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The difference between a good pepperoni pizza and the best pepperoni pizza comes down to the toppings, crust, and technique. This pepperoni pizza recipe is just like getting pizza at your favorite pizzeria. Dare I say it’s better? You be the judge — try it out for yourself!
The Best Pizzeria-Style Pepperoni Pizza
Pizza is one of those things that is so much more cost-effective to make at home than ordering from a pizza place. All you need is an easy pizza dough recipe, your favorite toppings (in this case, pepperoni and cheese), and an oven. You can make the pizza dough in advance and have them on hand for whenever the pizza mood strikes. No delivery fees and no markups.
Pepperoni pizza is probably my favorite type of pizza. You could give me a mountain of pizza toppings and I’ll likely go for pepperoni. It’s safe, it’s classic, and pepperoni is just so good!
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza
- Make the pizza dough and allow time for it to rest.
- Once the dough is ready, preheat the oven and baking stone together at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle.
- Spread pizza sauce on top of the dough, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge.
- Sprinkle shredded cheese on top then add copious amounts of pepperoni slices.
- Bake until golden brown, slice, and serve!
Types of Pepperoni
If you love the pepperoni pizza cups (like how it curls up and the pepperoni edges are crisp and the center is filled with oil), then you’ll want to buy pepperoni and slice it yourself. Or, they now do have advertised bagged pepperoni that says it’s pepperoni cups.
You can use turkey pepperoni or whatever pepperoni fits into your dietary needs. Make sure to use a lot of it because baking it shrinks them a bit so coverage before and after can be a bit different.
Pizza Recipe Tips
- The process of making this dough is what makes it thin. The chilling process and the COLD ingredients that you must use to make with it. It also does take a bit of planning as you chill this for 24 hours and up to 3 days, but it makes enough dough for two pizzas so you can always freeze one for later.
- The other process of getting this crust to have that CRISPY CRUNCH is the baking stone. I swear by my baking stone. I love pizza crusts that have that crispy edge just like the pizzerias. I never knew how to achieve that until I read that baking stones were essential for that. Well, they really are! They aren’t super expensive and they last forever, so it’s a great investment if you eat as much pizza as we do, and not only that, baking breads on it is wonderful too cause you get that crunchy crust on the bottom.
- Use whole-milk mozzarella. It will change your life. I won’t make casseroles or pizzas without whole milk cheeses now. It really does make a difference. I love how it melts because it’s whole milk so fat = flavor!
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Store pizza slices in a large gallon plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. My favorite way to reheat pizza is in an air fryer. It gives it the perfect re-crisp and doesn’t overdo it.
You can also freeze pizza slices. Place leftover pizza slices into a freezer-safe plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat, directly place pizza slices into the air fryer and reheat until warmed through!
Pepperoni Pizza Goes Great With…
Make pizza night a true pizzeria feast and pair this pizza with garlic knots, a basic chopped salad, and some homemade ranch dressing!
Pepperoni Pizza
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for pizza dough
- 1 cup (245 g) of your favorite pizza sauce, homemade or store-bought
- 2 cups (473 g) shredded, whole-milk mozzarella cheese
- Pepperoni slices
Instructions
- An hour before making the pizza, preheat oven to 500 °F (260 °C) and adjust the oven rack to the 2nd highest position. Place your baking stone on top.
- Remove the pizza dough from the fridge and divide in half. If you plan on freezing the other half of your dough for later use, this is the time to do it.1 recipe for pizza dough
- Form your dough into ball and lightly oil it. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
- Transfer your dough to a floured work space and flatten to an 8-inch disc.
- Using your hands, gently stretch the dough to a 12-inch circle. You may need your rolling pin at this time to help you get the crust thin. Take the cornmeal and spread it over a pizza peel then place your pizza dough on top. Gently stretch it to 13-inches.
- Start layering your toppings, leaving a 1-inch border from the edge: marinara sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni.1 cup (245 g) of your favorite pizza sauce, 2 cups (473 g) shredded, Pepperoni slices
- Carefully transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 10-12 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly and melted.
- Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Photographs by Meg McKeehan Photography
This looks delicious! I wish I had a pizza stone!
Julie – this looks amazing! Why anyone close their browser after seeing that picture! The gooey cheese and perfectly placed pepperoni! Your pictures are amazing! I am desperate for a baking stone! I must just find a nice one!
It has been awhile since I have seen pictures of pizza that look THIS good! Yum! :)
NICE….. got to love a great classic. :)
Way back when we first were talking about pizza and how homemade is good but not as good and we realized whole milk is the key… uhm yeah I still totally have two packages of whole milk cheese ready and waiting, sitting patiently. I swear I’ll get to them soon lol. And holy jeez the grease is making me drool.
I hated trying to get my pizza off my pizza peel and I don’t like cornmeal, so I found if I made the pizza on a piece of parchment paper I could slide it off my counter and right onto the pizza stone, paper and all.
This really looks like a pro pizza – definitely going to try this method!
If I ever have the true time and patience to make pizza, I would totally follow this recipe. My husband loves to munch on pepperoni pizza and this looks just like the pizza we would order! =D
xo,
nancy
Oh man this looks amazing!!
thanks for sharing these techniques, although i dont do pepperoni- a key to good pizza is the CRUST and WHOLE MILK CHEESE!