Super Easy Instant Pot Pizza Dough

Yes, you can use your Instant Pot to proof your homemade pizza dough!

Instant Pot with pizza dough in it

Friday night pizza night will never be the same, thanks to Instant Pot pizza dough!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase, this site may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Every Friday night in our home is pizza and movie night. We make homemade pizza and settle in on the couch for a movie.

It’s such a fun family tradition, and it’s a great way to incorporate theme nights for dinner!

My recipe for making homemade Instant Pot dinner rolls was such a hit that I wrote a whole tutorial about how to proof dough in the Instant Pot.

Then, I went on to create homemade pretzels proofed in the Instant Pot, an Instant Pot naan bread recipe, as well as Instant Pot French bread.

I have also “baked” a loaf of no-knead bread Instant Pot bread!

So it only seems reasonable to also share a recipe for Instant Pot pizza dough! You can use it to make traditional pizzas, or enjoy a blast from the past with rectangle slices of homemade school cafeteria pizza!

Need the ultimate shortcut? Try air fryer naan pizzas for dinner!

slices of pizza whose dough was proofed in the Instant Pot

How to Proof Pizza Dough in the Instant Pot

Sometimes I think people are deterred from making homemade pizza dough because they think it will take a lot of time, and that the dough will need to rise for a couple of hours.

But actually, you can use your Instant Pot to speed up the rising process for your pizza dough!

The trick is to use the Yogurt setting of your Instant Pot. It’s already programmed to be the perfect temperature for culturing the bacteria in yogurt–warm enough, but not too hot.

It also works well for allowing yeast to metabolize sugar and produce carbon dioxide, which is what causes the dough to rise.

How to Make Instant Pot Pizza Dough

It’s really easy to put your Instant Pot to work here!

Ingredients You’ll Need:

  • Water
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Yeast
  • Oil
  • Flour
  • Sauce and toppings of choice

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Activate the yeast. In a medium-large mixing bowl, combine warm water, yeast, salt, sugar, and oil. Allow the yeast to dissolve and just begin to foam, about 2-5 minutes.

Stir in the flour. Next, you’ll add in the flour, stirring to create the dough.

a glass bowl of pizza dough that's ready to be proofed in the Instant Pot

Knead. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. You can do this by hand, or you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook if you have one.

Rise. Spray the insert pot of your Instant Pot with cooking spray or wipe it with oil. Transfer the ball of dough to the insert pot and turn it to coat it with oil (you can also give it a spritz with your cooking spray).

Use the Yogurt setting to let the dough rise for an hour.

a round ball of pizza dough in the Instant Pot, after proofing

Roll and top. Now the dough is ready to be punched down and rolled out and placed onto a pizza pan or stone!

pizza dough that has been rolled out on a cutting board

Or you can also divide the dough and press it into greased cake pans or small cast iron skillets to make personal pan pizzas (this is what we almost always do!).

Bake. Top as desired and bake at 500F for about 10-12 minutes.

side view of a slice of pepperoni pizza, whose dough was proofed in the Instant Pot

Can I Make Pizza Dough Ahead of Time?

Yes, you can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for 2-3 days. I recommend covering the surface of the dough with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

When you’re ready to use it, let it warm up to room temperature. Set it out for at least an hour before you need it.

If you prefer to freeze the pizza dough, you can wrap it with plastic wrap and freeze.

When you’re ready to use it, simply thaw the dough to room temperature first.

Slices of pepperoni pizza on plates in front of the Instant Pot

Can I Use Whole Wheat Flour in this Pizza Dough?

Yes, you can use whole wheat flour (or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat) if you prefer.

You will likely need to add a little more water, because whole wheat flour tends to absorb more water.

Recommended Equipment:

Yield: 1 large pizza (8 slices)

Instant Pot Pizza Dough

slices of pizza in front of an Instant Pot pressure cooker

Use your Instant Pot to speed up the process of proofing your homemade pizza dough!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

  1. In a medium-large mixing bowl (or int he bowl of a stand mixer), stir together warm water, yeast, sugar, salt, and oil. Let sit for a couple of minutes while the yeast starts to soften.
  2. Stir in the flour, mixing to combine.
  3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes (you can also use the dough hook attachment on a stand mixer to do this).
  4. Grease the insert pot of the Instant Pot. Transfer the ball of dough to the insert pot and turn to coat with oil.
  5. Close the lid and turn on the yogurt function. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
  6. Remove the dough from the insert pot and roll out onto a pizza pan or divide and press into greased cake pans or small cast iron skillets to create personal pan pizzas.
  7. Top the dough as desired and bake in a preheated 500F oven for about 10-12 minutes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 294mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is not guaranteed for accuracy.

Want more delicious recipe ideas?

Check out even more mealtime inspiration on my Pinterest boards!

Stock Your Freezer!

Save Dinner One Day at a Time with Pressure Cooker to the Rescue, the Busy Mom's Instant Pot Freezer Meal Plan!
1. Stock your freezer with 10 family-friendly meals in about an hour!
2. No need to thaw before cooking in the Instant Pot--meals can cook from frozen!
3. Easy-to-use plan includes shopping lists, labels, recipes, and instructions!
RESCUE DINNER TIME WITH THE PLAN!
Pressure Cooker to the Rescue from Margin Making Mom
pressure
a round of pizza dough in the Instant Pot

Categories:

, , , ,

Easy family-friendly recipes in your inbox!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

6 Comments

  1. This was wonderful! I never thought to use my instant pot to proof dough! I took it to the next level and made it a stuffed crust pizza
    I will never buy store bought pizza crust again! (think Pillsbury)

    1. Chrysti Benner says:

      Thank you for your kind words, Julie! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it–what a great idea to make stuffed crust pizza–now I’m hungry! 🙂

  2. Can this be made in a smaller pan don’t have a pizza pan size thanks

    1. Chrysti Benner says:

      Hi Rhonda! Yes, you can divide the dough into smaller pans. I often divide it into 8″ round cake pans for personal pizzas. You can use cast iron skillets as well, or even stretch the dough out over a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. Enjoy! 🙂

  3. What is the max amount of dough you have ever tried?

    1. Chrysti Benner says:

      Hi Tommy! For this specific recipe, the written amount (for one large pizza) is the most I’ve done at a time. However, I think you could safely double it (for two pizzas) and still have room for it to rise, because I’ve risen larger amounts of dough in the Instant Pot (for soft pretzels) before and it’s worked fine. I hope that helps! 🙂

You'll Also Love..