Super Easy Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

We have pizza at our house at least twice a month. Ever since I discovered cooking pizza on the grill, it’s become a every-other-Friday night tradition. I tested my whole wheat pizza dough recipe for YEARS, always defaulting to all-purpose flour because I could never quite get an all-whole wheat version to rise to my liking. One day, I created this pizza crust and I never looked back. It solves the rising issue by using a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat. Voilà! It has risen!! Not only that, but this whole wheat pizza crust bakes (or grills) to be chewy, crispy, and flavorful. The best there is.

Reasons to Love This Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This whole wheat pizza dough is super easy to make from scratch and handles like a dream. Plus, when you make pizza at home, it means you can get creative with all the toppings (at no extra charge) and you can enjoy your pizza hot from the oven without the wait. Need more convincing? Allow me:

• Only one rise. This easy pizza dough recipe needs 5 minutes of hands-on prep and a single 1-hour rise before it’s ready to make into pizza.
• Practically fail-proof. If you follow this recipe as written with fresh yeast, I promise, your whole wheat pizza dough will rise.
• Cook it any which way. Whether you roll it out thick or thin, bake or grill it, or turn it into pizza rolls or calzones, this is THE pizza dough. It’s the only recipe you’ll ever need.
• Family pizza night. Homemade pizza is a fun way to get kids involved in cooking. They can help with making the dough and build their own pizza afterward!

Ingredients in Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

After several rounds of testing, these are the ingredients that yield a perfectly fluffy, crisp whole wheat pizza crust. See the recipe card for the complete recipe amounts.

• Yeast – If you want your pizza dough to rise and be fluffy and light you’ll need yeast. I use Red Star yeast, but any active dry yeast will work. You’ll also need warm water (105°F-115°F) to mix with the yeast. Anything over 120°F will kill your yeast.
• Whole wheat flour – For this recipe, I’ve used 100% whole grain, whole wheat flour. I have also used white whole wheat flour and that works pretty well, too.
• All-purpose flour – Just one cup of all purpose in addition to the whole wheat flour. Alternatively, you can use only all-purpose if that’s what you have. I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour or 1:1 gluten free baking flour yet. If you’ve tried it, I’d love to know in the comments!
• Sugar – You’ll need a small amount of sugar. Sugar helps feed the yeast, and it also tenderizes the dough.
• Salt – Salt is actually a key ingredient in pizza dough making. It controls the yeast and balances the sugar, so you don’t end up with a flat, flavorless board for a crust. Don’t skip either of these ingredients!
• Oil – In my opinion, extra virgin olive oil gives the best taste. You’ll use olive oil in the dough itself, and also brush olive oil over the bowl where you’ll put the dough to rise.

How to Make Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This is a pretty straight forward pizza dough recipe. It takes 5 minutes to make, and then you’ll let it sit to rise for 1 hour. Once it’s ready, you’ll have enough dough for 1 large pizza, 2 medium, or 4 personal-sized pizzas.

1. Activate the yeast. First, combine the active dry yeast with warm water (105°F-115°F). Stir, and let that stand until foamy, about 3-5 minutes. If the mixture isn’t foaming after a few minutes, it could be that the water was too hot (over 120ºF), or the yeast was expired. In this case, discard and start over with a fresh packet of yeast.
2. Mix the dough. Next, mix the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, plus 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and continue to mix until the dough forms a sticky ball. This usually takes about 2-3 minutes.
3. Knead. Turn your dough out on a floured surface and knead it by hand for a minute to make a smooth ball.
4. Rise. Place the smooth dough inside an oiled bowl. Lightly brush the top of the dough with oil, then seal the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough somewhere warm to rise for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the dough. The dough should double in size. At this point, punch down the dough, and then roll it out on a floured countertop.
6. Assemble. Spread homemade tomato sauce or pizza sauce over the crust, and add your cheese and toppings.

How Long Should I Bake the Pizza Dough?

To bake your whole wheat pizza, place your fully prepared pizza (toppings and all) on a baking stone, baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 475ºF, until dough is cooked and slightly browned.

Pizza Toppings & Inspiration

Once you have your whole wheat pizza crust ready to go, the topping opportunities are endless.

• Classic Margherita Pizza: Freshly sliced mozzarella, beef steak tomatoes, and fresh basil leaves.
• BBQ Chicken Pizza: Homemade BBQ sauce for the base, topped with rotisserie chicken and sliced red onion.
• Supreme Pizza: Pepperoni, sausage, sliced tomato, bell peppers, sliced red onion, and sliced mushrooms.
• Meat Lover’s Pizza: Pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and Canadian bacon.
• Chicken Pesto Pizza: Homemade pesto sauce, grilled chicken, tomato slices, and red pepper slices.
• Classic Hawaiian pizza: Tomato sauce or BBQ sauce base with ham or bacon, pineapple chunks, and sliced red onion. Also try my grilled Hawaiian pizza recipe.
• Vegetarian Pizza: Sliced mushrooms, sliced tomato, sliced bell peppers, sliced red onion, and spinach.

Flavor Variations

The best part of making your own pizza dough is you can change up the flavors! It’s as easy as adding simple ingredients to the dough while mixing. Here are my favorites:

• Garlic and herb: Add 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dry basil, and 1 teaspoon dry oregano.
• Garlic Parmesan: Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder (or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic) and 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese to the dough. Sometimes I like to add 1 tablespoon to the rolled out dough. Slice the dough into logs using a pizza cutter and then bake for homemade garlic Parm breadsticks!
• Cinnamon sugar: For a “dessert pizza” crust, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 extra tablespoon of sugar to the dough.

FAQ

Proper Storage

• Refrigerate. You can prepare this whole wheat pizza dough up to 2 days ahead. Keep it wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge.
• Freeze. After the dough rises, grease it lightly with cooking spray or olive oil. Place the dough in a freeze bag with as much air squeezed out as possible and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough in the fridge before rolling it out.

More Pizza Recipes

• Caprese Pizza with Balsamic Reduction
• Steak Flatbread Pizza with Gorgonzola Sauce
• Butternut Squash Chicken Flatbread Pizza
• Prosciutto Peach Flatbread Pizza
• 30-Minute Pita Pizza