This homemade pepperoni pizza recipe is a classic $5 dinner from The Tiny Twenty-Something! And there’s just something more delicious about a dish when it’s been homemade…I’m not sure why. JK! 😜 Homemade is best because it comes from the most fresh you can buy! And by ‘most fresh’ I am referring to jarred sauce, and packaged shredded cheeses and pepperoni- OR if you can, making your own sauce, cheese, freshly made sausage, vegetables, etc.. Either way it’s better than buying something from a fast food place where the pepperoni and sauce have been kept for who knows how long, and has who knows how much salt and preservatives in the sauce or meats, or crust.

Quick Intro about this Pizza Recipe

Last week I made homemade pepperoni pizza because pizza was a dinner request; however, I didn’t want to spend $10 for an awesome Costco pizza that doesn’t get finished before drying up too bad for leftovers, or a $25+ pizza order from Domino’s …. So I convinced my husband to go the homemade route so that we could save a substantial amount of money! Here’s the recipe and at the end, you’ll have the overview of the costs for transparency!

Important notes

1. When I made this recipe, there was way too much crust so I could have made 2 or even 3 pizzas and I didn’t even know it until after we pulled it out of the oven. If you find that you have way more dough than necessary, use a dough slicer to cut it into 2-3 equal pieces and freeze the extra(s) for later. Then move on through the rest of this recipe.
2. **Disclosure: this post may contain affiliated links- this means that I may earn a commission from these products if you buy them using these links at no additional cost to you. Read full disclosure here.  

Homemade Pepperoni Pizza Recipe

Ingredients for Homemade Pepperoni Pizza

For the Crust

• 3 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 1/3 cups of warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil

For the Pie

• Marinara sauce
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Instructions for the Crust

I used my Cuisineart bread machine to take care of the pizza dough. It took care of the entire mixing, initial kneading and properly timing the raises and kneading. It was all over in 90 minutes.

1. In the bread machine base, combined all the ingredients together for the crust and set the machine to DOUGH mode.
2. Once the DOUGH mode beeps that it is finished, promptly remove the dough and place it on a floured surface
3. Use a rolling pin (or toss it in the air) to create that beautiful pie shape. Then place it on a pizza cooking sheet or pizza stone.
4. Roll the edges of the dough to form the crust. Use a fork to press the crust into place.
5. In a separate bowl, pour some olive oil and use a silicone brush to brush olive oil all over the pizza. You can also add extra seasonings to brush on the crust like I did in the post I wrote about the Prepared Pantry Pizza: Delicious Pizza Night

Instructions for the Pie

Decorate your pizza pie however you see fit!

• For pepperoni pizza- layer your marinara sauce onto the pie. Start by dumping it in the center and use a large spoon to spread it throughout the pie.
• Use 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and spread it over the sauce as your base
• Add a layer of pepperoni. Start in the center of the pie and work your way out to the crust.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup or so of cheese, top with another layer of pepperoni and a final layer of cheese
• Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the center of the pie is fully cooked

Overall Cost for Homemade Pizza

• Pepperoni- $1.07
• Cheese- $7.48 for a 8 cup bag (didn’t use all) 2 cups = $1.87
• Marinara sauce $2.19
• Crust- homemade, barely costs anything since it’s water, olive oil, all purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast. I suppose it costs some pennies when you think about the costs of purchasing the flour, sugar, oil, etc. for all your baking needs. But it doesn’t disqualify this homemade pizza from being one of my classic $5 dinners!