A great crust is the key to a great pizza, and this quick pizza dough recipe from Red Star yeast makes the perfect crust for an All-America pizza loaded with gooey cheesy, pepperoni, and a spicy homemade pizza sauce.
We make pizza often at our house, and my family usually prefers a typical All-American pizza topped with a spicy sauce, pepperoni and cheese. I’ve include my homemade pizza sauce recipe, but feel free to use whatever pizza sauce you like.
One great thing about the recipe is that it uses instant yeast, so it’s quick to put together and only needs a 15 minute resting time before you make the pizza. I also liked that you sprinkle a little bit of your favorite cheese on the crust before baking it, which helps keep the crust from getting soggy.
Margherita pizza is one of my and my daughter’s favorite pizzas. Not quite as all american, but definitely a classic pizza. The crust is spread with olive oil instead of sauce, and topped with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella. I didn’t have fresh mozzarella and substituted shredded mozzarella. Grilled vegetables are also a perfect addition to a vegetarian pizza.
I doubled the recipe and made four 12-inch pizzas, one margherita and three pepperoni pizzas, for eight of us. The doubled recipe is listed below.
My family loved this pizza. The dough was easy to work with and the crust crisped up nicely on the bottom and edges, but was still soft and tender in the middle. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again.
All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 ½ – 5 cups bread flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 package Red Star Quick Rise yeast*
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 2 cup water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Homemade Pizza Sauce
- 2 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in rich puree
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Homemade Pizza Sauce
- In a small saucepan, sauté garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
- Dough
- In medium mixer bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt; mix well. Combine water and oil; heat to 120° to 130°F; add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
- By hand, gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. (I used my KitchenAid dough hook attachment.) Knead on floured surface 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, cover, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide dough into 4 parts (2 parts if you want larger pizzas). With well-floured or greased fingers, press each half into greased 12- or 14-inch pizza pan.
- Sprinkle ¼ cup of your favorite shredded cheese over dough to prevent a soggy crust. Spread prepared pizza sauce on each pizza (approximately ¾ cup of sauce per pizza). Add your favorite toppings—mushrooms, onions, olives, green peppers, pepperoni, cooked Italian sausage, anchovies, etc. Cover with shredded cheese of your choice- Mozzarella, Parmesan and Asiago.
- Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes until edge is crisp and light golden brown and cheeses are melted. Serve immediately
Notes
More pizza recipes you might like:
Easy Pizza Monkey Bread, Barbara Bakes
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, Barbara Bakes
mini pizzas, mini flour tortilla pizzas from Barbara Bakes
Greek Pizza, Two Peas and Their Pod
Loaded Mini Taco Pizzas, Taste and Tell
Chicken Enchilada Pizza, How Sweet It Is
Suja Md
First time landed here…love the homemade pizza..Homemade is always the healthier and hygienic too..
Becky
This does look like the perfect All American Pizza!! And Josh’s favorite is simply Pepperoni so I’ll be giving this a try and adding a few slices of pepperoni 🙂
Red Star Yeast
Love the photos Barbara! Those two pizza ‘flavors’ would be a hit at our house. Thanks for making our recipe! ~Linda@RSY
Nutmeg Nanny
I love homemade pizza, this looks like such a mouth watering classic 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes
A droolworthy pizza loaded with goodness!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
This is what I imagine when I think of a pizza and I love a classic Margarita or a pepperoni pizza 😀 xxx
teresa
in my opinion, homemade pizza is always better, this looks fab!
Emily
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a gorgeous pizza!
Foodiewife
This is one of the prettiest pizza’s I’ve ever seen. Margherita pizza is my favorite pizza and you make it exactly like I love it– with olive oil, only. I’ve got a packet of this yeast to play with and I’m definitely going to try your pizza crust version. Thanks!
Amanda
I love Red Star too, and I am a HUGE fan of instant yeast. I use instant yeast in all my bread recipes! This pizza looks phenomenal!
Claire @ Claire K Creations
Great looking pizzas Barbara! We have homemade pizza every Sunday night and I’m always looking for new recipes. Yet to make my own sauce though.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Claire! Definitely give the homemade sauce a try. It’s easy and you can change it up any way you like it.
Shaina
That pizza looks just incredible, picture perfect.
Rocky Mountain Woman
Margherita Pizza is my favorite…
I love the idea of a little cheese on the crust!
Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen
Oh yum, your pizza looks so delicious!
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel
Your pizza looks absolutely delicious! I totally forgot to prep dough for tonight so now I’m super craving it.
Carol
Mmmmmmmm………I make homemade pizza every Friday night. All of your pizzas look WONDERFUL, Barbara. The crust I make is pretty close to yours-I love using the instant yeast too….I buy it in bulk since I make pizza crust every week. I can’t wait to try your homemade pizza sauce too.
Thanks so much! 🙂
Barbara Schieving
I should start buying yeast in bulk too. A great way to save money.
kelley {mountain mama cooks}
I think I know what I’d like to break my three week of no grains with! This crust looks amazing and my mouth is watering!!
Annalise
Perfect pizzas! That’s it, I think we’re having pizza for dinner tonight!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
One of those pizzas would keep me happy for a long time! They look wonderful!
Rosa
What a splendid pizza! That crust is perfect.
Cheers,
Rosa