Make Pizza Night something to write home about with this easy recipe for Homemade Cheese Pizza. Part of the secret is the blend of cheeses that melt so ooey-gooey together.
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Cheese Pizza is a classic. Whether you enjoyed it from the box in the freezer section as a kid or had a favorite pizzeria to order from, most of us have a core Cheese Pizza memory.
Mine? Preschool… when the teachers served us a frozen pizza for snack and one of my fellow toddlers questioned the green flecks on top. Parsley, my sweet Milo, it’s fine.
To this day, I love adding freshly chopped parsley to my cheese pizzas!
Why Make This Cheese Pizza Recipe
Everyone loves Cheese Pizza. This is a great kid friendly meal that you’re gonna want to include in your Weekly Dinner Menu Ideas. Be sure to check out What to Serve with Pizza to make it a full meal.
It’s easy. I’ve had all the homemade pizza fails so that you don’t have to. This Cheese Pizza recipe is virtually foolproof!
It’s cheap. Homemade pizza is actually pretty cheap to make. The cheese is the most expensive ingredient, but stocking up when it’s $3/pound will help mitigate that expense.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make the best homemade cheese pizza:
pizza dough – you can use store bought pizza dough or make your own basic pizza dough with yeast, flour, water, and salt. Make it a bit healthier and try my whole wheat pizza dough recipe. Personally, I have this sourdough pizza crust recipe on repeat every Friday without fail.
pizza sauce – you can use storebought or make your own homemade pizza sauce. In a pinch, you can use canned tomato sauce and a few dashes of Italian seasoning or even fresh basil.
cheese – I love using a combination of shredded mozzarella cheese and monterey jack to make this pizza special. Some folks think that fresh mozzarella takes it over the top, however, if you’re not used to fresh cheese, remember that the texture will be very different. It doesn’t melt in the same way as aged mozzarella.
Remember you can freeze cheese if you won’t use it all.
Variations:
The classic Margherita Pizza is made with an olive oil base, sliced tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella topped with fresh basil after baking. While technically a cheese pizza, it’s not quite the same as the American-style cheese pizza. Try our Margherita Flatbread Pizza!
A deep dish or sheet pan pizza is a fun alternative. A Pan Pizza is made with a thicker crust and extra olive oil to make the crust extra crispy.
Instructions
Preheat – You want to preheat your oven to 475°. Yes, that’s a high temp, but that’s what will get you that golden crispy crust. Alternatively, grilling pizza is a great option.
Lay the crust – Prepare the dough according to recipe directions. Grease your baking pans or better yet, use pizza screens. Carefully, stretch the dough to fit the pan.
Add your sauce – Spread ½ to ? cup of sauce onto each pizza round.
Don’t forget those cheeses! Then go ahead and sprinkle your cheeses on top.
Bake. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is gooey and golden.
Bonus: Top with chopped fresh parsley if desired.
FAQs
At first glance, cheese pizza can seem kind of boring. But, with a mix of cheeses — we like mozzarella and Monterey jack — and a homemade sauce, even the humble cheese pizza can be something special. If you like feel free to add other cheeses, such as parmesan or gouda until you have the cheese combination you love.
I recommend reheating cheese pizza in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes. You can also reheat it in a dry, covered skillet over medium heat until warm or toss it in the air fryer for five minutes. Whichever method you choose, watch it so that it doesn’t burn.
For best results, don’t reheat pizza in the microwave. It will create a rubbery crust.
Absolutely! Freezing pizza is a great practice to avoid waste and enjoy homemade cheese pizza whenever you want. Let the pizza slices come to room temperature. Then wrap each slice in plastic wrap and then again in foil (or place in a plastic bag). Chill in the fridge until very cold and then store in the freezer. You can then reheat the frozen slices from frozen.
Favorite Pizza Recipes
Of course a cheese pizza is really a great blank canvas to turn into all sorts of pizza variations. Here are a few pizza night ideas to get you started:
Tell us what you think!
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Homemade Cheese Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- pizza screens
- pizza cutter
Ingredients
- 1 batch pizza dough makes four medium sized pizzas or three large
- 2 cups pizza sauce
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese (shredded) (2 cups)
- 8 oz jack cheese (shredded) (2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475°.
- Prepare dough according to recipe directions. Grease baking pans. Divide dough into three or four portions and stretch to fit into pan. (Yes, a video is coming.)
- Spread ½ to ⅔ cup of sauce onto each pizza round. Top with cheese.
- Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is gooey and golden.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on July 1, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Summer
Just tried this a couple weeks ago and our whole family loves your pizza sauce! Definitely a keeper! Thanks.
Jennifer
Just HAD to drop a line and tell you that I. Cannot. Stop. Making. This. Amazing. Sauce!! We LOVE it and have eaten more pizza in the last few months than we have in the last few years, all due to the highly addictive sauce that rivals any gourmet pizza shop ANYWHERE. 🙂 We even had my parents over for a simple dinner of salad and pizza the other night and my mom cannot stop raving about how good the pizza was – even going as far as to say we should open a restaurant. So… thanks again for an amazing, easy, cheap recipe that continues to make me look good, my family and me happy and, as a huge bonus, that fits so nicely in our tight budget!
Jessica Fisher
Glad you like it! My friend Jessika blends it and uses it on pasta. 🙂
Jennifer Hoffman
For some reason when I make bread machine dough I have major issues spreading it out! Never have the problem with handmade dough. What am I doing wrong??
Jessica Fisher
I am not really sure. I have never noticed a big difference unless the dough is cold. Do you roll or hand form it?
Mary Jo @ Covenant Homemaking
This is so delicious and simple! I made it on a whole wheat sourdough crust. Yum!
Shell
Cheese pizza sounds really good. We like Mediterranean (probably spelled wrong,lol) pizza. We use onions,peppers, and black olives and spices and of course cheese and sauce.
Stephanie
Im planning on using the diced tomatoes instead. Do I need to cook the sauce for a lot longer or is it the same process? How will my sauce be different than making it with the canned tomatoes? Can I just leave out the tomatoes all together and just use the tomato sauce? Thanks!
Jessica
It’s really not going to be a lot different. And yes, you could use sauce if you prefer. It’s a very forgiving sauce.
Stephanie
@Jessica, Awesome! Thank you so much!! My sister made this earlier this afternoon and was raving about how she loved it :). I’m looking forward to trying it too!!
Stephanie
@Stephanie, I mean tomato paste. Sorry!!
Jessica
@Stephanie, I think it will be too thick if you just use paste.
April
I’m new to cooking for a family so maybe this is a stupid question, but I could use any help…
I have the pizza sauce simmering on the stove right now, but I’m wondering if I used the right tomatoes? I bought a can of diced, as instructed, but these chunks seem kind of big and weird for pizza sauce. Did I do something wrong?
Thanks for the recipes and the guidance!
Jessica
No, you’re good. There are chunks. They should cook down some. But, you can always blend it in a food processor or blender or with a stick blender if you prefer a smoother sauce. Either way.
Jenny
Just tried your pizza sauce this afternoon, and it is delicious. I’ve had a pizza handicap forever, but FINALLY can make a good one. Thanks for posting these recipes. My family eats pizza like a horde of starving lumberjacks and we are looking forward to dinner tonight.
Keri
I tried this last week and it was so good! We have Friday pizza nights at our house too, and I had been making my pizza using other recipes, but not anymore. This is the only recipe I will use; the combination of the dough and pizza sauce is excellent. Even my husband, who is not a big fan of “just cheese” pizza thought this was wonderful, and that’s saying something in my house! 🙂
Jessica
Awww… thank you!
Alison
Oh Jessica, where should I begin. I have been following your blogs forever now and wish my food came out as good as yours. Forever now I have been trying my hand at homemade pizza dough. I do not own a kitchen aid mixer, bread machine, or anything else. I make dough as instructed and knead it myself. I must be doing something wrong b/c the dough doesn’t rise(I add yeast lol!!!) and its not stretchy (i knead for about 10-15 minutes)
Any suggestions? I also don’t own a pizza stone so my pizza is not crispy.
I’m moving in the next couple weeks and then I hope to purchase a bread machine.
Thanks!
-Alison
Jessica
Well, Alison, I feel your pain. I have struggled with pizza dough in the past. And in the early years, I didn’t have any machines to help me. Have you ever read up on the science of bread? That helped me. Try this recipe for no-rise crust from Amy’s Finer Things. I tried it one night when I was short on time and it worked really well and was easy to form. And then report back. 😉
Jenna
Thanks for posting the pizza sauce recipe! I’ve been looking for a cheap easy one and this looks right up my alley! I have a couple pizza casserole dishes and I bet it would be delish in them! 🙂
Amanda
Last night I made your jalapeno burn pizza (minus the chicken). It will be a regular on our meal plan. 🙂 So yummy!
Leah
We love pizza too, but in the summer it is often too hot to turn on the oven- so we use whole wheat pitas as our crust and make little individual pizzas. Then I can have my spinach white pizza and my husband can have his pepperoni!
Shelah
I need to try this. My homemade pizzas leave much to be desired!
shelah
I’m slowly getting this one together.
I made the pizza sauce tonight. Just from the spoon….awesome. I haven’t even put it on a pizza yet.
I want to get to the dough this week.
Everyone here is leery of my pizzas so it may take some convincing when it lands on their plates. My 5yr old even asks, “Is this from a restaurant?”
Wildcat
I feel y’all’s pain. My kids actually look in the trash can to see if there is a box.
Heather
yum. I’m going to have to do this soon. If you sprinkle some oregano on top of the cheese pizza it really brings out the flavor, just don’t get too much
Kimberlee
I actually prefer cheese pizza over anything else. Toppings just get in the way! 🙂
But I have to admit, I love to cook, but I'm not much of a baker. Making dough scares me to death. I never have any luck rolling out dough and everything! I use pillsbury pizza dough…