All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

Published by Melissa on April 12, 2013 | Updated March 1, 2024 | 38 Comments

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A great crust is the key to a great pizza, and this quick pizza dough recipe from Red Star yeast makes the perfect crust for an All-America pizza loaded with gooey cheesy, pepperoni, and a spicy homemade pizza sauce.

We make pizza often at our house, and my family usually prefers a typical All-American pizza topped with a spicy sauce, pepperoni and cheese. I’ve include my homemade pizza sauce recipe, but feel free to use whatever pizza sauce you like.

One great thing about the recipe is that it uses instant yeast, so it’s quick to put together and only needs a 15 minute resting time before you make the pizza.I also liked that you sprinkle a little bit of your favorite cheese on the crust before baking it, which helps keep the crust from getting soggy.

Margherita pizza is one of my and my daughter’s favorite pizzas. Not quite as all american, but definitely a classic pizza. The crust is spread with olive oil instead of sauce, and topped with tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella. I didn’t have fresh mozzarella and substituted shredded mozzarella. Grilled vegetables are also a perfect addition to a vegetarian pizza.

All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe | Barbara Bakes (4)

I doubled the recipe and made four 12-inch pizzas, one margherita and three pepperoni pizzas, for eight of us. The doubled recipe is listed below.

My family loved this pizza. The dough was easy to work with and the crust crisped up nicely on the bottom and edges, but was still soft and tender in the middle. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again.

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4.67 from 9 votes

All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Meatless Dinner

Keyword: baking, food, recipe

Servings: 4 12 inch pizzas

Author: Barbara Schieving

Ingredients

Dough

4 ½ – 5 cups bread flour
2 ¼ teaspoons 1 package Red Star Quick Rise yeast*
3 teaspoons salt
2 cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil

Homemade Pizza Sauce

2 garlic cloves minced or pressed
1 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in rich puree
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

Homemade Pizza Sauce
In a small saucepan, sauté garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Dough
In medium mixer bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt; mix well. Combine water and oil; heat to 120° to 130°F; add to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
By hand, gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. (I used my KitchenAid dough hook attachment.) Knead on floured surface 3 to 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, cover, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 parts (2 parts if you want larger pizzas). With well-floured or greased fingers, press each half into greased 12- or 14-inch pizza pan.
Sprinkle ¼ cup of your favorite shredded cheese over dough to prevent a soggy crust. Spread prepared pizza sauce on each pizza (approximately ¾ cup of sauce per pizza). Add your favorite toppings—mushrooms, onions, olives, green peppers, pepperoni, cooked Italian sausage, anchovies, etc. Cover with shredded cheese of your choice- Mozzarella, Parmesan and Asiago.
Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes until edge is crisp and light golden brown and cheeses are melted. Serve immediately

Notes

*Use any of the Red Star instant yeast products for this recipe.

More pizza recipes you might like:

Easy Pizza Monkey Bread, Barbara Bakes
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, Barbara Bakes
mini pizzas, mini flour tortilla pizzas from Barbara Bakes
Greek Pizza, Two Peas and Their Pod
Loaded Mini Taco Pizzas, Taste and Tell
Chicken Enchilada Pizza, How Sweet It Is

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About Melissa & Barbara

As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

Evangeline
January 08, 2024 at 10:28 am

Hi! On step 5, it says “Combine water and oil; heat to 120° to 130°F; add to flour mixture.” Is this intentional? I’m assuming you probaby wouldn’t need to heat the dough like this but I don’t know very much.
Reply
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Janet
April 21, 2023 at 9:19 pm

Sorry if this is a stupid question – ow long does the dough have to rise? Just the 15 minutes it says to let dough rest? Thank you!
Reply
Davidheisenberg
March 17, 2023 at 12:57 am

Good dishes make our family moments more beautiful. So we should prepare good food when there is a special event. .
Reply
Joseph
September 25, 2022 at 7:15 am

always sauté dry herbs first this releases their oils and insures better flavor ,
Reply
Sadie
February 18, 2022 at 12:09 pm

Do you have metric measures for the flour? I’m wondering if subbing 00 flour would compromise the texture of the dough. I’d like to make the dough the night before. Is there any reason why this wouldn’t work?
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  February 18, 2022 at 8:12 pm
  
  Hi Sadie – King Arthur Flour has a good chart for conversions https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart. There should be no problem making the dough the night before. Just be sure and put it in a large container because it will still rise in the fridge some. Also, allow plenty of time for it to come to room temperature before using. Enjoy!
  Reply
- Sadie
  February 19, 2022 at 6:48 am
  
  Thanks Barbara. I’ve used the KAF chart many times for conversions, and it’s a great guide but not always foolproof. Unfortunately there’s no consistency in the weight conversions provided by KAF, Cooks Illustrated and other reliable sources, so when converting you can come up with a few possibilities depending on which chart you use. I was just curious if you had made the dough measuring the flour by weight instead of volume. I’ll experiment. Fortunately bread doughs are somewhat forgiving and flexible.
  Reply
  - Barbara Schieving
    February 19, 2022 at 1:00 pm
    
    Hi Sadie – I do like weighing my ingredients more and more, and should start updating the recipes with grams as well. I don’t remember ever weighing the ingredients with this recipe. It is nice that doughs are so forgiving because even the weather can make a difference in the ratio of flour to water that you need. Let me know how you like the dough.
    Reply
Sara
May 31, 2020 at 12:09 pm

Hi Barbara, this recipe is for 4 or 2 pizzas? Because you say that is for 4 pizzas but then in the directions you divide the dough into 2 parts!
Thank you in advance!!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  May 31, 2020 at 12:42 pm
  
  Hi Sara – it’s for two regular size pizzas, but if everyone wants to make they’re own, divide the dough into 4 individual-size pizzas. I’ll update the recipe. Enjoy!
  Reply
Vanessa Holmes
May 09, 2014 at 4:09 pm

I guess I have more of a question… on your bread and pizza recipes is the flour sifted? I am falling in love with your site! I have been so tired of recipes that don’t work and so far everything I make from you is a hit! Right now I have french bread rising beautifully! :o)
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  May 09, 2014 at 4:15 pm
  
  Hi Vanessa – thank you so much for the sweet compliment. I live in a very dry climate and have never found a need to sift flour. It’s my understanding that today’s flour is so much better that it really doesn’t need to be sifted. However, I do fluff my flour a bit in the flour bin before measuring it, and I never scoop the flour from the jar with the measuring cup. I always use a scoop to pour the flour in to the measuring cup. Scooping the flour can compact it and you’ll get more flour than you need. Thanks for the great question! I wish I had a loaf of French bread rising today. Enjoy!
  Reply
Susan Martin
November 14, 2013 at 6:03 pm

Hey Barbara this is my favorite cooking site-not only for the baking but the pressure cooker:}
I know spaghetti sauce can be cooked in the pressure cooker, but what about pizza sauce? I prefer homemade to store bought any day. No preservatives and it tastes so much better. In fact it would be IMO much better in a batch. Some for now some to freeze for next time. Do you think that this recipe would work in the pressure cooker? Are you up to a challenge? I think I will try a single batch and keep you posted. But if you have any input, it would be awesome before I begin, I need to buy some crushed tomatoes in a 28 oz can first. Most pizza sauce I have seen call for tomato paste which I buy by the case at Costco. Keep up the fantastic work!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  November 15, 2013 at 8:37 am
  
  Hi Susan – what a sweet comment! Homemade is so much better. Yes, I think the recipe would work well in the pressure cooker. You could probably even start with diced tomatoes and tomato paste and just puree them after cooking until they’re the consistency you like. I would try a 5 minute cook time and then simmer it after pureeing to thicken it if necessary. Have fun!
  Reply
Becky
July 14, 2013 at 11:18 pm

Is this the one you made for Josh and I?! I really want to make it soon!
Reply
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
April 19, 2013 at 1:32 pm

Oh, Barbara. You and yeast make a wonderful team. 🙂
This pizza looks incredible. Love the thick crust! Nothing better than a pizza like this after a long day. Or you know… whenever.
Reply

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All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)

FAQs

What sauce do Americans put on pizza? ›

You can't go wrong with a traditional tomato-based sauce. Flavored with ingredients like minced garlic, onion, oregano, basil, and other herbs and spices, red pizza sauce is the go-to choice for many people.

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Should you cook pizza dough before adding sauce and toppings? ›

If you're baking the pizza in the oven, whether on a pizza stone or not, I always pre-bake the dough for 4-5 minutes before adding toppings, to make sure the pizza dough cooks crisp on the outside and soft and airy in the middle. Once you add the Pizza Sauce and toppings, return it to the oven to finish baking.

What are the ingredients in American Garden pizza sauce? ›

Ingredients: :

Tomato puree water, tomato paste, contains 2 percent or less of spices parsley, basil, oregano, dehydrated garlic, natural flavor salt, oil extract of black papper, salt, soybean oil, citric acid.

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Why do you put vinegar in pizza sauce? ›

Flavor Enhancement:Vinegar can enhance the overall flavor of the sauce by contributing tanginess and brightness. It can help cut through the richness of the tomato and onion flavors, providing a more complex taste.

What does adding vinegar to pizza dough do? ›

The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say. This theory proposes that once the water and flour are combined, gluten starts forming, causing the dough to grow tough. Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness.

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Do you put oregano in pizza sauce? ›

Combine oil and butter in medium saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Add garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, and large pinch salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, onion halves, basil sprigs, and sugar.

All-American Pizza and Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)