When you want to eat whole grains and you love pizza, then it’s time to master Whole Wheat Pizza Dough. That way you can enjoy pizza exactly the way you like it without hoping that the local pizzeria can do the job right. With regular budget grocery staples, this homemade pizza dough mixes up in minutes and has a hearty, wholesome flavor.
Use this Whole Wheat Pizza Dough as the base to a Thai Chicken Pizza or an Easy Cheese Pizza. Be sure to check out What to Serve with Pizza for some fun and unusual ideas.
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If you love pizza, but can’t swing the prices at the pizza parlor, then this post is for you! When we were paying off debt and getting our finances in order, learning to make homemade pizza was a game-changer!
Not only could we enjoy great pizza on a weekly basis, but we could also do it in a way that saved us money, too!
Making pizza dough is easy and makes for a fun homemade pizza night. While this whole wheat pizza crust doesn’t bake up as crisp or as chewy as our Sourdough Pizza Crust, it is one of our favorite pizza dough recipes and an essential one if whole grains are important to you.
Why Make This
It’s delicious. This Whole Wheat Pizza Dough is better than any dough I’ve had at a restaurant. You’ll be so proud of yourself when you master a hearty, whole grain, homemade pizza!
It’s cheap. With pizza prizes rocketing toward the sky, homemade is the way to go, especially where whole wheat is concerned! For just a few dollars you can mix up the dough for three pizzas that you can top however you like.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Easy Whole Wheat Pizza Dough:
warm water – Warm water, about 100 to 110 degrees F, is best for active dry yeast to do its work.
sugar or honey – Sugar helps feed the yeast. If you like you can use honey or even agave nectar.
active dry yeast – Yeast adds flavor as well as helps dough rise. You can’t omit this, but you can use instant yeast which simply doesn’t need to be dissolved in water. If you prefer not to use commercial yeast at all, be sure to try our Sourdough Pizza Crust recipe. Learn more about different kinds of yeast here.
olive oil – I love the flavor and texture that extra virgin olive oil gives to pizza dough. If you’re in a pinch, you can use another type of cooking oil.
flour – I use both unbleached, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. In this way, I get a healthful dough from the whole wheat, but one that isn’t too “wheaty”.
salt – Regular table salt is fine here, just don’t omit it. I can always tell when I’ve forgotten the salt. The dough feels different and tastes different, too.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how to make whole wheat pizza dough:
Place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and stir gently. Allow to proof for a few minutes until foamy.
Add the olive oil, flours, and salt. Place the bowl on the mixer and stir with the bread hook until a dough ball forms around the hook, scraping down the sides. (Alternatively, you can stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.)
Knead the dough ball for several minutes, either with the dough hook or by hand on a lightly floured surface.
Once the dough ball is smooth and elastic, grease the bowl and place the dough ball in the center. Cover and allow the dough to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
When the dough is ready, remove it to a floured surface and cut into three portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes and then proceed with your pizza recipe.
Form each dough ball into a thin flat disk and place on a greased pizza screen, pan, or baking dish.
Top with sauce and pizza toppings and bake in a 475 degree oven for 9 to 10 minutes or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted.
To make ahead:
You can make whole wheat pizza dough up to 24 hours in advance. Once you’ve allowed the dough to rise and divided it into three balls. Place the balls on a greased 9×13-inch pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to form and bake your pizzas.
If you are only going to bake one pizza, as soon as you form the three dough balls, place two of them in greased plastic containers with lids and immediately store in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
Check out our Freezer Meal Pizza Kits to make pizza night even easier.
FAQs
You don’t! In fact, after years of making pizza at home, I prefer to use pizza screens. They help achieve a crisp crust in a hot oven without the weight or expense of a pizza stone.
A whole wheat pizza dough will often have more nutritional value based on the whole grains, but some would argue that it doesn’t taste as good as traditional pizza dough. It tastes different, less chewy or crisp, but is delicious in a healthy-tasting way.
Whole wheat pizza dough tends to be fluffier and browns more quickly than pizza dough made with white flour.
A whole wheat pizza dough will often have more nutritional value based on the whole grains, but some would argue that it doesn’t taste as good as traditional pizza dough. It tastes different, less chewy or crisp, but is delicious in a healthy-tasting way.Easy Pizza Recipes
Easy Pizza Recipes
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup water , warmed
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour (9 ounces)
- 2 cup white whole wheat flour (9 ounces)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and stir gently. Allow to proof for a few minutes until foamy.1 ½ cup water, 2 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- Add the olive oil, flours, and salt. Place the bowl on the mixer and stir with the bread hook until a dough ball forms around the hook, scraping down the sides. (Alternatively, you can stir in the flour with a wooden spoon.)¼ cup olive oil, 2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour, 2 cup white whole wheat flour, 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- Knead the dough ball for several minutes, either with the dough hook or by hand on a lightly floured surface.
- Once the dough ball is smooth and elastic, grease the bowl and place the dough ball in the center. Cover and allow the dough to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- When the dough is ready, remove it to a floured surface and cut into three portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes and then proceed with your pizza recipe.
- Form each dough ball into a thin flat disk and place on a greased pizza pan or baking dish. Top with sauce and toppings and bake in a 475 degree oven for 9 to 10 minutes or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on October 27, 2016. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Brandy
What is the serving size for the nutrition value? Is that for a whole crust? Can’t wait to try this!
Jessica Fisher
That applies to one 12-inch crust, not including toppings. Assuming 8 slices from a pizza, the crust portion would be just under 100 calories. This will vary if you make the pizzas into different sizes, of course.
Brandy
Thank you! Exactly what I needed to know. Just printed it out, adding this to our menu for Friday! My kids love pizza night, too, and my hubby and I have been looking for healthier crust option that’s not cauliflower.
Hilary F
I have been trying to find a good whole wheat pizza dough recipe for YEARS! I made this last night and finally found a winner. I think the olive oil really make the difference and keeps the dough from drying out. Thank you!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Sarah
Can you post a video on how you shape your dough?
Jessica Fisher
Yes! It’s something my husband and I are working on.
Donna
Jessica, you are the one who introduced me to pizza screens and I cannot thank you enough! I now have 4 (two large, two individual size) and WE LOVE THEM!!
Jessica Fisher
Aren’t they great?! I love them.
Allice E
I think I will be trying this when I get some white whole wheat flour. Have you ever tried it with regular whole wheat which is what I have right now?
Now that the seasons are changing I’m about ready to start making bread dough and do other baking.
I really like pizza and want to start making it a little more often.
Jessica Fisher
Yes, it has a slightly wheatier flavor which is more noticeable, but certainly not bad.
TSandy
This is a good time to experiment. I recently purchased some heritage Sonoran wheat berries. Next time we plan pizza night I’ll do your whole wheat recipe alongside our usual recipe and compare the two pizzas. Anytime I can sneak whole grain on hubby I consider it a win. Also agave nectar has fallen out of favor so I think I’ll substitute honey in the recipe. (That is a 1:1 substitute for anyone else asking the same question.) You’re batting 100% lately Jessica keep the advice and recipes coming.
Jessica
Thanks! I’ve read that you can use half the agave, so I’d recommend using 1/4 cup honey in this recipe.
Kate
Honey is also twice as sweet as sugar by volume, so we always do the same as you did for agave. I find almost any recipe (muffins, bread etc) I can replace the sugar with half the amount of honey and it works out perfectly!
REBEKAH
Do you mean 1/4 cup of honey? Or 1/4 of the amount of the original recipe. Since the original calls for 2T agave, are you recommending 1 1/2 t honey. Yikes, sorry; I’m confused.
Jessica Fisher
Sorry. I edited my comment above and someone else has since chimed in. I use 1/4 cup honey when I make it with honey, but Kate says you should be able to use less. You don’t even have to use sweetener to make the dough work. I often don’t. But, this is how we like it best.
Allice E
Thanks, I will be using honey when I fix it, since I have it and not the agave nectar.
Susan S
How would I adjust the recipe to use sugar instead of agave nectar? Is it a 1 for 1 substitution? Otherwise I have all the ingredients for a great pizza dinner tonight. Thanks
Jessica Fisher
No, agave is sweeter so you can use less. Use 1/4 cup sugar and add a tablespoon of water.
Deborah
I want to try this, but to accommodate our pizza night I would have to make it ahead of time and freeze. Will this dough freeze well?
Jessica Fisher
It would be good up to a day ahead of time, stored in the fridge, formed in the final dough balls. Place in a 9×13 pan and cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap.
Freeze it only 20 minutes into the first rise.