Grandma Marie S Homemade Pizza Dough

Published 4/4/2024 • Updated 10/31/2024 Learn how to make homemade pizza dough with my Grandma Marie’s pizza dough recipe! You only need 6 basic ingredients for this recipe.

Our Guide to Homemade Pizza Dough Inspired By My Grandma Marie!

My Grandma Marie’s pizza dough recipe has been passed down from generation to generation and is truly a foolproof recipe for making 2 giant sheet pan pizzas for families to share. Growing up, we lived a couple of hours away from our grandparents. My grandma Marie was a 1st generation Italian American and she learned everything she knew about pizza making from her mom, Antoniette. The recipe is basic, which is great because there were always 4-10 grandkids helping out when we’d make pizzas as an extended family. I have vivid memories of the kitchen being an absolute disaster and my grandma’s vintage bowl she would place in the corner of the kitchen to let the pizza dough rise in.
One thing I love about my grandma is that measuring wasn’t her strong suit 😂. “A little bit-a this and a little bit-a that.” In this post, I’m sharing all of my grandma’s secrets to making perfect pizza dough plus tips and tricks for freezing the dough for later and what to top your pizza with.

Ingredients You Need to Make Pizza Dough

Warm water– warm water is used to activate the dry yeast. Make sure it’s around 110ºF. Active dry yeast – yeast is what helps the pizza dough proof. Granulated sugar – a little bit of sugar will help balance out the salt and savory toppings. All-purpose flour – make sure to use all-purpose flour for this recipe. My grandma has 1/2 whole wheat, but it’s so much better with all-purpose. Salt – don’t skimp on the salt! Olive oil – you’ll need 1/2 cup of olive oil for this pizza dough recipe.

Other Tools Needed

2 baking sheets rolling pin large bowl tea towel Pizza cutter/scissors

Simple Instructions

What temperature do you cook homemade pizza on?

Cook homemade pizza at 450ºF for 10 minutes. Then, turn the heat down to 375ºF and cook for 15-20 minutes. Quick tip: If you live in a warm climate, it may be warm enough to let the pizza dough rise on the counter. But, if you live in a cold climate (like us) you can preheat your oven to 170ºF before mixing the dough. When the oven reaches 170ºF turn the oven off and then place the dough in the oven for 1 hour to let rise.

Should you bake pizza dough before adding toppings?

There is no need to bake your pizza dough before adding toppings.

Do you have to precook sausage before adding it to pizza?

My grandma never precooked her sausage before adding it to the pizza dough. However, to each their own!

When making homemade pizza what goes on first?

Make sure to add the pizza sauce onto the pizza dough before the cheese and toppings. You can do the cheese or toppings next, your choice!

How do you know your pizza crust is done cooking?

The bottom of the pizza crust should be golden brown and the crust should be a tad doughy in the center, but crispy on the edges.

My Favorite Toppings for Pizza

It doesn’t get more classic than a sausage, green pepper, and onion pizza!

Pizza sauce: you can absolutely buy pizza sauce from the store or you can use our homemade pizza sauce recipe. Italian sausage – feel free to use mild or spicy. Our #1 tip is that you do NOT need to pre-cook your sausage before topping your pizza. Mozzarella cheese – each pizza will use around 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. Parmesan cheese – parmesan cheese gives your pizza a nice bite. Green pepper – feel free to finely dice your green pepper or slice them into strips or rounds. Onion – any kind of onion will work, we’re using yellow. You can use raw or caramelized onions.

More Topping Ideas

Pepperoni Mushrooms Basil Sliced tomatoes Red pepper flakes Shredded chicken

Storing Leftover Pizza

You can either store your leftover pizza in tin foil or in a freezer-safe gallon-size bag (my favorite way!). How to reheat leftover pizza: lightly oil a baking sheet. Transfer the pizza back onto the baking sheet and reheat in the oven at 350ºF for 5-10 minutes or until warm.