If you are looking for the best pizza dough recipe, then you will be glad you found our homemade Pizza Hut original deep dish pizza recipe.
Do you remember when you were a kid the distinct taste of the Pizza Hut old recipe in comparison to a $5 hot and ready pizza? Or even now, the two are worlds apart in taste.
Well, our deep dish pizza recipe reminds you of Pizza Hut’s deep dish pizza right away. It has the perfect consistency and flavor that you dreamt about as the weekend approached.
Since going out and about is not all it’s cracked up to be these days, try making our deep dish pizza recipe from home, and save the extra money for ice cream or wine or whatever you enjoy most!
Recipe Ingredient Notes
To make our copycat version of Pizza Hut’s Original Deep Dish Pizza, you need the following ingredients:
Dough
- Warm water
- Non-fat dry milk
- Salt
- Flour
- Sugar
- Dry yeast
- Vegetable oil
Sauce
- Tomato sauce
- Dried oregano
- Marjoram
- Dried basil
- Garlic salt
Other
- Shredded Mozzarella cheese
- Vegetable oil
Equipment Needed
For this recipe, you only need a few simple kitchen tools. We recommend using the following equipment:
- Mixing Bowl (Large)
- Mixing Bowl (Medium)
- 3 Cake Pan (9 inch Round)
- Serving Platter (Rectangular)
- Non-stick Cooking Spray
How to Make Our Homemade Pizza Hut Deep Dish Pizza
Dough Instructions
- Start by putting the yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large mixing bowl.
- Once all of that is in the bowl, add in the warm water and stir it all together well and allow it to sit for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, add in the vegetable oil and stir it all together.
- Now, add in the flour and stir mixture together until the dough begins to form and all of the flour has been absorbed.
- Then, turn the dough out onto the counter and knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
- When you are done kneading the dough, divide the dough into 3 balls.
- In three 9 inch cake pans, put 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in each cake pan, making sure it is evenly spread out.
- Using a rolling pin, try to roll each ball into a 9 inch circle and then place the dough into each pan.
- Once the dough is in the cake pan, spray the outer edge of the dough with nonstick cooking spray and then cover the pan with a plate.
- Place the cake pan in a warm area (TIP: I like to preheat the oven to 200 and then turn it off and put the cake pans in there) and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Sauce Instructions
- While the dough is rising, combine the tomato sauce, oregano, marjoram, basil, and garlic salt in a medium mixing bowl.
Pizza Baking Instructions
- To bake the pizza, preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Then spoon about ⅓ cup of pizza sauce on top of the dough (more or less to your liking) and spread it to about 1 inch of the edge of the dough.
- Now add ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce.
- Once you have some cheese placed in the pan, place your favorite toppings such as pepperoni, ham, vegetables, and cooked meats.
- Now top it off with a ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and then place it in the oven and cook the pizza until the cheese is bubbling and the outer crust is brown, about 10-15 minutes or so.
- Then just cut and serve your delicious pizza!
How to Knead Pizza Dough
Often you can knead dough in a kitchen aid mixer, but pizza dough is best made by hand! If you are not sure how to even knead dough (don’t worry it’s okay to admit it) you are not alone. To get an idea of what we are talking about when you tell you to knead the dough, check out My Pizza Corner’s great instructions on how to knead pizza dough! They give you perfect instructions with pictures and everything.
Pizza Topping Options
Make your pizza as plain or festive as you like! Here are a few topping suggestions to use: pepperoni, ham, bacon, chicken, sausage, red onion, green peppers, mushrooms, pineapple, spinach, jalapeno, and banana peppers.
Enjoy More Delicious Pizzas and Calzones
Whether you prefer classic cheese or a new-school spin, we’ve got you covered with these homemade pizzas. Check out our comprehensive collection of pizza recipes here.
- Air Fryer Pizzas
- Blaze White Top Pizza
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
- Flatbread Mexican Pizza
- Mini Texas Toast Pizzas
- Olive Garden’s Grilled Chicken Flatbread Pizza
- Pan Pizza Crust
- Papa John’s Pizza
- Papa Murphy’s Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza
- Sheet Pan Pizza
- Slow Cooker Deep Dish Pizza
Pizza Hut Original Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1⅓ cups warm water, 105 ℉
- ¼ cup non-fat dry milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 package dry yeast
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon marjoram
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
Other:
- 3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tbsp per pan (or less as desired)
Equipment
Instructions
Dough:
- Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large bowl. Add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes. Add oil and stir again. Add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed.
- Turn out on to a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into three balls. In three 9" cake pans, put 3 Tbl. of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. Place in cake pans.
- Spray the outer edge of dough with cooking spray. Cover with a plate. Place in warm area and allow to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Sauce:
- Combine tomato sauce, oregano, marjoram, basil and garlic salt.
- Preheat oven to 475℉
- Spoon ⅓ cup sauce on dough and spread to within 1" of edge. Distribute ¼ c. shredded mozzarella cheese on sauce. Place toppings of your choice in this order: pepperoni or ham, vegetables, meats (cooked ground sausage or beef). Top with ½ c. mozzarella cheese (or as much as you prefer). Cook until cheese is bubbling and outer crust is brown (between 10-15 minutes).
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave a review or a question in the comment section below the post.
oh this looks SO good. i wonder if i could throw some cheese in there and make that STUFFED CRUST. best ever.
YUM YUM YUM! I simply love pizza in all forms–and pizza hut? Glad I got to meet 2 of you at SNAP, i wish I snapped a picture of us for my snap wall of fame though;(
So you use cake pans and not pizza pans?
Your version of the Pizza Hut pizza…is no doubt a million times better. Awesome!
Thanks for sharing.
Velva
I don’t know where you live, but if you have a Kroger/Fred Meyer/ Fry’s/ Smith’s near you, try this tip. (They are all owned by the same company.) I have found that everyone thinks my pizza tastes more like take-out when I use their store brand shredded cheese that is called “Italian Blend”. I think Kraft may have Italian blend as well. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
My hubbie thanks you in advance- LOVE this!
Yes, I used cake pans. I am sure it would work in either one, but I don’t own pizza pans. 🙂 And I wanted something deep enough that it would be a deep dish pizza. Good luck!
Do you have to use dry milk? How does it help? Can’t I use regular milk and warm it like I do for making rolls?
Hi Lauren!
I haven’t tried it any other way so I’m not sure if how it would turn out without the dry milk. I think using regular milk like you do for rolls would work. Sorry I’m not more help!
I have tried at least a dozen different pizza dough recipes and this is by far the best I’ve ever made!
I just used your dough and added my own toppings (bbq chicken pizza!), and it was fantastic. I didn’t have any dehydrated milk (or liquid milk, it was a clean out the fridge dinner), so I added a tablespoon or so of cream cheese. I will experiment further to determine how much that changed the dough flavor, but it was pretty excellent!
Is it plain or self rising flour?
Hi Teresa!
Just use all-purpose flour. Hope you like it!
Just made this . . . . . AMAZING! I mean, if you’re going to make pizza at home, go all out. The 3 tablespoons of oil in the pan makes all the difference. Outstanding recipe. Thanks so much!!!!!
good morning! i have a quick question! can i freeze the dough? I was thinking of baking the pizza and then freezing it. what do you recommend? Thanks!
I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. If it’s all cooked. Then just thaw it and reheat in the microwave or watch it closely in the oven. Let us know how it all turns out! -The Six Sisters
Have you ever froze the dough before you baked it? I’m not sure I will need all three pizzas.
We only made it as directed. So we’re not much help. Hope it all works out for you. We would love to hear what happens! 🙂
Hi, I wanted to know the measurement of active yeast in grams or measuring spoon. Plz help me.
In the United States, everything is nicely packaged and convenient for easy use… But for the rest of the world, 1 package or envelope of dry active yeast is roughly equal to 2-1/4 teaspoons, or essentially 1 tablespoon. Happy travels!
Another reader left this measurement comment…..1 package or envelope of dry active yeast is roughly equal to 2-1/4 teaspoons, or essentially 1 tablespoon.
I had cooked this pizza at home and it is really delicious. I appreciate this kind of pizza
It is good
This works even better if you use a cast-iron skillet instead of cake pans, and if you put a couple of pizza stones in the oven. Our oven has four levels for racks, so I put a pizza stone on the lowest rack and one on the top rack. Then the pizza goes on the second rack from the bottom. You have to pull it out a little to see if it’s done, but with a good preheat, it makes for even heat distribution.
WHAT IS DRY MILK? IVE NEVER HEARD OF IT. WHERE DO I FIND IT?
Dry milk is powdered milk found on the baking aisle.
My family loves this recipe! I’ve made a few alterations. I use the cast iron pans, and be sure to use 3 tablespoons of oil per pan. (I use olive oil instead of vegetable oil wherever it calls for oil.) I also added a clove of garlic with a garlic press to the dough, and a teaspoon of onion powder. Instead of hand kneading, I use the dough hook on my kitchen aid mixer and let the mixer knead for me.
Could you freeze the dough for use later?
It should freeze just fine!
It was absolutely delicious and just like Pizza Hut. You don’t need the nonstick spray, just tip the dough into the oil that is already in the pan once you place the dough in the pan. Used a bit more cheese. EXCELLENT!
I have made this several times now and even shared it with friends. And it IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST RECIPE I HAVE VER FOUND, and yes it defintely does taste just like Pizza Hut!! Thank you ! Thank you ! THANK – YOU so much for sharing this GREAT AWESOME RECIPE!!! I have even used it to make Garlic Cheese Bread- and it is just wonderful too!! Thanks again!
Does it seem like the dough has too much flour in it? I usually just add till it comes off the sides but I was distracted and added almost all the flour this time, and it seems really dense. Hoping it will still make good crust!
Love the photo of you guys! Cool background as well. My wife and I dabble in photography. I am definitely going to try this. Love the idea of garlic in the dough and using olive oil from Deborah. Thank you so much
Where can you find butter flavored cooking spray? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
It is by the non stick cooking spray like Pam. Pam comes in butter flavored and so do most store brands.
I’ve made pizzas for years. From my experience you can freeze any pizza dough. With 5 children, we went through a lot of homemade pizza. I used to roll out the dough (or use your hands to shape it), put some sauce on top, (this stops the dough from shrinking while in the oven), par-bake it, cool completely, freeze until firm, remove from pan, then wrap and freeze. I’d make 10 pizzas at a time. All the major dough work is done in one day and on other days all I had to do was thaw out the other pizzas, add a little more sauce and toppings and bake. Also, if you use a dark pan, your pizza dough will brown quicker. Now days I bake my pizzas directly on my baking stone with no pan.
Hey I’m planning to make half this recipe but only have two 8 inch pans. Should I make one really thick pizza or two thinner ones?
Best Pan Pizza by far. My husband likes it even more than Pizza Hut. So yummy!
So, so good! Thank you!
Just wondering if you make this more than 1.5 hours in advance would you let it rise longer or put it in the fridge after the 1.5 hours until you are ready to bake?
This post should help you with your pizza dough and proofing. https://www.thespruceeats.com/retarding-427620
Hi…. I am a huge fan! I have bought all your books and nothing fails but tonight I don’t know what I did wrong. It was so painful to knead the dough and then impossible to roll. I saved the dough in cling wrap as I am hoping you have a suggestion. What would I have done wrong? I used Quick-Rise Instant Yeast and followed everything perfectly. I kneaded the dough by hands. So tough! Thanks for your help
I made it today and it was a super duper hit! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful no fail proof recipe.
This is a great pizza crust recipe! I’ve made it twice now for my family and they loved it.:) I have to say that this one is a perfect replica of the Olive Garden pizza crust though, it’s slightly different from the Pizza Hut one. We think its better though.:)
This is an EXCELLENT recipe and does taste very much like the original Pizza Hut pan pizza. Probably even better. I made it in a food processor with instant (fast rise) yeast and found that about 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour was perfect. Flour moisture content can vary according to where you live and the weather conditions. I live at sea level. Stop adding flour when the dough starts pulling away from the food processor sides. Process for about a minute longer to knead. I did triple the amount of salt required in the recipe to match the flavor of the original (which had quite a high sodium content). I divided the dough into two parts to make two pizzas and it was perfect. I preheated the oven for an hour and placed the pan directly on the stone for about the first 7 minutes or so. You will notice the oil bubbling around the sides energetically. Then move the pizza up to a top rack to finish cooking. This dough is also great for foccacia and Detroit-style pizza.
Can you parbake the dough
can you cook this base on a pizza stone if you don’t have a suitable pan.
Just wondering instead of dividing the dough, can you make one big pan pizza and put in a large skillet?
Sure, you can make one larger pizza.
Can you make the dough in a bread machine
We haven’t made it in a bread machine. If you read the post we say that Pizza dough is best when kneaded by hand. To get an idea of what we are talking about when we tell you to knead the dough, check out My Pizza Corner’s great instructions on how to knead pizza dough! They give you perfect instructions with pictures and everything.
Made this Friday night. It was very good and well received by the family. I did not have milk powder and instead put about 1/4 c. of milk in a 2 cup glass measuring cup and filled with water to the 1-1/3 cup line. Heated it in the microwave to the correct temperature. I mixed and kneaded it in my KitchenAid stand mixer. I made 2 in cake pans, and 1 I rolled thinner for my husband. Baked them all at the same time a temp as directed. I used sauce from a jar.