Basic Pizza Dough for All Your Dairy-Free Toppings

Everyone needs a basic pizza dough recipe. Pizza is an easy staple in households around the world. It’s a go-to for Friday nights, busy holiday seasons, and Italian food cravings. But takeout gets pricey, and can also be problematic for dairy-free families. Instead, make your own pizza dough for a budget-friendly dinner, that’s safely prepared in your own kitchen and tastes delicious! This particular recipe is a simple, time-tested favorite.

Naturally Dairy-Free Basic Pizza Dough with Options

This basic pizza dough recipe was originally from Vegan Junk Food, by Lane Gold, and is used to make her Pizza Dough Garlic Rolls Recipe. I’ve since updated the recipe with options and clearer instructions from my own recipe in Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook. I also have some recipe tips and options to help ensure great results.

Key Ingredient Notes

• Water: It needs to be warm enough, about 105 to 115ºF, to activate the yeast, but not too hot, which can kill the yeast.
• Yeast: We use dry active yeast, not instant yeast. I like to buy a jar and keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. But if your yeast is cold, it’s best to let it come to room temperature before adding it to the water.
• Flour: Pizza aficionados might reach for 00 flour, which is a very fine flour used by Italians and chefs for pizza. You can usually find it at local grocery stores, but it costs quite a bit more. Regular, all-purpose flour still works well and is what we use.
• Oil: You can use any type of baking oil – olive oil is just a classic Italian favorite. Lane uses a slightly higher level of oil to make or more workable dough. For the chewier crust, you have to reduce the oil.
• Salt: Don’t skip it unless you need low sodium. The salt adds flavor to ensure your crust doesn’t have a flat taste, but it also helps strengthen the crust.

Why No Sugar? Sugar isn’t needed as long as you are rising the dough. As  you can see, I do add a little sugar in the No Rise Option. The sugar helps activate the yeast more quickly, which is needed with shorter rising times.

Tips for Success

• If the dough keeps springing back, gently cover it and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This lets the gluten relax so you can stretch it thinner.
• Don’t use a rolling pin all the way to the edge. You want some air in the outer crust so it’s a little puffier. You can roll it out with a rolling pin from the center and then stretch it by hand.
• Lightly flour your work surface, but avoid using too much flour. You want the dough to stretch instead of slide.
• If you want a thicker crust in the center, prebake the crust for 5 to 10 minutes, then add the toppings and bake until lightly browned.

Yes, You Can Freeze It

If you want to have pizza dough on hand, you can freeze the dough. Make a single or larger batch, let it rise, punch the dough down, and divide it into however many portions you choose. Shape each portion into a tight ball, wrap it with plastic wrap, and freeze. When pizza is on the menu, unwrap a dough ball, place it in a greased bowl, cover lightly, and put it in the fridge to thaw slowly for 8 to 24 hours. Let is sit at room temperature for another 1 to 2 hours, until soft, puffy, and brought to room temperature. Shape the dough, top it, and bake as directed.

Special Diet Notes: Basic Pizza Dough

By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.

Alisa Fleming

Basic Pizza Dough

5 from 2 votes

You can find dairy-free pizza dough in some grocery stores, but it's easy to make your own! Plus it costs less, and we think it tastes much better from scratch.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Rising Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 1 16-inch pizza

Course: Bread, Entree

Cuisine: American, Italian

Calories: 437

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

  

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• 1 cup warm water
• 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 (.25-ounce) packet
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Cornmeal as needed

Method

 

1. In a small bowl, stir together the warm water, yeast, and sugar (if using). Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The yeast should bubble quite a bit and look foamy. If it doesn't, your yeast is inactive. Start again with fresher yeast.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in water-yeast mixture and olive oil.
3. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough hook in a mixer until the mixture forms a ball.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes, or until it is smooth and pliable.
5. Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 90 minutes.
6. Punch the dough down, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
7. Preheat your oven to 425°F.
8. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 15 inches for medium thickness to 17 inches for a thinner crust.
9. Liberally dust a baking sheet or pizza pan with cornmeal, and transfer the dough to the pan.
10. Add desired sauce and toppings on the dough.
11. Bake the pizza for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned and the toppings are cooked to your liking.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25pizza (about 2 slices)Calories: 437kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 10gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1.5gSodium: 588mgPotassium: 100mgFiber: 2.5gSugar: 0gIron: 4.5mg

Notes

Chewier Crust Option: Reduce the oil to 1 tablespoon, and start with just 2 1/2 cups flour, adding more as needed to get a nice, loose dough that's tacky, but not sticky. You will likely need 2 3/4 to 3 cups flour, but it depends on your environment. You don't want the dough to be stiff or dry. 

Herb Option: You can add 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs with the salt. 

No Rise Option: Add 1 teaspoon sugar to the yeast and warm water mixture to help the yeast activate more quickly. Let the dough rest for at least 15 minutes after kneading, before rolling it out. You can prepare your toppings during this time. I use the Chewier Crust Option when making a no-rise dough.

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