Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe

With a crisp exterior and soft interior, you’d never guess my 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe is actually quite healthy. Ideal for making homemade thin-crust pizzas of any flavor, this delightful dough is made with just 6 ingredients in 1 hour including rise time. Best of all, it’s meal-prep and freezer-friendly!

About Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe

This Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe is a simple and easy method to make pizza crust from 100% whole wheat flour. Using whole grain flour instead of refined all-purpose flour means this recipe will have lots of extra nutrients. HOORAY!

This recipe gives a soft textured pizza crust that is crisp from the outside after getting baked. There is no denseness or chewiness felt in the pizza — it is light, crispy, and soft, just like from your favorite pie shop.

Pizza is one of those dishes that is popular all over the world. I personally make pizza once or twice a month because it is delicious and an excellent way to get rid of any bits and bobs floating around in the fridge after a long week of cooking.

I made three types of pizza with this healthy recipe on various occasions, and you know what? No one could tell that the pizzas were made from whole wheat flour! It’s seriously so good despite being quite healthy.

This whole-wheat pizza dough recipe yields 7 thin-crust pizzas of 9 inches each. You can easily refrigerate or freeze the dough, meaning it is a great recipe for your meal-prep day.

I have used a stand mixer to help knead the dough, but it’s also easy to knead the dough with your hands if necessary. Just make sure that the dough is kneaded till smooth, soft and supple.

Ingredients & Substitutions

As promised, you don’t need much to make this gorgeous whole-grain pizza dough. Here’s what you need:

1. Whole Wheat Flour – I like using whole foods as much as possible in order to give my family the most nutrition. Whole wheat flour is an excellent source of important nutrients, and it’s an easy swap to make. Feel free to sub in bread flour or all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.
2. Instant Yeast – This is a different product than active dry yeast and will behave differently. Instant yeast is also known as rapid rise yeast. Please see my note on yeast in the section below to learn the differences.
3. Sugar – Sugar isn’t used so much as a flavoring ingredient in this pizza dough recipe, rather is used to feed the yeast. Feel free to swap in any natural sweetener you prefer.
4. Salt – Note that salt can kill yeast, so make sure to not add it until you have a buffer of flour.
5. Lemon Juice – A bit of acidity helps in the gluten development. So we add a touch of lemon juice to assist with this.
6. Olive Oil – For added pliability. No need to use “the good stuff” here; any bottle that you use for normal cooking is perfect. You can also swap in any type of neutral oil or fat that you have on hand.
7. Water – If possible, use filtered water for the best results

A Word On Yeast

To make this pizza dough crust I have used instant yeast. In the markets here in India, dry active yeast is often sold as instant yeast, which can cause a lot of confusion.

Instant yeast granules are small and resemble poppy seeds. Dry active yeast granules are larger and have the size of large yellow mustard seeds. So, if you buy a pack that claims it is instant yeast and the size is bigger then it is actually dry active yeast.

Don’t want to take any chances? You can also check out this recipe for No Yeast Pizza Dough.

With this pizza crust recipe I have made quite a number of pizza varieties. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Margherita Pizza
• Pesto Pizza
• Paneer Cheese Pizza

Note that this recipe works with the roller milled flour available in US and Europe, other countries and also with the stone milled flour available in India which is called ‘atta’.

How To Make Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough

1. Take 1 teaspoon instant yeast (3 grams) in a mixing bowl or in the stand mixer bowl.

2. Add ½ teaspoon sugar.

3. Then add 1 cup water. Mix well.

4. Next add 3 cups whole wheat flour.

5. Season with 1 teaspoon salt.

6. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil. If you do not have olive oil, use any neutral flavored oil.

7. Now add 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

8. Attach the bowl to a stand mixer with the hook attachment. On a medium-high speed knead the dough.

If kneading with hands, then mix everything very well and then knead for at least 8 to 10 minutes.

9. The dough should be smooth, pliable and soft. If the dough looks dry, then you can add some water while kneading.

If the dough looks sticky, then you can sprinkle some flour. Depending on the quality of flour, you will need to add less or more water.

10. Gather the dough into a ball and spread some water all over it.

11. Cover with a lid or a kitchen towel and allow to leaven (rise) till the dough roughly doubles in volume.

I kept for 1 hour 45 minutes as it’s cold here. In a warm temperature, it might only take 45 minutes to 1 hour.

If using dry active yeast, then keep for 2 hours to 3 hours (depending on the temperature conditions in your city).

12. The pizza dough will nicely increase in volume and double up.

13. Here is a look at the texture. It should be stringy with tiny air pockets.

14. Knead the dough lightly again and then you can directly make pizzas from it. Or you can keep it covered in a tight box or pan.

Spread some olive oil all over the dough before placing them in the box.

15. Cover the box or pan with a tight-fitting lid.

16. Keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or freeze the whole wheat pizza dough for up to a month.

Make Whole Wheat Pizza Crust With Dry Active Yeast or Fresh Yeast

• For this recipe use the below conversion when using dry active yeast:
  1 teaspoon instant yeast = 1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast = 3 teaspoons fresh yeast
• Proof the dry active yeast or fresh yeast in warm water and sugar solution till the mixture froths and bubbles. Then mix with the rest of the ingredients and knead.
• Double the leavening time.
• The time taken to leaven will depend on the temperature conditions in your city. So you can keep the dough for 2 to 3 hours or more if required. I have mentioned the details if using active dry yeast or fresh yeast in the notes section of the recipe card below.
• Use good quality dry active yeast or fresh yeast and do make sure that the water is lukewarm, not hot to the touch.

Expert Tips

• Create a proofing drawer in your cold oven. If it is quite cold where you live, you can help your dough rise by creating a warm, humid environment for the yeast to thrive. To do this, place a bowl or cake pan in the bottom of your cold (OFF) oven. Add an inch or two of boiling water to the bowl or pan. Place the covered dough on a rack in the middle of the oven, and close the door. The ambient heat and steam will provide the perfect place for your dough to double!
• Using Instant Pot. For cold places, the Instant Pot also makes for a excellent device to leaven the dough. Spread oil lightly on the dough and place it in a bowl. Press the yogurt button and set it to the normal mode. Place a small trivet inside in the steel pot insert. Keep the bowl with the dough on the trivet. Cover the instant pot with any lid (it can be any of your pot and pan’s lid large enough to cover the instant pot). Set the time to 45 minutes or more until the dough doubles in volume.
• If freezing for storage, separate into individual balls of dough so you can use just what you need. Using a knife or bench-scraper, divide the dough into 6 to 7 even balls before storing. When you’re ready to make a pizza (or two), simply defrost the number of dough balls that you’ll need!
• For a softer dough consider using white whole wheat flour (also sold as whole wheat pastry flour). It’s still 100% whole grain!

FAQs

This Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe post from the archives first published in December 2016 has been republished and updated on 19 July 2022.