Easy Overnight Pizza Dough
An easy, instant yeast overnight pizza dough that results in a soft and puffed up crust!
Servings: 4 x ~320g balls, or 5x ~250g balls or 6x ~210g balls
Equipment
- Pizza oven that can reach temperatures up to 400c / 750f
- Pizza Peel for launching
- Pizza turning peel for turning in the oven
Ingredients
- 450 ml cold water
- 45 g olive oil
- 2 g instant dry yeast
- 750 g strong pizza/bread flour – I use Mulino Caputo Manitoba Oro
- 20 g salt
- semolina flour for dusting and shaping the pizza
Instructions
MIXING THE DOUGH (25 MINUTES)
- Fit a stand mixer with a dough hook.
- Add water, olive oil and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer and stir.
- Add the flour and combine on a low speed until the dough has come together and the sides of the bowl are clean.
- Add the salt and continue to knead on a low-medium speed in the stand mixer for a few minutes until the salt is incorporated.
- Tip the dough out onto your work surface and knead until smooth – about 5 min.
- Cover with a clean tea towel and rest for 15 min.
NB: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a wooden spoon to mix the flour with the liquids, then use a soaking wet hand to mix the dough further and incorporate the salt. Use a grabbing/squeezing motion with your hand until combined then hand knead in a bowl before tipping out onto a work surface and continuing from the below step.
The dough is a little on the sticky side so use a bench scraper to help you.
PRESHAPING (10 MINUTES)
- Portion the dough into balls. I usually make either 4x 320g dough balls, 5x 250g dough balls or 6x210g dough balls.
- Stretch the dough ball out into a rough rectangle, then fold the right side into the middle, then the left side to the right so it's folded across the top of the other.
- Take the top of the rectangle (side furthest from you), and roll it down to the bottom side.
- Use a cupped hand to roll the ball in circles several times to create tension.
- You can also connect the base of both palms to push the dough ball away from you, then making a triangle shape with you thumbs and index fingers, pull the dough ball back towards you, repeating a few times.
COLD FERMENTATION (OVERNIGHT - MIN 16 HOURS)
- Place each dough ball either in individual containers lightly greased with olive oil, or in a container large enough for all of them.
- Lightly brush each dough ball with olive oil and refrigerate overnight for a minimum of 16 hours or up to 72 hours.
FINAL PROOF (2-3 HOURS)
- Remove the dough balls from the fridge and while they remain in the containers, bring to room temp for 2-3 hours or until perfectly proofed – a finger poke test should see the dough slowly spring back.
OPENING THE DOUGH/SHAPING PIZZA (5 MINUTES EACH)
- To shape the pizza, first carefully release a dough ball from the container directly into a shallow bowl of semolina flour - being mindful not to knock any air out of the dough.
- Flip the dough ball in the semolina so the other side is dusted with the flour, then carefully place onto your work surface (also lightly dusted with semolina flour).
- I like to start by using my fingers on both hands to push the air out of the centre toward to edges of the dough to create a crust shape - leaving approx 2cm around the edge where I haven't pressed any air out - rotating until all sides of the dough ball have been formed.
- Flip the dough over (the top you just shaped will now be the base), and continue the motion all the way around as before.
- Then it's up to you how you want to shape the pizza - personally I like the "DJ method".
TOPPING THE PIZZA
- Quickly and carefully slide the shaped pizza onto your pizza peel - you can adjust the shape once on the peel by carefully pulling the sides into position.
- Top with 1-2 tbsp of sauce and use the back of a spoon to evenly cover the base right up to where your crust line is, followed by your toppings of choice - remember less is more when it comes to pizza!
You can use shredded or cubed low hydration mozzarella (the firm kind), if you want that classic, NYC style pizza topping with golden bubbling cheese. Or if you want more of a classic Neapolitan style finish, opt for buffalo mozzarella - just make sure to drain any excess whey from the cheese ball first before tearing small pieces onto your pizza.
COOKING THE PIZZA (PIZZA OVEN INSTRUCTIONS) (2 MINUTES EACH)
- Preheat your pizza oven to 375-400c/700-750f.
- Carefully launch the pizza into the oven, and allow the side closest to the flame to puff up and colour/leopard slightly before your first rotation (around 20-30 seconds). This will also allow the base to cook enough to release easily for following turns.
- Rotate the dough every 10-15 seconds in quarter turns until golden and bubbling - this should only really take a minute or so!
Instructions for freezing your dough in advance, and cooking later
- I have updated this recipe as of 5th May 2025 to include instructions on how to prepare the dough in advance and store in the freezer for another time.
- Follow the above instructions through to final proof.
- Once the dough balls are fully proofed, carefully place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and flash freeze for approx 20-30 minutes.
- Wrap the now lightly frozen dough ball loosely in parchment (I sort of fold a piece of parchment in half around the dough ball), then place into a freezer bag or airtight container, and back into the freezer.
- You can store these for up to 3 months.
- To cook it, bring it out of the freezer and allow to come back to room temperature over about 1.5-2 hours depending on your climate.
- Then you can continue with opening the dough/cooking as detailed above.
