Why order out when you can make a stellar cheese pizza at home? This one is like your favorite delivery pizza, but infinitely tastier.

Cheese pizza

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?

Homemade cheese pizza

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…
Classic cheese pizza

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.
Cheese pizza

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!

Video: how to make pizza dough! (1:45 minutes)

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:

Homemade cheese pizza

This cheese pizza recipe is…

Vegetarian.

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Cheese pizza

Homemade Cheese Pizza


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 7 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 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

Scale

Instructions

  1. 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.)
  2. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
  3. Make the pizza sauce: Make the Easy Pizza Sauce.
  4. Prepare the toppings: Slice or tear the fresh mozzarella into small pieces. 
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Cheese pizza, Homemade cheese pizza

Looking for more pizza recipes?

Outside of this classic cheese pizza recipe, here are some of our favorite pizza recipes:

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

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