If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade pizza doesn’t quite hit the mark, the answer might be in your dough. Great pizza starts with great fermentation as well as the perfect hydration— and that’s where poolish comes in.
What Is Poolish?
A poolish is an overnight pre-ferment made from equal parts flour and water, with a touch of yeast. It sits at room temperature for 12–16 hours, building flavour, improving structure, and making your dough easier to handle. It’s a classic method used by artisan bakers and pizzaiolos to achieve better texture and a more complex, slightly tangy taste.
My Pizza Dough Recipe That Works
This version is scaled to use 1kg (8 cups) of 00 flour — ideal for 4 to 6 pizzas. The poolish makes up about 30% of the total flour and is prepared the day before. The next day, you simply mix it with the rest of your ingredients, knead, rest, and proof. It’s a low-effort, high-reward method.
Adaptable for Any Oven
Whether you’re baking in a pizza oven, using a home oven, or cooking in a campervan, this dough holds up. You’ll get a chewy, blistered crust with great flavour and just the right amount of stretch. It’s especially good if you let the dough rest in the fridge for 24 hours after shaping — but even a short proof gives solid results.
If you’ve never used a poolish before, this is the time to start. It takes five minutes to mix the night before, but the payoff is next-level pizza that tastes like it came straight out of Naples.
Neapolitan-Style Pizza Dough (with Poolish)
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Dough scraper or spoon
- Clean tea towel or cling film
- High Temp Oven or pizza oven
Ingredients
For the Poolish (Make 1 day before)
- 1 1/4 cups water 300 ml
- 2.4 cups 00 flour 300 g
- 2 tsp fresh yeast 6 g
- 1 tsp honey 5 g
For the Dough
- All of the poolish
- 2 1/3 cups water 400 ml
- 8 cups 00 flour 700 g
- 7 tsp salt 25 g
- 2 3/4 tsp olive oil 10 g
- 1/2 cups Semolina flour for dusting
Instructions
Make the Poolish (Day Before)
- In a large bowl, stir the yeast and honey into the water until dissolved.
- Add the flour and mix until fully combined — you’re looking for a wet, sticky batter.
- Cover the bowl with cling film or a lid and leave at room temperature overnight (12–16 hours). The poolish should be bubbly and smell slightly sweet and yeasty by morning.
Make the Dough
- Add the water to the poolish and mix well to loosen.
- Add the remaining flour and knead until it starts to form a dough.
- Sprinkle in the salt and continue kneading until incorporated.
- Pour in the olive oil and knead again until the dough is smooth, stretchy, and slightly tacky. This should take about 8–10 minutes by hand.
- Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes, then do one stretch and fold.
- Rest for another 30 minutes, then divide into 4–6 dough balls.
- Place each ball on a semolina floured tray, cover, and leave to proof for 1–2 hours at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
Cook Your Pizza
- Preheat your oven or pizza oven to its highest setting — ideally 250°C+ (480°F+).
- Dust with semolina flour, roll or stretch out each dough ball, top with your favourite ingredients, and bake until puffed and golden (around 7–10 minutes depending on your heat source).
Absolutely love this dough, the recipe is spot on. So simple and seems foolproof.