Pepperoni Pizza

This homemade pepperoni pizza is wonderfully crispy every time. Achieve the perfect slice right at home!

You can bring pizza night to the table in no time at all. You can use homemade dough, sauce, and pizza seasoning for a more gourmet approach, or save some time with store-bought! Either way, you’ll be the dinnertime hero.

Everybody’s Favorite

Everyone loves a good slice of pizza, right?! Well we are no different at our house.

My kids love pizza night and look forward to it with eager anticipation. We usually do pizza night accompanied by a movie, and it’s the kids’ favorite!

Some weeks I even let the kids make their own mini pizza and layer it with toppings (or lack of toppings) of their choice. Yes, the homemade dough and sauce make it even better!

It might take a bit of extra work, but homemade pizza just tastes so much better, usually ends up costing less, and can be completely customizable! Our go to, of course, is pepperoni – a classic.

Toppings that pair well with pepperoni: A great thing about topping is pizza is you can add whatever you like. What one person thinks is delicious, another may not (Just see the controversy that pineapple on pizza creates!)

I have to say that pepperoni is a pretty basic topping that most everyone likes. You can also add some delicious toppings along with the pepperoni such as:

• Bacon bits
• Crumbled cooked sausage
• Ham
• Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Onions

How to Make Pepperoni Pizza

PREP. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. We like to use a pizza stone and throw this in while the oven is preheating for at least 15 minutes.

Make the sauce if going homemade. Also, make the homemade pizza dough if going homemade. If you are using store bought for both, you can skip this step.

ROLL. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to about 14-15 inches in diameter.

BAKE ON A STONE. If using a pizza stone, quickly and carefully transfer the dough to your stone, add the sauce (leaving a little around the edges for a crust), cheese, pepperonis and pizza seasonings and put in the oven.

BAKE ON BAKING SHEET. If not using a stone, you can add the rolled out dough to a lightly greased baking sheet. Then, add sauce, cheese, toppings and bake. **If you want more of a crust, be sure to fold in the outside edges of the pizza dough before adding sauce and toppings.

TIME NOTE: Bake for about 5 minutes, then rotate the pizza and bake an additional 7-8 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

RECIPE TIPS:

• Stretch the dough with your hands instead of rolling it with a rolling pin. Using warm dough will help it stretch better.
• Use a hot oven and a pizza stone. If you don’t have a stone place a pizza pan or baking sheet into the oven to preheat.
• Shred your own cheese. The pre shredded, packaged kind doesn’t melt as well.
• Brush the exposed dough/crust with olive oil. You can even sprinkle a little garlic or parmesan cheese ontit for some falvor.

Storage info

Freeze ahead: Blind baking is also used when you want to assemble and then freeze your pizza to be baked later. Blind bake the plain dough for about 6-8 minutes. Let the dough cool and place on a piece of cardboard or a pizza pan. Add the toppings and then place it in the pizza into the freezer.

Once solid, wrap the pizza with plastic wrap and then again with aluminum foil. Freeze for 4-5 months. Remove packaging and thaw for about 30 minutes before baking.

Storage: Wrap leftover pizza in foil or place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for about 3 days. You can also freeze it for 1-2 months. Reheat in the oven or microwave

If you love pepperoni pizza, you’ll enjoy:

• Pizza Dip
• Pepperoni Pizza Grilled Cheese
• Mini Deep Dish Pizzas
• Pizza Casserole
• Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels