15 Tips for Creating the Perfect Homemade Pizza

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Pizza was a staple in my household growing up and continues to be to this day — and I’m sure that’s the case for many others. You might think, based on the amount of money you spend on takeout pies and the fact that the crew at your favorite local pizzeria already know your order before you even walk in, that you can save yourself a little dough (pun intended) by trying to make it yourself. After all, what a fun date night idea, or something to do with the kids!

It’s time to take off your rose-colored glasses, my dear reader, because making homemade pizza can be one of the most frustrating culinary experiments ever. If you go in blind, you’ll likely end up with a pizza dough that’s underproved, a pie that’s maybe edible, and a lost sense of confidence that will have you shamefully calling in a takeout order. I personally struggled to make pizzas at home, despite working professionally in a pizzeria for several years, and I know how all too well how disillusioning the process can be. But, I will admit that I have learned a lot along the way — and it’s why I consulted with the experts, including Shealyn Brand, owner of Coniglio’s in New Jersey; Luke Jacobellis, owner of Tony’s Pizza in California; and Jonathan Haffmans, executive chef at Industry Kitchen, to gather some pro tips on hacking homemade pizza.

Mastering pizza dough is arguably the most difficult part of the pizza-making process. If your dough doesn’t properly rise, then you may run into issues with the structure when you go to bake it. Too wet? It will stick to the peel and not easily slide off into your pizza oven. Work it too much, and your dough starts to resemble the consistency of a rubber tire.

The easiest way to control all of these variables is to opt for a store-bought pizza dough instead of trying your own. Shealyn Brand, owner of Coniglio’s, would say the same. “The dough is the easiest thing to fumble if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she says. She suggests buying dough from a local pizzeria instead of trying it yourself. 

In my experience, store-bought pizza dough really isn’t that bad — at least in terms of its flavor or structure. As long as you bring it up to temperature before working with it, you should be set.

A good pizza crust is the literal foundation of a good pizza. While you can certainly use store-bought pizza dough — and it’s something that I would emphatically recommend for beginners or people who aren’t experienced with making yeast dough — there comes a time where you have to take the training wheels off and try your hand at making pizza dough yourself. And, our experts had some tips for when that time comes.

Executive chef Jonathan Haffmans implies that the type of flour that you use in your pizza dough is incredibly important and shares that his biggest tip for making homemade pizza is to opt for pizza flour over all-purpose flour. Pizza flour may also be marketed as “00 flour” in the grocery store. The number refers to its size; 00 flour is ground much finer than regular all-purpose flour — which means it requires less water to hydrate. Pizza flour tends to have about the same amount of gluten (protein) in it as regular pizza dough, which allows it to retain its crispy yet chewy consistency and stretch. 

When I make pizza at home, I use King Arthur’s 00 pizza flour. It historically produces consistent and even results across batches, thanks to its combination of hard and soft wheat, and I find it easy to work with.  

You might have been assuming that since you’re reading an article about making homemade pizza, that’s all you’re going to get. But congratulations — you also get a primer in fermentation and dough-making, too! 

The yeasts inside of your dough are what turns it from a basic, sticky batter into the chewy, delicious crust that pizza is known for. Most recipes call for resting your pizza dough out at room temperature, which gives the yeast enough time to metabolize those carbohydrates and generate carbon dioxide, and gives the crust its rise. But, if you slow this reaction down by chilling the dough, you’ll get a much better flavor from your pizza, since the yeasts aren’t scrambling to eat those carbohydrates as fast as possible.

This process, called cold fermentation, is one of the easiest ways to enhance the dough’s flavor. Not only will you find that a cold fermented dough has a better flavor, but it will also have a far better gluten structure, since the enzymes in the flour can undergo autolysis — in turn making it stretchier. The exact timeline for cold fermentation will vary based on the recipe, but as Jonathan Haffmans says, “the longer you let the dough rest, the more flavor it will have.”

If you’ve ordered pizza at a local pizzeria, chances are that you’ve seen people flinging the dough high and rotating it in mid-air, only to catch it with their fists on the way down. It’s memorable and so fun to watch, but if you try it yourself, you will likely end up wasting most (if not all) of your dough. 

If you’re just learning how to stretch dough for the first time, I would recommend starting simple. Once you have your dough pulled out of the fridge and plopped onto your floured work surface, start pushing the edges out with your fingers. Avoid rolling the dough with a pin or pushing all that air out. From there, you can transfer it to your knuckles, gently pulling and stretching the edges. After you’ve stretches one side of the dough, shift it clockwise or counterclockwise (either one works), and continue stretching. Your dough should feel loose in your hands by the time you put it on the pan or the peel. If it starts to feel heavy in your hands or rip, it may be a sign that it’s either not up to temperature or needs to take a rest break. 

The nice thing about pizza is that you can scale your recipe depending on your level of pizza-making experience. Shealyn Brand shares that when she’s making pizza at home, she opts for a pan pizza, noting that it is a good fit for folks who don’t feel comfortable stretching pie dough. “Pan pizzas give you some wiggle room and are a solid option for pizza fans who enjoy multiple toppings,” she says. “They won’t buckle on you or flop.”

Other types of pizza that you can try making at home include Detroit-style. The trick to making this regional pizza style, which is characterized by a lacey, caramelized crust and spongy dough, is to cook it in a specially-made anodized steel pan. You can also try a grandma pie, which has a much thinner crust than Sicilian-style pie and calls for a much shorter final proof than standard pizza dough. All that’s to say you don’t only have to only stick to thin-crust styles of pizza at home. 

If you don’t have a good crust and an equally good sauce to go with it, you won’t have a good pizza. And sometimes the best sauces are the simplest. Owner of Tony’s Pizza Luke Jacobellis says, “Sauce should only have ground or whole, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and chopped basil,” while Shealyn Brand uses hand-crushed Stanislaus tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Meanwhile, Jonathan Haffmans prefers San Marzano tomatoes instead of fresh ones due to their juiciness, and adds baking powder to his sauce to tamp down the tomato’s acidity. 

Another word to the wise about sauces? Sauce to the peel — it’s an expression that people who have worked in pizzerias know well. Even if you like a thick crust on the edges of your pie, spread the sauce as close as you can get it to the edge, rather than leaving a large buffer to get a little bit of flavor in every bite.

There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to pizza sauce — tomato-based pizza sauce, that is. If you’re looking to give your pizza an explosion of flavor, consider swapping out your basic pizza sauce for something else. There are plenty of options depending on the flavor profile you’re after. I like a good herby pesto — paired with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and slivered artichokes — or an autumnal pumpkin sauce, which tastes excellent with smoked mozzarella, bacon, and fresh arugula. 

Regardless of the sauce that you use, there are a few important things to keep in mind. More sauce isn’t always better, as if it’s too wet and heavy, it can prevent your pie from crisping up perfectly in the oven. You may also want to avoid super liquidy sauces that will just soak through the crust instead of offering a tangible base for your cheese and toppings. 

The classic go-to pizza topping is, of course, mozzarella. But, it’s far from the only cheese worthy of gracing your pizza. Ricotta, feta, and goat cheese can offer a unique contrast to the classic mozzarella and work well with a range of toppings. Depending on the type of cheese you’re working with, you may want to either add it to the pie before you stick it in the oven or as a garnish after it’s been pulled from the heat. Super flavorful cheeses that don’t melt particularly well — like burrata and goat — are generally best added afterwards, while other varieties can stand to be cooked in the oven. 

The most important thing to know about pairing cheese with your pizza is that they’re not all fit for the purpose. Fresh mozzarella, for example, can make a pie very, very wet if it’s added in large blobs — that’s why low-moisture shredded mozz is the go-to for most pies.

Neapolitan and thin-crust pizzas are designed to be light and easy to eat. If you overload your pie with toppings, cheese, and sauce, the slice may break and fall apart in your hands. Moreover, pizzas cooked in an outdoor oven or at a high-heat setting tend to cook fast. If you put a pizza in with too much weight and too many wet ingredients, it may not cook all the way through, leaving you with blistered toppings and a raw center.

When I worked in a pizzeria, the MO was to get a little bit of topping in every bite. In other words, you don’t need to absolutely cover every square inch of pizza with pepperoni in order to be able to taste it. So, you may only need 10 or so pepperoni rounds to cover a 12-inch pie. In the same vein, you may only need to add a few tablespoons of sauce to your pie, and just spread it around with a ladle or the back of a spoon to get that perfect tomato flavor. 

If, however, you want to load your pie up with toppings, you may be better off opting for a thicker-crust pizza, like a pan pie or one cooked in a cast iron skillet. “They won’t buckle on you or flop,” says Shealyn Brand. 

Not everyone can afford (or has reason to) buy a pizza oven. If you fall into this camp, you may be relegated to using your conventional oven to prepare your pizza. Surely it won’t reach the same temperature threshold as an outdoor pizza oven would, but there are some ways that you can retrofit it to make it more conducive to making a pizza in. The first is to add a pizza stone. 

A pizza stone is made from ceramic or cordierite and absorbs heat well; its porous surface will pull water from the bottom of the pizza dough, helping to crisp it up more. A metal sheet pan won’t hold and maintain heat as well as a pizza stone, and while it will work in a pinch, it doesn’t make as crispy of a pizza. 

You should never “wash” your pizza stone per se, as it is porous and will absorb the liquid, in turn increasing the chance of cracking. The best way to clean your stone is to dust it off with a brush and a damp cloth — never submerge it underwater. It will also be very hot when you pull it from the oven, so be sure to let it cool down before you pick it up or clean it off. 

I’m not the kind of person that would recommend any home cook buy something that they truly don’t need. It just creates clutter in cabinets, and in this case, your garage. That being said, a pizza oven is an incredibly versatile item that can be used for many things besides just pizza. And, if you want to get the signature, pizzeria-level crispiness, you’ll just have to try one out to see what all the hype is about. 

There are many different pizza ovens that run off an array of different materials, including propane and wood pellets, and come in different sizes. These pizza ovens run hotter than standard ovens and are easy to operate. Once the stone inside is preheated, slide your pie using the metal peel. In a matter of minutes, the underside of your pizza will be cooked to pizzeria-level perfection. If you like a pizza that’s more doughy and dense, this is probably not the way you want to cook it. But, it’s an essential tool in the at-home pizzaiolo’s toolkit.

Managing your time in the kitchen is an important part of making — cooking or baking — anything. But, it’s especially essential when it comes to making homemade pizza. For one, Shealyn Brand explains that “the longer your dough is stretched on the peel, the harder it will be to get it off and into the oven.” So, don’t dodder around in between preparing your pie and shooting it into the oven. Brand also notes that your pizza might stick if it’s “too saucy,” so avoid both making it too heavy and carelessly saucing over the edge. 

Brand has some helpful tips if you do end up with a stuck pie. She suggests tapping the peel twice on your hip, presumably to shift the pie around, before depositing it in the oven. She explains that the sticking is the reason why people will lift up edge of the pizza and blow underneath it. 

There are so many different toppings out there that it might be hard to select just a few. In general, the experts I spoke to concluded that sometimes the best pizzas are the simplest pizzas. That’s to say, once you have mastered the art of a quality cheese pie, you can start exploring different toppings, seasonings, and more. 

When you’re building your pizza, it’s important to think about which toppings will work well together, rather than conflict with one another. For example, you can pair something spicy (like ‘nduja, jalapeños, or chorizo), with a slightly sweet flavor, like fruit, to help balance out the bite. You don’t want your pie to taste especially rich either, so try pairing a heavy and creamy cheese with something that can cut through that fattiness, like caramelized onions, earthy mushrooms, or peppery arugula. Once you think more in terms of flavor families, you’ll have a better idea about how to make a harmonious bite. 

A lot of emphasis in pizza making is done on the toppings that go on the pie before you slide it into the oven. However, if you want to truly make an outstanding homemade pizza, you should also think about garnishing it with toppings after it leaves the oven. Anything that has a super fresh flavor — think fresh herbs, greens, and some sauces — can benefit from being applied post-bake. 

One of my favorite go-tos is arugula. It’s peppery and sharp, and it can be added after the pie has exited the oven to preserve its flavor. I also like to add basil after the bake rather than before, as it tends to burn if it’s added to the top of a pie, and because it has a stronger, more organic flavor when raw. You may also want to try a drizzle of ranch on a spicy, Buffalo-inspired pie or barbecue sauce on one that’s loaded up with meat. 

You’ve gotten this far — don’t fumble the last step of the homemade pizza-making process. It’s important to pay attention to what tool you cut pizza with, seeing as how selecting the wrong one will leave you with a mangled pie that looks like it lost a fight with a bear. 

My go-to is always a sharp pizza wheel. I like to punch the wheel down on the crust before rolling a straight line across the pie. Rotating the pan underneath can help you get just the right angle to cut through the crust. You’ll want to apply even pressure and always cut away from your body — never towards it — and keep those fingers on the handle. You can also use a rocker for a pan or deep-dish pizza, or opt for pizza shears to cut through a thin-crust pizza.