Homemade Margherita Pizza | Vegetarian

Try this 4 ingredient, delicious homemade margherita pizza! Margherita pizza is flavorful, fresh and simple to make. Pin it here.

There are a few things in this world I’m not willing to give up and pizza is one of them. The good news is, I don’t think you have to give up the foods that you love. In fact, you shouldn’t. Food is meant to be pleasurable aside from just being “fuel”. One of my favorite foods to make is homemade margherita pizza! It’s great for serving guests, or hey you just need a slice’a ‘za!

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Homemade Margherita Pizza

Margherita pizza is the fail-safe to all pizza. It’s simply made from a tomato-based pizza sauce, mozzarella and fresh basil. Margherita pizza is the fresher, more refined version of your classic American cheese pizza.

Now, I don’t mean for this to come off in the threatening mom voice, but you can make this homemade margherita pizza as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. Real talk. I’m giving you all the options.

Pizza Sauce

Let’s start with the sauce. Margherita pizza uses a red pizza sauce base made from tomato sauce or paste. It’s yet another reason why you should always keep at least one can each of tomato sauce and paste on hand at all times. If tomatoes are the base of pizza sauce… that basically means tomatoes are the base of happiness.

You can make a red pizza sauce from scratch (like this simple, 5 minute recipe) or you can buy one. If you’re going to buy, my favorite pizza sauce is Leonardo’s Pizza Sauce because it has simple ingredients, a light consistency and robust flavor. I like the Original or Garlic Leonardo’s flavors.

Pizza Dough

Easy: Now if you really want the easy way out, then just grab the 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust by Boboli. It’s fast, has pretty good flavor and consistency for a pre-cooked crust (I like it better than all the other whole grain, pre-cooked crusts I’ve tried) and has more oomph nutritionally than a conventional crust.

Medium: I usually go the medium route and get a pre-made, raw, frozen pizza dough from Central Market. If you’re in Texas and familiar with Central, you have to ask someone from the bakery for their frozen pizza dough, and just know not every Central has them. They have regular or multi-grain; I go with the multi-grain for a little extra fiber boost.

Trader Joe’s also carries raw, frozen pizza dough (plain, garlic & herb, or wheat) which many rave about, but I personally haven’t tried. TJ’s isn’t near any shopping I usually do so it’s not a common stop for me!

To use raw, frozen pizza dough you just need to let it thaw and rise before kneading it. Usually 6-8 hours is plenty of time. Just set out the raw dough in the morning in a large bowl, with a wet kitchen towel or cheesecloth over the top so it doesn’t dry out.

Hardest: Now if you want to be super legit then you better believe it’s time to make your own dough. I would suggest using this recipe from King Arthur Flour. If you prefer a whole grain crust, you can swap out all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour, which is still a whole grain but has a softer texture.

Mozzarella Cheese

Do yourself a favor and buy a fresh mozzarella cheese instead of a shredded mozzarella cheese. The flavor is so. much. better. and it is hardly any extra work. To make it easier to cut you can freeze for a few hours. Or I have bought sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese that just needs a few extra snips.

Basil

Lastly, you need to have fresh basil for a flavorful, true margherita pizza. Dried basil will not do the trick.

Tips for Homemade Margherita Pizza Success

First, use great ingredients. Second, don’t overcook the crust. Third, use a perforated pizza pan. If you don’t have a perforated pizza pan, just use tin foil and poke holes in it with a fork! It works. Fourth, if you don’t like using a rolling pin (like me!) just flour a glass cup (I share more of my unconventional kitchen hacks in this blog post).

What to Serve with Homemade Margherita Pizza

I love to serve pizza with a nice salad! Here are some ideas:

• Caesar salad with extra veggies (tomato, cucumber), light on the dressing
• Spinach salad with berries, feta cheese, crushed pecans and light raspberry vinaigrette
• Spinach or romaine salad with tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms, shaved parmesan cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or reduced balsamic if you have it)

And without further ado, I bring you the homemade margherita pizza recipe!

Have you ever made margherita pizza?

What’s your favorite type of pizza to make?

Have you tried this homemade margherita pizza recipe?

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Homemade Margherita Pizza | Vegetarian

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Total Time 6 hrs 22 mins

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Italian, American

Servings 8 slices

Calories 191 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 raw, frozen pizza dough (or use ready whole wheat pizza crust - Boboli makes a 100% whole wheat pizza crust that works well!)
• 1/2 c pizza sauce
• 6 basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped

Instructions

 

• Remove pizza dough from freezer at least ~6-8 hours prior to when you want to make the pizza. Place dough in a mixing bowl with a damp kitchen towel or cheesecloth over the top. Let rise.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Flour your hands, pizza dish and your rolling pin (or glass cup). Remove dough from mixing bowl. Knead, and roll out to desired thickness. (Optional: use a pastry brush to brush a little olive oil on the edge of the pizza crust).
• Add pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and chopped basil. Bake for ~12 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy.

Nutrition

Sodium: 362mgSugar: 3gFiber: 2gPotassium: 52mgCholesterol: 7mgCalories: 191kcalMonounsaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 2gFat: 5gProtein: 9gCarbohydrates: 30g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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