Beer Pizza Dough
This Beer Pizza Dough is the perfect option when you have no yeast on hand, but want a homemade pizza with crisp, yet chewy crust! The beer replaces the yeast and helps the dough to rise while imparting the very slightest hint of beer flavor. And don’t worry, the alcohol cooks off while it bakes so it’s a totally family-friendly meal!
You’ll Love This
- It’s made with beer, friends. Need I say more?! Well, I will! This pizza dough uses your favorite beer – in our house, that’s a hoppy IPA – and combines in with classic, simple pizza dough ingredients, just minus the yeast!
- That’s right, it requires no yeast! While we sometimes have yeast on hand, we ALWAYS have beer in our fridge. My husband is a fan of super hoppy IPAs so I always try to order a new one each time we get groceries. The beer takes the place of the yeast in this recipe and not only adds flavor but also helps the dough to rise and get that perfect chewy texture.
- It’s unexpected! This recipe is a welcomed departure from your traditional pizza dough recipes. It bakes up perfectly crispy on the outside, but chewy on the inside – which is my personal favorite – with just a hint of beer flavor in the finished product.
Instructions
Add flour, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
Add beer.
Stir with a fork until it cleans the sides of the bowl.
Transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
Form into a ball.
Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
Transfer back to the bowl. Oil dough ball on all sides.
Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and divide dough evenly in half. Gently work it into two round crusts. Place crusts on pizza pans and brush with olive oil. Poke all over with a fork.
Par-bake crusts for 3-5 minutes.
Top as desired and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
What Kind of Beer
- Use whatever kind of beer you enjoy drinking. If you’re not a beer drinker, I’d recommend a lager, pale ale, or wheat beer as those have a more mild flavor. My husband likes super hoppy IPAs, so that is what we’ve used for most of our recipe tests and they’ve all turned out great!
- Depending on what kind of beer you use, you may not taste the beer in the cooked pizza at all. Lighter tasting beers (like lagers, pale ales, or wheat beers) are going to give you a lighter flavor and more flavorful beers (like IPAs or stouts) are going to give you more of beer flavor.
- This article describes the different types of beers and their flavors if you’re having trouble deciding.
Tips
- This beer pizza dough recipe makes about 2 pounds of pizza dough. For our family, we use this to make two 12-14″ pizzas.
- You can use cold or room temperature beer for this recipe and your results will be quite similar. We’ve tested both and didn’t notice much of a difference between them.
- Don’t worry – this is still kid-friendly. The alcohol in the crust will cook off as the dough bakes in the oven. Which means it’s totally safe for kids to eat!
- The dough isn’t going to rise quite as much as a regular dough made with yeast. However, the baking powder will help to puff it up a bit and make it a bit lighter than if you made it without.
- If you need some pointers for rolling out the pizza dough, this video is super helpful. Basically, you want to be as gentle as possible as you’re shaping the dough, and touch it as little as possible.
- This dough freezes like a dream too! It will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just let it thaw in the fridge overnight before baking, then bake according to recipe card directions!
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Beer Pizza Dough
This Beer Pizza Dough is the perfect option when you have no yeast on hand, but want a homemade pizza with crisp, yet chewy crust! The beer replaces the yeast and helps the dough to rise while imparting the very slightest hint of beer flavor. And don’t worry, the alcohol cooks off while it bakes so it’s a totally family-friendly meal!
- Prep Time: 70 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups all purpse flour
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 12 oz. cold beer
- oil for greasing the bowl
Instructions
- Add flour, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Add beer and stir with a fork until it cleans the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer to a lightly floured work surface.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes.
- Transfer back to the bowl. Oil dough ball on all sides.
- Cover and let rest for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and divide dough evenly in half.
- Gently work it into two round crusts.
- Place crusts on pizza pans and brush with olive oil. Poke crusts all over with a fork.
- Par-bake crusts for 3-5 minutes.
- Top as desired and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe makes about 2 pounds of pizza dough. For our family, we use this to make two 12-14″ pizzas.
You can use cold or room temperature beer for this recipe and your results will be quite similar. We’ve tested both and didn’t notice much of a difference between them.
Don’t worry – this is still kid-friendly. The alcohol in the crust will cook off as the dough bakes in the oven. Which means it’s totally safe for kids to eat!
The dough isn’t going to rise quite as much as a regular dough made with yeast. However, the baking powder will help to puff it up a bit and make it a bit lighter than if you made it without.
If you need some pointers for rolling out the pizza dough, this video is super helpful. Basically, you want to be as gentle as possible as you’re shaping the dough, and touch it as little as possible.
This dough freezes like a dream too! It will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just let it thaw in the fridge overnight before baking, then bake according to recipe card directions!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of recipe
- Calories: 200
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 254.5 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.5 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 5.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Thank you for sharing this delicious pizza dough recipe! We absolutely loved it.
I am so glad to hear that, Teresa! Thanks for leaving a review!
I love this recipe!! I had never made a beer pizza dough but this was delicious! I used pizza flour and made one big 16″ pizza…even delicious the next day. Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Mari! Thanks for leaving a review 🙂
Does type of beer make a difference in the taste?
Yes! Choose a beer that you enjoy drinking so that you enjoy the flavor it adds to the dough!
Hi there, do you have any suggestions for this dough for Stromboli?What temp & how long?
Great question, Jen! This dough would be great for a Stromboli. I’d recommend baking it at degrees for 25ish minutes depending on what you fill it with. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Does this work in an iron skillet?
I think this would definitely work in a cast iron skillet! Great question! I do have a cast iron skillet pizza recipe if you want to use it as a guide: https://midwestfoodieblog.com/cast-iron-skillet-pizza/
Sounds like good recipe def going to try it thanks for sharing 😀
Loved how easy this is! When bringing out to thaw in the fridge – how long can it sit?
I’d let it sit for at least an hour or two. I wouldn’t let it sit out for longer than 5-6 hours.
Sounds so tasty. But to be clear the beer is replacing the yeast for taste and it’s baking powder that produces the rise. Most beer, at least in the USA is pasteurized which inactivates the fermentation yeast, which, if were still active and not filtered out, would be great for innoculating a sourdough starter. The carbonation yeast is usually filtered out.
But I think it’s possible an unfiltered beer, not uncommon in IPAs which your husband likes, for the carbonation yeast to give a baking powder type leavening as opposed to a baker’s yeast type leavening from fermentation.
Absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, K! Thank you for leaving a review, I appreciate it 🙂
Great pizza. I made it for the first time two weeks ago. I’m making it again today. I used all of the dough in a large (12 inch) cast iron skillet . It made a perfect deep dish pizza! Between the dough and the cast iron skillet, it was a crispy outer crust, and deliciously chewy interior.
Absolutely wonderful.
YUM! This dough would be perfect in a cast iron skillet – great idea, Ernie! Thanks for leaving a review!
I can’t wait to try this! Have you ever subbed self rising flour and if so how much?
I have not tried it with self-rising flour but I’d love to hear how it turns out if you do!
Great pizza dough recipe..
The family raved about the taste.. this will be our go to recipe for pizza crust from this crust on!! JOAN M.- Ohio
My husbands new favorite crust! So easy I love it!
Question .. can this dough be left to rise for longer
than one hour ?
Yes! That shouldn’t be a problem at all to let it rise for longer than an hour. Great question, Terry!
Can you use this to make breadsticks as well?
I don’t see why not! I think this beer pizza dough would work great for breadsticks! Good question, Jennie!
I made this last night and we loved it. It was the first time in years I’ve made a pizza crust but it was so easy to fall back into. We had pizza in Manchester, MA (and went back several times) that had a beer crust and we remembered it so fondly. This fit that taste memory perfectly so it was a double bonus, fond memory and flavorful recipe to add to our weekly pizza night.
I LOVE THIS! Isn’t it crazy how food can take you right back to a certain time or place?! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this pizza dough recipe! And thank you for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂
Made this a couple of weeks ago and the family said it was the BEST pizza crust I’ve made. I love that it’s so easy. It’s still summerlike weather, so we pop ours on the grill rather than heating up the oven
Grilled pizza is THE BEST. I am so glad your family enjoyed this recipe, Janet. Thank you for leaving a review – I really appreciate it 🙂