Flatbread Pizza Dough Recipe – NO YEAST
This flatbread pizza dough recipe requires only flour, salt, water, and olive oil – NO YEAST! And it takes less than 5 minutes to throw together! Top it with your favorite sauce, sprinkle with cheese, add veggies, and dinner is done!
You Will Love This
- It takes 5 minutes to make. What more could you want? I love a nice homemade flatbread or pizza dough with yeast, but all that rising means that you need to plan at least a couple hours in advance. I’m not always that on top of things! You can have your own homemade flatbread prepped, topped, and in the oven in less than 10 minutes. Last-minute dinner for the win! Be sure to try my Easy Margherita Flatbread, BLT Flatbread, Blueberry Goat Cheese Flatbread, and Mediterranean Flatbread.
- You can make it as thick or thin as you want. If you’re feeding a big family, roll the dough crispy cracker-thin. If you’re more into a doughy flatbread leave it a little thicker for a more pillowy, chewy texture!
- Your kids can help make dinner! You might be surprised how much your kids are willing to help out with dinner if you give them the opportunity. Let them help you measure the flour and pour the water. Once the dough ball comes together, let them help you knead it and get their hands messy. Chances are good once they see all the hard work (their hard work) that went into making dinner, they’ll be more likely to eat it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – All-purpose flour makes a good pizza thin or thick flatbread pizza crust, and it’s what most of us have on-hand. If you prefer thin crust, though, using bread flour instead can add some depth of flavor and crisp texture to the crust.
- Table Salt – Kosher salt, or another large-grain salt, can work if that’s all you have, but a smaller grain mixes in better to create a more even gluten structure in your dough.
- Warm Water – Yes, the water needs to be warm. Cold water can leave you with sticky flatbread pizza dough.
- Olive Oil – Pizza dough needs oil to help it stretch. Most recipes call for olive oil because it adds a rich flavor, but veggie oil will work too if it’s all you have.
- Cornmeal – If you don’t have cornmeal, you can use flour to keep your pizza dough from sticking. You might have a little flour dust on the bottom of your flatbread pizza when you’re done, but it’s better than nothing if you don’t have cornmeal.
Instructions
Add flour and salt to a food processor and pulse until well mixed. You can also just use a large bowl and fork to combine all the ingredients!
Then add water and oil.
Pulse until a dough ball forms (about 1 minute or so). Scrape down sides with a spatula as needed.
Transfer dough ball to a lightly floured surface.
Knead the dough for about 1 minute or until the surface of the dough is smooth.
Divide dough into 2 equal balls. Use a rolling pin to roll each dough ball out into a long oval of your desired thickness.
Dust 2 baking sheets with cornmeal and place a flatbread crust on each.
Poke the surface of the flatbread all over with a fork. Bake flatbreads for 5-8 minutes or until the edges of the flatbread are turning golden brown and the flatbread is nearly cooked through.
Add desired toppings (like tomato slices and fresh mozzarella cheese if you’re making my 20 Minute Margherita Flatbread) and bake for another 5-10 minutes or so until cheese is melty and toppings are warmed through. Don’t forget to add fresh herbs!
Flatbread vs. Pizza
- The yeast. Pizza dough typically has yeast (and needs time to rise) while flatbread dough typically doesn’t. HOWEVER, some pizza dough doesn’t have yeast and some flatbread dough does. So…you’ll learn pretty fast after a quick Google search that the lines are very blurred and there’s a lot of gray area between flatbread and pizza dough. And that’s okay! I use them interchangeably and you can too!
- The shape. Regular pizza tends to be round (and sometimes even square) while flatbreads seem to be more oval. Who made up these rules? I have no idea. I like to let my pizza and flatbread dough form organically as I roll it out or form it with my hands – don’t worry about following societal norms. Let your flatbread pizza take on its own shape!
- The toppings. I read somewhere that flatbreads typically have little to no cheese…HUH?! Have you seen my flatbreads? Cause they are loaded with cheese. So again, who made these rules up? Cheese is life. Top your flatbread the way you want! Might I suggest a simple Caprese topping? Or perhaps a veggie-forward Mediterranean Flatbread? Better yet, how about a Mexican Street Corn Flatbread!
Freezing
- You can freeze the dough OR the par-baked homemade flatbread pizza crust! Yes, you read that right. Frozen dough means you can be ready for dinner at a moment’s notice!
- After you knead your dough, wrap it up and pop it in the freezer. Next time you want flatbread, allow the dough to thaw on the counter (for about 1-2 hours) and then follow the instructions in the recipe card.
- After you par-bake the dough you can also wrap it up and pop it in your freezer so you’ve got ready-made flatbread for every occasion! When you’re ready to eat, top your frozen flatbread and bake it according to the directions in the recipe card. You may need to add a couple additional minutes of bake time to get the crust cooked completely but with it being so thin this shouldn’t take too long at all!
Tips
- Use table salt. I’ve tried this with Kosher salt and other larger cuts of salt and they just don’t mix in as well. I rarely use anything but Kosher salt in my recipes, but this flatbread is much better with the smaller grains of salt. However, Kosher salt will work if it’s all you’ve got!
- Par-baking the flatbread is a must if you’re looking for a crispy crust. I am still surprised when people say they don’t par-bake their crust! Par-baking allows the inside of the dough to cook without the outside getting dark golden brown. This means that when you top it, it’s not going to get soggy. And when you bake it, it’s going to get perfectly crisp!
- Give it a quick brush with olive oil after par-baking to get the crust just a little bit crispier and darker golden brown!
- Don’t go too crazy with the toppings. As the famous saying goes, less really is more in the case of flatbread toppings. This is an unleavened, thin flatbread crust so it’s not going to hold up to three cups of fresh mozzarella or a mountain of meat. Try adding more flavorful toppings so you need less. *See my favorite flatbread toppings below.
FAQ
Using my 5-minute flatbread dough recipe, simply roll out the dough, par-bake the crust, then add toppings and bake for another 10 minutes! This flatbread pizza dough recipe could not be easier for a simple weeknight dinner!
Flatbread dough and homemade pizza dough are not the same. Flatbread dough does not use yeast and does not require extra time to rise. Normal pizza dough uses yeast and creates a thicker, more chewy dough.
There are three reasons that flatbread dough might be extra sticky: too much water in the dough, insufficiently mixed dough, or cold water (rather than warm water). You might be able to save it by adding more flour and kneading it a bit.
Flatbread Pizza Toppings
You can keep the toppings simple with this easy pizza recipe or try some of my favorite variations below!
- Margherita Flatbread Pizza – (pictured above) fresh mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil pesto with drizzle of olive oil – pretty standard and also pretty great
- Mexican Street Corn Flatbread – sweet corn, tangy lime cream sauce, and crumbled cotija cheese – just like elote corn but piled high on a crispy crust
- Simple Mediterranean Flatbread – spinach pesto (or tomato sauce), artichoke hearts, feta cheese, ripe tomatoes, and black olives – your favorite Greek flavors on a crispy, crunchy crust
- Salami, green olives, and fresh cracked black pepper – sounds weird but it’s not – it’s delish
- Olive Tapenade, sliced garlic, burrata, and arugula – salty olives and creamy mozzarella come together for a match made in heaven
- Pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, and oregano – keep it classic and simple if you prefer!
- Sausage, sliced mushrooms, mozzarella, bell peppers and red onions – this is one of our family’s personal favorite combinations!
Try these flatbreads next!
Did you love this recipe?
Please leave a 5-star rating and review below!
Flatbread Pizza Recipe
This flatbread pizza dough takes less than 5 minutes to make and comes together right in the food processor with only flour, salt, water, and olive oil!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 large flatbread crusts (about 8–10 servings) 1x
- Category: Main Dish/Appetizer
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American/Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- cornmeal for dusting
- desired toppings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- Add flour and salt to a food processor and pulse until well mixed.
- Add water and oil.
- Pulse until a dough ball forms (about 1 minute or so). Scrape down sides as needed.
- Transfer dough ball to a lightly floured surface and knead dough for 1 minute or until the surface of the dough is smooth.
- Divide dough into 2 equal balls.
- Use a rolling pin to roll each dough ball out into a long oval to your desired thickness. Thinner is better in this case.
- Dust 2 baking sheets with cornmeal and place a flatbread crust on each.
- Poke the surface of the flatbread all over with a fork.
- Bake flatbreads for 5-8 minutes or until the edges of the flatbread are turning golden brown and the flatbread is nearly cooked through.
- Brush with olive oil and top with desired toppings and bake for another 5-10 minutes or so. Try my Easy Caprese Flatbread!
- Enjoy!
Notes
Use table salt. I’ve tried this with Kosher salt and other larger cuts of salt and they just don’t mix in as well. I rarely use anything but Kosher salt in my recipes, but this flatbread is much better with the smaller grains of salt.
Par-baking the flatbread is a must if you’re looking for a crispy crust. I am still surprised when people say they don’t par-bake their crust! Par-baking allows the inside of the dough to cook without the outside getting dark golden brown. This means that when you top it, it’s not going to get soggy. And when you bake it, it’s going to get perfectly crisp!
Don’t go too crazy with the toppings. As the famous saying goes, less really is more in the case of flatbread toppings. This is an unleavened, thin flatbread crust so it’s not going to hold up to three cups of fresh mozzarella or a mountain of meat. Try adding more flavorful toppings so you need less.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10 of flatbread
- Calories: 161
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 233.3 mg
- Fat: 3.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 28.6 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This post was originally published in May 2019. It was updated in March 2020 to include process shots, step-by-step instructions, and tips for making the best flatbread dough every single time!
Love this! The second time I made it both flatbreads had a huge bubble in it – what can I do to prevent that? I did poke a lot of holes in dough. No matter, it’s easy and delicious! I made one caprese and one Greek style with tomatoes, red onion, kalamata olives, oregano and feta cheese – amazing!!
I would try poking holes all over and then check the dough after a few minutes in the oven and continue to pop the holes with a fork as it bakes 🙂 That should do the trick! So glad that you enjoyed this recipe!! I have a Mediterranean flatbread recipe coming to the blog soon also! 🙂
In staying home like everyone else right now. Have been so tempted to go to the store just for yeast,but scared to do so. Thank you for this recipe!!!I have a feeling this is going to be the best pizza we have ever made??
Could not agree more – we are all safer at home! And thank goodness there are plenty of recipes out there that don’t use yeast!!! I hope that you enjoy this one, Paula! 🙂
Works great!! FAST…EASY…& delicious. Will definatly do again. Thanks bunches.
WOOHOO! So glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Reba! Thanks so much for leaving a review – I really appreciate it!! 🙂
I made this for the first time yesterday, doing a halved recipe just to try it out. I mixed it up by hand, just kind of cutting it around with a butter knife, and it came together really easily, then I kneaded it for about 2 min. I still cut it into 2 pieces, and rolled one out to fit my 10 inch oven-safe skillet, dusted with the cornmeal, and popped it in the oven at 500 (the highest my oven will go) and after about 10 min, it looked like the picture and I gave it a brush of olive oil and a sprinkle of garlic powder. When I checked on it a few minutes later, maybe 4 or 5, it had puffed up and turned into a pita pocket! I am sure this is because I forgot to poke it all over with the fork. It was pretty delightful, and I am excited to try it again as a pizza. I was wondering, do you ever pre heat the baking pan when you make this? I know that people sometimes, when making a pizza in cast iron, pre-heat the skillet, and then sprinkle the cornmeal over the hot skillet–if the cornmeal browns, that indicates that the skillet is nice and hot, and is ready for the dough. Just wondering whether this would make for a crispier bottom crust.
Thanks for sharing, this is such an easy and versatile dough.
WOOOHOOO! Glad you liked this recipe! It does get pretty puffy without a few quick pokes from the fork! Preheating the pan is a great idea. I think it would definitely make it extra crispy on the bottom. Definitely worth a shot!
Kylie,
Will try this. Can you share your recipe for the photo attached to this flatbread recipe? It looks like a balsamic glaze, with tomatoes, spinach and cheese. Many thanks
Of course! Here it is: https://midwestfoodieblog.com/caprese-flatbread/
i ?only use sea salt. Is that alright to use?
Sea salt will work just fine! It just won’t mix in as well as regular table salt will. Great question – Rose!
I’d suggest dissolving the salt in the water before adding to the flour, then no issues with the grains being too big or not mixing in well.
That’s not a bad idea, Roger! Typically when I use table salt for this recipe it mixes in pretty well, but dissolving it in water would be a sure-fire way to know that it won’t cause any textural issues. That’s also a great tip if you’ve only got Kosher salt on hand. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Hey there! Just wondering about the nutrition facts. Are the 10 servings for just one of the 2 balls divided in the recipe? Or is that the whole recipe? I’m wondering, if I wanted to make single portions maybe I should divide into four balls. I will be trying this recipe today! Thank you!!
The nutrition facts are for the entire recipe. Great question, Ashley!
How big of a food processor did you use?
I have one similar to this: https://amzn.to/349uLtd
I don’t have a full sized food processor. Do you think a hand mixer would work?
Yes – great question Sara! I think a hand mixer would work well. Might have to use your hands or a fork as the dough comes together, but yes I think it would work!
I have not tried it though I do intend to do so. I wanted to ask rather than dusting a pan to cook it. Thoughts of using a stone. I would expect it would lessen the cooking time. Thoughts?
I think a pizza stone would work just fine! Do you normally dust a stone? Or is it pretty non-stick? I would keep a close eye on the flatbread and like you said, expect to cut down on the bake time. I’d love to hear how it turned out if you do end up trying it. Thanks Elizabeth!
Can you make this with whole wheat flour? Thanks.
I have not tried, but I would imagine that it would turn out great! I think whole wheat flour would give it a bit more of a chewy texture, but I think the flavor would still be delicious!
Do you think seltzer work in place of warm water to give the whole wheat more air and make it less chewy? We were in Rome at a cooking class and the teacher made a flatbread with (regular) flour and seltzer a pinch of salt, sugar and an Italian drop of olive oil and it was so delicious and very light. She could not give me any measurements as it was her grandmothers recipe so I have been searching for something similar all over recipe sites but I need to use whole wheat flour. Any help/thoughts would be appreciated.
Oh wow – that does sound delicious! Ya know, it might be worth a shot! I haven’t worked too much with whole wheat flour, but the couple times I’ve used it, it has definitely given a more chewy texture. Seltzer water might be just the thing for it! I’d love to hear how it turns out if you end up giving it a try. Great question, Leslie – I wish I had a better answer! 🙂
The best pizza recipe !!! For someone who it’s not a great cooker. Delicious!! But I still managed to forget to put olive oil before the toppings ??. Anyway still excellent. Thanks for the recipe.
Don’t beat yourself up about that – the olive oil isn’t totally necessary!! Just adds a little extra flavor 🙂 I’m so glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for leaving a review; I really appreciate it!!
Flatbread came out perfect!
So glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Alicja! Thanks for leaving a review 🙂
My oven wont heat to 550 only 500. Can I still cook but for longer?
Oh yeah for sure! I would just add a couple extra minutes of cook time but keep a close eye on it. There won’t be a huge difference with just 50 degrees. Great question Sarah!
You can have pizza or flatbread ready at a moment’s notice! No yeast means no rise time. Which means you can get dinner on the table faster!