freezer bag with a little olive oil coating; to defrost, just pop out of bag and let come to room temperature with a damp towel on top. Some of my best pizzas have been with old doughs found in the freezer. I don't understand why anyone would not give this five stars. The initial mixing takes a minute at most. I've done it many a time after a long day of partying. And I remembered to add the ingredient everyone has on hand -water. Who wants to wash a mixer? I even do it in 1 bowl. The shaping before the resting period is simply showing the dough a little love. This pizza dough is extraordinary, with almost a buttery aftertaste in the crust.
Anonymous
Houston, TX
9/24/2019
Except this recipe has FOUR ingredients. Water is still an ingredient and if you don’t use it you won’t be making any pizza dough. Secondly. All that hard work mixing with a wooden spoon and shaping into a ball is effectively kneading the dough so it isn’t exactly a no knead recipe either. So I’m truth it’s a 4 ingredient light knead recipe. May as well just get out your stand mixer and save the trouble really
Anonymous
Australia
6/28/2018