Why order out when you can make a stellar cheese pizza at home? This one is like your favorite delivery pizza, but infinitely tastier.
There’s nothing we love more than helping you make the best homemade pizza ever. We’ve got tons of pizza topping ideas from classic Margherita pizza to taco pizza, But there’s something so satisfying about a good old cheese pizza. Here’s your favorite delivery cheese pizza, but exactly 1 million times better. The sauce is extra tomato-y, the cheese is extra cheesy, and the crust is perfectly chewy. Want to know our secrets?
How to make the best cheese pizza
This cheese pizza tastes just like what you’d expect from your classic pie, but infinitely better. It’s sophisticated enough for adults, but loved by all kids. We’ve tested on multiple kids in our lives, and they’re 100% in love with this cheese pizza. Here’s what makes this cheese pizza better than your normal delivery pizza:
- 5-minute pizza sauce. Have you made our classic easy pizza sauce? It’s a fan favorite recipe and you’ll be amazed at home much flavor it has! Whiz up canned fire roasted tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, and oregano in a blender.
- Both shredded and fresh mozzarella. What’s on the cheesiest of cheese pizzas? Shredded mozzarella and fresh mozzarella! The fresh cheese makes it seriously gooey, and the shredded is the glue that sticks it all together.
- The best pizza dough. This pizza dough recipe is the best on the internet (we think!). Alex and I perfected it after over 10 years of researching tricks from artisan pizza makers. Keep reading for more on how to make it…
Pizza making tools
To make a great cheese pizza, it’s helpful to have a few pizza making tools handy! These two tools have been indispensable in our homemade pizza making game. Here’s what Alex and I recommend:
- Pizza stone: A pizza stone is what makes Italian pizza crust crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Here’s the best pizza stone we’ve found, and a bit more on pizza stone care.
- Pizza peel: What’s a pizza peel? It’s a paddle used to slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone in the oven. We recommend this Standard pizza peel or this Conveyor pizza peel.
Use either of these pizza dough variations
For the pizza dough for this cheese pizza, here are a few dough recipe options:
- Best Pizza Dough This is our standard pizza dough that we’ve used for years! We make it using stand mixer, but you can also knead it by hand.
- Easy Thin Crust is similar but makes a thinner dough that you roll out — it would also work well here!
The easiest way to learn how to make pizza dough? By watching someone do it! While we can’t come to your kitchen, here’s the next best option: a video! This step-by-step video shows Alex making pizza dough, from kneading to shaping. It’s so helpful, and takes less than 2 minutes to watch. We highly recommend watching this before you start!
What to serve with cheese pizza?
Alex and I served this classic homemade cheese pizza for our nephews and son Larson for a cousins sleepover. They absolutely loved it! We served it with carrot sticks and the healthy ranch dressing below (and Strawberry Daiquiris for the adults!). Here are a few great sides to go with pizza:
- Easy Arugula Salad The simplest salad you’ll ever make! It’s fool-proof: you don’t even need to make dressing.
- Spinach Apple Salad stars a creamy balsamic dressing, glazed pecans, and apple and pear slices. No one will believe it took minutes to put together.
- Healthy Ranch Dressing Serve it with veggie sticks! This homemade ranch is seriously tasty and takes just 5 minutes.
- Favorite Chopped Salad Homemade Italian dressing, crisp veggies and Parmesan cheese combine into one extraordinary salad.
This cheese pizza recipe is…
Vegetarian.
Homemade Cheese Pizza
(24 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: 1 pizza (8 slices) 1x
Description
Why order out when you can make a stellar cheese pizza at home? This one is like your favorite delivery pizza, but infinitely tastier.
Ingredients
- 1 ball Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)
- 1/3 cup Easy Pizza Sauce
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
- 4 ounces (1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt
- Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
- Make the pizza sauce: Make the Easy Pizza Sauce.
- Prepare the toppings: Slice or tear the fresh mozzarella into small pieces.
- Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see How to Stretch Pizza Dough for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
- Spread the pizza sauce over the dough using the back of a spoon to create a thin layer. Add the pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese evenly across the dough, then top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle evenly with the garlic powder, dried oregano, and a few pinches of kosher salt.
- Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.
You can read Full Here: https://www.acouplecooks.com/homemade-cheese-pizza/