I’m not exaggerating with that title–this really is the BEST Lightened-Up Pizza Crust. This really is one of the best pizza crusts I’ve ever had, period. I utilize classic ingredients (no greek yogurt here!) to make a traditional dough that comes together in a food processor. No kneading.
The result is a crust that tastes like something you’d get at a local pizzeria, yet each serving of the dough (enough for one slice) comes out to just 2 SP!
Believe me, I’ve tweaked this recipes at least 10 times to get it to the point of perfection. Now I’m ready to share it with you!
Are you sick of 2-ingredient dough?
When I first started back on WW, right when the Freestyle program was released, I discovered the 2-ingredient dough that was and still is all the rage on Instagram. I was blown away that I could have pizza for such low points!
It didn’t taste EXACTLY like real pizza, but it did the trick. In fact, I have a recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza on my blog using that dough. But, well, I was missing the real thing.
So I returned to an old classic that I used to make a lot: Mark Bittman’s Food Processor Pizza Dough. I played around with the measurements to lower the points (and calories) while adding some spices for extra flavor.
The result is absolute perfection! Plus, you get enough dough for two pizzas, so you can freeze half for a super easy pizza night in the future.
I highly recommend using my Quick, 0 SP Pizza Sauce with this to keep the points as low as possible. For the pizza in this picture, I used 5 ounces of Trader’s Joe’s Lite Mozzarella, 17 Boar’s Head Turkey Pepperonis, mushrooms, just a few olives, and 2 Tbps of grated parmesan cheese. This made a 12-inch pizza, cut into 8 slices, for 3 SP a slice!
By the way, you can find bread flour right next to the all-purpose flour at your grocery store. Also, make sure you are buying fast rising yeast or instant yeast instead of the dry activated. It makes a huge difference!
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you make it, be sure to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (@litecravings) and use the hashtag #litecravingsrecipes. I sometimes miss a tag here or there, but I always check in on the hashtag.
The Best Lightened-Up Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cup bread flour or all purpose flour (this comes out to about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 1/4 ounce package Fast Rising or Instant yeast
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup very warm water, around 110 degrees F (look to recipe notes for quick tip)
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe measuring cup, microwave 1 cup of water on high for 30 seconds. Mix the sugar into the warm water until dissolved, then add in the entire packet of yeast and mix until yeast is moistened. Let stand while you prepare your other ingredients.
- In a food processor, add flour, salt, and Italian seasoning. Add oil to the water/yeast mixture.
- Turn the machine on and slowly add water/yeast/oil mixture through the feed tube.
- Process for about a minute. Turn the machine off and, using a spatula or floured hands, take the dough out of the food processor and place in a medium-sized bowl. It will form a very soft but elastic dough.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for at least 30 minutes, but ideally for an hour and a half. The dough should more than double in size. The one in the picture rose for 90 minutes. Divide dough in half (each half should be about 300 grams). Cover one half in plastic wrap and freeze in a Ziploc bag for future use.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place one ball of dough in the middle of the pan and, using your fingers or a hand-held rolling pin, push dough to edges. Using a fork, poke holes in dough so you avoid air pockets when cooking.
- Bake dough for 3 minutes. It should rise again in the oven as it cooks. Take pizza out and add desired toppings. Optional Step: Spray crust edges with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle those edges with parmesan cheese.
- Place back in oven and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Broil for 1-2 minutes, or until cheese is browned to your liking. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!
This looks sp yummy! Can I just use a bowl and wooden spoon to mix, if I don’t have this type of food processor?
Maybe, but you’d need to knead it by hand quite a bit. Do you have a stand or hand mixer? Either of those might work better!
Any help you can give me would be great. I made this and LOVED it. My only problem is it was so elastic I couldn’t get it to the edges of the pan!☹️ I even tried no spray on the pan but the same thing happened and it shrunk to 7-8 inches in diameter. I want to try it again but am a little wary of the same results.
I totally understand! I would try letting it rest before rolling it out, and make sure the dough is at room temperature. The gluten might stiffen up depending on the temperature of your kitchen, so resting for about 2 minutes in a warm place is best. Hope that helps!
Is it 1 1/4 ounce of the individual packets of yeast or 1 1/4 ounce in general? I’m trying to figure out if I buy the packets or a jar and confused how I should measure it. 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Hi there! One package is 1/4 ounce, or 7 grams if you want to weigh it out. Hope that helps!
You use the whole packet of yeast 🙂
This pizza crust is fantastic! Thank you for sharing!
Hi, Wendy! So glad you liked it. 🙂
Yay!! So glad you liked it 🙂
You’re very welcome!
Can you substitute with active dry yeast?
Yep!
Awesome recipe, so great to have an alternative to the two ingredient dough. And so versatile! I made two batches in my KitchenAid and froze 2 for future use. A few days later I remembered I had to make Dwards s pizza dip for my husband to take to work. I pulled out my frozen dough rolled it into two long skinny loaves of bread and baked it for about 16 minutes. It made 32 slices, so one smart point per slice of bread.
I accidentally added a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon of Italian seasoning the first time I made it. Based on the outcome I think I will continue to do this. This recipe is a keeper for sure, thank you so much for sharing it! We haven’t had anything we don’t like yet from your site. One of our top go to’s 🙂
So glad you liked it! I’ll have to try it as a loaf. Great idea!
Can this be baked on a pizza stone instead of a metal pan?
Absolutely!
Hi, mine didn’t rise that much, the yeast is fresh. Was I supposed to mix in the oil to yeast mix?
It could be the temp of your water. If it was too hot the yeast may have died off. Everyone’s microwave is a little different, so if you want to be extra safe you can temp check your water to make sure it’s less than 120 just to be safe.
I’ve made this several times and love it! A level up from my normal skinny pizza dough recipe!!!
I usually make a half recipe. I finally tried a whole recipe and froze the other half. Looking for help… I thawed the crust over night in the fridge then let it rise on the counter for 1.5 hours. After baking it did not come out the same? Thick and chewy and not fluffy. Any suggestions ?
Hi Chelsea, first of all, I’m SO happy you love my pizza dough (so much better than typical 2 ingredient dough, imho). As for the dough not rising properly, here are a couple potential reasons it may not have worked as well: depending on how long it was in the freezer, the yeast may have died (if dough gets frozen for months it can happen). It’s also possible that letting it thaw in the fridge overnight gave the yeast time to wake up but then overproof the dough by the time you got around to using it the next day. Maybe try taking the dough directly from the freezer and let it thaw on the counter for a couple of extra hours? Let me know how it goes!
I am so happy to find something other than 2 ingredient dough (not a fan). This was a keeper!