No pizza, no problem: this no-knead, no-rise emergency no-yeast pizza dough will come to the rescue every time. My easy pizza base recipe is quick, easy, delicious. Add toppings and it’s still only 6 ingredients. Prepare your pizza in less time than it takes your oven to heat up!
No-Yeast Pizza Dough
I love pizza. Whether home-made from slowly risen sourdough, or delivered on the back of a moped or enjoyed at our excellent local pizzeria with a wood-fired oven, sometimes nothing else will do.
But there are times when I’m stuck, bereft and pizza-less. The restaurant is shut, as is the delivery service, and I haven’t prepared any dough. It’s at this time that I resort to my fail-safe, no-need-to-panic emergency pizza recipe. No yeast, no problem!
This recipe takes a few moments to bring together, with no extensive kneading or raising time required. Simply mix, bring together and form the pizza base, which can be ready in the time it takes to heat the oven. Add toppings, and bake. Thin, crispy, hot and delicious pizza is ready in a flash!
How Does it Work?
Slow-raised pizza dough, made with bread yeast or sourdough starter, is undoubtedly delicious. It does, however, need a number of hours to rise. This easy pizza base recipe uses baking powder, which starts reacting as soon as the liquid is added. The flat pizza base only needs to rise a little, so your no-yeast pizza dough is ready to bake as soon as it’s mixed.
How to Make No-Yeast Emergency Pizza Dough
Step One – Switch on your oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 7/425°F, and warm a baking tray or pizza stone if you have one. Gather your ingredients. The dough uses flour, yogurt, baking powder and salt. You also need toppings, so tomato sauce and cheese for a basic version, plus anything you want to add.
Step Two – Start by making the dough. Mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt and baking powder together. Then add the yogurt and mix to a rough dough. Tip this out onto the work surface.
Step Three – Knead the dough briefly to bring it all together. You don’t need a long, bread-making knead, but rather just enough to make a smooth dough. Roll it around for a minute and you’re done.
Roll the dough into a ball. Then using a rolling pin (or wine bottle), roll it out into a circle. Don’t worry if your circle is a bit rustic.
Step Four – Top the pizza with tomato sauce, cheese and should you want to, any extra toppings. I’ve added some slices of pepperoni and you could add the classic basil leaves. If you want to, drizzle the crust with some olive oil and a pinch of pizza seasoning.
Step Five – Bake on the warmed stone or baking tray for about 8 minutes, until the edge is golden. Serve and enjoy!
Hints & Tips
Can I make no-yeast pizza dough using gluten-free flour?
Yes, but add some xanthan gum. For 75 g of gluten free flour, add 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum. Also, it’s best to roll out the dough onto a silicone mat, top with tomato and cheese, and transfer the pizza to the oven on the mat. Depending on your gluten-free flour, you might need to adjust the ratio of flour to yogurt slightly.
Can I make this easy pizza base recipe vegan?
Yes! You can make this recipe using nut yogurt – coconut, almond, or cashew. Obviously, you want an unsweetened and unflavoured vegan yogurt. You might have to adjust the ratio of flour to yogurt slightly and of course use vegan cheese.
What tomato sauce can I use?
There are all sorts of tomato sauce that work well on this pizza. If you have it, tinned pizza sauce is perfect. If you have leftovers, freeze what you don’t use in an ice cube tray, then transfer the frozen cubes to a sealed plastic bag and store in the freezer. This will make it easier next time.
If you don’t have pizza sauce, you can blitz a tin of tomatoes to a smooth sauce and use that. Or when you have a moment, you can make some of my slow cooker tomato sauce and similarly keep it ready frozen into cubes. At a pinch, you can use tomato puree or ketchup!
Alternatively, leave the tomato off, drizzle with olive oil, garlic and herbs and make a pizza Bianca.
What cheese can I use?
Whatever you have! Mozzarella is obviously perfect, but if you only have cheddar, use cheddar! Use your imagination for the other toppings.
Pizza Stone
We find pizza is far better cooked on a pre-heated pizza stone. When you cook on a hot stone the bottom of the pizza starts to cook before the stone even goes back in the oven. If you don’t have a stone then use the heaviest baking tray you have. Instead of a stone, we have also used the cheapest terracotta floor tile from the discount tile shop when making this recipe. Just give it a really good scrub and let it dry properly before you first use it.
Emergency pizza - no-yeast pizza dough
Ingredients
For the base (makes one 8" pizza)
- 75 g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 75 ml Greek yogurt
For the topping
- 2 tbsp tomato pizza sauce
- 50 g mozzarella (or whatever cheese you have)
- 8 slices pepperoni
Instructions
To make the pizza base
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the yoghurt and mix together. Tip out onto the worksurface, and knead briefly for a minute or so to bring the dough together.
- Roll the dough into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll out into a 8"/20cm circle. It's ready for toppings.
For the topping
- Heat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 9. Place a baking stone or tray in the oven to heat.
- Cover the base with tomato sauce. Add cheese and any other toppings, such as pepperoni.
- Transfer to the heated baking stone or tray. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the edges are golden. ½
Notes
Love canned tomatoes? Find lots of fuss free easy recipes using tinned tomatoes here …
Claudia Lamascolo
good lord its 6 am and I am wanting pizza now for breakfast this looks fabulous!
Helen
Pizza for breakfast is sometimes perfectly acceptable.
Rebecca K
I love homemade pizza. So much nicer than shop bought. This is a handy recipe to have for a really easy make.
Helen
Homemade can be much nicer.
Wendy M
My kids love making pizzas, it can be quite an interesting event in our kitchen. Ideal recipe for an easy to make and tasty dinner.
Helen
Great idea to get the kids involved.
Gary H
Great idea to make your own pizza and totally easy. It’s the kind of thing you could easily make after work.
Helen
Really very easy to make,
Pamela
I’ve never thought of using a pizza stone before, but it sounds like a really good thing to have. I like your suggestion of a tile. I’ll have to hunt one out.
Helen
The stone is a great buy.
Sally Potter
We really love pizza in our house. And with so many different preferences and tastes, I do find making my own so much better. I even do half and half. So easy to make and love that there is no time waiting for dough.
Helen
Homemade pizza is perfect for adapting.
Caroline Jessop
Wow! This looks great Helen. So easy to make and only a handful of ingredients. Perfect.
Helen
Really easy to make.
Yasmine Kirkwood
This looks like a very tasty pizza recipe. Ideal for easy and quick meals.
Helen
So easy to make with no fussing.
Tammy
This would be a nice idea for something simple and easy.
Helen
So easy to make and no fuss.
Paul W
Your pizza looks more authentic than anything I’ve bought at a supermarket. I’m never a fan of heavy thick bases and this is ideal for me.
Helen
A thick base can be too much on a pizza.
Danielle
This is how we make our flatbreads and we love flatbread pizzas. So easy when a pizza craving hits.
Chef Markus Mueller
Love the idea of using baking powder to make the pizza base! Makes it nice and quick! While not fast by any means id love to try and make sourdough pizza crust to avoid using yeast.!! Thanks for sharing!
Helen
We make sourdough too, but of course it needs planning. This one is perfect for pizza in a hurry!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
I LOVE your title — Emergency Pizza (Dough). That’s definitely a “thing” — cause there are just times when you NEED pizza. I’m holding on to this recipe for my next emergency…
Helen
sometimes you just NEED pizza in a hurry!
Tayler Ross
This is such a great recipe! Saving for our next pizza night!
Helen
thank you Tayler. Hope you enjoy them
Diana
Worked really well – nice pliable dough , easy to roll out. Super quick and tasty! Thanks.
Sarah
How thick is the pizza dough? I put it in for 15-20mins and it was still so soft. I was trying to get the crispyness like the picture but I didn’t want to burn it. What do you suggest? Put it in longer or make it thinner? It was nice to eat nonetheless and I used greek yoghurt too.
Helen
Hi Sarah,
It wants to be about 5mm or just under 1/4″. You will get a far crisper result by baking it on a pre heated pizza stone.