Ooni Pizza Dough Recipe (Plus Key Ooni Tips!) (2024)

Why you’ll love this Ooni pizza dough recipe

See what readers say about this pizza dough recipe:

Great dough! Nice and crispy crust with a lot of flavor.

This is perhaps the easiest, best dough recipe for Ooni that I’ve found.

Ingredients

There are pizza people who will say, “You have to make pizza this way.” or “You can’t make an Ooni pizza dough with oil and sugar, or it will burn.” To them I say, “pffffffft.” Please make your pizza the way you like best.

One big difference between making pizza dough for the Ooni and your home oven is that you want a lower hydration level (the weight of water divided by weight of flour). That’s because pizza cooks for a shorter time in the Ooni, and there’s less evaporation.

This recipe makes a 60% hydration level pizza dough. That’s an ideal hydration for the Ooni pizza oven. And it’s in the range to be called Neopolitan pizza by the international pizza police.

The classic pizza flour is 00 pizza flour, which is a finely ground flour with a protein content like bread flour. Higher protein flours are used when you want more gluten development and a stretchy dough, like with pizza dough, sandwich breads, or bagels.

Variations and substitutions

You could use any flour in this Ooni pizza dough recipe, but a lower protein flour like all-purpose flour may be harder to work with and might rip as you are shaping the pizza dough. A higher protein bread flour is the best substitution here.

To make a same day pizza dough for the Ooni, double the yeast to 2 teaspoons. Let it rise at a warm room temperature for 3 to 4 hours prior to dividing into four dough balls. If your dough seems too elastic and snaps back during shaping, let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes and try again.

You can add Parmesan, garlic powder, or herbs like dried oregano or basil to your Ooni pizza dough. This would be particularly helpful for a same-day dough to compensate for the flavor development missed in the overnight rise.

Step by step

What’s the secret to great Ooni pizza dough? Like when making baguettes and breads flavored by flour, salt, and yeast, the most important ingredient in the best Ooni pizza dough recipes is time. While you can make a same-day pizza dough, it won’t have the same flavor. And it will be much harder to stretch, shape, and launch.

Step 1: Combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer or other large bowl. You can always make pizza dough entirely by hand if you prefer.

Step 2: Add the water and olive oil and mix. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook once the pizza dough comes together. This will prevent burning out your stand mixer motor – many stand mixers have problems with higher protein bread and brioche dough.

Step 3: Knead the Ooni pizza dough for about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and tacky but not sticky. Add small amounts of flour at a time if it is too sticky, or add a teaspoon of water if it is too dry.

Please see the FAQs for an explanation why humidity can impact yeast doughs and why you might need to adjust flour or water. The goal is to end up with a pizza dough for the Ooni that is smooth and only slightly tacky.

Step 4: Form the dough into a ball, lightly oil the bowl, and roll the dough ball around to cover it in oil. I recommend doing this stage in a single container just because it takes less space in the refrigerator!

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator overnight or up to three days. It should about double in size.

Step 5: Divide the pizza dough into four dough balls of about equal size (about 300 grams) Or divide into five or more dough balls if you’re making smaller or personal pizzas in your Ooni.

Step 6: Shape the dough balls into boules, place the dough into a pan or container dusted with flour, cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and let the dough balls rise for a few hours before shaping. Here’s a great video to watch on how to shape pizza balls.

If your kitchen is chilly, you might want to take it out earlier or let your pizza dough balls rise in a oven warmed to 80 degrees. If your kitchen is hot, it will only take a couple hours for them to double in size.

Why buy a home pizza oven

We were forever on a quest for the perfect homemade thin crust pizza. But the perfect crust is a challenge with a home oven that maxes out at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

You might have tried these same tricks. We bought different pizza stones. We used the broiler. I tried to convince Mr. Ugly Duckling Bakery he could love deep dish pizza.

The Ooni has its own issues because it reaches temperatures of over 1000 degrees. Below is what we’ve learned so far.

Ooni pizza oven cooking tips

First is a big safety warning. Never use your Ooni pizza oven indoors. It’s a fire hazard and risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Tip from the wise quacker: The Ooni also needs a warning label about its steep learning curve. When you first get your Ooni, watch a bunch of videos. And if you make edible pizza, congratulate yourself. It’s good to have an alternative meal planned for that first try.

There are no pics of our first pizzas. The peel we used was too short and made of wood, and the mister burnt the hair on his arms.

Tip #1: Have the right equipment

Our second try was better. We bought a metal peel with a long wood handle and a pizza spinner. But the pizza stuck to the peel, resulting in a parallelogram of a pizza.

Tip #2: Dust your peel and don’t dilly-dally adding toppings

Our next Ooni session was a pizza party with 10 or 12 pizzas. The challenge to a pizza party is that you need to shape your pizza dough and top your pizzas one by one, or they won’t release from the peel. Some people pre-bake their crusts for parties.

Use a mix of cornmeal and semolina flour on the peel because using only cornmeal makes the pizza taste charred. Also, the more practice you get, the better your pizzas will be.

Tip #3: Heat the Ooni to max temperature and turn it down

This pizza was accidentally cooked on the max temperature. Oops.

Tip #4: Use an overnight rise

The slower, overnight rise gives you a better tasting crust and dough that is easier to shape. If you have time, foresight, and space, leave your Ooni pizza dough in your fridge for even longer.

Tip #5: Practice, practice, practice

This basil pesto, roasted garlic, and artichoke heart pizza slid off the peel easily. The crust puffed up, and the bottom crust fully cooked. The only downside of practice is that you have to eat pizza!

These are some of the tools we use with our Ooni pizza oven:

• long-handled (wood, so it doesn’t heat up) metal pizza peel
• pizza spinner or spinning pizza peel
• infrared thermometer
• pizza cutter
• the Super Peel Pro may be the answer if you’re having problems launching your pizza

Recipe FAQs

Got pizza dough down? Check out favorite Ugly Duckling Bakery yeasted bread recipes like:

Servings: 4 12-14″ pizzas

Calories: 854kcal

This Ooni pizza dough recipe makes an overnight pizza dough recipe for your outdoor pizza oven that's easy to work with and delicious.

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Nutrition

Calories: 854kcal | Carbohydrates: 164g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1460mg | Potassium: 284mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 4IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 3mg