2 Hour Pizza Dough Recipe- Perfect for Lazy Dinners
If you’re looking for a quick and easy pizza recipe, this 2-hour pizza dough is perfect—especially on those busy weeknights when you’re feeling lazy but craving homemade pizza.
It’s one of my favorites because not only does it taste amazing, but it’s also super simple and fast to prepare. You can bake it in a home oven or a dedicated pizza oven like Ooni or Roccbox and get perfect results every time.
You can refrigerate the dough if needed, though for optimal results, it’s best to use it within 2 hours.
I love making this dough when I don’t have time to wait for a full day of fermentation but still want delicious pizza. Give this quick pizza dough a try, and let me know how you like it!
Things You Need for the Pizza Dough:
- 250 grams of all-purpose flour
- 125 ml of water
- 1.5 teaspoon of instant yeast
- 1 tbsp of honey
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
How to Make 2 Hour Pizza Dough?
1. Combine the all-purpose flour, instant yeast, honey, and salt in a bowl, avoiding direct contact between the yeast and salt.
2.Now add the water and begin mixing to form the dough. In the next step, make sure to use your hands, as I do, to knead the dough for a few minutes.
3. Once the ingredients come together into a dough ball, add the olive oil and knead the dough. I use the classic slap-and-fold method, which works beautifully. Knead for about 3 to 4 minutes until the olive oil is fully combined with the dough and the dough becomes smooth.
4. Cover the dough with a lid or a plate and let it rest for 2 hours to rise.
5. After 2 hours, divide the dough into pizza dough balls, then stretch each ball to form your pizza base.
6. Top the stretched dough with homemade pizza sauce, pizza cheese, and your choice of toppings.
7. I preheat the oven at 200°C (390°F) for at least 15 minutes. However, I bake the pizza at 190°C for 15–20 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Make sure you preheat the oven; otherwise, the pizza won’t cook properly.
Tips for Making Perfect Pizza from This Dough Recipe:
1. Preheat Your Oven: Preheating the oven is essential for cooking your pizza evenly. If you skip preheating, you’ll end up with an unevenly cooked pizza—where the top is cooked, but the bottom is undercooked. I recommend preheating your oven at 200°C (390°F) for at least 15 minutes before putting in your pizza.
2. Cook at the Right Temperature: I bake the pizza at 190°C (375°F). If you cook it at a higher temperature, like 200°C, the cheese on top will cook too quickly while the bottom stays undercooked. You can bake at 180°C if necessary, but it will take a little longer. I prefer 190°C for about 15 minutes, but the cooking time will depend on the thickness of your pizza dough.
3. Homemade Pizza Sauce: I used my homemade cooked pizza sauce for this recipe, but you can also use a Neapolitan-style pizza sauce from my blog. Any homemade pizza sauce will pair beautifully with this dough recipe.
4. Toppings: This recipe is vegetarian-friendly, and I’ve made it with a veggie supreme twist. I used capsicum, tomatoes, and onions for my toppings, but feel free to any toppings that you prefer.
5. Grease Your Pan: Grease the pizza pan before baking. This helps the bottom layer of the crust get crispy, giving the pizza a great texture throughout.
Uses for This Dough:
I’ve also made garlic bread bites with this pizza dough, which turned out amazing! You can use this versatile dough for various other recipes, too. Some great ideas include:
- Dinner Rolls
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Calzones
- Stromboli
- Pizza Pinwheels
This dough has multiple uses, so you can make it in advance and create different delicious recipes. I’ve also shared many of these on my blog. I hope you enjoy this pizza dough as much as I do!
2 Hour Pizza Dough Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Convention Oven
Ingredients
- 250 grams All Purpose Flour
- 1.5 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1/2 tbsp Salt
- 125 ml Water
- 3-4 tbsp Olive Oil
Pizza
- 3 tbsp Pizza Sauce
- 1 Cup Shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 Chopped Capsicum
- 1/2 Chopped Onion
- 1/2 Chopped Tomatoes
- 1-2 tbsp Corn Kernels
Instructions
- Take your pizza dough by first adding all-purpose flour and salt into a bowl. Start mixing these ingredients in water. I used instant yeast for this recipe, which doesn't need activation. If you're using active dry yeast instead, make sure to activate it in lukewarm water for 15 minutes beforehand and skip the honey that I've added. But if you want to follow this recipe to the letter, stick with instant yeast.
- Once I have mixed everything, it starts forming into a dough ball. When you get a dough ball, it's time to incorporate olive oil into it while kneading slowly. Initially, I punch and fold the dough, but as the oil starts blending in, I switch to the classic slap-and-fold method. After kneading for about 4 to 5 minutes, the dough will get a smooth, glossy texture—that's how I know it's ready.
- Now, form it into a ball again, place it in a bowl, and cover it with a lid or plate. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours, which will double in size. Once it has risen, cut it into small portions for your pizzas.
- After the dough has risen for 2 hours and doubled, I cut it into smaller portions. I take one of the dough balls and stretch it into my desired pizza shape using only my hands. I like gently stretching and pulling the dough until it's evenly shaped. Once nicely stretched out, I spread my pizza sauce evenly across the surface. Then, add all the toppings and cheese. I layer cheese first and then add toppings and then a tiny bit of cheese so it melts and holds the toppings.
- Before baking, I preheat my oven to 200°C (392°F) for about 15 minutes. Once the oven's hot, I bake the pizza for about 15 to 20 minutes at 190 °C until it's perfectly golden and cooked through. Then I take it out, and the homemade pizza is ready to enjoy!
