Our best cheese pizza recipe! We’ve put our twist on the classic with a flavorful, garlicky pizza sauce, two delicious types of cheese, and a sprinkle of herbs. This extra cheesy pizza is perfect for any occasion.
Related: We also love these easy flatbread pizzas!
How to Make Cheese Pizza Even Better
Cheese topped pizza is an excellent start, but we’ve got a few tips for how to make it even better. First, use a great pizza dough. Nowadays, there are some great options available for store-bought dough. We’ve tried and tested dough from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and even some from the freezer section of our local grocery store.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can take it further and make homemade pizza dough. We just shared our favorite pizza dough recipe and cannot wait for you to give it a try. The result is a gorgeous, crispy golden bottom with a soft, bubbly crust.
Second, for the best homemade pizza, choose a sauce that you love! I find many American-style pizza sauces to be too sweet and rich. That’s why we use our garlicky pizza sauce instead. It’s made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and oregano. We love it.
Finally, so that your pizza is extra cheesy, go for two types of cheese. I love shredded mozzarella on pizza. For cheese pizza, I prefer whole milk mozzarella sold in blocks, not fresh mozzarella. I buy the block and then grate it myself. This is the same mozzarella I use when making Margherita pizza and this lasagna because it melts so well.
In addition to the mozzarella, we use some parmesan cheese, adding more flavor and salt. After mixing the two cheeses, we toss in some herbs. I particularly enjoy the onion flavor of fresh chives and the Italian flair of dried oregano.
Bring all that together, and you’ve got one of the best homemade cheese pizzas we have made. So good!
Our Best Cheese Pizza
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Our best recipe for cheese pizza! We use our favorite homemade pizza dough, a garlicky pizza sauce, two types of cheese, and herbs. We highly recommend our recipes for homemade pizza dough and pizza sauce.
You Will Need
1 batch homemade pizza dough or use store-bought dough
4 to 6 tablespoons pizza sauce; try our homemade pizza sauce
1 cup (57 grams) shredded mozzarella, not fresh mozzarella
1/2 cup (28 grams) shredded parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
All-purpose flour, for forming dough disc
Semolina flour, for dusting pan
Directions
1At least 30 minutes before you plan to bake your pizza, preheat the oven to 450° Fahrenheit (232°C). If you have one, place a pizza steel or pizza stone into the oven before preheating. Personally, we use a higher temperature, see the tips section for our thoughts on what temperature is best for baking pizza at home.
2If your pizza dough is cold, allow it to warm at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
3When ready to bake your pizza, prepare a pizza peel or pizza pan by dusting it with semolina flour.
4In a medium bowl, mix the shredded mozzarella, parmesan, chives, and oregano together.
5Dust a clean work surface with all-purpose flour, and then form your pizza dough into a round, large enough to fit your pizza peel or pan. To stretch the dough, avoid rolling it out, as this can flatten the bubbles that have formed. Instead, use your fingers to make dimples in the dough, starting from the center and working outwards. Carefully stretch and push the dough to fit your pizza pan or peel. Use a light touch to maintain as many air pockets in the dough as possible.
6Transfer the dough round to your pizza peel or pan, and reform it if it shrinks back a bit.
7Spread pizza sauce over the pizza, leaving a thin edge untouched for the crust. Scatter the cheese mixture over the sauce.
8Bake until the crust is set and golden brown and the cheese has melted with golden spots all over, 6 to 15 minutes, depending on oven temperature. Remove from the oven, cut, and serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Oven temperature: We recommend 450° Fahrenheit (232°C) in the recipe, but if you are comfortable with it, increasing the temperature to 550° Fahrenheit (288°C) will provide even better results. If you have a vented hood above your oven, turn it on high. When our oven is heated to such a high temperature, the fire alarm occasionally goes off due to the hot air that escapes when we open our oven door. It’s not a problem, other than the noise, and in our experience, it is remedied with a few fans of a dish towel near the alarm, but it is something to consider. If 550° Fahrenheit (288°C) is too high for you, feel free to use a lower temperature. However, keep in mind that this pizza bakes best between 425° Fahrenheit and 550° Fahrenheit (218°C to 288°C). The lower the temperature, the longer it will take to bake and the less bubbly it will be.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
You May Also Like...
