How Much Pizza Dough Per Pizza? [By Pizza Size]

The popular delivery chains can't compete with a great homemade pizza's flavor, texture, and aroma. But how do you know how much dough to make? We've investigated and crunched the numbers on how to get the right amount of dough for different sizes. Here's what you need to know.

For a New York-style pizza crust, you'll want this much dough per pizza:

• 10-inch pizza: 180 grams
• 12-inch pizza: 260 grams
• 14-inch pizza: 354 grams

you can adjust the exact weight of your dough for different styles and preferences for thickness.

In this article, we'll look more closely at where these numbers come from and see some options for adjusting the weight for your favorite style of pizza. We'll also look at how to stretch your pizza dough for dinner right away or freeze it for later.

 

How Much Should A Ball Of Pizza Dough Weigh?

Finding the right amount of dough for your pizza will depend on several factors. The two most important of these are the size of your pizza and the thickness of its crust.

Our recommendations are based on a New York-style pizza, specifically, this recipe from Roberta's pizzeria featured in The New York Times.

This pizza has a crust that's a bit thinner than the standard crust at most pizza chains but a little thicker than a traditional Neopolitan pizza. You can see how to make it in the video below.

This recipe is designed for two 12-inch pizzas, but what if you want a different size? You could stretch it out more or less to fit your desired size, but that will affect the crust thickness.

To maintain the crust thickness in different sizes, we brushed off our old geometry books to find the amount of dough per square inch of pizza.

We need to square the radius of the pizza and multiply that by pi (in this case, pizza pie). For a 12-inch pizza that looks like this: 6² x 3.14 = 113.04. The recipe makes 520 grams of dough for two 12-inch pizzas, making it 2.3 grams for each square inch of dough.

To fit this recipe into different sizes, we can multiply 2.3 grams by the surface area of the desired pizza. Of course, if you like a thinner or thicker pizza, you can use this same method to find your ideal amount of dough per square inch too.

How Much Dough For A 10-Inch Pizza?

The exact recipe for a 10-inch pizza would take 180 grams of pizza dough. How did we get this figure? First, let's use our formula to find the surface area of a 10-inch pizza.

5² x 3.14 = 78.5

We see that a 10-inch pizza has a surface of 78.5 square inches. Next, we'll multiply that by 2.3, like so:

78.5 x 2.3 = 180.55

So to make a 10-inch pizza with the same crust as the original recipe, we'll use just over 180 grams of dough.

Using a kitchen scale to weigh your dough is the best option for consistent results. However, not everyone has a scale, and it's not always convenient to get it out. If you forego the scale, you can eyeball the dough as you roll it into a ball.

A 180-gram ball of dough will be about the size of a tangerine, slightly smaller than an orange. It may look small, but don't worry. As the dough rises, it will increase by double or more.

Go for a larger, heavier dough ball if you like a thicker crust. This recipe for California-style pizza makes four 225-gram dough balls for 10-inch pizzas.

How Much Dough For A 12-Inch Pizza?

The first recipe we looked at for New York-style pizza uses 520 grams of dough to make two 12-inch pizzas, meaning you'll need 260 grams of dough for each. If you aren't using a scale, the dough ball should look about the size of a navel orange before rising.

Use more or less dough to suit your preferences. This recipe for thin pizza crust uses just 175 grams of dough for a 12-inch pizza.

How Much Dough For A 14-Inch Pizza?

For a 14-inch pizza, you would use 354 grams of dough for a New York-style crust, about the size of a grapefruit. This figure comes from the same formula we used before, adjusted for the 14-inch pizza's 7-inch radius.

7² x 3.14 = 153.86

153.86 x 2.3 = 353.9

As always, don't be afraid to use more or less dough per pizza to suit your tastes. This recipe for Chicago-style deep-dish pizza calls for an impressive 858 grams of dough for a 14-inch pizza!

Different styles of pizza don't just need a different crust. Oven temperature is essential to getting any style of pizza just right.

How Many Pizzas Does 1 Pound Of Dough Make?

One pound of pizza dough can be divided up differently, depending on how thick of a crust you like. A pound is equal to 454 grams. For a New York-style crust, that's enough for four 8-inch pizzas.

If you like pizzas with thick crusts, this is enough for one 14-inch or two 10-inch pizzas with a thicker crust. If you want your pizzas on the thinner side, you can make two 12-inch, thin-crust pizzas with a pound of dough.

How Do You Make The Perfect Dough Ball?

Before your pizza dough's final proof, you'll need to form it into balls for each pizza you'll make. This helps the pizza develop and maintain the correct shape when you stretch and bake it.

Making a dough ball can seem a little tricky at first, but it doesn't need to be.

There are many techniques for making dough balls. One method is to roll the dough on the counter with one hand. Keep your fingers around the sides of the ball, like a claw, as you roll it, but you don't need to push it under the ball.

Another technique favored by many beginners is folding the dough. With the dough near you on the counter, fold it in half away from you and pinch it together into a seam.

Then, rotate the dough so that the seam is facing up and the line is perpendicular to you. Then, fold it again. Continue this process four or five times.

After you've folded the dough several times and the surface opposite the seam is smooth and tight, you can finish off the dough ball. Pick up the dough in one hand and turn it upside-down. Pinch and twist the seam to seal the dough.

You can see both of these methods and more in the video below.

How To Shape Pizza Dough

The image of the Italian chef throwing and spinning pizza dough in the air, while iconic, is not the best way to stretch out your dough for the home cook. Besides being a complex technique to master, it's also easy to tear the dough or drop it. Fortunately, there is an easier and safer way.

The first step is to dust your hands and counter with flour or semolina. This will help prevent your dough from sticking to your hands or the workspace.

After that, you'll place the dough ball on the work surface and start pressing it with your fingers. Leave about a half-inch around the edge that you don't press to become the puffy outer rim of your crust.

Next, you'll place both hands gently on the dough. You'll slowly and gently stretch the dough by moving your hands away from each other while rotating the dough in whichever direction is most comfortable.

Now is the trickiest part: the slap. You'll take the dough gently in one open hand, then toss it down into the other. Then, the other hand passes it back to the first, rotating it slightly. You'll do this until your dough has reached the desired size.

If you aren't confident doing the slap technique, you can also continue to stretch it on the table with both hands as in the step before. You may find it challenging to get the pizza thin, but it will still be a tasty dough!

You can see this technique demonstrated in the video below.

With your pizza stretched, you'll be ready to top and bake it! You might even want to consider using a pizza stone or tray for the next steps, so that's something to think about.

Can You Freeze Pizza Dough?

Whether you have leftover dough from your recipe or are preparing more for later use, it is safe to freeze pizza dough. In an airtight container, pizza dough can stay in the freezer for up to three months.

How Do You Freeze Pizza Dough?

The best time to freeze your pizza dough is right after you've formed it into a dough ball. At this point, coat the ball in olive oil. You can use a drop of oil or an oil spray, but be sure to roll the ball around, so it gets coated on all sides.

After that, slide the dough into a freezer bag. Squeeze out as much of the air as possible, and then seal it and put it in the freezer.

You should move the frozen dough into the refrigerator to thaw for 12 hours, then bring it to room temperature before use. You can also defrost it on the counter for two hours, making sure to cover it, so it doesn't dry out.

To Wrap Up

Making a pizza takes more than tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings. You need a great pizza crust. Now you know more about getting the right amount of dough for different sizes of pizza crust.

You've also seen how to shape your dough like a professional and how to freeze it so you can have pizza anytime.

Now you'll be ready to chart a path toward your pizza paradise. Happy cooking and Bon Appétit!