Mini Pizzas from Scratch
Making your own pizza at home isn’t hard! The best thing about making homemade pizza is that you have total control over the ingredients, so you can make a better quality pizza. Need a lighter pizza? Use less cheese and meat, and add more veggies. It’s totally up to you.
I don’t keep pizza sauce on hand, so I love this simple recipe for homemade sauce. I always have the ingredients on hand, and it is a cinch to whip up. Plus, it makes just enough for one batch of pizza, so I don’t have to store any leftover sauce.
Ingredients needed for homemade pizza sauce:
- tomato sauce
- dried oregano
- dried basil
- onion powder
- salt
- garlic
Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a saucepan and heat just till simmering. Remove from heat. Alternately, you can combine the ingredients an hour or two before you want to make pizza and chill the sauce till the flavors blend together.
Homemade Pizza Crust
It’s true that you can make pizzas from a canned biscuits, canned pizza dough, or even flour tortillas. But nothing beats the fresh flavor of a chewy, made from scratch pizza crust. Because you want your dough to be chewy as opposed to light and fluffy like bread, there is no rise time. You can have pizza in the oven in just minutes!
Ingredients needed for homemade pizza crust:
- yeast (I use SAF instant yeast)
- sugar (white sugar or brown sugar will both work)
- warm water
- salt (adds flavor, and keeps the yeast from rising too much)
- olive oil
- all purpose flour
Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in a large bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes. Add salt, olive oil, and enough flour to make a soft dough. You can let the dough raise, but you don’t have to. Break the dough into about 12 pieces, and roll or press them into circles. Place on baking sheets that have been sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Poke all over with a fork. Prebake mini pizza crusts at 475 degrees for about 5 minutes.
Remove crusts from oven and spread with pizza sauce. Top with cheese and any other toppings you desire. For these pizzas, I just added cheese and pepperoni, but the possibilities are endless. My family also used ham, pineapple, olives, and green peppers. Other times we’ve used sausage, onions, and even chicken and tomatoes. Get creative!
After you have all of the toppings on the pizzas, pop them back into the hot oven. Bake till the crust is golden brown and the cheese in the center of the pizza is melted.
How long do mini pizzas take to cook?
If you prebake the crust, the pizzas only need an additional 10 minutes or so, sometimes less. The more toppings you add, the longer it will take to bake them. Pre-baking helps ensure that the crust won’t be soggy even if you pile on the toppings.
Of course, you can skip the pre baking step, and just cook them for about 15 minutes. I just think it makes the final results a little more delicious.
If I don’t want mini pizza, can I just make regular size pizza with this recipe?
Absolutely! You can make two medium sized pizzas (about 12″ across). You will need to prebake the crusts for 7 minutes, then bake for an additional 15-20 minutes after you add the toppings. If you like a lot of sauce, you may want to double the sauce recipe.
So yummy!
Suggested pizza toppings:
- mozzarella cheese, or a mix of mozzarella and cheddar, pepper jack, or your favorite cheese
- ground sausage, Italian sausage, or sliced smoked sausage
- pepperoni or salami
- green bell pepper, yellow or red peppers
- sliced ham or Canadian bacon
- crumbled bacon
- diced onion or sliced green onions
- sliced olives
- pineapple tidbits
- sliced or diced tomatoes
- diced or shredded cooked chicken
- fresh basil or spinach leaves
What do you like to put on your pizza?
What can I serve with Mini Pizzas?
- Green Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Corn on the cob, or even Skillet Fried Corn
- Carrots and Zucchini
- Frozen vegetables
MORE KID FRIENDLY DINNER RECIPES:
- Taco Soup
- Grilled Pork Chops
- Ham Potato Bake
- Cheeseburger Biscuit Cups
- Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon
Mini Pizza Recipe
Homemade Mini Pizzas
Tasty pizza with homemade dough and homemade pizza sauce. You can make them any size you want!
Ingredients
Pizza Sauce:
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 1/4 tsp dry oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/8 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Pizza Crust:
- 2 1/4 tsp SAF instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 1/2 cups flour (approximately)
Instructions
Sauce
1. Heat all ingredients in a saucepan or in the microwave. (Or you can make it an hour ahead of time and let it sit to achieve similar results.)
Crust
1. Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a large bowl and let sit 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, olive oil, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead a few times just till smooth.
To Bake
1. Preheat oven to 475 °. Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll or press each piece of dough into pans that have been greased. I like to sprinkle the pans with cornmeal, but this is totally optional.
2. Poke holes in crust with a fork. Bake for about 5 minutes.
3. Remove pizza crusts from oven. Spread with sauce and toppings and bake at 475° for about 10 more minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.
Notes
-You can make 2 large pizzas instead of 12 mini pizzas. Prebake crust for 7 minutes, then bake an additional 15-20 minutes.
Originally posted 11/08/2008. Updated September 2019.
See all my MAIN DISH RECIPES.
This is a great way to serve pizza when the kids have their friends over – no more fighting over what topping to have on a shared pizza since they have their own.
My kids would love these mini pizzas! They’re the best easy weeknight meal!
About how many people does this recipe feed or how many pizzas does it make? What size?
Thank you!
It should serve 6-8 people.
Thanks!! Super easy, quick and yummy!! Kids loved them.
This looks delicious, Kara! My kids love making their own pizzas too. Thanks for using our SAF yeast 🙂
Thanks Carol! I really do love SAF yeast. 🙂