Your complete guide to pizza

Turn your kitchen into a pizzeria and slice into homemade pizzas hot from the oven and loaded with tasty toppings.

pizza dough

One of Italy’s greatest gifts to the world, pizza is the ultimate family food for eating and making – from kneading to stirring, there’s a job for everyone. Once you’ve mastered our classic dough and traditional tomato sauce, get into our tasty toppings, or be inventive and make up your own.

Let’s make pizza

Easy pizza dough

Here’s what you need to make pizza dough

• A large bowl and a tea towel for proving dough
• Specialty bread and pizza flour to give the dough a lighter texture
• Polenta to keep the pizza crust dry and crisp
• A pizza tray – you can use regular trays or a pizza stone (from kitchenware stores)
• A pizza cutter or a large, sharp knife to slice up your pizza
• A rolling pin for rolling out thin, round bases

Australia’s #1 pizza dough recipe

This basic pizza dough is one of our most popular recipes on site, with good reason. It’s so simple, even a complete novice can make it – the recipe is super-easy to follow and you don’t have to wait too long for the dough to rise in comparison to other recipe.

The recipe doesn’t involve any unusual ingredients (like specific pizza or bread flour) – so you just need 5 simple ingredients and some warm water. Our members rave about it too – it has a 5-star rating with 400+ reviews, with people describing it as “a winner”.

Get our #1 pizza dough recipe.

Our favourite pizza sauce

This classic pizza sauce recipe goes perfectly with our basic pizza dough. It only takes 5 minutes prep and 10 minutes cook time. The ingredients are simply oil, garlic, salt, tomatoes and fresh oregano (optional), so you probably already have all the ingredients in the pantry.

Get our best pizza sauce recipe.

Can you freeze pizza dough?

You can absolutely freeze pizza dough. Food writer Tracy Rutherford tells us: “Make pizza dough up to the point before you would roll it out and cook it. Divide into pizza-sized portions (individual or larger) then roll into balls, and flatten slightly. Oil the dough so it doesn’t stick to the packaging. Place into freezer bags, or wrap in plastic and place into an airtight container.”

You can keep pizza dough in the freezer for up to three months. To thaw pizza dough, place it in the fridge overnight but make sure to bring to room temperature before rolling out.

Pizza tips and tricks

Try these knead-to-know tips for pizza perfection.

• Add salt to the dough mixture after the other dry ingredients. If added at the same time, it can make the yeast inactive.
• Prove the dough in a warm, draught-free spot, otherwise it will take too long to rise.
• Position oven shelves so one’s in the lowest slot and the other’s two slots higher.
• Preheat the trays or pizza stones. This helps crisp the base.
• Roll dough from the centre outwards, lifting and turning slightly as you go so your dough is even thickness.
• Sprinkle polenta over the tray to stop pizza sticking and to make the base crisp and dry.
• Place mozzarella on top of pizza sauce but under other toppings to help secure them.
• Store leftover pizza sauce, topped with olive oil, in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Popular pizza toppings

After you’ve spread your pizzas with the tomato sauce, try some of our favourite topping combos. Each tops two pizzas.

Eggplant & prosciutto with rocket
Garlic prawn & chorizo
Chicken, pear & rocket
Fresh pineapple & ham
Salami, bocconcini & cherry tomato
Roasted pumpkin & goats cheese

Read more about pizza dough

• Low-carb keto pizza dough
• Gluten-free pizza dough
• How to knead pizza dough
• Wholemeal pizza dough
• Make the best pizzas at home

Originally published as Your complete guide to pizza