You can make homemade pizza easily and economically. You’ll save a ton of money and eat better pizza. Guaranteed.

If you’ve ever paid too much for a pizza or found yourself without pizza on a Friday due to cost or unavailability, well, today’s the day to discover pizza freedom.

Pizza Freedom.

You can make pizza at home, with all your favorite toppings — none of this having to choose just one since they cost $2 each! — pizza that tastes amazing and costs just a few bucks.

Homemade Pizza is one of those things that you can make yourself to save money.

Homemade Pizza is also a regular feature on the FishFam menu. I try to make it at least once a week, usually on Fridays. Sometimes we make these easy 5-Ingredient Pita Pizzas or these fun kid-friendly Pizza Bagels. But today, we are talking about traditional pizza with some homemade dough.

This makes a great start to our weekend. Coupled with root beer/wine/beer, a movie, and snacks, it creates a fun family night for my husband and me and our kiddos.

It’s a non-negotiable part of our week, and thankfully, we don’t have to rely on anyone to make it happen. Homemade pizza is easier than you think!

Here’s what you need to make Basic Homemade Pizza

Fun fact: you don’t need much to make homemade pizza. A few baking supplies, a can of tomato something, a bit of cheese, and maybe some toppings. My daughter eats vegan pizza without any cheese, so there ya go!

Even if the cupboards look a little bare, you can still pull off a great pizza.

In fact, I’d call it the king of pantry meals.

A homemade pizza dough isn’t difficult to make, especially if you have a bread machine or a stand mixer. Make the dough a few hours before you plan to bake the pizza(s).

This Homemade Pizza Dough makes enough for 4 medium pizzas. You can cut the dough into smaller portions for smaller pizzas.

Can you freeze pizza dough?

If you don’t want to bake all four pizzas, you can freeze the extra dough balls for a later date. When the dough is ready, divide it into 4 sections. Place a dough ball in a greased ziptop, freezer bag and place it in the freezer immediately.

When you’re ready to use the dough, remove one frozen ball from the bag and place it in a greased bowl at room temperature for several hours. The dough will thaw and rise. When it has doubled in bulk, you can form and bake the pizza.

Once you’ve got your dough prepped, you’re going to need the other two components: sauce and toppings.

Sauce

You can use whatever pasta sauce you have on hand. It can be a jar or homemade. You can also get creative and use pesto, BBQ sauce, or some other savory sauce that you have on hand.

Usually I use something I’ve made myself, like this homemade pizza sauce recipe. It’s pretty amazing.

When I don’t have any simmered sauce ready to go, I use this Last-Minute Pizza Sauce.

You’ll need about 2/3 cup sauce for large pizzas, 1/3 cup for smaller, individual size pies.

Toppings

You can use whatever toppings you like best. Prep them before you start to assemble the pizzas, just to make things easier.

Standard pizza toppings include:

pepperoni

cooked and drained Italian sausage

sliced mushrooms

diced onion

diced tomato

sliced, black olives

chopped zucchini

sliced bell pepper

You don’t have to limit yourself to these toppings, though. You can pretty much put anything on a pizza: bacon, pulled pork, cooked chicken, grilled steak, black beans, etc. I’ve even seen mashed potatoes on a pizza!

Check out our Burrito Pizza and the French-inspired Tartiflette Pizza.

Place a thin layer of toppings on your pizza and cover with a layer of cheese. We like a combination of shredded jack and mozzarella cheeses.

Take care not to use too many toppings as that may prevent the dough from cooking properly.

How to Bake Your Pizza

You don’t have to have a fancy pizza oven to make great homemade pizza, but you do need a hot oven or grill.

To bake your pizza in the oven:

A preheated oven is key to a great crust. Up to an hour before baking, set your oven to 475 degrees. Bake pizzas for 8-15 minutes, depending on their size.

Use the shorter baking time for smaller pizzas, the longer time for larger ones. Pay close attention to how your oven operates and how brown your pizzas are getting. I cook only one large pizza at a time.

To grill your pizza on the BBQ:

We love grilled pizza. We assemble the pizzas just like we would for baking, only we “bake” them on the grill.

Heat the grill to 400 to 500 degrees. Once you have the grill hot enough, place your pizzas on the grill. Close the lid and bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the crust is crisp and the toppings are hot.

Tools To Help You Make Homemade Pizza:

While you really only need a baking sheet, there are some tools that I’ve found helpful over the years of pizza making:

Watch the video.

When you’re first starting out shaping pizza dough, you might feel like a dork. It takes a little practice to be able to flip it and make perfectly round pies. Don’t worry if they look like amoebas. Just call it an artisan pizza and no one will know you didn’t do it on purpose.

Here’s a very old video that shows how to form small pizza rounds. Those are super easy to make when you’re just beginning. Mini pizzas make for a super duper easy pizza night. Check out these easy pizza recipes for pizza topping ideas.

If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up! If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it. I can't wait to see what you cook up!

Print Recipe 4.8 from 5 votes Basic Homemade Pizza Dough You can make homemade pizza easily and economically with this recipe for homemade pizza crust. It tastes great, better than the pizza parlor. Prep Time 1 hr 30 mins Servings: 4 pizzas Calories: 666 kcal Author: Jessica Fisher Ingredients 1 1/2 cup water warmed

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp honey

4 1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp active dry yeast Instructions To make the dough by hand: Place the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the honey and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Allow this to set for five minutes. The mixture will start to foam and bubble.

Add the oil, flour, and salt, and stir until a shaggy dough forms.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about five minutes until a smooth dough ball is created.

Transfer the dough ball to a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour. To make the dough in a bread machine: Combine ingredients in the bread machine pan according to the order recommended by your machine’s manufacturer.

Set on "dough" and start the machine, checking after ten minutes to make sure all the ingredients have been incorporated and not stuck to the side of the pan. Scrape down any stray ingredients. To make the dough in a stand mixer: Place the warm water in the mixing bowl. Stir in the honey and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Allow this to set for five minutes. The mixture will start to foam and bubble.

Add the oil, flour, and salt.

With the dough hook, stir the mixture on low until a smooth, elastic dough ball forms. Scrape down the sides, if needed.

Transfer the dough ball to a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour. Once the dough is ready: Grease four 12-inch pizza screens or prepare four baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or greasing and then sprinkling with corn meal.

When the dough is ready, divide it into four equal portions. Shape each portion into a flat, 12-inch round. Place each on a prepared pan and proceed with your pizza recipe, adding your preferred sauce and toppings. Bake at 475 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese is melted. Notes To freeze the dough: divide the dough into portions BEFORE it finishes its first rise cycle in the bread machine, about 20 minutes into it, if making dough by hand. Place each dough ball into a plastic sandwich bag and freeze immediately. To use later, remove the frozen dough ball from the packaging and allow to rise in a greased dish in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for about 6 hours. Nutritional values apply to ONE 12-inch pizza. If you would like to prepare just enough dough for ONE pizza, adjust the number of servings in the recipe card to adjust the ingredients. Nutrition Calories: 666 kcal | Carbohydrates: 116 g | Protein: 15 g | Fat: 15 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Sodium: 1753 mg | Potassium: 160 mg | Fiber: 4 g | Sugar: 9 g | Calcium: 24 mg | Iron: 7 mg

This post was originally published on July 24, 2009. It has been updated for content and clarity.