Easy Homemade Pizza
Published Mar 22, 2024
Updated Sep 07, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Here is an Easy Homemade Pizza recipe you can make, even if you are new to making pizza at home. The crust is crisp on the outside and hollow in the middle as a pizza crust should be.
You’re going to impress yourself with this one. The Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce you’ll spread on top is fragrant with aromatics and herbs and, next-level delicious. And, of course, there is gooey cheese.
The best part is that you can modify it however you want, whether you want to craft a meat-lovers pizza or a delightfully light veggie pizza. You can also use a unique blend of toppings for an entirely different pizza that suits your taste buds.
Skip ordering and make this for your next pizza night! My family totally loves this easy homemade pizza. Approved from Mr. N to the kids! Serve it alongside my Garlic Butter Wings and Garlic Butter Rolls. Round off with an easy green salad for a memorable meal!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Pizza Recipe
- Ingredients Needed
- How To Make Easy Homemade Pizza
- Proof the yeast in a bowl and let it rest.
- Add and mix the remaining dough ingredients at a low speed to form the dough.
- Knead the dough, adding a small amount of olive oil until elastic.
- Grease the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place while covered.
- Preheat the oven.
- After the dough has risen, punch it down. Shape it into a ball on a floured surface.
- Roll the dough into a 13-inch circle, then transfer it to a round pizza pan. Tuck the edges to create a 12-inch circle.
- Evenly spread the sauce on the dough, followed by the cheese and toppings.
- Bake the pizza in the preheated oven.
- Slice and serve the pizza.
- Substitutions and Variations
- Expert Tips For Homemade Pizza
- Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
- Serving
- Easy Homemade Pizza Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Pizza Recipe
- Anyone can make it. Don’t worry if you are new to working with yeast or making bread dough! This recipe has guided photos and easy-to-follow directions to lead you to the best easy homemade pizza.
- It’s family-friendly. This is an incredibly fun project you can work on with your kids! And the end result is irresistible. I guarantee that everyone in your family will want seconds when you make this homemade pizza! I know they always want seconds in my home!
- It has the right flavors and textures. This easy homemade pizza recipe surely beats heating a frozen pizza or ordering from a fast-food pizza chain. It has quality ingredients and an impressive amount of flavor in every bite. You won’t believe how appetizing it is, from the crispy crust to the vibrant sauce and perfectly melted cheese!
Love pizza? Also check out my easy Pizza Toast!
Ingredients Needed
Here are the primary ingredients needed to make easy homemade pizza from scratch:
- Yeast: The yeast is essential for the dough to turn out fluffy. Without it, the crust would be very dense! This recipe uses active dry yeast.
- Warm Water: The water must be warm when proofing the yeast. The optimal temperature for the water should be between 105°F to 115°F. If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast!
- Flour: For best results, use all-purpose (or plain flour). If the flour is lumpy, you can sift it beforehand.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: This ingredient gives the dough moisture and helps make it pliable, so it is easier to roll out. You don’t want to skip on this ingredient!
- Pizza Sauce and Cheese: Make sure to have your sauce and cheese ready for easy assembly. You can make my recipe for Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce in advance so it is ready to go! For the cheese, use a fresh mozzarella and shred it yourself.
You will also need some pantry staples, such as salt and sugar. You can get the measurements by scrolling to the recipe card below!
How To Make Easy Homemade Pizza
Here are the easy steps for making this pizza recipe which is going to become your new favorite:
Proof the yeast in a bowl and let it rest.
Add and mix the remaining dough ingredients at a low speed to form the dough.
Knead the dough, adding a small amount of olive oil until elastic.
Grease the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place while covered.
Preheat the oven.
After the dough has risen, punch it down. Shape it into a ball on a floured surface.
Roll the dough into a 13-inch circle, then transfer it to a round pizza pan. Tuck the edges to create a 12-inch circle.
Evenly spread the sauce on the dough, followed by the cheese and toppings.
Bake the pizza in the preheated oven.
Slice and serve the pizza.
To get a crispy crust on your pizza make sure you preheat the oven and bake at high heat. Baking at 450-500 degrees F or 230-260 degrees C is optimum for pizza.
Substitutions and Variations
- Herbs: Even though my accompanying pizza sauce recipe has plenty of herbs, you can take it a step further by adding herbs to the pizza dough, too. Sprinkle in some dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, or basil!
- Crust: You can easily make a thin or thick-crust pizza with this dough! If you don’t change the measurements, the thin crust will yield a larger pizza, and a thicker crust will be slightly smaller since you will roll the dough out less.
- Veggie Toppings: One of the most exciting parts of making your pizza is customizing the toppings! Here are some veggies you can use: onions, peppers, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, jalapenos, spinach, or garlic.
- Meat Toppings: Canadian bacon, sausage crumbles, ham, classic pepperoni, shredded chicken, pulled pork, or salami.
- Sauce: Not a fan of tomato sauce? You can make a white sauce or spread some pesto on the dough in place of the traditional pizza sauce!
Also try my Mushroom Pizza Recipe!
Expert Tips For Homemade Pizza
- Make sure to use fresh yeast! Unfortunately, if you use expired yeast or yeast that has simply been sitting in your pantry for a while, it might not activate, and when you let the dough rest, it won’t rise.
- Gently knead the dough to prevent over-kneading it! The gluten in the flour can be sensitive. If you overwork it, the dough won’t be elastic, making it very difficult to roll into a circle because it will keep shrinking back, which can be quite frustrating.
- If your oven is known to have hot spots, it’s a good idea to rotate the pizza halfway through cooking. That way, the cheese evenly melts and browns instead of one side being significantly darker than the other.
- Have fun when serving it! Adding extra garnishes or serving the pizza with dipping sauce is another way to elevate this recipe. For instance, you can dip the pizza in BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, or buffalo sauce. Sprinkle it with fresh parmesan or red pepper flakes like you would enjoy at your favorite pizzeria!
Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
Aside from your personal toppings, you’ll need the dough and sauce ingredients, as well as fresh cheese. It’s easy to overlook little details when you’re so focused on buying the stuff for the dough!
I suggest writing out a list of everything you need, including the cheese and toppings, so you don’t forget anything.
As the recipe describes, you should put the sauce first, directly touching the dough. Then, you can put the cheese and toppings.
This is because you want the toppings to cook and the cheese to melt and brown on the edges! They need to be exposed to the oven’s heating elements more than the sauce does.
Mozzarella is by far the most classic and well-loved cheese for pizza since it melts perfectly and has a delicious, creamy flavor! It also isn’t super oily.
However, if you don’t like mozzarella, there are plenty of other choices. It’s important to keep moisture content in mind when selecting a cheese. For instance, you can try provolone, Swiss, asiago, fontina, or gouda.
Some people also prefer goat cheese, which slightly melts while holding its shape! I suggest avoiding super-hard, aged cheese, pre-shredded cheese, or pre-grated parmesan because they don’t melt well.
Serving
Serve homemade pizza with the following sides:
If you make this recipe please leave a star rating below. Your rating helps others find the recipe plus I love hearing from you! Thank you!
This post was first published on March 12, 2016. It has now been updated with fresh photos, a new pizza sauce recipe and lots of tips! Hope you love it as much as we do.
Easy Homemade Pizza
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup warm water around 110℉ warm
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose or plain flour
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus more for oiling bowl
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup roasted tomato pizza sauce
- 2 cups freshly shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Proof the yeast: Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook or paddle attachment fitted. Or, to make the dough by hand, whisk the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Bubbles may form, proofing that the yeast is active.
- Make the dough and knead: Add the flour, olive oil and salt and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes to form a dough. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. With the stand mixer, the dough will be light and stretchy. By hand, the dough might feel heavy. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil and knead until the dough is elastic.
- Let the dough rise: Lightly grease the same bowl you mixed the dough in with oil or cooking spray. Turn the dough around so all the sides are coated with the oil. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for about one to two hours. An oven is a great place for the dough to rise. Make sure the oven is turned off.
- Preheat oven to 475℉ while you shape the pizza.
- Deflate the dough and roll it out: After the dough has risen, punch it down to remove the air bubbles. Then lightly flour a clean working surface. Shape the dough into a ball and place on the floured surface. Using a rolling pin and working from the middle of the ball to its corners, roll the dough into a 13-inch circle. Place the dough on a round pizza pan. Using your fingers, lift and tuck in or fold in about the edges of the dough. After tucking in the edges, you should have a 12-inch circle.
- Spread on the sauce: Spoon the sauce onto the dough and spread it evenly, avoiding the tucked in corners.
- Sprinkle on the shredded cheese evenly, avoiding the tucked-in corners. Add your favorite toppings at this stage. Some of our favorite toppings are pepperoni, mushrooms, bell peppers, and olives.
- Bake the pizza in the preheated oven for 11-13 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Slice and serve the pizza while still warm.
Is it possible to get the pizza done without the use of oven?
You can do that by baking in a pot instead.
Please how do I use a pot to bake the pizza?
Hi Vanessa, you can put sand in a large pot and heat it up to form an oven. Then place your baking tray with pizza over the sand and bake with the pot covered on medium heat. That’s how I used to bake before I got an oven. Hope this helps.