Chicago Thin-Crust (Tavern-Style) Pizza Dough
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus at least 3 hours’ and up to 5 days’ resting
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 3 days 25 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 (14-inch) crusts
- 300grams bread flour (about 2¼ cups, see Tips)
- 7grams sugar (about 1½ teaspoons)
- 7grams salt (about 1¼ teaspoons table salt or 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt)
- 1gram instant yeast (about ¼ teaspoon)
- 150grams cold water (150 milliliters, about ⅔ cup)
- 30grams neutral oil, such as light olive oil, vegetable oil or corn oil
- Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
688 calories; 18 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 112 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 567 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Make the dough: Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer (see Tips). Whisk together to combine, then add the water and oil. Mix at low speed with the dough hook attachment, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Mix on medium-low speed until the dough is silky and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface.
- Step 2
Divide the dough: Using a bench scraper or knife, cut the dough into two even pieces, about 250 grams each. Using lightly floured hands, shape each piece into a smooth ball, then lightly coat each with oil, using your hands to cover every surface. Transfer each ball to a quart-size zipper-lock bag or other sealable container at least three times its volume. (Quart-size plastic deli containers also work for this.)
- Step 3
Ferment the dough: For good results, let the dough rest at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 3 hours. For better results, refrigerate the dough overnight. For best results, refrigerate the dough for at least 3 and up to 5 days.
- Step 4
The day before baking, roll the dough: Transfer one dough ball to a work surface generously dusted with semolina or cornmeal. (Refrigerated dough can be rolled straight out of the fridge, though allowing it to rest covered for 1 hour at room temperature will make rolling easier.) Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a very thin circle 14 inches in diameter, lifting and rotating it occasionally (use a ruler or measuring tape to ensure the right size). Repeat with the second ball. If the dough feels like it keeps bouncing back as you try and stretch it, cover it with an inverted bowl or a clean kitchen towel, let it rest for half an hour, then try rolling again.
- Step 5
Cure the dough: Transfer the doughs to a flat surface lined with parchment paper or butcher paper. Allow to rest uncovered at room temperature overnight. The top surface of the dough should end up dry to the touch with a leathery feel. If they puff at all during curing, you can push any bubbles with a fork and push them down to flatten them.
Tips
- For this recipe, you’ll want an accurate baking scale and enough room to leave your stretched dough out at room temperature for a night. Using a scale to measure your ingredients is strongly advised here — at the very least for the flour. Going without can throw off the hydration level of your dough, and by extension, the success of your dough.
- If you want to make 2 (12-inch) pizzas instead, use 225 grams flour, 5 grams sugar, 5 grams salt, 1 gram yeast, 115 grams cold water and 22.5 grams oil. Use only ¾ of the toppings.
- The dough can also be made in a food processor or by hand. To make with a food processor, combine all the ingredients and process until the dough forms a ball that rides around the blades. Continue running the food processor for 30 seconds, then transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and continue as directed in Step 2.
- To make by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the oil and water, and stir with a wooden spoon until a stiff, shaggy dough is formed. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 7 to 10 minutes. Proceed as directed in Step 2.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Terry
Hey Kenji -- we singletons love pizza too! Can the second boule of dough be frozen?
Mike E
I'm going to give this recipe 5 stars for the accompanying article and recipes. This is taking me down a path I believe to finally a great home pizza. I've always known the secret was in the dough but thought my issues were ingredients. Over fermenting and drying, so simple and now the science explained and usable in a home kitchen. Thank you.
William Wescott
My experience with using semolina or corn meal for dusting is that it adheres to the bottom of the crust and can burn black and bitter when it hits the pizza stone. I've long used rice flour instead to make my dough slide off the peel.
Saul
Is it possible to make a pile of crusts and freeze between parchment paper for quick use?
Mira
I bake my pizzas on parchment paper. No problem getting it to slide off the peel or back on at the end of baking. Just grab the edge of the paper off the stone and onto the peel.
Mike M
Take it from a former pizza cook: always let your pizza dough rise at room temp for at least 2 hours before letting it ferment in the fridge. If you want to freeze the extra dough, I would let it sit in the fridge at least overnight so the yeast can develop some more flavor.
Bruce Murch
Our dough making at home was transformed by switching to 00 flour. It’s all soft wheat and ground very fine. All-purpose flour is a mix of hard and soft wheat.
Luke
For the ferment (step 3), straight into the fridge? Or proof on counter first?
Kevin G. Schrimmer
Chicagoans are a pretty practical lot and the Italian immigrants that were trying to recreate the crisp brick oven pizzas they were used to back in Naples had to improvise. I used this method/recipe for individual pizzas and I worked with other chefs who did it the same way. From an artisinal bread baking perspective it's pretty crude but it works very well. You will end up with a crispy crunchy crust without a 1000 F. imported Italian pizza oven (or an Ooni).
Scott
It’s now going on 8 hours and the dough hasn’t risen. I always worry on these recipes that use such a small amount of yeast
Shayna
Maybe I missed something. I made the dough as directed and refrigerated for 3 days. Rolled out easily and left out overnight as instructed. I wasn't making the pizza until the evening after I rolled it out and as it was beginning to crack and become too dry. I laid damp paper towels over the crusts and covered with a dish towel. The damp towels worked and the pizza was delicious. In the future, I will roll out the dough about 6 to 8 hours before cooking. Anyone else have this issue?
Derek
He means refrigerate straight-off without three hours on the counter.
sarah M
Well after 2 days with no rise, I've taken the dough out of fridge and it's rising. I now think that we should allow to rise at room temp for 3 hours before refrigeration.
sam
For those having trouble with no rise, if using a kitchen scale, go against your instincts and use the volumetric measurement for the yeast. Most kitchen scales are not accurate to the gram and you could be adding too little. Also doubling the yeast to half a teaspoon if doing the fridge method won’t do any harm.
pb
I have multiple times made extra dough and freezes between layers of parchment. No discernible difference in frozen vs fresh version, amazingly simple and easy. A thousand thanks, Kenji!
Wendy
Has anyone tried making this in an Ooni-style pizza oven?
Karen L
I used active dry yeast and probably added a bit too much because my scale just wasn’t accurate enough to detect a gram. I didn’t let it proof before adding it to the dough. My dough rose in the fridge after a day or 2, and let it overproof in the fridge for 2 more days for a total of 4 days. I also let it dry out for almost 24 hours.’ The crust does get dry and that’s the point of it. The result was super crispy crackly crust! 10/10. My husband is a Chicago pizza snob and loved it!
Ben A
If using 00 flour instead of bread flour, should the water content be changed? Less water needed?
Dani
Made this mostly as written, opting for the overnight ferment. I did roll it out in the morning I used it rather than leave it out overnight and it formed a decent skin in the 8 hours it cured. In the summer I’ll roll it out to cure the night before due to humidity. My pizzas baked on a stone at 500f in about 5 minutes each. Definitely an easy and flexible recipe, and the crust didn’t flop or crack with the toppings. Perfect!
TSG
Question on Step 3: Do you always allow the dough to rest for three hours and then place it in the refrigerator for three to 5 days? Or, you either allow it to rest for three hours or you place it in the refrigerator?
KL
“Transfer each ball to a quart-size zipper-lock bag or other sealable container at least three times its volume. (Quart-size plastic deli containers also work for this.)” This is very misleading. The dough hardly rises at all. I’ve made this recipe a lot, the dough won’t rise at room temp or after days in fridge . It still works , it’s delicious. If you are in a drier environment, rolling out the same day as the bake will work great. Any earlier and the dough will crack.
ACG
One you make this a few times it’s a cinch! Don’t sweat it, the dough doesn’t rise that much. Just stick it in the back of the fridge and forget it. Have let this ferment 2-5 days and even 2 weeks! Have made it with the food processor and by hand. Both easy. Trust the process. We have made this countless times on a pizza stone. It deeply satisfies my Wisconsin tavern pizza memories. So now there always seems to be one or two doughs waiting in the back of the fridge.
gwen
I loved this recipe. I live in Arizona, so I rolled out the pies in the morning and by dinner time they matched the consistency Kenji demonstrated in his YouTube video. This pizza is very thin and crisp. Worked great on my baking steel. It’s such a simple process I can see this becoming part of our weekly routine.
Teresa
As a native Minnesotan now residing in the Northeast, I can’t express how much I love this recipe. It worked flawlessly and will become a staple in the rotation. The only issue is the planning but the storage in the fridge was no problem. We experimented with lots of toppings. We found a little sprinkle of salt on the crust was very nice and key is to keep the sauce and cheese light. Thanks so much for this work!
JGC
From a prior NYT recipe, I cook on unglazed tiles from the hardware store. Less than $1 each. Takes a little over 4 minutes in bottom third of oven. Just great.
Brian
So a very similar style worked its way into central Ohio - Dayton and Columbus have examples I’m familiar with. Loved the recipe. Will make again soon.
Farina
its sooooo good! will definitely make again..you can roll it very thin....I cut into 3 pizzas for my pizza oven...
AP
I think this recipe is written assuming three day ferment, they were perfect after three but saw no rise in fridge first 24 hours or so. Overnight curing is confusing unless you are eating pizzas first thing in the AM. I rolled mine out at 9 am and they were good by about 2 pm. I stacked them with parchment in between and on top until ready to top and bake. Excellent recipe!
KL
Loved this. The vote to the crust is what I’ve been looking for. Has anyone had luck freezing the formed crusts ? Do you thaw or use and bake from frozen? I’m also thinking about grilling these pizzas . Anyone have experience ? Thanks !!
aaron
Two notes: 1) it doesn’t rise much at all. This is intentional. Check out Kenjis YouTube video tutorial for more info. 2) I rolled it out the night before (as instructed) and it ended up cracking in places. In the future I will roll it out on the morning of when I intend to cook. So if I’m cooking it at 6 or 7pm it will have at least 10-11 hours sitting out. I believe this will be sufficient.
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