Is Flatbread Dough The Same As Pizza Dough?

Last updated on October 2nd, 2022 at 09:53 pm

Flatbreads are often offered in pizza places right alongside pizza so many people might believe that they are the same thing or at least use the same dough, but do they?

Pizza dough and flatbread dough are actually different. Pizza dough is a yeasted dough. This means that it contains yeast to give it the rise in the dough. Flatbread dough does not contain yeast which is why it is a flatbread.

Although these doughs might taste similar they are not the same thing. If you are making flatbread then you will want to use flatbread dough. If you are wanting to make a pizza you will want to be sure to use pizza dough. 

Are Flatbread And Pizza The Same?

Flatbread and pizza can both be found in pizza parlors and restaurants together. They do have similar toppings and some people might believe that they are pretty much the same thing. 

Flatbread and pizza are very different from each other when you look close enough. Pizza is considered a yeasted flatbread. It does contain yeast which will give you that nice fluffy crust with the amazing bubbles but the dough of the main part of the pizza still remains fairly flat. 

It doesn’t quite rise the way a yeasted dough for biscuits would do. 

Pizza is topped with a marinara sauce and cheese, typically a mozzarella. Pizza can have a variety of meat and vegetable toppings. 

Flatbread dough is a flatbread. It does not contain yeast so it won’t have any rise to it. Flatbread is a thinner and crispier crust. The dough that you start out with along with the shape that you start out with will generally be the same when it comes out of the oven. 

Flatbread will not expand as a pizza crust might. 

While flatbread does have a sauce and toppings, they are typically a little lighter than what you would put on a pizza. Usually, flatbread will not have a tomato-based sauce. 

With flatbread you can get a little more adventurous with the toppings as well. People have strong opinions about what should and should not be placed on top of a pizza but when it comes to flatbread they don’t seem to be stuck in a certain mindset. 

You could find flatbreads that have sauces such a balsamic glaze, a barbeque sauce, alfredo sauce, plain olive oil, and yes, sometimes a tomato sauce. The cheese on a flatbread can also vary. 

You can find a wide variety of cheese being used including goat cheese and blue cheese. 

These aren’t the kind of cheese that you would normally find on a pizza. 

The shape of a flatbread is also different from that of a pizza. 

Pizza typically comes in two shapes, a circle and a rectangle. Flatbread is more of a rustic shape. It can have the general shape of an oval or rectangle and can be cut in different ways. 

Flatbreads can be the main course or served in smaller portions as appetizers before your main course.

Is Flatbread Made From Pizza Dough?

Flatbread pizza is a pizza that is made with flatbread dough instead of pizza dough. This is what I make for my son who has to be gluten free. When we found out he had to go gluten free when he was in the middle of second grade, I think he missed pizza the most. 

We would have family night every other week with pizza, a movie, and a board game. We would often order two pizzas so the kids could have different toppings and we’d have leftovers to put into school lunches. When he went gluten free, we soon realized that baking gluten free is very different from regular baking. 

Then we found a recipe for a gluten free pizza dough, however this dough was a flatbread dough. My children loved it! 

Pizza dough contains yeast but flatbread does not, so no, flatbread is not made from pizza dough. A flatbread dough does not contain any yeast which means that your dough will come together really quickly. 

My kids can ask me for pizza and when I use our flatbread recipe, I can have that in the oven within 3 minutes! We will make flatbread pizza with it. We cook our dough for about 10 minutes then take it out of the oven and place on all of our pizza toppings. 

The sauce, cheese, meat and vegetables all go on then we pop that back into the oven for another 10 minutes. The result is a delicious pizza with a nice crispy crust. We have even used flatbread dough to make pizza sandwiches and other sandwiches as well. 

A flatbread pizza is simply just a flatbread that has pizza toppings. If you were going to make a pizza with a regular crust you would have to start that a few hours before you want to eat since you will have to give the yeast dough time to rise.

Can You Substitute Pizza Dough For Bread Dough?

Pizza dough and bread dough are fairly similar. The core ingredients of pizza dough and bread dough are the same. Both kinds of dough contain flour, water, and yeast. Pizza dough often contains salt and bread dough usually has sugar in it as well. 

Some breads can contain butter, eggs, or high amounts of sugar. 

The main difference between a basic bread dough and a pizza dough is the amount of ingredients. The ratios of the ingredients will differ in a bread dough from the ratio of ingredients that is in pizza dough. Since these doughs are so similar you might be curious as to if you can interchange the doughs? 

You can substitute pizza dough with bread dough and vice-versa. Pizza dough is pretty much a bread dough so you could easily use it to make bread, buns, or biscuits. You simply need to shape it how you want it to be, allow it to rise, and then bake it. 

Can you use bread dough instead of pizza dough? 

You could but there are some exceptions for this. If your bread dough is an enriched dough, you should not use it to make pizza. An enriched dough will contain either or all of the following ingredients: butter, eggs, milk, or a large amount of sugar. These ingredients alter the texture of the dough. 

It will make it too soft to use as a pizza dough. Enriched doughs also brown easily so that will cause your pizza crust to burn. 

You can certainly use a basic bread dough recipe with flour, yeast, salt, and water as a substitute for pizza dough. You could even use bread dough that contains oil and a pinch of sugar but any dough that contains more than that should not be used for pizza.