Easy do it yourself pizza with a homemade crust done in 30 minutes! Simple ingredients make this a budget friendly weeknight meal.
When you are tight on money, it’s way cheaper than ordering take out pizza! Not to mention tastes way better too!
Growing up around the Chicago area, I think I know a good pizza when I taste one!
My mom would make this pizza ALL the time when we were kids. It can feed so many people!
I am the youngest of four siblings and growing up our house seemed to be the hangout for all our friends.
I am not sure why everyone always came to our house, but it may have been my mom’s cooking that kept them all around!
My mom mentioned that homemade pizza was one cheap way to feed all those kids , and who doesn’t like pizza right!?
Making Homemade Pizza is bit of a newer tradition because it originated from…my mom! She was just over this past weekend and we made the pizza together!
So I am sharing with you REAL pictures while we made it! OH and my daughter helped too! Got to get the kids involved when you can.
I always like to take my own pictures of what the food really looks like so that you know you don’t need a huge kitchen to cook in( mine is super tiny!) or feel expected to make gourmet looking dishes!
Just REAL food that is REALLY good!!
Check out some of my other dinner favorites!
Baked BBQ Chicken Wings: Crispy oven baked chicken wings smothered in BBQ sauce. Perfect appetizer or an easy weeknight meal!
Pasta Fagioli: A hearty Pasta Fagioli soup that is loaded with beans, veggies, and ground turkey. A perfect comfort soup for those chilly days!
Stuffed Baked Potatoes: Baked potatoes stuffed with creamy chicken, beef, and cheese. Perfect for a weeknight meal, filling side dish, or appetizer!
Southwest Stuffed Peppers: Bell peppers stuffed with southwest flavored shredded chicken, rice, corn, and cheese melted over the top. An easy, healthy and filling weeknight meal.
Crockpot Carnitas: Delicious pork shoulder combined in the slow cooker with spices, lime juice, orange juice, and coke. Tastes great for tacos, enchiladas, or nachos!
Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas: Toasty and cheesy flavor packed Chicken Quesadillas. An easy weeknight or lunch meal to satisfy any craving.
How to make Homemade Pizza anytime of the week!
All the ingredients for homemade pizza are either shelf stable or can be frozen! That way you can make it anytime you want without having to run to the store to pick up a random ingredient.
What I like to do is stock up on the sauce, cheese and favorite topping of your choice ( I like pepperoni and green olives!) so you have it all on hand.
The sauce is shelf stable, the cheese you can freeze, and the toppings you can either freeze or get in cans!(like mushrooms, black olives, green olives!)
Do I need a pizza pan to cook Homemade Pizza?
You don’t need a pizza pan if you don’t have one(although they are nice!) I made one on a regular cookie sheet and just formed it into a circle. I have Wilton pizza crisper pan and it does make a crispier crust than the one made on the cookie sheet! So if you have the choice, use the pizza pan to get a crispier crust and more uniform shape.
What kind of yeast should be used for Homemade Pizza?
I have used both the active dry yeast and the instant yeast and they both work great! The difference is with the active dry yeast you have to activate(or rehydrate it) with warm water that is a very specific temperature. The instant yeast i just mixed it in with all the other dough ingredients, it does not need to be activated.
Ingredients for Homemade Pizza
- Yeast: To make the dough rise. Use either an active dry yeast or an instant yeast
- Salt: Added to the dough for flavor.
- Sugar: Added to the dough for a slight sweet flavor.
- Flour: The base part of the dough.
- Warm Water: Used to mix the yeast in, then added to the flour, to make the dough.
- Pizza Sauce: Any kind can be used. You can even use a regular marinara sauce in a pinch, just add some Italian seasoning to it.
- Mozzarella Cheese: Use a shredded cheese and add as much or as little as you would like on top of your pizza.
- Salt & Pepper: Sprinkled on top of the cheese for flavor.
- Oregano: Added to the top of the cheese before cooking the pizza for an Italian flavor.
- Any additional toppings you want to put on: ground sausage, black olives, green olives, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, the list goes on and on..whatever is your fave!
- Crisco: For greasing the pans before putting the dough on it so that it slides off easily.
How to make Homemade Pizza
***UPDATE*** I have started using the instant yeast and use 1 and 3/4 teaspoons in place of the yeast packet and it works amazing!! You still add the same amount of all the other ingredients but you don’t have to worry about it activating! I don’t have to mess around with the water temp either, just make sure it is warm.
So first we are going to start with the homemade dough. This is so much easier than you think it would be , and tastes so much better than the premade dough from the store!
The hardest part is getting the yeast activated so I would recommend using a meat thermometer to test the water hotness.
You want it to be around 115 degrees.
Another trick is warming up your measuring cup under that same water so it doesn’t lose that heat while transferring it.
So once you have your 1 cup of warm water, mix in your yeast packet (I like the Fleischmanns yeast packets), 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar and let it sit.
After a couple of min you should start to see it move around which means it is activating.
After it is done moving around, about 5 min or so, go ahead and add in your 2 and 1/2 cups flour and mix with a fork.
This recipe makes either 2 medium size pizzas or 1 larger pizza. Divide your dough into the sizes that you want. I always make the one larger pizza with the recipe since I prefer a little bit thicker crust.
Now you are going to start rolling it out. You can start by putting some flour down on your surface.
Using your hands begin pushing it flat and in a circle shape. Then you can start rolling it out thinner with a rolling pin.
Once you get it in the size you want or the size of your pan you can pick it up and put it in your pan.
Before you put on your pans, grease the pans up with a little Crisco.
Then push it against the sides of the pan to make a little crust.
After you have your dough on the pans, the next step is to spread the sauce all over. I usually just use store bought pizza sauce, I have even used regular marinara sauce with some added herbs in a pinch!
This is a great place to let the kids start helping if you want to involve them. Using the back of the spoon smooth the sauce all over.
Then add your toppings whatever you want to add!
After the topping is added, spread your mozzarella cheese to the thickness you want.
Then sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and oregano and it is ready to go in your oven at 425 degrees!
Cook one pizza at a time for about 20 min. I have tried cooking two pizzas at once and it just doesn’t work. Just cook the one pizza at a time and it will turn out great!
During the last 5 min or so, slide the pizza off the pan directly on the oven rack to get the bottom done so its nice and crisp! *IF you are cooking it on a pizza pan with the little air holes on the bottom you might not need to slide it off until the last 2-3 minutes. Those little holes really get the bottom brown and crisp.
Watch closely, and carefully remove when it’s nice and brown on the bottom. Let it sit a couple minutes on a rack (very important step to get that crisp crust!) a couple minutes and slice either into squares or triangles!
Let the pizza cool on cooling racks before cutting it up. This lets the crust get nice and crispy and not soggy.
So what you end up with is a crust on the thinner side but if you want a thicker crust just make it a little thicker when you are shaping the dough!
Homemade Pizza
Description
Easy do it yourself pizza with a homemade crust done in 30 minutes! So yummy and way cheaper than take out pizza!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Dissolve yeast in warm water(115 degrees F.) with salt and sugar. Let it activate and then mix in the flour with a fork.
- Dump the dough out on a floured surface and shape into a ball. Divide in half for 2 small pizzas or keep it all together for 1 large pizza.
- Roll out with a rolling pin until the desired thickness of your crust.
- Grease the pizza pans with a little bit of Crisco. Then add your dough to the pan and shape the dough to sides of the pan to make a crust.
- Spoon the pizza sauce over the dough and spread out evenly.
- Add your toppings next, then sprinkle the cheese over the top and season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
- Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. During the last 5 minutes slide it off the pan to let it cook on the oven rack. This makes sure you have a nice crisp crust.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on cooling racks.
- Cut into triangles or squares and serve while warm.
Check out some amazing desserts!
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies: Soft and chewy oatmeal peanut butter cookies made without flour. Super quick and easy dessert the whole family will love!
Scotharoos: Scotcharoos are a rice krispie treat made with peanut butter and topped with a chocolate butterscotch mix. With only 6 ingredients these are super easy to make!
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls: Perfectly soft and chewy homemade cinnamon rolls. A breakfast treat filled with cinnamon swirl and topped with cream cheese frosting.
Monkey Bread: Monkey bread made with frozen rolls, brown sugar, pudding mix, and butter. Just layer it all in a bundt pan for an easy breakfast treat!
Blueberry Coffee Cake: Soft and moist blueberry coffee cake drizzled with vanilla icing. Delicious breakfast or dessert treat that everyone will love!
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