Homemade Pizza Crust Kids Can Make (You’ll Never Want Delivery Again!)

This homemade pizza crust recipe has become one of our easiest family meals and to us… the best pizza crust. It has simple ingredients, kid-friendly steps, and a mozzarella-melting, golden crust that tastes better than delivery.

There are only a handful of meals every single person in my house agrees on… and this is one of them. My kids love it, my husband loves it, and honestly, I love it too… but I never expected homemade pizza to become a family favorite or something my kids could confidently make start to finish.

I grew up having homemade pizza here and there… it was fine. So, I wasn’t expecting anything life changing. But then I set out to find the best pizza crust recipe, made a few tweaks, and suddenly we had it… golden, chewy, crisp-on-the-bottom homemade pizza we all preferred over delivery.

The best part… my kids now make the crust on their own. It’s become one of the easiest (and most fun) ways to teach kitchen confidence.

Teaching Kids to Cook Through Pizza Night

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This recipe became our starter lesson because…

• the steps are simple
• ingredients are affordable
• kids get a visible result
• everyone is motivated because… it’s pizza

The first time, they just watched. The second time, they measured the flour and leveled with a knife. The third time, they checked the water temperature for the yeast. The fourth time… they made the entire dough themselves while I stood nearby.

Now, if a kid wants pizza, they ask if they can make it. It gives them independence, and it gives me a break. Win–win.

If you want to turn pizza night into a little more than dinner…

I also created a printable Pizza Night Pack that we use when we want to slow things down and make it feel a little special. It includes a printable version of this pizza crust recipe, fun invitations, pizza fraction math pages, and a few lighthearted extras like a cheese crossword in different languages.

It’s simple, kid-friendly, and works well for family nights, homeschool days, or classroom fun.

👉 Grab the Pizza Night Printable Pack here

The Best Homemade Pizza Crust 

This easy homemade pizza dough makes 2 regular pizza crusts or 4 thin crusts. We also make breadsticks with this recipe… it all depends on how many times you split the dough after the first rising. 

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🍕 Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packet or 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil)
• 12 ounces warm water (about 110°F)

(Optional for flavor: garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a sprinkle of parmesan in the dough)

How to Make the Pizza Dough

1. Proof the yeast – Mix the yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Add the warm water, lightly mix, and allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes
2. Mix the Dry Ingredients – In the bowl of a stand mixer… add flour and salt. Lightly stir to combine.
3. Combine – Add the oil and slowly pour the proofed yeast to the dry ingredients. Mix until the dough forms a soft ball.
4. First Rise – Scrape the sides of the mixer and get all of the dough out of the mixer. Form a dough ball. Lightly oil the mixer bowl and place the dough inside the bowl. Cover the bowl and dough with a towel and let it rise for an hour in a room that is at least 75℉. It should be close to double in size.
5. Divide & Rest – After the first rise, cut the dough in the correct number of portions… 2 for normal crust pizzas, 4 for thin crust pizzas, and 8-16 pieces for breadsticks (see tip below). Shape the pizza doughs in a ball and shape the breadsticks by rolling the dough into breadstick shape. Place on counter or cutting board and cover the doughs again for another 10 minutes
6. Prepare Oven – Preheat oven to 475°F now
7. Make the Crust – Flour your counter and rolling pin. After the 10 minutes of rising, roll the pizza doughs to desired shape and thickness. Nothing needs done to be done to the breadsticks
8. Add Toppings & Bake – Place the crust on a hot pizza stone or circular baking pizza sheet. Add sauce and toppings. Add breadsticks to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the pizzas 8-12 minutes depending on thickness… You will want the cheese nice and melted and the crust golden brown.

🍕 Pro Tips from Our Kitchen

• The dough can be frozen. After the first rise, divide how you would like it, wrap and then freeze. Pull it out, defrost, and just pick up where you left off. For more on this, check out this post from King Arthur.
• You can par-bake the crusts! This means you bake the crust without toppings for about 5 minutes. They are baked enough to be solid but not cooked all the way through. You can do this for 2 reasons.
  • The first, you want to make pizza night mid-week even easier. You just pop one of these out, preheat the oven, dress the dough (it can still be a bit frozen), and bake… adjusting time for it being frozen (I usually bake about 12 minutes). This is a GREAT way to save time, but it does take up freezer space.
  • The second, you don’t want to dress the pizza on the pizza stone. You would simply bake the pizza for a few minutes, pull it out with the spatula (as it is crusty enough), dress it, and then put it back on the stone. The only downfall here is your crust cooks a little more than the toppings, but I’ve never burned a pizza doing this.
• If your kitchen is colder in nature, especially in winter, add another tsp or 2 of sugar to the dry ingredients. It helps the yeast a bit.
• A pizza stone makes a world of difference – We use one like this and it creates a crisp bottom and more “pizzeria-style” texture. However, some don’t like the idea of the pizza on the stone (as it isn’t washed), so using a pizza pan like this will work too! REMEMBER – Place the raw crust onto the preheated stone, never put a cold stone into a warm oven. However, it is totally fine to put the cold pizza pan into a warm oven like you would do with cookies.
• A pizza peel (spatula) is helpful, but not necessary. We use this one but there are several out there, some metal and some wood. The peel is for after baking, not before, since raw dough is tricky. You either dress your pizza on the stone with the rack pulled out some or on the pizza pan before going in the oven. Don’t try to dress the pizza and move the unbaked crust to the oven with the spatula… it will be disastrous. 
• This recipe can make several things. It can make 2 regular crust pizzas (2 dough balls), 4 thin crusts (4 dough balls), 1 regular crust pizza and 8 breadsticks (1 big dough ball and 8 small dough sticks), 2 thin crusts and 8 breadsticks (2 dough balls and 8 small dough sticks), or 16+ breadsticks (16 small dough sticks). It depends on how you separate it and allow it to sit for the second, 10-minute rising. Always cut in half, then half again, and keep going to get the desired pizzas/breadsticks. You can even use a small scale to measure the dough for perfect weight.
• Brush your breadsticks with melted butter! You can add garlic salt, parmesan, or whatever you would like to flavor. Melt some extra butter for a dipping sauce or use warmed tomato sauce. Also, you can brush your pizza crust!
• Let kids choose toppings. This turns pizza night into creativity night.
• You can shape your pizza, we have mostly done just heart shapes, but it is fun!
• You can bake pizza in the smoker, and it is so good. We were doing some other meats and had it running, used a pizza pan, and baked it like normal. It is a great option if you have a smoker.

Our Favorite Pizza Combinations

Here are some that made it into our rotation after (truly) a few hundred pizzas:

• Classic: pepperoni, mozzarella, and tomato sauce
• Veggie and Fruit: mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, pineapple, and tomato sauce
• BBQ: leftover chicken or pulled pork, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, jalapenos and pineapple (optional), tomato sauce, with a drizzle of bbq sauce over the whole thing
• Hawaiian-ish: ham, pineapple, mozzarella, and bbq and tomato sauce mix
• Meat Lovers: sausage, pepperoni, bacon, mozzarella, and tomato sauce
• Spicy Green Pizza: mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, spicy giardiniera, with a pesto base
• Go To Pizza: mozzarella, pepperoni, mushrooms, jalapeno, pineapple, and tomato sauce
• South African Surprise: mozzarella, bacon, banana, tomato sauce (yes, I am serious… and it is surprisingly delicious! A friend from South Africa told me about this)

🍕 Helpful Tools for Homemade Pizza Night

• 🧑‍🍳 My favorite pizza stone and pizza pan
• 🍕 Easy to use rolling pin
• 🍴 Dough peel/spatula
• 🍅 Good quality pizza sauce – check out my homemade sauce recipe
• 📏 Digital thermometer – for checking yeast water temp
• ❤️ Grab all of our pizza favorites here!

Final Pizza Thoughts

Homemade pizza has become one of our easiest wins for a couple reasons. One, the dough can be frozen and par-baked. This makes it easy for any night of the week. Two, it is simple, inexpensive, and surprisingly confidence-building for kids.

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The crust is reliable, the process is forgiving, and the memories that come with flour-covered counters are the best part. I have so many of the kids making these… it is special now!

If you try our best pizza crust recipe, I’d love to hear how your family made it your own! Comment below or head to Instagram or Facebook and tag me @bemandfam in the picture… I’d love to know your favorite topping combinations!

BEM and Fam 🙂

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👇 Print the Best Pizza Crust Recipe

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Best Pizza Crust Recipe

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: easy, homemade, pizza

Author: Bettina Zabel

Ingredients

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 packet instant dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups 110 degree water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine. 

2. With the mixer running, add the water and 2 Tbsps of oil and mix until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add 1 Tbsp of flour, until the dough comes together. If the dough is too dry, add 1 Tbsp of water.

3. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.

4. Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or lay a clean and dry dish towel over it, and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, this usually takes an hour. 

5. Once it has risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes. Don't skip this step! Preheat your oven to 475 degrees

6. After the dough has sat for 10 minutes, it is ready to shape into pizza. Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough. Add your sauce and toppings and place on a pizza pan or pizza stone. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown and the pizza cheese is melted nicely!

Recipe Notes

• We use our own homemade canned sauce (recipe coming)
• One of our favorite pizzas has giardiniera on it and instead using our regular sauce, we use the giardiniera, and the oil it is packed in, as the base to the pizza. This makes a crispier and thinner pizza crust... it is yummy but can get spicy.
• If you use sausage do NOT put it on the pizza when you put it in, put it on about half way through to make sure it doesn't burn, as the sausage is already cooked. Though you could try putting it under the cheese but make sure it gets covered. 
• Another of our favorite pizzas is fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, with a olive oil base (instead of sauce), and a light sprinkle of salt.
• You can brush a little melted butter onto the crust half way through and right as the pizza comes out of the oven to add a little more to the crust.

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🛒PS. This post has some affiliate links, read more about those here.