A true weeknight pizza recipe, this almost instant pizza dough comes together with minimal rise time—just 15 minutes!—and turns out chewy, delicious pizza. With instructions on how to top it as a classic and extra easy cheese pizza.

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This house is full of opinionated pizza fans. There are the deep-dish aficionados, which I blame on my husband's childhood stint in Chicago. There's the chewy crust contingent. There are appreciators of a classic New York thin crust pizza. And then there's me, not a huge fan of pizza (unpopular food opinion alert), but definitely a fan of playing with dough, so always game to try out new pizzas (Sicilian? Detroit, anyone?). This pizza was born of the need to satisfy everyone, and fast. It's shocking how good a crust this almost instant-pizza dough will give you for minimal time and effort. It's a true weeknight pizza, one you don't have to think about starting until it's basically time for dinner. It rises while you heat up the oven and mix the sauce (also extra easy), then you bake a few minutes and broil the cheese. If you don't mind it getting completely ignored, serve with a salad.
Extra easy dough
Since we're using instant yeast here, all it takes is dumping the ingredients into your stand mixer bowl and kneading away for five minutes.
- For active dry yeast, you'll need an extra five minutes: dissolve it in the water and set aside until foamy.
- If you don't have a stand mixer: combine the ingredients in a large bowl and knead by hand, right in the bowl. It will take a few minutes longer by hand.
When the dough is smooth, cover it tightly with a lid or cling wrap, and set aside for just 15 minutes, or up to 30 minutes or so. Heat up the oven to 425F / 220C while the dough is rising.
Shaping the pizza
This pizza dough can be rolled out with a rolling pin, and it'll behave nicely without snapping back at you too much. It will make four to five individual-sized pizzas (the easiest to shape), or you can make two larger pies, round or rectangular.
The pizzas get baked and baked right on a lined baking sheet for easy transfer into and out of the oven, plus easy cleanup. You'll need two lined pans for the recipe.
Topping the pizza
To make a classic, easy cheese pizza, take advantage of pre-shredded mozzarella, or any cheese blend you like; in my experience, shredded kosher cheese works very well, getting nice and bubbled and browned.
For the sauce, all you need is a can of tomato sauce. You'll doctor about half the can with a few spices and a drizzle of olive oil, and it's ready to use—no simmering required. Recipe here.
Baking and broiling
This pizza dough has a slightly longer bake time, 20 to 25 minutes, than you'll see for pizzeria-style pizza, which goes in at a higher temp for a shorter time to mimic a wood-burning oven. This crust comes out chewy and perfect at this temp and time combo. If the cheese isn't browned to your liking at 25 minutes, turn the broiler on for just 1 to 2 minutes to get the cheese right.

Almost-Instant Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour - 600 g
- 1 ½ Tbsp instant yeast
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 ⅓ cup warm water
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Knead with the dough hook until the dough forms a craggy ball, then a smooth ball, about 5 minutes.
- Cover and set aside for 15 minutes (and up to half an hour).
- The dough is ready to roll out and use for pizza! Top and bake at 425°F / 220°C for 20 to 25 minutes. If cheese is not browned, turn on the broiler for 1-2 minutes before removing pizzas from the oven.
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