Homemade Pizza and Pizza Dough: How to Make It

This is our families go to recipe for delicious homemade pizza. It’s so good in fact, that my daughter and her friends now use this recipe for pizza nights of their own!

While I prefer making a margherita pizza-recipe below- I use the exact same dough and cooking instructions to create individual homemade pizzas for my kids and husband-the only thing that changes are the toppings and amount of cheese.

This homemade pizza and pizza dough recipe is a great basic recipe to help get you started. It’s the perfect recipe to use as a jumping off point to helping you create mouth watering homemade pizzas of your own.

I hope this will be your new go to homemade pizza recipe, enjoy!

What do You Need to Make Pizza at Home

Making homemade pizza can be a fun way to make dinner with the family. It is also a fun and delicious activity to do with a group of friends.

The best way to ensure that making your pizza stays fun- and efficient- is to make sure you have all the ingredients and tools you need before you get started.

Tools:

• Pizza Stone (prefered) or Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Mixing Bowl
• Measuring Cup
• Basting Brush
• Pizza Cutter
• Cooling rack

No Pizza Stone- Use this Method Instead:

I recommend using a baking sheet and using parchment paper as well.

With the baking sheet your cooked pizza crust may end up a little more firm. Possibly adjust your cooking time when using the baking sheet. The parchment paper is important as it will help keep it from over cooking.

Ingredients:

• Flour
• Yeast- sugar and water
• Sugar
• Salt
• Olive Oil
• Pizza Sauce, 14 oz

Toppings:

Aside from the cheese, many of these toppings will be your choice.

• Cheese- fresh mozzarella or shredded mozzarella or italian blend
• Parmesan Cheese
• Basil- for Margherita Pizza
• Pepperoni- deli size or regular (I really like deli size)
• Tomatoes- with seeds pushed out, this makes the tomato more dry and won’t make the pizza overly moist.
• Mushrooms
• Ground italian sausage
• Olives
• Banana Peppers
• Green Peppers

Homemade Margherita Pizza

Homemade pizza dough (recipe below)                  ½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

4 Roma tomatoes, *thinly sliced                               2 Tablespoon parmesan cheese, divided

2 Tablespoons olive oil                                            1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or 2 balls of fresh mozzarella

Pizza Assembly and Cooking Directions:    

Place your pizza stone in the oven before starting the preheat.

Preheat oven to 450. 

Roll dough out into 2 round crusts- if making two large pizzas (as seen in pizza dough instructions). 

Place each rolled out pizza crust onto a piece of parchment paper. 

Using a basting brush- spread a light layer of olive oil over both. 

While on the parchment paper, place the raw pizza crust onto hot pizza stone.

Bake for 5-8 minutes (depending upon oven) until lightly browned. 

Remove from the oven.    

Pizza Toppings:

Arrange *tomatoes evenly onto the pizza crusts. Optional– spread a thin layer of tomato sauce first.

Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese, sprinkle all over pizza. 

Bake pizza for 8-10 minutes.  Keep an eye on it.  Remove from oven.

Fresh mozzarella – place the fresh mozzarella slices through out the dough surface, sprinkle with parmesan, and add basil leaves to the top of the pizza.

Shredded mozzarella– sprinkle surface with shredded mozzarella, the remaining 1 Tbsp. parmesan, and basil leaves on top of pizza. 

Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt. 

All ovens are different, so just be sure to keep an eye on your pizzas to make sure they don’t burn.

Once the cheese is the way you like it- golden brown or not- take out of the oven.

Carefully slide the pizza off of the parchment paper and onto a cookie rack to cool for about 2 to 3 minutes. Then cut with a pizza cutter and serve.

For Best Homemade Pizza Results: 

*Basil- You can do the more traditional italian method and add the basil whole or rip it. For slicing basil thin, see hack here.

*Tomatoes– after slicing, push seeds out of tomato slices, this will keep the tomatoes from adding liquid to the pizza.

*Mozzarella– if using fresh mozzarella ball, cut the ball into thin-ish slices, and place as many as you like on pizza.

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Basic Homemade Pizza Crust (makes 2 pizza crusts)

This pizza dough recipe makes two large pizzas.

If you would like to make individual size pizzas, cut the dough in half- which will make 4 individual pizza doughs

Ingredients:

1½ cups *lukewarm water

1 dry active yeast packet (¼ oz.)

½ teaspoon sugar

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

Olive oil

Pizza Dough Directions:          

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. *water temp is important, too hot of water will keep yeast from activating.

Let stand 10 minutes. 

Add flour and salt. 

Mix and knead for about 10 minutes. Video here

Place in a olive oil glazed bowl and cover. 

Let dough rise for 30 minutes- cover with a thin towel.

Using about 1/8 to 1/4c of extra flour, dust the area that you will be rolling the pizza dough, this will keep it from sticking to the surface. *continue dusting as needed.

Roll out pizza dough into two thin crusts. Optional-If making smaller crusts for individual pizzas- cut dough and then roll out each individual crust.

Place on parchment paper, then onto heated pizza stones and follow cooking directions as indicated above in Margherita Pizza recipe or below in the Homemade Pizza recipe.

Homemade Pizza Recipe

This recipe is the basics to get you started on assembling you own delicious pizza dinner.

Helpful Pizza Making Tips:

When it comes to pizza sauce, I have found it is very much subjective. Some people in my family prefer a more saucy pizza- others a thin layer of sauce. Pizza sauce your pizza how you see fit.

Possible Toppings:

• Cheese- fresh mozzarella or shredded mozzarella or italian blend
• Parmesan Cheese- it add a little extra something
• Basil- for Margherita Pizza
• Pepperoni- deli size or regular (I really like deli size)
• Tomatoes- with seeds pushed out, this makes the tomato more dry and won’t make the pizza overly moist.
• Mushrooms
• Ground italian sausage
• Olives
• Banana Peppers
• Green Peppers

Pizza Assembly and Cooking Directions:    

Place your pizza stone in the oven before starting the preheat.

Preheat oven to 450. 

Spreading 1 or 2 TBSP of flour on to the surface that you will be rolling out your dough. Spread out the flour so gives a thin coating to the surface. This will prevent the dough from sticking.

On the floured surface- roll dough out into 2 round crusts- if making two large pizzas (as seen in pizza dough instructions). 

Place each rolled out pizza crust onto a piece of parchment paper. 

Using a basting brush- spread a light layer of olive oil over both. 

While on the parchment paper, place the raw pizza crust onto hot pizza stone.

Bake for 5-8 minutes (depending upon oven) until lightly browned. 

Remove from the oven.    

Assembling the Pizza Toppings:

Taking your sauce- use a large table spoon and add as much or as little sauce as you would like. Starting in the middle, moving the back of your spoon in a circle type motion and moving the sauce out to the edges.

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese, sprinkle all over pizza. 

Add a layer of shredded cheese

Layer on the toppings of your choice- placing them evenly on the surface of the cheese.

Optional- add another light layer of cheese.

Bake pizza for 8-10 minutes.  Keep an eye on it.  How is it looking? If not done enough Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt and lightly brown- or more brown if you like.

All ovens are different, so just be sure to keep an eye on your pizzas to make sure they don’t burn.

Once the cheese is the way you like it- golden brown or not- take out of the oven.

Carefully slide the pizza off of the parchment paper and onto a cooling rack to cool for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Then cut with a pizza cutter and serve.

Helpful Items for this Recipe: