There is nothing like a tasty homemade pizza for family dinner! My family (the Corkins) love pizza so much that we try to make it a weekly (Friday night) tradition. When we can, we make our own homemade pizza from scratch and it rivals some we’ve had at restaurants for sure. Out of the goodness of our hearts, we’re sharing our Corkin homemade pizza recipe with you–what we might be so bold to call the best homemade pizza recipe around. It doesn’t even taste homemade! We’ll also let you in on our family’s favorite pizza topping combos.

The Corkin’s Favorite Pizza Topping Combos

To give you some inspiration before you gather your ingredients, here are some of our favorite pizza combinations. Decide on how you want to make your pizza by picking a combo we mention here or making up your own. If you can’t decide, go half-and-half. It’s always fun to experiment!

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Pep & Mush

Pepperoni, mushroom, mozzarella cheese, red pizza sauce

Chicken Barbecue

Shredded chicken, mozzarella cheese, barbecue sauce

Mediterranean

Shredded chicken, asparagus, capers, spinach, artichokes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, white pizza sauce or pesto sauce

Jalapeno Pep

Jalapeno, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, red pizza sauce

Ranch & Frank’s

Pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, mixture of Frank’s hot sauce and Ranch dressing

The Corkin’s Homemade Pizza Recipe

This homemade pizza recipe makes two large pizzas that will be so good you may not have any leftovers.

Homemade Pizza Ingredients

Pizza Dough

3 1/2 cups bread flour (plus a little more for kneading/rolling out dough)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Pizza Toppings

1 jar pizza sauce (the better quality, the better)
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
other toppings

Homemade Pizza Directions

Prep the Pizza Dough

Put the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl and mix with spoon to combine. Then add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and mix until the dough forms into kind of a ball. If the dough is super sticky, add additional flour a little bit at a time. If the dough is too dry, add additional water a little bit at a time.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball with your hands. The dough should be kind of sticky but not sticking all over your hands. (Add flour as needed to make less sticky.) Knead for 7 minutes.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, set the dough inside, and cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. Now put the bowl in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. (I put it in my oven and turn the oven on “warm” for the first 5 or so minutes and then turn the oven off so it will stay warm throughout the hour without getting too hot.)

Roll out the Pizza Dough

Preheat your oven to 450°F. Divide the dough into two even portions. Then on a lightly floured surface, roll out each half one at a time to make 2 pizza doughs. (Tip: When I didn’t have a rolling pin, I used a sturdy water bottle… it’s okay to improvise!)

Add Pizza Toppings

Carefully place one of your pizza doughs on a pizza pan or pizza stone. (I use a pizza pan like this one.) Add your sauce, cheese, and toppings.

Bake the Pizza

Bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes. Pull the pizza out of the oven and run a spatula along the bottom to make sure there are no parts sticking to the pan. Cut your pizza with a pizza wheel cutter. Serve warm and enjoy!

The DIY Lighthouse

Homemade Pizza Recipe