This no knead pizza dough is not really something you can’t figure out without me, but I can share some tips to make some great pizza dough without kneading it and making a mess out of everything.

Don’t have an expensive stand mixer or too cheap to buy one? Then use a mixing bowl and a tablespoon. I will show you how it’s so easy!

I tried something new the other day. I made a Sicilian Pizza with medium crust.

Medium is suggested because it definitely wasn’t thin crust but at the same time not as thick as the Sicilian crust I usually make. How did I do this? I used 3 cups of flour instead of 4 cups. It came out perfect actually!

You can use a strong metal tablespoon with this no knead method. It’s great if you don’t want to get your counters or hands dirty when making the pizza dough. If this sounds good to you then you should love this method! The dough came out smooth and perfect. The end result was a Sicilian Pizza just like the restaurants serve but with the crust just a hair thinner. It gave it a nice crunch while maintaining plenty of thickness.

Only a Few Kitchen Tools are Needed for Pizza Dough without Kneading

You will need for No Knead Pizza Dough:

1. Measuring spoons and measuring cups to measure out your ingredients.
2. A large “strong” tablespoon that won’t bend (or also the handle of a large serving spoon).
3. A large stainless steel, aluminum, or glass mixing bowl. As long as it’s round and large that’s most important, so dough won’t get caught in corners. And made sure the inside if smooth without etched designs.
4. Either a large oiled or greased pot with a lid or bowl to place the dough into when it’s done being mixed, so it has time to rise and double in size without it sticking to the container.

STEPS

The whole process of mixing up the dough with a spoon shouldn’t take longer than around 7 minutes or so.

For Making the no knead pizza dough

INGREDIENTS for Pizza Dough without Kneading

• Approx: 2 or 3 teaspoons instant dry yeast or rapid rise dry yeast
• Approx: 3 cups Italian “00” flour
• Approx: 1.5 cups of water (added half at a time when mixing)
• Approx: 2 teaspoons salt
• Approx: 2 teaspoons sugar
• Approx: 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Please note these measurements above have a ratio that is very high in water compared to a usual recipe for two reasons.

1. That if you want lighter and airy crust you should always use enough water where the dough is more on the wet side than the dry side.
2. To mix the flour and water with a spoon only without having to knead with your hands read on. You will need to add as much water to the flour as possible to get things mixed up well. To make this as easy as possible I used this ratio, 1 cup of flour to 1/2 half cup of water. And the dough came out perfect! It was light and airy with air bubbles in the crust as you’d get in any good pizza shop that serves Sicilian Pizza!

Caution

Do not stretch the dough in the air by picking it up, when making a Sicilian Pizza or deep dish style pizza. Instead you will press it down into the pan until it is formed and will be very elastic bouncing back for the first few minutes but don’t give up. It will eventually get tired of fighting with you and go back to its original shape. Do not make this too thin. 3 cups of flour worked for me because I was careful not to make the dough too thin. It’s probably much better to use 3 and 1/2 cups flour and 1 and 3/4 cups water, or even 4 cups flour and 2 cups water. Don’t worry about the exact measurements. When making bread or pizza dough you can always sprinkle a little more flour into the dough batter to make it a little drier if it gets too wet or too sticky.

Remember that this dough is supposed to be on the wet and sticker side so that you can mix it easily with a spoon instead of your hands, so don’t worry.

The Pizza Dough Texture

This dough should be between the texture of a regular dough and a cake batter. It will look like it is going to stick to the mixing bowl when getting ready to pour it into the baking pan, but with some help of that tablespoon to help it along while turning the bowl upside down it should come out gradually but completely. Just don’t break it. Keep it in one whole piece while you use the spoon to loosen all edges will it’s sliding out of the bowl into the pan.

You can also use your regular favorite pizza dough recipe and get your ingredients ready.

I will post the basic ingredients and measurements required for making Sicilian Pizza dough below at the bottom of this tutorial.

1. In a small cup or bowl mix half of the lukewarm to touch water (about 3/4 cup) with 2 or 3 teaspoons of yeast. Let it proof and get foamy for 10 minutes.
2. Use a large mixing bowl mix well the flour, salt and sugar.
3. Add the lukewarm water (3/4 cup) containing the yeast with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well for a minute or less.
4. Now add the rest of the water (3/4 cup). This water should be room temp or cold.
5. And mix the dough for about 6 – 8 minutes (or longer) until smooth without lumps.
6. The dough can be a little sticky but not too sticky. You should be able to loosen from the sides of the mixing bowl with the help of the spoon. The drier the dough the easier it will be to remove, but the dough will be usually too tough and hard on this pie, so stay on the stickier side to achieve a moister and airier crust.
7. When the dough is thoroughly mixed without lumps place it into the another bowl or pot that’s oiled to keep it from sticking.
8. Then cover the bowl or pot and let it rise for about 90 minutes to  hours or until it’s doubled in size. Whatever comes first.
9. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled pan and press it down to form to the shape of the pan. It will take a good 5 to 10 minutes to do this. The dough will be elastic for the first few minutes then start to form better. Don’t pick it up and don’t make it too thin. Better to have it not get too thin and also not reach the edges than to get too thin since this is a thick crust. You can make a little border line for future assembly indented with your fingers to keep the sauce from escaping and running down the sides. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes until it gets puffy looking. Cover it and do not touch it.
10. Take a peak and when it’s risen a little then you can start to pour the sauce over it and add your cheese. See pictures.
11. Congratulations, you’ve just made your simple but delicious no knead pizza dough and it’s ready to be baked.
12. I double bake the dough. Once before adding the sauce and cheese then once after. Only about 7 minutes the first time though.
13. After baking the dough at around 475 F /245 C  for about 7 minutes. Remove and let it cool on top of the stove for 15 minutes at least before placing the sauce and cheese on top. Do not turn off your oven while the crust is cooling.
14. Now you can add about 12 ounces of sauce, 3 ounces of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese, and about 12 ounces of Mozzarella Cheese.
15. Bake for about 15 to 2o minutes checking on it after about 12 minutes. Do not burn the cheese. A few brown spots are okay and can be a good warning signal that it’s done baking.
16. Remove from oven and cool on the stove top while it’s still in the pan.
17. After about 7 minutes you can try to break the edges and corners free from the pan using a butter knife or thin flat metal spatula. Use quick jabs and you should hear it crack off of the sides if the pan was oiled on the sides before you baked the pizza.
18. Cut into 12 squares and enjoy!

This may sound complicated but it’s not. The process is fun and easy after you do it once you should learn from your mistakes if you’ve never baked a pizza.

Tips during the mixing process

Wasn’t this simple? If not you’ll definitely need some more practice, because this should be pretty easy to do.

You’ll need to hold the bowl firmly with one hand while the other hand, your strongest one, mixes quickly and scrapes all the little pieces of flour that stick to the bottom and sides of the bowl.

Hope this no knead pizza dough tutorial helped you!

WANT MORE HELP?

Click here if you’d like to see a picture tutorial of one of the Sicilian Pizzas I made this may help you more to learn how to make a Sicilian Pizza from scratch.

If you’d like other Pizza recipes or Famous Italian recipes there are plenty in my cookbook.  It comes in both digital e-book format and paperback.

You can find it at online at Amazon , in e-book and paperback and also at Barnes and Noble Nook Books, Kobo and others.