Pepperoni Pizza
I love super crispy pizza and those pizza pans with holes really work! For my dough, a KitchenAid stand mixer does all the work but you can also knead the dough by hand. Since making my video, I’ve learned that no rising is necessary - just let the dough rest for 10 minutes before proceeding. - Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Makes: one 14-inch pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups bread flour (all purpose flour works too)
- 3/4 teaspoon yeast (instant yeast or active dry yeast)
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- up to 2/3 cup warm water (120-130° F for instant yeast or 110-120°F for active dry)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2/3 cup pizza sauce
- 4 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
- about 20 slices reduced fat turkey pepperoni
Dough:
Pizza:
Instructions:
- Place the flour, yeast, sugar & salt into a mixing bowl.
- Add warm water and oil slowly until dough forms a mass (you may not need all the water)
- Combine and knead until dough is smooth & elastic (knead 2 min. with the mixer or 3 min. by hand).
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at least 10 minutes.
- Set oven with bottom rack and preheat to 425° F.
- Using 2 teaspoons olive oil, grease the entire surface of a 14” pizza pan with holes.
- Place pepperoni slices between double layers of paper towels, between 2 plates, and microwave for 30 seconds. Other toppings (mushrooms/peppers) should be microwaved the same way (but for 1 minute) to remove moisture. Blot afterwards if needed.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 10-inch circle.
- Stretch the dough by hand, using a closed fist, letting the dough hang down to stretch.
- Press the dough into the pan. Add sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Bake 15 - 20 minutes.
Dough:
Pizza:
Jenny you really “Can Cook’ just the right time for me to discover you, I will make a pizza and send you a picture
My son found this recipe today, for us to make for dinner tonight and it turned out really well! Just needed a little bit more salt, but added garlic powder and it was perfect! I doubled the recipe to make two 12″ pizzas, added the pepperoni last so it wasn’t overcooked, alternated the pizzas between racks to cool evenly and for the full 20 min. Would definitely make again, and do it by hand, it was much easier to mix/knead by hand.
Thanks for the recipe Jenny!
I still cannot believe that I am making my own pizzas. Ha. I love it. Ever since I saw this video on You Tube I have not bought a restaurant pizza. They are all my creations using your recipe. Thank you, Jenny!
I’ve been searching for an easy and delicious pizza recipe that I could make at home and now I’ve found it!! I loved this so much that I almost ate the whole thing in one sitting.
Fresh homemade is the way to go, people! No more ordering the nasty delivery pizzas for me. Thank you, Jenny!!
Jenny, please think about creating a greek pizza using this crispy dough. I am making this pepperoni one every week like you are and I’m addicted. But, I keep dreaming about a delicious greek pizza but trust that you creating one would be much better than anything I can come up with. lol Thank you for your wonderful recipes!! Please consider!
Jenny I wish to make (2) 9 inch pizzas. I can cook both at the same time in the same oven. My husband prefers different toppings than I do. Can you please tell me the measurements for making the dough for my (2) 9 inch pizzas please? I love watching you and enjoy all your funny banter. You are awesome!! Thanks 😊
If you use tomatoes on your pizza do you still put them in the microwave for 1 minute?
Hi Jenny! I tried this for the first time last week and I loved it! One question though, would I be able to make the dough the evening before and have it rest overnight in the fridge?
Yes, you can. An overnight rest in the refrigerator actually improves the dough.
I made mine the day before, let it rest covered on counter for 30 minutes, rested covered overnight in the fridge until mid afternoon. Took it out to warm up about 3 in a warm place for an hour and rolled it out and baked it. Sooooo much more flavour. ❤
Hi. You didn’t finish your sentence: “warm up about 3” what????
Donaldo. No need to get aggressive over this delicious slice of a pizza. As a fruity Italian I’m to know the best recipe. You are not the judge, Donaldo.
I think the “3” means she took it about 3 pm. warmed up for an hour then made it for supper.
I want to try your pepperoni pizza but I have 2 questions. First, I do not have a microwave to prepare the pepperoni. Any suggestions? Next, my pizza pan does not have holes. Is this a problem? By the way, I’ve been baking your famous bread recipe and I love it. Made cinnamon rolls yesterday; not perfect but I stil enjoyed them, Need to practice.
From my experiencs you don’t have to microvave the pepporoni.(I use a pan instead)
You don’t need holes mine don’t and it still comes fairly crispy and looks the same as Jenny’s
I was reading the Pepperoni Pizza recipe it didn’t say anything about putting oil on the dough or in the bowl is it necessary? In the video you did, so just wonder. I love your ribs recipe that is my go-to recipe for ribs. We like so many of your recipes your meatloaf, your cast iron pan pizza and so many more. Thank you for sharing. Have a happy and safe day. 🙂
I just made the best pizza!!! I made the dough yesterday and tonight we had great pizza!!! Thanks for the microwave tip about the pepperoni and veggies,i will do that from now on.Hope you are staying well…. keep on cookin!!!!!!
Just took my pizza out of the oven. So yummy! Jenny, we like to meal plan so would this dough be ok to freeze? Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
For the pizza dough , if I plan on making it ahead of time then do I just make it put on bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or do I do the 10 mins on the counter first then put in fridge. Also when putting in fridge , do I cover the dough directly with plastic wrap or the top of the bowl. Sorry does that mane sense. ? Thanks
It makes sense. You should still do the 10-minute rest, then cover the top of the bowl with plastic and refrigerate.
Sorry, Jeff you can not follow directions. I have made this and many more and everything usually works great unless I make a mistake. Practice more. Even my 12 year old boy can make this!!
I made your pepperoni pizza and used your tip for precooked pepperoni in the microwave. Wow what a difference, no grease on top of pizza! I used your homemade crust recipe too. I have shared the recipe with my neighbor and she loves it too!
I made a second pizza using ranch dressing for the sauce, precooked bacon, onion, peppers and chicken and used Gouda and mozzarella cheese. Used your pizza dough on this one too! We had friends over and ate it all!
Thanks Jenny, you are the best!
Great tasting pizza! I have a question about the yeast. I only have the dry active yeast and I used it for this pizza. I noticed the yeast still was in granular form while I was rolling out the dough. The dough also didn’t rise. I just let it rest as the recipe stated.
I used the instant read thermometer so I know the water temperature was right. Next time I think I’ll proof the yeast and then add it to the flour mixture. When do you suggest I add the oil to this?
I will definitely be making this again.
But I will need to know how to use the dry active yeast in your baking recipes please. I want to try some of your crusty rolls and yeast breads so I will need to know how to use this type of yeast for them as well.
Thank you.
I use instant and dry active yeast in all my recipes without proofing so I’m not sure what happened with yours. If your yeast has been opened and not kept in the freezer, you might need to proof it once to make sure it’s still good. As for adding oil to the crust, I add it along with the water. I hope that helps.
Jenny,
Thank you for your reply. It was just a new packet of yeast so it should have been fine. I’ll try it again and see if it works.
Love your recipes!
Made this pepperoni pizza. Used Jenny’s tip on degreasing the pepperoni, worked like a charm! Really awesome!
WOW, I made this pizza and it was the best EVER!!!! I’ve made pizza dough that had to rise overnight, punched down and then another 90 minute rise, then rolled out onto the pan and yet another 90 minute rise…and it was real good, but not as good as this dough…honestly, it was that good!!! Thank you so much Jenny.
Hi, Jenny. I love your recipes, including this wonderful healthy pizza. Can you shed light on any tips to prevent dough bubbling up when in the oven? I’ve been getting some large and high bubbles (air pockets) when cooking. Maybe it is as simple as poking some holes in the pre-cooked dough prior to placing it in the oven? Any tips are greatly appreciated!
(PS: I hope you continue to post videos on YouTube. I love them along with your humor. :-])
I baked this pizza twice, first with all purpose flour and second with bread flour. With the all purpose flour, it had no bubbles at all. But when I used bread flour, there were a lot of bubbles! So use all purpose flour if you want no bubble…..?
Also, don’t overknead….it needs really only 2 mins by mixer or 3 mins by hands, as stated by Jenny in the above recipe. No extra 50 turns needed. Once, I did the 50 turns after the 2 minute mixture kneading and it ended up with more bubbles! Happy baking!!!
After making the dough into a pie, I prick the interior with a fork. But I do not do the edges. the dark burnt bubbles are a sign of a great pizza. cheers
Thanks Jenny! Your recipes are wonderful and easy. Easy enough to allow my 4 year old twin grandchildren to help me in the kitchen. They love the chocolate pudding and they love being able to help! I enjoy you soooo much! Nashville hopes you’re well! ♥
Jenny I absolutely love this pizza dough. Thanks for making something so easy, tasty, and flexible.
My kids and I love this pizza! Does anyone know if I can make up this pizza ahead and freeze it to cook later? Essentially, making homemade frozen pizza.
I have premade the dough, frozen it, then cooked later.
might as well call this jenny can’t cook because this was terrible
They’re great. Could it be that you simply can’t read instructions and you screwed it up? I’ve made many things of Jenny’s and if you do it as she says, you can’t go wrong. After that, I make the recipe my own. Adjust to MY taste if needed. Geez.
You have no sense of taste, recipe notwithstanding. It’s easy and delicious. It’s turned out perfect every single time. Of course nothing is idiot proof.
Hi Jeff,
I had great success with this crust!
I also made Jenny’s quick bread loafs, and family has been bugging me to make them loafs.
I am using a kitchen aide mixer to blend ingredients.
Keep experimenting, these will be great when you figure it out.
My 8 y.old twins and 10 y. Old daughter together made 4 of this pizza, followed the recipe exactly, and it was a success! Best pizza we had! For 4 months we are cooking Jenny’s recipes, all turned out great ?.
You are a very poor sport. If you follow this recipe it works. I have made it at least 25 times with success using all purpose or bread flour. Perhaps you do not have baking skills or patience.
OKAY mom
Jeff, Why so nasty?
This is my go to pizza crust. I have tried others but always come back to this one. It is fast and good. I love Jenny”s recipes, they are easy and very tasty. Thanks Jenny!
Hello Jenny ,
Can this recipe be adapted to use sourdough starter to make the pizza dough ?
I’ve gone through the FAQ’s, but I can’t find the answer I’m looking for.
I would really like to make this thin crust pizza dough. Problem is; I’m diabetic, and white flour of any sort and I don’t get along too well. Could I substitute the bread flour you use for whole wheat pastry flour? If so, what do I need to do to prevent myself from making a thin crust brick; perfect for cleaning and then removing the enamel off of one’s teeth.
As well, since I’ve never seen turkey pepperoni here in Ottawa, would it be a good substitute to make use chicken or turkey bacon? That I can find in abundance.
BTW, Thank you for not forgetting the hero’s here up in Canada. From one former Londoner to another, I felt a lot of pride reading what you do to help these Ontario firefighting warriors.
Have a great one.
Dave.
After wasting so much time and effort with more complicated recipes, finally, a keeper crust! I wish I had found you sooner, along with your Polish recipes and humor. Takes me back to my childhood. As my mother would have said, “dziekuje, kochanie!”
I was making a starter dough to make bread, tomorrow, when inspiration struck. Jenny’s Pepperoni Pizza for lunch! Rather than buy the 14 inch pizza pan with the perforated bottom, I used my old standby, a cheap, 12 inch, aluminum pizza pan I purchased in the utensils section of a grocery store years ago, and Jenny’s recipe. I made some small changes to the recipe. For example, I let the dough rest for about 20 mins, (rather than 10 mins) before rolling it out. After the pizza toppings were added, I again let the pizza rest for about 10-15 mins. before popping it into the oven. This let the dough rise a bit, so the crust is lighter. Since my pan was only 12 inches, the extra dough was used to make a thicker crust at the edge of the pizza, and I knew it would swell up a bit when baked, like a breadstick. So, after baking the pizza for about 14 mins, I pulled it out of the oven, brushed the crust with garlic butter, sprinkled on some parmesan cheese, and popped it back in the oven for 2 mins. The result, a gorgeous pizza with a bread stick crust. When the pizza was cut, you could see that the bottom of the pizza was perfectly brown. Not too light, not too dark, having been baked at 425 about 4-5 inches from the bottom of my oven. Since I made a salad to accompany, I put veggies on my pizza, too. Even so, the crust did not sag when you held a slice. Great crust! So if you don’t have the perfect pizza pan, I encourage you to try the recipe, anyway, as it still makes a fabulous pizza that looks like it came from a top notch pizzaria.
Thank you for sharing all this.
Make this for dinner tonight. My husband’s response “this is great, please remember the recipe so you can make it again!” I loved it too! Thanks Jenny!
Hi Jenny if can I use a regular cookie sheet/baking tray if I don’t have a pic’s pan? Also, what can I substitute with if I don’t have pizza sauce? Thanks!
You can make a free form pizza on any kind of baking sheet, meaning just make it flat into any shape you like, even square or irregular. You can make pizza using barbeque sauce (see my recipe) or look up other pizza recipes on the web.
Thanks so much for the reply!! I appreciate it 🙂 I think I’m just going to try with pasta tomato sauce and it’ll probably give the same flavors 😀
Hi Jenny
I followed directions exactly and I had a difficult time stretching the dough . Why? It would break little holes when stretching in the pizza pan
Same thing happened to me. I put it in the fridge overnight and took it out two hours before dinner. It was much better to handle even tho I did have one hole bit I was able to patch it up. I stretched it nicely with my hands on a floured cutting board. It’s in the oven right now!
Jenny, in an hour the dough will rise as you know, but left in bowl for only ten minutes, the dough doesn’t have time to rise. Do you not get a better crust if you let the dough rise? Why even use yeast if you do not let the dough rise? Thanks,
Charles
I tried you pizza and it was amazing thank you! My 4 sisters and i loved it. I put hot peppers, olives, and pepperoni, on mine. However i used a 12 inch pan so my crust wasn’t crisp as i woulve liked it. I like my crust very thin and crisps. I tried tweaking the recipe but no luck. Should i increase the temperature of my oven? it didn’t take long to heat up. I also used all purposes flour and Flieschman’s pizza crust yeast. Aslo i tried to used the microwave technic for the vegetables that i used and it didn’t work.Any suggestions?
It sounds like your oven was not hot enough. I takes quite a while for ovens to get that hot so I suggest using an oven thermometer to be sure. My oven takes 30 minutes to reach 425.
OMG!!! made your pizza tonite,absolutely fabulous,did pepperoni,mushrooms and green peppers/onions,got the WHoley pizza pan as you suggested,sorry we didnt make 2 pies. Great!!
Jenny,
My fresh mozzarella would not shred. It just clumped up. Any suggestions?
I don’t use fresh mozzarella but I believe it should be sliced and not shredded.
Jenny, the pizza receipe was amazingly delicious! We LOVED it. So very easy to make. We’re about to make it again tonight.
This has been my go-to pizza dough recipe for 3 years, and it never fails.
I love this dough recipe and pan pizza also ….thx…Rick A
Do you know how long I’ve been looking for a decent home cooked pizza recipe? This was perfect!
THANK YOU, JENNY! You are an amazing lady! ??
Hi Jenny,
I was wondering if you would have a recipe for chicken bacon ranch pizza ( my favorite!!!). I’ve tried some but just can’t get it right. Thanks!!!
Help please! The pizza was yummy but it stuck to the pan so badly. I did put oil on it though. Do you know what I did wrong? Thank you Jenn
Did you use the pan with the holes? Did you change the recipe in any way? How long did you preheat your oven?
I used the pan with the holes and followed the recipe to a T. My oven was heated to 425 in 15 minutes. The crust was yummy though. Maybe I should increase the amount of oil on the pan? Thank you for replying so promptly. I appreciate any help from you so I can slide the pizza off the pan like you did.
I agree that you could try a little more oil on the pan and also use an oven thermometer if you have one. My oven will never reach 425 in 15 minutes. If the oven is not hot enough, the pizza could stick.
Could you put the dough on parchment paper on the pan? I have used parchment paper under loaves baked on a stone with good results.
You can but if you use a pan with holes, you will block the holes and also the oil will not touch the crust and both of those things are what makes it crispy. I also make pizza using parchment paper but only when I use a pizza stone.
HI jenny
I have tried your breads and loved it. Just one question for this pizza. I don’t have bread flour, so can i use all purpose flour instead for this pizza dough and only fot active dry yeast. How much of it do i need for this recipe. Thanks much for all your recipe. GOD bless.
Issa
Yes, you can use all purpose flour and dry active yeast for this recipe. The ingredients would not change but the temperature of the water should be reduced to 110 degrees F.
Hi Jenny, I used to watch your talk show! And I loved it!
My daughter sent me the link to your crispy pizza recipe and I will try it next week. In the mean time, my daughter has already made your pizza recipe at least 2 times this week and she raved about it! Your other recipes look very inviting too. Thank you for taking the time to write up the recipes. You look so pretty in the video too!
Can’t wait to try this, but first I need to buy a pizza pan with holes like you are using and I am a bit confused by your written recipe.
It says it makes one 12-inch pizza but in the body of the instructions you say to use a 14 inch pizza pan. On the video you are pressing the dough out to the very edges of the pan.
What do I need, a 12-inch pizza pan or a 14 incher?
That was a typo! I don’t know how I missed that but I fixed it, thanks to you. This recipe makes one 14-inch pizza so you’ll need a 14-inch pan. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and good luck with your pizza!
Made this pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight. I don’t usually write reviews but this recipe is fantastic! I did it by hand since I don’t have a heavy duty mixer just kneaded it for the 3 minutes. The crust was light & crispy. I also put the pepperoni in the microwave to degrease it somewhat. My husband and I ate the whole thing in about 10 minutes! This pizza is dangerously good! Glad we worked out today! Thank you Jenny…I am excited to try some of your other recipes. Love the videos!
Was wondering you say that you can refrigerate the pizza dough for a few days. How long do you let it sit on the counter before you roll it out? Thanks
You leave it on the counter until it’s at room temperature and I think that would take at minimum an hour, maybe a little longer. Two hours would do it for sure.
Hello again, jenny!
Out of curiosity, may i know why we need to put the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven? (nearest the flame in my oven). Thanks
For a crispy crust you want as much heat as possible under the pan, so the closer to the flame the better.
Hello, Jenny!
Excited to try this pizza recipe. However, i dont have a microwave, only toaster and turbo broiler, may i ask if there another way to desgrease the toppings? Pls advice, thank you
I’m not sure but I would try heating the pepperoni on a baking sheet and when it’s warm, blot it with paper towels top remove the grease. You might also be able to cook it in a pan and then do the paper towels. I believe it’s heat that releases some of the grease. But try this with just a couple of slices first!
I don’t know what I did wrong but my pizza base wasn’t very nice. Very dry, I didn’t have bread flour so just used all purpose. Maybe I didn’t put quite enough liquid in? I only say that because my kitchen didn’t handle it well at all and I’ve got the heavy duty one. I was so disappointed. I will try again and see what happens. Thanks for all your great recipes.
When that happens you can always add extra water to soften the dough but I’m guessing it’s the way you measured the flour. You need to aerate it first. Please look at my blog posting on flour basics: https://www.jennycancook.com/flour-basics/ Or you can watch me measure flour in my “easy one bowl chocolate cake” video: https://www.jennycancook.com/recipes/easy-one-bowl-chocolate-cake/
I made this pizza for my family tonight and they loved it. It had all the flavor without the grease. I did everything by hand because my mixer is not very good and when I went to knead the dough it was very, very sticky and hard to handle. Any suggestions? Thanks!
You can always add more flour to a sticky dough, but a little at a time and only enough so you can knead it. You could also try using a scraper.
Made this doubling the recipe for the crust and it turned out fabulous. Used a deep dish pizza crust pan. Also tried your Deep Dish Pizza and it was also delish. Much better than ordering pizza from a restaurant! Thank you.
oh yes and ribs, and poppy seed bread roll, the deep dish pizza ….and more lol thanks
yup jenny great idea on the degreasing the meat ,I am glad to let you know I have been making cabbage rolls, the hash brown ,the meatloaf, and I made the pizza tonight!!! and if any one says jenny can’t teach me to cook the maybe they need to go… $#&@ them self ,lmao when you did that at the end of the meatloaf video you are awesome woman thanks for easy to follow instruction don’t ever stop the videos
I tried your microwaved pepperoni trick a few times while depleting stocks of pre-sliced pepperoni. Before using up the last of the sliced pepperoni, I bought a Gallo brand pepperoni stick. I found that the ‘slice your own’ pepperoni stick was nowhere near as oily without the need to nuke it, even after doing the microwave trick to degrease the store bought sliced pepperoni. So far I have not had to degrease the slice your own pepperoni and have even tried Hormel’s pepperoni sticks with similar less oily results.
Just as a side note: Gallo brand stick pepperoni is a bit spicy with a little bite to it, the Hormel brand on the other hand is mild like the pre-sliced.
Hi jenny,
Can I use the same making way for the bbq chicken pizza?
Yes, I switch around between both methods for all my pizzas.
Hi Jenny,
Why is my pizza the side is harden and the below of the pizza is soft? Is that any reasons? And under the pizza looks uncooked and not brown.
It sounds like your oven was not hot enough. And did you place the oven rack at the bottom? Give me a little more information so I can help you more. What kind of oven, what kind of flour & type of yeast, how long did you preheat the oven, how long did you bake it? What size pan? Tell me as much as you can.
Hi Jenny,
Can the pizza dough rest for more than a hour? Like about 2 and half hour. Is the dough will be alright?
I think anything over an hour at room temperature might cause the dough to expand too much. If it’s in a bowl it could spill over. For more than an hour it’s best to refrigerate it, which you can do for several days. And refrigerating pizza dough actually improves the flavor and texture.
Thank you so much! 😉
This is the best pizza recipe I’ve ever seen on an american channel on YouTube. And I’m italian.
Hi Jenny 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this recepie. The pizza is so amazing, amazing taste. My family loved the pizza, so was I.
Thank you! Thank you! Finally, a pizza crust that isn’t a soggy, near raw mess. Stopped making my own pizza because it very seldom turned out. You have made me confident enough to return to making my own–it’s our Saturday night special. Hormel Turkey pepperoni is indistinguishable (think it tastes better) from regular pepperoni, great degreasing tip. Uhm, er, mea culpa mea culpa but I add a touch more mozarella and just a little grated Romano too =)
I made this the other day and even though I did not have a 14″ pizza pan with holes, and only a 12 pizza pan without holes, it still came out good. I’m looking forward to adding different spices to my sauce that I made as well as trying wiping the crust with a garlic and butter sauce, (trans fat free that is), before I put the pizza sauce on next time.