Easy homemade cheese pizza
A crisp, golden sheet-pan cheese pizza from store-bought dough, with bubbling mozzarella and a little parmesan, better than delivery and ready in 30 minutes.
- 30 min total
- 10 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.85 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 pizza dough, 13.8 oz tube
- ¾ cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, torn (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
Each serving has about 510 calories, 24 g protein, 58 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $1.85 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 425°F and brush a with the oil.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Unroll the dough onto the pan and press it out to the edges with your fingertips, pushing up a little rim all around.
Dolly’s tip: If it shrinks back, wait 5 minutes and press again. Rested dough stretches easily.the crust on its own for 6 to 7 minutes, until it looks dry and is just starting to color.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 6 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: This head start is what keeps the middle from going soggy.Spread the sauce over the crust, leaving the rim bare. Scatter over the mozzarella, then the parmesan and oregano.
10 to 12 minutes more, until the cheese is and bubbling with spots and the crust is browned underneath.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 11 min
Let it sit 3 minutes, scatter the basil on top and cut into squares.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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30-minute dinners ›One-pan dinners ›What to make with parmesan and shredded mozzarella ›