Pepperoni Pan Pizza
This Pepperoni Pan Pizza features an easy, homemade pizza dough that can be ready in just 20 minutes. Make tonight a pizza night!
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I love pizza. There are so many ways to make pizza, and each version is unique enough to stand alone. From a traditional rustic pizza dough to flatbreads to deep-dish, I suspect we could eat pizza every week for a year and not have to repeat styles.
Our go-to pizza dough is a recipe that we’ve been making for years. We spent months playing with the proportions to get a flavorful dough that yielded a chewy, but sturdy crust. At one point, we finally arrived at a texture that we loved, but the crust lacked flavor. I asked my baking instructor at the time for tips – and the solution was simple. More salt. Sure enough, that did it! We probably make that pizza dough twice a month around here. The only downside is that it’s a traditional dough – it takes time to rise. That means we have to plan ahead for pizza nights.
Pepperoni Pan Pizza
Pepperoni Pan PizzaThat’s where this Pepperoni Pan Pizza comes in. The dough only rests for 15 minutes (!) after being made, so that means you can easily pull off a homemade pizza on a weeknight. We still save pizza nights for weekends, but this could totally be made on a weeknight.
As the name suggests, this pizza bakes in a pan. However, it’s not a deep-dish pizza. This is a thin and crispy pizza dough, but it’s still sturdy enough to handle sauce, cheese and toppings. I will point out that this recipe makes two pan pizzas. Laura’s family was visiting the first time I made this recipe, and it served 4 of us with a couple slices leftover for lunch the next day. Mmmm…cold pizza! (There was a time back in my bachelor days when I would order two medium pizzas – one to eat hot and the other to go into the fridge for the next day. Who’s with me on the cold pizza train??)
While the ease of this pizza dough is awesome, Laura and I agreed that we prefer our rustic pizza dough. However, with that said, we both agreed that this Pepperoni Pan Pizza recipe is tasty and perfect for nights when we forget to plan ahead. We will certainly be making this one again.
One of the purposes of letting pizza dough rise over a longer period of time is flavor. Indeed, our traditional pizza dough starts the night before. Most pizza shops use a portion of the previous day’s dough to start the next batch. It’s all about flavor. Since this Pepperoni Pizza Dough doesn’t rest as long, we were looking for a shortcut on how to add more flavor. That’s where the herbed olive oil comes in. We brushed the edges with herbed olive oil (we do this on all of our pizzas), and then I brushed the leftover olive oil around the middle of the crust. Yum!
All together, this is an easy pizza dough recipe that comes together in just minutes. We opted for the traditional pepperoni pizza here, but you could certainly play around with your favorite pizza toppings instead. Speaking of toppings, try seeded, diced jalapenos on pizza sometime – they’re amazing!
I hope you enjoy this Pepperoni Pan Pizza recipe as much as we do here. It’s perfect for those nights when you want pizza, but don’t have time to make a traditional pizza dough. Enjoy!
Did you make this Pepperoni Pan Pizza at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version of this recipe!
Pepperoni Pan Pizza
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast i.e. (1 ¼-oz. packet))
- ¼ tsp table salt
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 Tbsp olive oil divided
- 2 tsp Italian seasonings
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
For the Sauce
- 1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 6-oz. can tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
For the Toppings
- 3 oz. sliced pepperoni
- 4-5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onions
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the Dough
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Using an electric mixer, add flour, yeast and table salt; stir until well combined.
- Add water and 1 Tbsp of olive oil; mix on medium speed for 6-7 minutes. Cover bowl lightly with a kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Spray (2) 10”x15”x1” baking pans with nonstick baking spray. Roll/press one piece of dough into each of the pans. Using a fork, prick dough at 1” intervals.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until light golden brown.
- Using a small bowl, add remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, Italian seasonings, kosher salt and garlic powder; stir until well combined. Set mixture aside.
For the Sauce
- Using a small mixing bowl, add all of the sauce ingredients (diced tomatoes, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, basil, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder); stir until well combined.
- Remove pans from oven and brush olive oil mixture (from above) evenly around outer 1” of each pizza. Divide sauce evenly between pizzas. Top with shredded mozzarella, sliced red onions, pepperoni and grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 8-10 more minutes, or until cheese has completely melted. Cut into squares before serving.
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Will be making this soon for the toppings can i use mushrooms and vegan cheeses i love pizza sooooooooooooo much perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Oh you can absolutely change the toppings here to your favorites, Ramya! I do hope you enjoy this quick and easy pizza – perfect for dinner after a long day at work!
I draw the line at deep dish – and yes, I say that as a Chicagoan – but I’m on board the cold pizza train! And every other sort of pizza train … especially the leftover-pizza-for-breakfast express. Plus, if it’s good leftover, economies of scale kind of strongly suggests making more (which is what I tell myself, so that I don’t have to admit that I just want twice as much pizza … but that doesn’t mean it’s not true).
Ah – I had to read that twice about you and deep-dish pizza, Jeff. I get it. Deep dish has its place, but given a choice, I’ll go with a traditional crust instead. I also really (!) like your economy-of-scale argument here. See? Even economists think you should eat more pizza!
Well now I’m craving pizza David! This looks absolutely delicious. 😋. I love that this is thin crust, and that you brushed the edges with herbed olive oil. So much flavor!! This would certainly be a repeat pizza in our house as well.
That herbed olive oil is key, Shannon! There is so much flavor going on there. And I love how this pizza can be made for dinner even on nights when you didn’t plan ahead! Cheers, my friend!
Well this looks good! I prefer thicker crust. Especially over that cracker thin burnt variety. But those topping are great. I’d double the onions for us, and omit the pepperoni.
Isn’t it funny how many different versions of pizza are out there? Feel free to use your favorite toppings here, Mimi – it’s an easy recipe that’s perfect for nights when you didn’t plan ahead. 🙂
I’m blown away by how simple and fast this homemade pizza recipe is, David! We typically make it in a cast iron skillet with a dough that has to sit overnight. I’ll definitely give your much quicker, but very delicious version a try!
I hear ya on pizza dough, Marissa. I still prefer our version that uses an overnight biga, but this version is pretty darned fantastic on nights when you didn’t plan ahead. The herbed olive oil is key for flavor here!
I’ve heard many people consider cold pizza kind of gross, but I like it, too. I mean, cold pizza for breakfast, with a cup of coffee – well, that might not be a gourmet way to enjoy your pizza, but it’s soooo good. Right?! So I always make 2 or 3 pizzas at once 🙂
This combination of flavours is terrific. Perfect to enjoy both hot and cold, in my book 🙂
So I’m not so sure about cold pizza with coffee, Ben. That combination sounds a bit odd – but then again, I’ve never tried it. I might have to try that sometime soon. You know, just so that I know! 🙂
I’m a huge fan of cold pizza! I’ve been known to have a slice for breakfast! 🙂 I really love the idea of making a pan pizza – especially with your quick tips! We used to make a lot of pizza when the kids were younger, but it seems like now we only make it every few months! I think I need to go back to regular pizza nights!
This pan pizza is so easy to make, Kathy! I found it amazing that you can pull off a delicious pizza with homemade crust even when you forget to plan ahead. Also, I highly recommend going back to pizza nights – they’re one of the best nights of the week if you ask me!!
Love cold pizza! And the idea of an herbed oil! I once had a pizza in Portland that had garlic oil, and it was the best! This look delicious, and the fact I can get it on the table on a weeknight is amazing!
That herbed oil is key, Michelle! Seriously! We use it on our regular pizza dough all the time, so it just made since to use it on this quick version. It’s a great shortcut for adding a ton of flavor! The fact that you can make pizza with homemade dough on a weeknight (without planning ahead) is pretty awesome if you ask me!
I love pizza and I know someone in this household who would happily eat pizza all the time too David! Ha ha! That’s a lovely pepperoni pan pizza you’ve got going there. I prefer thin and crispy pizza crusts so this would be fine for us and the fact that it just needs 30 minutes or so to be ready to eat means less time to wait with no proving. Great!
Haha – I wonder who that person is? 🙂 Seriously, though, this pizza is pretty darned fantastic, Neil. The fact that you can make pizza with a homemade dough on a weeknight (without planning ahead) is awesome. I highly recommend it!! Hmmm…can you put haggis on a pizza? Haha!
This came out pretty good for my first time. One pan was greased more than the other and was more crispy for the good. Next time I’ll roll it out even thinner. It’s different and I love my overnight in the icebox dough, but this is quicker like you mentioned.
Hey Brian! Thanks so much for stopping by to comment after you made this. I agree that an overnight dough is better, but this is pretty darned good in a pinch! For me, the herbed olive oil brushed all over the crust brings it to a new level. Cheers!
I prefer thin crust than deep dish, any toppings will do as long it has a really nice crust that is chewy and crispy at the same time. But cold pizza, not for me, I want mine freshly cooked with strechy cheese of course.
That’s one of the things that makes pizza so great – there are so many different styles and toppings! I swear you could pizza every day for a month and not repeat versions.