Fun Family Dinner Night with Easy Homemade Pizza!
Looking for a simple recipe for a fun family dinner night? A meal that’s delicious for kids and adults alike? And that even young children can help make? Look no further! Here I share a simple and tasty homemade pizza recipe.
Historically, the thought of making homemade pizza dough sounded super intimidating to me. After trying out this easy recipe though, I feel like a total pizza pro.
The final result is so delicious and better than most pizza dough I have had at restaurants. And you really can’t beat the 10 minutes it takes to make the dough, 5 minutes to roll it out/add toppings, and the 20 minutes of bake time. Of course if you have a tiny helper in the kitchen, plan for some additional prep time.
I have also never seen my 3 year old eat so much pizza at once. He usually takes little nibbles here and there of take out or frozen pizzas, but he devours this homemade pizza. Plus, it’s a fun activity for him to help mix ingredients, roll out dough and add his own toppings.
The recipe I share here is based off of allrecipe’s pizza crust recipe, with just a couple additions and suggestions. After looking high and low for a good pizza dough recipe, I think the allrecipe one is truly the best in terms of ease and taste!
Gathering the Ingredients
The dough is made up of just a few ingredients, most of which are already in most people’s cupboards. The only ingredients I had to go out and buy for the dough were 2 simple things; bread flour (but you can also use regular flour) and active dry yeast.
Bread flour is usually sold right alongside the regular flour at the grocery store. And active dry yeast is usually in the same section as well. I like the Red Star active dry yeast packets. You only need a single .25 ounce packet for this recipe.
Other than the bread flour and yeast, the only other things you need for the dough are salt, olive oil and some optional dried spices like rosemary, sage, garlic powder and onion powder.
As far as toppings go, they can really be anything! Our favorites are pepperoni, black olives, pineapple, bell peppers, mushrooms and onions.
Making the Dough
The first couple of times I made the dough, I thought the allrecipe instructions were mistaken. It took soo long for the yeast to activate and get all frothy.
After making this recipe a few times though, I realized that I either had not been using warm enough water or had not fully mixed the sugar in with the water prior to adding the yeast. Once I got the yeast prep down though, it frothed up within a couple of minutes rather than taking 20 plus minutes.
While waiting for the yeast to activate and get frothy, I mix the other dough ingredients in a separate bowl; bread flour, salt, dried spices, and olive oil.
Once the yeast is ready, I add the yeast to the flour mixture and stir it all up and roll it into a ball! Then I let it sit for 5 minutes.
I break off a handful of dough for my toddler to make his own personal pizza. He enjoys rolling it out into odd shapes and choosing his own toppings. This really gives him a sense of independence and pride in making his very own pizza!
With the rest of the dough, I roll out a big circle for a pizza for me and my husband and bake it on a round pizza tray. We use a regular baking sheet for my toddlers pizza. It’s helpful to rub some olive oil onto the pizza pans so the dough won’t stick.
And then it is just a matter of popping the pizzas into the oven and waiting for them to bake for 20 minutes. Yum!
Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F to add to yeast)
- 1 tsp white sugar (to add to yeast)
- .25 oz active dry yeast (.25 oz is often sold as 1 packet)
- 2.5 cups bread flour you can also use regular flour, but bread flour helps make the dough fluffy!
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp rosemary optional add in for flavor
- 1/4 tsp rubbed sage optional add in for flavor
- 1/4 tsp onion powder optional add in for flavor
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder optional add in for flavor
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 10 oz tomato pizza sauce
- 8 oz shredded mozarella cheese
- toppings of choice! (eg pineapple, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix warm water (110 degrees F) with sugar. Next add the packet of yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, until it forms a frothy top layer.
- While waiting for the yeast, combine and mix flour, salt, olive oil, rosemary, sage, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Combine the flour mixture with the yeast.
- Mix all ingredients until well blended and let the dough sit for 5 minutes.
- Break the dough into several balls for small individual pizzas or keep in one big ball to roll out for a single large pizza. (I break off a handful of dough for my toddler to make a personal pizza, and use the rest to roll out a big pizza.)Sprinkle a tiny bit of flour onto a flat surface to roll the dough out on.
- Oil a baking sheet or a pizza pan.
- Place the rolled out crust/s on the pan/s.
- Add your pizza sauce, cheese and whatever toppings you like!
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Including kiddos in meal prep is a great way to teach them new skills and hopefully prepare them to make their own food when they venture out from the nest!
And, there’s nothing like a good pizza to make a fun family dinner night feel festive and special.
Let me know how this recipe worked out for you in the comments!