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This Ooni pizza dough recipe has the best chewy texture and flavor! Use it when cooking with any outdoor pizza oven.
Got a pizza oven and want to fire it up? Try this Ooni pizza dough recipe, which works with any type of outdoor pizza oven! This dough makes the perfect supple crust that’s ideal for firing at high temperatures.
Alex and I are cookbook authors and homemade pizza experts who have spent the last decade perfecting how to make pizza at home. We made this pizza oven dough recipe so it comes out light and chewy on the inside and charred on the outside, with the perfect hydration ratio for cooking at high heat!
What makes the best Ooni pizza dough?
The best pizza you can make at home, in our opinion, is pizza in an outdoor pizza oven! There are many great pizza ovens on the market these days. Alex and I own and have extensive experience with both the Ooni pizza oven and the ROCCBOX. This recipe works perfectly with both pizza ovens! Here’s what we’ve learned in our research about what makes the best Ooni pizza dough recipe:
- Use a dough with 62% hydration for hot temperatures. This gets a little nerdy, but the recipe below has a slightly lower hydration than our standard pizza dough recipe. Hydration is the ratio of water to flour in a dough. Lower hydration dough works better in the high temperatures of a pizza oven, and it’s a bit easer to work with (not as sticky).
- If possible, use Tipo 00 flour. Tipo 00 flour is the type of Italian flour that Neapolitan pizza restaurants use. It makes a supple and fluffy dough that’s a notch above regular all purpose flour. It’s becoming easy to find at your local grocery or online. Substitute all purpose flour if it’s all you have, but it’s worth seeking out the good stuff.
Tips for how to make Ooni pizza dough
This Ooni pizza dough recipe is straightforward, but it does take some practice. Here’s what to expect in the dough making process:
- Measure using a food scale. Measuring by weight with a food scale is more accurate than measuring with cups, and accounts for environmental changes.
- Knead the dough by hand or using a stand mixer. A stand mixer is totally hands off, but you can get your hands dirty, too. In both cases, it takes just 8 minutes.
- Rest the dough for 45 minutes. This is also called “proofing” and lets the dough rise, allowing it get to the perfect fluffy texture.
- Or, make the dough up to 3 days in advance. The flavor actually gets better over time! For best results refrigerate the dough for 2 to 3 days, which imparts a nuanced, nutty undertone.
How to stretch the dough
Stretching the dough is the trickiest part of the Ooni pizza dough process—outside of cooking it, of course! You’ll need to stretch it into an 11-inch circle. For best results, watch our video for How to Stretch Pizza Dough. Follow these tips:
- Dust the pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. This helps the dough to slide right onto the stone. We prefer semolina flour.
- First pat the dough into a circle. Place it on a lightly floured surface and gently press it into a circle, flipping several times and adding a pinch of flour if it is too sticky.
- Gently stretch the dough over your knuckles. Once you have about an 8-inch circle, pick up the dough and gently drape it over the knuckles on both of your hands. Slowly rotate it around, allowing gravity to stretch it into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. If the dough starts to resist stretching, put it down and allow it to rest for a few minutes, at which point it will stretch more easily.
Pizza peel tips
Alex has been making Ooni pizza dough for years and has a slightly different method for the pizza peel. He noticed that cornmeal or semolina on the bottom can tend to burn slightly in a pizza oven.
So, he prepares and tops the pizza dough first on our conveyor Super Pizza Peel (so he can avoid using semolina). Then he uses the conveyor to place the dough onto the stainless steel pizza peel that comes with the oven. It’s a bit of a workaround, but it’s our best practice! You can still use cornmeal and semolina with good results.
Another tip: We use this ROCCBOX turning peel to rotate the pizza while it cooks in the oven, which is very helpful. You can use the nonstick peel for transfer (which comes with the oven).
Our favorite pizza ovens
Here at A Couple Cooks, we’re a bit pizza oven obsessed. We’ve owned an Ooni pizza oven for several years, and just added a ROCCBOX to the family. Here’s our two cents on the best pizza oven after years of experience:
- Open-front propane ovens are best for easy cooking. We recommend this Ooni Koda 12 or the ROCCBOX. This type is a definite upgrade from our previous wood fired Ooni, which was delicious but definitely more finicky in the cooking process.
- Ooni and ROCCBOX are comparable. We decided on the ROCCBOX for extra insulation and our personal preference of dough cooking, but both are comparable. Try the Ooni Koda 16 if you prefer a larger pizza.
Ooni Pizza Dough Recipe (for Pizza Ovens!)
This Ooni pizza dough recipe has the best chewy texture and flavor! Use it when cooking with any outdoor pizza oven.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 2 minutes
- Yield: 3 medium pizzas 1x
- Category: Pizza
- Method: Pizza Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 500 grams* Tipo 00 or all-purpose flour (3 ⅓ cups)
- 8 grams instant or active dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
- 7 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 310 grams warm water (1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoons)
- 13 grams olive oil (1 tablespoon)
- Semolina flour (or cornmeal), for dusting
Instructions
- Mix the dough: Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir to combine. Add the water and olive oil and stir until a raggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
- Knead the dough: Knead the dough by pushing with the base of your palm, then reforming it into a ball. Continue kneading for 8 minutes until the dough feels pillowy and has a smooth, stretchy exterior. If the dough is very sticky, add a small amount of flour while kneading. Alternatively: attach the dough hook to a stand mixer and start the mixer on medium-low speed, then allow the mixer to knead for 8 minutes.
- Rest the dough: After the kneading is finished, divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Using floured hands, gently shape each half into a boule (ball shape) by folding the dough under itself. Set each boule on a floured surface and dab the dough with a bit of olive oil to keep it moist. Cover all boules with a damp towel and allow them to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Optional: chill up to 3 days: The dough can be used immediately. However for the BEST flavor, transfer the dough to separate sealed containers, large enough for the dough to double in size again, and store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. (We don’t always do this, but we try when possible because it makes for a noticeably nutty, unique flavor that truly is the best homemade pizza dough you’ve ever had.) You can also freeze pizza dough you don’t plan to use the day of.
- **If you’re using the dough after refrigerating: The day of serving, remove the dough from the containers, place it on a lightly floured surface covered with a towel, and allow it to come to room temperature before stretching, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat: Preheat the pizza oven.
- Stretch the dough: When the oven is ready, dust the stainless steel pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. To stretch the dough, place it on a lightly floured surface and gently press it into a circle, flipping several times and adding a pinch of flour if it is too sticky. Once you have about an 8-inch circle, pick up the dough and gently drape it over the knuckles on both of your hands. Slowly rotate it around, allowing gravity to stretch it into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Do not overwork or fold the dough. If the dough starts to resist stretching, put it down and allow it to rest for a few minutes, at which point it will stretch more easily. Gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
- Top the pizza: Top the pizza according to the pizza recipe you’re using.
- Bake the pizza: Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza to the pizza oven. Bake the pizza until the cheese is melted and the crust is lightly charred, about 1 to 2 minutes in a pizza oven (follow the specific instructions that accompany your oven). Allow the pizza to cool for a minute, then slice into pieces and serve immediately.
Pizza recipes for outdoor ovens
What’s the best Ooni pizza recipe? Honestly, a great Margherita with tangy tomatoes and gooey cheese really can’t be beat. Here are a few of our top ideas for pizza recipes to make in an Ooni pizza oven:
- Go classic with Margherita pizza
- Try a goat cheese pizza or pesto pizza
- Opt for a white pizza or Greek pizza
- Go big with truffle pizza or mushroom pizza
- Try fresh avocado pizza or healthy pizza
What if I make it at noon and want to eat it at 7pm? Should I put it in the fridge after the first doubling in size or can I just leave it on the counter until I want to use it?
Place it in the fridge or it will over-rise.
This is the Best pizza dough recipe! I weigh the flour – King Arthur’s 00 pizza flour, use rapid rise yeast and knead in my Kitchen aid mixer on low for 8 minutes. Comes out perfect every time!
Thank you!
If I want to halve the recipe do I halve the amount of yeast? Thanks!
yes!
Hello
I tried this recipe over the past weekend. While it was very easy to follow your steps, the results after cooking in my home gas oven on a pizza stone at 550 F was far from what I though it would be. It took 6 minutes to cook. The results was a very hard curst pizza. The flavour was not that good either. Some notes of what I used. I only used your weight measurements. I used all purpose flour and mixed it a Kitchen Aid mixer. I let it rest for an hour in my oven on the proof setting .
What did I do wrong? Any tips would help.
Hi! You should get a nicer, chewy puffy crust at that temperature. Did you stretch the dough or roll it out with a pin? I’m wondering if it got overworked.
You say you like cooking with the temp from 750-850, however the flour you linked specifically says do not use this flour for temperatures above 550, and to use another of their flours if you were going higher than that.
We used the dough immediately, as I needed extra when the girls (28 & 31!) came over for Roccbox pizza. I usually use @mike_fitzick ‘s phenomenal dough, but it needs 24-48hrs to rest/rise….so, thought I’d try this in the clutch. Used my Kitchen-aid dough hook to knead for suggested 8 minutes. In the end, we found this dough recipe underwhelming. Despite 450C (900F) oven, the outer edges puffed up nicely, but middle of the pies remained compressed/doughy. (And, yes, I followed the recipe…a very experienced cook.) Just know I’ll stick to Mike’s from now on.