This is the best Homemade Pizza recipe. You’ll be craving this pizza weekly! Learn my tips and tricks, and you’ll make pizza like a pro in no time!
Table of Contents
My Favorite Pizza Recipe
Hi folks,
Is there anything better than pizza made from scratch? This homemade pizza recipe brings everything you love about pizza right to your kitchen—crispy crust, savory sauce, gooey mozzarella, and perfectly cooked pepperoni.
Whether it’s your first time making pizza at home or you’re a seasoned pro, this recipe will guide you through the process step by step.
Ingredients and Cost
Per Serving Cost: $1.16
Recipe Cost: $9.24
- 1 recipe pizza dough – $3.25
- 1 teaspoon yellow cornmeal – $0.01
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil – $0.14
- 1 recipe pizza sauce – $1.95
- 40 pepperoni slices – $0.80
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese – $0.99
- 2 cups whole milk mozzarella cheese – $2.10
NOTE: The recipe prices are calculated using grocery store websites. The actual cost of the recipe will depend on what ingredients you already have. The recipe price estimate was updated in October 2024.
Cook’s Tools
- pizza cutter
- pizza stone
- pizza peel
- parchment paper
- box grater
- microwave-safe plate
- paper towels
How To Make Homemade Pizza
Pizza Stone Instructions
While you can make this recipe without a pizza stone and in pizza pans, below is my preferred method for cooking it on a pizza stone. Scroll below this block to see my instructions for using round pizza pans.
- Start by preparing the pizza dough according to the Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe. Follow the dough recipe through rising the dough until it’s doubled.
- Move the oven rack to the second-highest position and place a pizza stone on the rack. Preheat the oven to 500°F for at least 30 minutes.
- Punch the dough down to deflate it. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured countertop and divide it into two pieces.
- Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and let it relax for 15-30 minutes.
- Place parchment paper on a pizza peel and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cornmeal. Take one of your dough balls, gently press, and stretch it into a 13 to 14-inch circle. If the dough keeps snapping back, rest it under a damp paper towel for 5-10 minutes before continuing.
- Once stretched, brush ½ tablespoon of olive oil around the outer edge of the dough to create a beautiful golden crust when baked.
- To reduce excess grease, lay 20 pepperoni slices on a microwave-safe plate between two paper towels. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then press down with the top towel to absorb any extra grease.
- Spread ¾ cup of pizza sauce over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese evenly over the sauce.
- Then, add 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Finally, arrange 20 pepperoni slices evenly across the pizza.
- Carefully transfer the pizza (on the parchment paper) onto the preheated pizza stone using the pizza peel. Bake at 500°F for 8-12 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.
- Remove the pizza from the oven with the pizza peel. Let it cool slightly for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
How To Make Homemade Pizza With Round Pizza Pans:
- First, prepare the pizza dough recipe. Move the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 500°F.
- Next, sprinkle cornmeal over two 14-inch round pizza pans.
- Then move one dough ball one of the pans and press the dough out into a 14-inch circle. Brush the dough’s outer edge with olive oil.
- Assemble the pizza as per the instructions above.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the crust has browned and the pizza is cooked through. Let the pizza sit for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
Pizza Dough: In this pizza dough post, I explain my methods, ingredients, and pizza tools in detail. You’ll also find tips and key-freezing instructions! You can use store-bought pizza dough if you need to. You’ll need about 1 pound of dough per pizza.
Pizza Sauce: My homemade pizza sauce is SO much better than store-bought. It’s an easy, no-cook recipe that you make in the blender. And to top it all off, it’s freezer-friendly, too! You can use store-bought pizza sauce. You’ll need a 14-ounce jar.
Pizza Cheese: To make the ultimate Pepperoni Pizza, you need a combination of 2 kinds of cheese: Parmesan and whole milk mozzarella.
- Parmesan Cheese: This adds some extra flavor to the pizza, and I add it underneath the mozzarella so it doesn’t brown and become crisp.
- Whole Milk Mozzarella: This cheese is a MUST for this recipe because it melts so much better than part-skim mozzarella (I find part-skim mozzarella cooks up a little rubbery)! Whole milk mozzarella can be tricky to find in your grocery store. If it’s not in the dairy aisle’s brick cheese section, I usually have luck finding it at the deli counter. I ask the folks at the deli counter to cut off a ½ pound chunk for me, and I shred it myself at home.
Pizza Topping Rules
You should limit each pizza to ½ cup of toppings. If you’re adding fresh veggies like onions, bell peppers, or broccoli, I suggest cooking them in the microwave for 30-90 seconds or until the veggies start to soften. That way, you won’t have crunchy uncooked veggies on your pizza.
Pizza Topping Combinations
The options are just about endless when it comes to pizza toppings, as almost anything goes! Make sure you use no more than ½ cup of toppings per pizza. Here are some of my all-time favorite combinations:
- Pepperoni and Cheese (you can never go wrong with this classic!)
- Firefighter: Instead of pizza sauce, use ranch dressing and top the pizza with jalapenos and pepperoni.
- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple: You can use fresh or canned pineapple.
- Veggie: Bell pepper, onion, mushroom, tomato, and sliced olives.
- Meat Lovers: Pepperoni, Italian sausage, beef, ham, and bacon. Ensure all the toppings are cooked before putting them on the pizza.
- BBQ Chicken: BBQ chicken, BBQ sauce instead of pizza sauce, red onions, bacon, and cilantro.
- Chicken and Bacon: Use ranch or alfredo sauce instead of red sauce, and then top the pizza with small diced cooked chicken and crumbled bacon.
- Buffalo Wing: Make the sauce using ⅔ cup buffalo wing sauce and ⅓ cup ranch. Top the pizza with small diced cooked chicken tenders.
More Pizza Main Dish Recipes
- New York-Style Thin Crust Pizza
- Strawberry Pizza with Bacon and Balsamic
- BBQ Chicken Pizza – A California Pizza Kitchen Copycat
- Simple Crescent Roll Pizza
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Pizza Recipe
Video
Equipment
- pizza stone
- pizza peel
- parchment paper
- box grater
- pizza cutter
Ingredients
- 1 recipe pizza dough
- 1 teaspoon yellow cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 recipe pizza sauce
- 40 pepperoni slices
- 1 ounce freshly finely grated Parmesan cheese about ½ cup
- 8 ounces whole milk mozzarella shredded (about 2 cups)
Instructions
MAKE DOUGH:
- Start by preparing the pizza dough according to my homemade pizza dough recipe. Follow the recipe through rising the dough until it's doubled.
PREP OVEN:
- Move the oven rack to the second-highest position. Place a pizza stone on the rack and preheat the oven to 500°F for at least 30 minutes.
PREP PIZZA DOUGH:
- Punch the dough down to deflate it.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured countertop and divide it into two pieces. Cover the dough with a damp paper towel and let it relax for 15-30 minutes.
- Place parchment paper on top of the pizza peel and sprinkle cornmeal. Move 1 dough ball to the pizza peel and press it out into a 13-14-inch circle by gently stretching and pressing it. (I find it’s best that once the dough is pressed out into an 8-inch circle, I place the palm of my hand in the center and gently pull the dough by the edges to get it to 14 inches.)
- If the dough is really snapping back while you’re trying to press and stretch it, cover it with a damp paper towel and let it relax for 5-10 minutes before starting again to get the dough to 14 inches.
- Brush ½ tablespoon of olive oil around the outer edge of the dough.
COOK PEPPERONI:
- Place 2 paper towels on top of a large microwave-safe plate. Spread the pepperoni evenly on the plate and top with 2 more paper towels—microwave on high for 30 seconds. Press the top paper towel onto the pepperoni to sop up any extra grease.
ASSEMBLE PIZZA:
- Spread ¾ cup of the pizza sauce over the dough using the back of a large spoon or ladle, leaving a ¼-inch border around the edge.
- Sprinkle ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese evenly over the sauce, followed by 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Spread 20 pepperoni slices evenly over the cheese.
COOK PIZZA:
- Once the pizza stone has been preheated at 500 degrees F for at least 30 minutes, use the pizza peel to slide the pizza and parchment onto the preheated pizza stone. Cook for 8-12 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.
SERVE:
- Use the pizza peel to remove the pizza from the oven. Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Repeat with remaining dough, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.
Notes
- This recipe makes (2) 14-inch pizzas.
- If pepperoni isn’t your thing, then go ahead and add your favorite toppings instead. I would say no more than ½ cup TOTAL of toppings on each pizza.
- If you’re adding fresh veggies like onions, bell peppers, or broccoli, I suggest cooking them in the microwave for 30-90 seconds or until the veggies soften. This way, you don’t have crunchy uncooked veggies on your pizza.
Nutrition
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Love a good classic! I always want some more pepperoni pizza!
I love, love love, love pepperoni pizza, but I always have the same problem with the grease. Thank you so much for the tip! This is going to increase my pizza enjoyment exponentially.
These tips are wonderful to make the perfect pepperoni pizza- I especially love the advice to un-grease the pepperoni first- duh, why didn’t I think of that?
Yes…Yes…and YES! This pizza looks so darn good I could eat half of it myself! I’m not kidding in case you were wondering lol
You were so right about the cheese! Whole mozzarella made all of the difference. My boys devoured this so quickly. Thanks!
So glad this recipe was a hit!
There’s nothing better than homemade pizza. My 5 years old want to make it all the time! Great recipe.
I love making homemade pizza!
Jill
Your recipes always come thru, perfectly made this for lunch for friends perfect, making shrimp and grits u henrys favorite think this recipe came from you super fast meal on table 20 minutes. Fast perfect each time
This recipe is amazing! I bought a store bought crust because I make it during the week for my kids and don’t have time to do the whole dough thing but the sauce is amazing. Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Lina, I’m so glad that this recipe worked for you with store-bought dough!
Hi can we use whole wheat crust
Sure. To begin with swap out half of the bread flour for whole wheat flour and see how it comes out, and the next time you make the dough increase the amount of wheat flour until the crust meets your personal taste.
That’s a beautiful pizza! Who doesn’t love pepperoni!
I know, right?!
Woot, woot! I’m glad you found those tips useful!
Where can l find the pizza peel? And are they expensive?
Hi Kathyleen, I got mine from Amazona and it was around $20. Here’s a link to the pizza peel that I have: http://amzn.to/2DV1rcK
This DOES look like the perfect homemade pizza! We love having weekly pizza night at our house, and I’ll have to try this recipe soon!
I hope you enjoy!
Nothing beats a good homemade pizza! I haven’t baked my own pizza in a couple of months now, but you inspired me to! Your pizza looks very delicious.
I absolutely enjoy making pizza from scratch at home!
Me, too. It’s so satisfying!
oh my God these this looks better than any pizz i would see in a resturant!
Awww, thank you! 🙂
Oooooo, the perfect homemade pizza to go with your perfect homemade pizza dough. I love the restaurant quality look of your pizzas! Thank you for sharing these great recipes 🙂
Now that I know how to make the homemade pizza dough, I can’t wait to make the whole pizza. I love meals the whole family can gets excited about and this is one of them. Thanks!
You’re so welcome! 🙂
Tonight is my daughters birthday party and we are making homemade pizza with 8 13yr old girls. Thanks for the recipe and the sauce recipe too. That is PERFECT~
Yay! I’m so glad you’re going to make this recipe. Good luck with the birthday party!
Hi! I don’t have a pizza stone. How long and what temp to cook without a stone? I really want to make this tonight! Please and thank you!!
Hi Belinda. I haven’t tested this recipe without a pizza stone yet, but I do have some tips. If you have a second pizza pan, invert it (turn it upside down) place it in the oven while the oven preheats. When you pop your pizza in the oven, place your pizza pan directly onto the preheated pan. Hopefully this will help the bottom of the pizza crisp up nicely. You will only need to increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes when you do this.