Ooni Pizza Dough Recipe

Ooni pizza dough is a five-ingredient dough built for the fast, fierce heat of an Ooni or any outdoor pizza oven, where a pizza bakes in a couple of minutes and comes off with a chewy middle and a blistered, crisp edge. In an oven that hot, a dough meant for a slow home oven can brown before the center sets, so this one is shaped around the quick bake instead.

We run the pizza oven outdoors most weekends in good weather, and I make the base and the sauce while everyone else builds their own. That’s the whole trick to keeping pizza night fun rather than turning into me cooking alone at the stove, and this dough, with just 00 flour, water, yeast, oil, and salt, stretches thin and chars fast without fighting you.

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Five things you probably already have, namely the yeast, warm water, olive oil, 00 flour, and salt, turn into a thin, chewy, Neapolitan-style base. There’s nothing exotic on the list.
• One batch makes two 12-inch bases, so a single rise feeds a table. I stretch one while the oven finishes heating and slide the second on right after.
• It fits around your day rather than the other way round. The dough is happy made ahead, waiting wrapped in the fridge or frozen until you want it, so a batch mixed now becomes a pizza night later with the hard part already done.
• It isn’t tied to owning an Ooni. The same dough bakes on a pizza stone in a regular kitchen oven, and our homemade Neapolitan pizza builds on a 12-inch crust like this one and walks you through getting a home oven as close to pizza-oven heat as it will go.
• The dough is just flour, water, yeast, oil, and salt, so it’s vegan as it stands and the starting point for any vegetarian pizza you build on top.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.

• 00 flour. This is the ingredient that defines the dough. The “00” refers to how finely the flour is milled, not to a low protein level, which is a common mix-up. That ultra-fine grind is what lets the dough hydrate evenly and stretch thin without tearing or springing back on you. If you can’t find it, bread flour is the closest swap, though the crust comes out a touch less delicate.
• Yeast. Standard active dry yeast, and the one thing that matters most is that it’s within date, since old yeast is the usual reason a dough never rises. You dissolve it in warm water first to wake it up.
• Warm water. The recipe calls for 100°F (38°C), and that’s worth getting roughly right. Comfortably warm to the touch is the target. Water that’s hot to the touch works against you, because too much heat stresses the yeast and hotter still kills it, and then nothing rises.
• Olive oil. It goes into the dough and coats the bowl for the rise. Regular olive oil is fine here; there’s no need for your best bottle.
• Salt. Just one teaspoon. It seasons the dough and tightens the gluten a little, and an unsalted base tastes flat no matter how good the toppings are, so don’t skip it.

How to Make Ooni Pizza Dough

A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.

Wake the Yeast

Whisk the yeast into the warm water first and let it dissolve. This is the step that wakes it up, and getting the water temperature right, comfortably warm and not hot, is what separates a dough that rises from one that just sits there.

Mix and Knead

Add the olive oil, flour, and salt and mix, either in a stand mixer with a dough hook on low speed or by hand for about 2 minutes.

Once it comes together, knead on a lightly floured surface for about 4 minutes until the dough springs back when you press it with a finger. That bounce-back is your signal it’s ready, not the clock, so if the dent stays put, keep kneading a little longer.

Rise Until Doubled

Grease the bowl, turn the dough to coat it, cover it, and leave it somewhere warm until it has doubled in size, roughly 90 minutes.

Shape and Cook

Knock out the air, divide the dough in two, and stretch each half into a 12-inch disc about half an inch thick; then press a lip about half an inch in from the edge so the rim puffs up.

Spread on your sauce (my homemade pizza sauce is the one I make), add your toppings, and slide it in. Cook for 2 to 10 minutes. A classic margherita of tomato, mozzarella, and basil is about the simplest way to show this base off. Go by the char on the crust rather than a set time, since every oven runs at its own speed.

Recipe Notes and Expert Tips

• Let the bounce-back tell you when it’s kneaded, not the timer. Press the dough with a fingertip. If the dent springs back, the gluten has developed enough, and it’s ready to rise; if the dent stays, give it a few more minutes. Flour and room temperature both change how fast a dough comes together, so this reads truer than counting minutes.
• Rest the dough if it fights you when you stretch. If it keeps springing back and pulling in on itself, walk away for ten to fifteen minutes and let the gluten relax, then come back to it. Push it out from the center with your fingertips rather than pulling, which tears it.
• Leave a thicker rim when you shape. The untouched lip, about half an inch in from the edge, is what puffs up into the airy, charred crust once it hits high heat, so keep your fingertips out of it.
• Watch the pizza, not the clock. A wood-fired Ooni, a gas oven, and a pizza stone in a kitchen oven all cook at different speeds, so use the char on the crust as your guide. If the base scorches before the top is ready, the stone is running too hot, so give it a moment to settle between pizzas.

Recipe Variations

• Work a spoonful of Italian seasoning or a little garlic powder into the flour before mixing, and it flavors the crust from the inside rather than just the toppings. I’ve tested it plenty on plainer pizzas where the base does more of the talking.
• If 00 flour isn’t in your store, bread flour is the closest swap, and it’s well supported by pizza makers as a stand-in. The crust bakes up a little less tender than the fine grind gives, with a touch more chew.
• Replacing up to half the 00 flour with whole wheat gives a nuttier, heartier crust, though whole wheat drinks up more water and I haven’t tested the full-half swap here. Lean toward the lower end the first time and see how you like it.

How to Store Leftovers

This dough is built for getting ahead, and it keeps two ways depending on how far out you’re planning.

For the next few days, the dough stays in the fridge for up to 3 days, wrapped. Pull it out and let it come back to room temperature before you stretch it, or it will tighten and tear. A slow, cold rest in the fridge also builds a little more flavor than a same-day dough, so making it ahead works in your favor.

To keep it longer, freeze it. Roll the dough into balls, leave them until they have doubled, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bring it back to room temperature before shaping, and a batch you make today becomes a pizza night weeks from now with the hard part already done.

What to Serve With Ooni Pizza Dough

This is a base rather than a finished dish, so what I put alongside it is what I put alongside pizza night. I set out a simple green salad with toasted pecans and a tangy vinaigrette to cut through all the cheese, and I toss the pecans and mix the dressing ahead so it’s a quick job at the table.

When I want something warm to tear into while the pizzas come off the oven, I make a batch of soft, buttery garlic knots, which are also good for mopping up any leftover sauce. And since one batch of dough gives you two bases, I usually top the second with something different so nobody’s left waiting on a single pizza.

FAQs

More Pizza Recipes to Try Next

If you’ve got the oven going, here are a few more pizzas I keep in the rotation.

• Artichoke pizza. When I want dinner to feel a bit special, it piles on garlicky spinach, marinated artichokes, and mozzarella, and it cooks in an Ooni or a regular oven just like this dough.
• Tomato pizza with fresh basil. In tomato season, I’ll make this one, a mix of heirloom and cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella.
• Cheese pizza. For a fuss-free favorite, this keeps things simple and lets a good crust do the work.
• Sheet pan pizza. With spinach and cherry tomatoes, it stretches one bake across a whole table when I’m feeding a crowd.