Skinny Pizza Dough
How was Skinny Pizza Dough Created?
I first wrote this recipe in December of 2017, after I could not for the life of me get the viral Weight Watchers “Two Ingredient Dough” to work out for me without having yogurt all over my hands, or having to add a shit ton more flour, which basically defeated the whole purpose!
With the addition of yeast and water, it’s a whole new ball game. It feels like traditional pizza dough. I talked about this recipe on social media for months on end (and I make pizza once or twice a week!) and it took hundreds of postings before people starting making it.
I think I saw my first post of someone making it in October 2018, and it’s been made thousands of times since then, which makes me so happy!
How Do I Track Skinny Pizza Dough on WW?
CLICK HERE TO ADD SKINNY PIZZA DOUGH TO YOUR TRACKER. This recipe is for 1 ounce of dough, so adjust as needed for however many ounces of dough that you use. For example, if I made a personal pizza with 5 ounces of dough, I need to track 5 “servings” since each serving is for 1 ounce.
Frequently Asked Questions about my Skinny Pizza Dough
This post has been updated several times as I try to include everything that people have asked over the years! I do see a lot of similar questions, so here are the answers.
DO I NEED A BAKING STEEL?
While it’s not necessary, I do think it’s the best vessel for making restaurant quality pizza in your own home kitchen. Andris FINALLY gave me a discount code! Biz10 saves 10% at checkout – you can click their link here. They are expensive, but I’ve had mine for over six years and I’ll have it until the day I die. 😂
Instead of a baking steel, you can also get a good and sturdy jelly roll pan (which is essentially a baking/cookie sheet with taller sides) – find one that can go to 450 degrees – and then you can preheat it like I do my baking steel and you’ll get a crispier crust. The magic in this is that the pizza will cook from both the top and bottom simultaneously, so the crust gets extra crispy.
No matter what you cook it on, please use parchment paper! It’s so much easier to build the pizza on the parchment paper than it is to carry the pizza in and out of the oven without.
In the below photo, I tried baking on a regular baking sheet at 425 for 15 minutes. I pre-heated the baking sheet for 20 minutes before placing my pizza on the hot baking sheet, and I got a nice crispy crust! Plenty of people have said that their baking sheets can be preheated at 500 degrees, but start with 425 and see what works for you with your baking sheet and oven. If it’s not crispy at 425 degrees, bump up the temp in 25 degree increments.
WHAT TYPE OF YEAST SHOULD I USE?
There are two types of yeast – regular active dry and instant yeast (which can also be called fast-rising, rapid-rise, quick rise, or even bread machine yeast – depending on what brand you use). These can be used interchangeably – the only advantage of using the instant yeast is that your dough will rise faster – perfect on those nights when you get home from work and you’re like “f*ck, I wanted pizza tonight!” Whether you let the dough rest overnight or use instant yeast and enjoy it within 30 minutes, it will be delicious!
WHAT IF MY SKINNY PIZZA DOUGH DOESN’T RISE?
If your Skinny Pizza Dough doesn’t rise, chances are that your yeast is expired. The best way to make sure that your yeast is active is to proof the yeast. To do this, simply take the 1/2 cup water in the recipe, add the 1 teaspoon of yeast with a pinch of sugar and mix until combined. Let it sit for 10 minutes. If it’s super foamy on top (i.e. the yeast doesn’t sink to the bottom) you are good to go! Add the 2 cups of self-rising flour to a bowl, add the 1 teaspoon salt, mix with a fork, then add the water/yeast mixture and yogurt and mix until combined. If the yeast sinks to the bottom or the mixture doesn’t get foamy, I would recommend replacing your yeast.
Note: I always recommend for cost savings to purchase the jar of yeast over the packets. You will get many more servings of yeast from the jar than the packets, and it will still last a while in your fridge!
I LIVE ALONE, CAN I HALVE THE RECIPE?
Well, you could, but make the whole recipe! It lasts in the fridge for 7 days, and actually gets better the longer it sits in the fridge. By day 7, you’ll notice that the dough is a bit wet and really stinky, like in the best way possible – think sourdough bread stinky. You should toss it out if you see brown spots on the dough or it’s slimy. Time to make a new batch!
WHAT TEMPERATURE SHOULD I COOK MY PIZZA?
Here is my rule of thumb:
FOR THIN CRUST: If you have a regular cookie sheet – bake at 425 for about 12 -15 minutes for a thin crust. If you have a good jelly roll pan, bake at 450 for 9-11 minutes. If you have a baking steel, bake at 500 degrees for 7-9 minutes – or until your desired doneness – I tend to like mine on the more well done side.
FOR PAN OR DEEP DISH PIZZA: you’ll want to bring the temperature down to 425 in increase the baking time to 20 minutes for pan pizza, and 30 minutes for deep dish. I make my pan pizza in an 8 inch cast iron skillet. I make my deep dish pizza in an 8 or 10 inch cake pan.
FOR DEEP DISH PIZZA: You need to order the ingredients differently because of the longer baking process. I use a cake pan and brush the pan with oil (you can check out my detailed post here) you need to put the dough in the pan first, then put the cheese layer first, top with whatever else you are using (sausage, mushrooms, etc.) and then TOP with sauce. You need to sauce farthest from the bottom of the dough so the dough is crisp, not soggy.
CAN YOU PROOF THE DOUGH IN AN INSTANT POT?
Yep! My IG friend Rachel told me about this method. Simply mix the ingredients in the instant pot (I usually double or triple the recipe in the instant pot) and use the yogurt setting. It automatically sets a timer for 30 minutes, but I leave it in there for 3 hours. If you have an older instant pot, you may have a “keep warm” setting. Many people told me that they have used this method, but only for the 30 minutes, then turn the instant pot off and let it sit there for 30 minutes. Simply dump the dough on your counter, add a bit of flour to bring together and store a ziplock bag.
I bake my pizza on my baking steel, but even if you use a cookie sheet, use parchment paper because you’ll be able to transfer your pizza in and out of the oven so much easier. I dock the dough, meaning I stick a fork in the dough so I don’t get any big dough bubbles on the pizza.
I used my zero point marinara and sauteed mushrooms.
Then added baby spinach and two ounces of Trader Joe’s lite mozzarella cheese (2 points).
Baked it on my baking steel for 14 minutes. The bottom crust was amazing and the lite mozzarella got super cheesy. One quarter of the dough recipe is 5 points, my toppings were free except for the cheese, making this pizza 7 smart points and totally filling.
Skinny Pizza Dough
The ORIGINAL skinny pizza dough. Not just for pizza, great for naan, dumplings, pasta - the sky's the limit!
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and yeast together. Sir in the yogurt and mix until it starts to combine. Start with just shy of 1/2 cup of water, mixing until it comes together, adding a tablespoon of water at a time until it fully comes together.
- Place the dough in the microwave, covered with a towel or saran wrap, to slow rise all day. Refrigerate at the end of the night.
- On the day of baking, heat oven to 500 degrees. I use 5 ounces of dough for an individual pizza, but the dough is one point per ounce on all plans.
- Roll out, top with desired toppings, and bake for 8-11 minutes, or until desired doneness.
Notes
If you are weirded out by leaving the dough in the microwave because of the yogurt, you can slow rise the dough in the fridge for 24 hours. I bake my pizza on a baking steel, if you don't have one, reduce the temperature of the oven to 450 and use a jelly roll pan, but preheat the pan for 30 minutes before baking.
To track this dough to your WW app or check the point value, click HERE!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 22 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 44Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 186mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g
WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE GREEY YOGURT?
Replace the greek yogurt with cottage cheese! Hannah prefers this to the OG recipe!
Skinny Pizza Dough with Cottage Cheese
If you don't like Greek yogurt, you'll love this switch! By accident I decided to use 1/2 cup whipped fat free cottage cheese in place of the Greek yogurt and it was the best decision evah! Light, flakey, and Hannah prefers this to the OG skinny dough.
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup whipped fat free cottage cheese*
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast, cottage cheese and water and mix until combined.
- Place plastic wrap on top and store in your microwave for 12 hours. Refrigerate and use up to 7 days.
Notes
* I just put cottage cheese in my food processor and whipped until smooth and stored it back in the container.
Click for the WW tracker. It's 1 point an ounce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 22 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 43Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 244mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g
IS THERE A LOWER CARB VERSION OF SKINNY PIZZA DOUGH?
Yes! Here is a low carb skinny pizza dough made with King Arthur Keto Wheat Baking Flour.
This is on the pricey side as one 16 ounce bag of flour is around $11.00. But each bag makes two batches of dough. Each batch of dough makes 4 individual 5 ounce crusts, so the cost is going to be around $1.10 per crust.
Low Carb Skinny Pizza Dough
A LOW CARB PIZZA THAT DOESN'T HAVE CHICKEN! I recently discovered King Arthur Keto Wheat Baking Flour and was a bit skeptical. The dough is a bit "elastic" and took a bit of elbow grease to roll it out, but I loved how this came out. Do I prefer the OG dough - yes! But this dough is very close to the original one. If you are living a low carb lifestyle, or living with diabetes, you will love this option.
Ingredients
- 2 cups King Arthur Flour Keto Wheat Baking Flour
- 1 teaspoon active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (any brand works)
- 1/2 cup + 6 tablespoons water*
Instructions
- Optional: proof your yeast - add the water, yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. If it's frothy, you are good to go!
- Mix the flour and salt together. Pour in the yeast water, the yogurt and stir just until combined.
- Cover and set aside in the microwave for 12 hours.
- Note: this doesn't rise a whole lot, but I did get 21 ounces of dough
Notes
My usual individual pizza is 5 ounces of dough, which is 2 WW points. Click this link for the WW tracker.
Happy Monday my friends – make it a great day! And make this pizza dough! You’ll thank me later. 😀
Say Goodbye to Two Ingredient “Dough”
Party Pizza Friday just got a whole lot better with this Skinny Pizza Dough! It seems that all the Weight Watcher peeps are making the two ingredient “dough.” I found the recipe through Jane (the mucho mama on Instagram) who found it from Jen (jen_weightwatchers on Instagram) and people are making everything from bread sticks, to bagels, and obviously pizza dough. You just use equal portions of plain Greek yogurt (non-fat) with an equal portion of self-rising flour. People have also had equal success with using plain old all-purpose flour. I personally could never get it to mix properly and it always tasted…gross! It’s not like regular dough, because it’s…not!
I took it just a step further and decided to add yeast because I think it adds to the texture and actually creates a traditional dough. My no rise pizza dough has long been used by blog readers over the years, so this recipe is the same concept – just better!
Not sure what I did wrong?
I tried the instapot method on the yogurt setting, left it for 3 hrs on warm and it basically cooked it. What a waste
How does this dough work on a baking stone rather than a metal pan? We would like to try it on a baking stone in the Big Green Egg.
Do I have to let it rise for 24 hours or can I just make it at night and then use it the next morning?
Hi 👋 you can use it after it rises for a couple hours but the flavor is so much better day 2 and after. I made dough this morning I’m using tonight 😍
Made this dough ! Mine only came to just under 18 ounces, followed recipe exactly , so not sure why but doesn’t matter. I divided it up and froze three 5 oz servings and made the 2.5 oz serving today for lunch. I patted it out and cooked in a skillet like Naan bread. Topped it with spray butter, salt , pepper ans a piece of velveeta cheese. WOW! So good! Thank you! Love the dough! So many ideas! Sorry, no pic.. I ate it! 😂😂
So awesome! I am so happy you love it. Did you know I have a cookbook using skinny pizza dough in lots of things? https://a.co/d/0Cpzu6a
Hugs, Biz
Hi! I just tried this and it was pretty good, but my dough was exceptionally sticky and hard to work with – did I add too much water? Thank you!
Try using less water next time when you make the dough. I usually start just shy of 1/2 a cup, adding a tablespoon at a time until all the flour is incorporated.
How many points for the chicken crust pizza if you make a personal??
The base of the dough with the chicken is still only 1 point an ounce, because the chicken is zero points. My personal pizzas are usually 5 ounces, so the other points would depend on what you put on top. Hopefully that makes sense?
Did I miss something? Why do you put it in the microwave? Could you put it in the oven as well!
Hi! You can let it rise in the oven too – I just put it in my microwave to get it out of the way. I’ve accidentally forgotten I had dough rising in the oven and turned the oven on and ruined my dough – ha!
Ignore my comment, I see now this makes multiple portions of dough for multiple pizzas 🙂 Excited to make it!
This recipe is written for Weight Watcher members, but obviously anyone can make it. The whole dough recipe is 22 ounces once risen, so I made it 22 servings. Sometimes I use 2 ounces to make naan, but my typical individual pizzas use 5 ounces of dough. Hope that helps!
Hi there, have you tried making this with Whole Wheat flour ( making your own self rise flour) Looks like it would save seven points as a whole, Just wondering how it taste.
Hi Kellie! I have made it with Whole wheat flour, and it’s good, not great. It makes for a denser dough and I don’t get as much of a rise as I do with self-rising, all purpose or bread flour.
I am very confused about your nutrition information for this. It says yields 22 and that it has 9g of carbs? Does this recipe truly create 22 pizzas or 22 pieces of pizza? I am only wondering because I am not sure if I want to have 176g of carbs in one pizza from this dough, so I am hoping this recipe possibly makes a lot of dough for multiple pieces or something. Thank you!
Can you freeze the un used dough?
Yep! It normally doesn’t last long enough in my house to freeze because you can use it up to 7 days in the fridge. But you can freeze in half portions, which is enough for two medium sized pizzas.
It makes 22 ounces total. One serving for her pizza is about 5 ounces. The total 22 ounces of dough makes about 4 pizzas. So you just weigh your dough per serving and calculate your numbers from there.
Thank you!
Do you know if it comes out differently if you make your own self rising flour?
Hey Laurie! It has the same results if you use homemade self-rising flour.
Looking for the chicken pizza crust
Hi! The recipe was posted on IG – the link was to get you to the base dough, which is Skinny Pizza Dough. I simply added a single serving of Starkist chicken breast to the dough and rolled that out to add 15 grams of protein to the dough.
How many individual pizzas do you get from one recipe ? How many calories for each individual pizza crust?
Hey Anne! You get 4 individual pizzas – the dough once risen is 22 ounces, so it works out to 1 WW point per ounce, or 39 calories an ounce – so a 5 ounce pizza without toppings would be 195 calories.
Have your tried gluten free flour in the recipe?
Hi Lisa! That recipe is in my cookbook, but just use a gluten free flour with white rice and xanthan gum in the ingredients like Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 or Divided Sunset which is cheaper at Walmart.
Can you freeze the dough?
Hi! Yep! I freeze each batch in 4 portions. One portion is roughly 5 ounces and what I use to make my personal size pizza. Simply store in a ziplock bag, and I usually defrost it in the fridge in the morning on the night I want to make it. I’ll take out of the fridge 30 minutes before rolling out.
Love this dough!
I made your pizza dough over the weekend. It was totally wonderful. I weighed out the four portions and had pizza two days in a row. I always worry that when I find something delicious that I like if I eat it often I will not lose weight. It’s a mental thing I guess. So anyway, I forgot about the other two portions until today. I was having a Power Bowl for lunch, which was two points and I knew wouldn’t fill me up totally. Then I remembered the pizza dough. I took a portion out and put it between two pieces of parchment with a little flour and spread it out. Then I put it on an air fryer liner and sprayed it with olive oil and sprinkled with a garlic seasoning and pressed my fingertips in it like I do with focaccia. I air fried it at 400 for 10 minutes. It was amazing!!! Thanks so much for a simple and delicious recipe.
Yeah! I am so excited! I have a skinny dough cookbook on Amazon, but if you google my bizzy kitchen skinny pizza dough I have a bunch of other recipes that you can make with the dough that aren’t pizza. Hugs!
I made a batch of the dough yesterday morning around 10:30 am, covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave. Then I forgot to take it out after 12 hours and remembered it was in the microwave at 7am the next morning, making it 20 hours in microwave. I opened it up and it smells okay. Would you use it?
Thank you for your time.
I’ve done that before and used it and it has totally been fine. We bake the pizza at 500 degrees so I have never gotten sick even after leaving it for 24 hours plus.
Hi!! How long does the dough last in the fridge? Thanks!!
Hi! It lasts up to 7 days, but I’ve stretched it to 10. You know it’s bad if it REALLY stinks or has brown spots – then it’s time to pitch. 😀
Made the dough yesterday & made a pizza today for dinner. It was wonderful, I wasn’t sure how long to cook the pizza. I have your cookbook but it doesn’t give the time in the basic recipe that I could find so it was a tad undercooked but delicious! My husband & I loved it.
Hey! Sorry about that. The dough is a base for many things in that cookbook.
I usually bake my pizzas at 500 degrees for around 10 minutes – I like them on the more well done side. Glad you and the hubs loved it!
This pizza recipe is definitely a game changer! What I love is how you took the two ingredient dough and found a way to include the one ingredient that makes pizza dough taste amazing: yeast! Someone posted this recipe on a WW FB group today and I couldn’t wait to try it. I made it this morning and threw it into a bowl I coated with olive oil spray. I put the dough into my oven after I set it to 170 degrees and then turned it off. I covered the bowl, put it into the oven and shut it off. I shapes half the dough into an oval pizza, placing it onto a cookie sheet I prepped with olive oil spray and corn meal. I did not preheat the pan and cooked my pizza in a 425 degree pizza. I cooked it for about 12 minutes and it was perfect! Thank you for this recipe gift!
Thank you! I could never get the 2 ingredient dough to work for me. Enjoy!