Margherita Pizza
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Skip the delivery—this Margherita pizza brings pizzeria-level flavor with a crisp, chewy crust, gooey mozzarella, and a no-cook sauce you can whip up in minutes.
Margherita pizza—the classic thin-crust pie from Naples—was named for Queen Margherita of Savoy. As the story goes, she was served a pizza in 1889 that resembled the Italian flag—with red tomatoes, white mozzarella, and green basil—and the rest is history.
Though this fresh mozzarella pizza is traditionally baked in a blazing-hot wood-fired oven, you can make an excellent version at home using a sheet pan and a few smart techniques. I use my favorite homemade pizza dough (though store-bought works beautifully too) and parbake the crust with just the sauce before adding the cheese—this keeps the center from getting soggy and ensures a crisp, chewy bite all the way through.
As for the sauce, it’s as simple as it gets: a no-cook Neapolitan pizza sauce made with canned San Marzano crushed tomatoes that comes together in five minutes. It’s proof that when the ingredients are good, you don’t need to do much to them.
Love pizza night? Try my summery pesto pizza and these fun mini English muffin pizzas for something a little different.
“Made the sauce, dough, and pizza. It’s the best pizza I’ve had or made and I’ve tried many.”
What You’ll Need To Make Margherita Pizza
- Pizza dough: My rich homemade pizza dough is ideal, but store-bought works too. You will need two 1-pound dough balls to make two 12-inch pizzas.
- San Marzano Crushed Tomatoes: This variety of plum tomatoes originates from the town of San Marzano sul Sarno near Naples, Italy. These tomatoes are sweeter, less acidic, and more concentrated in flavor than typical roma tomatoes. Many supermarkets carry them, but don’t worry if you can’t find them; regular crushed tomatoes will work too.
- Fresh Mozzarella: I prefer a fresh mozzarella ball that is not packed in water. If all you can find is one in water, just be sure to dry it very well before prepping it for your pizza. Any extra liquid can make the pizza soggy.
- Parmigiano Reggiano: Use authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, which you can identify by looking at the rind, which is embossed with the name over and over. If the cheese is already grated, it should be labeled “Parmigiano Reggiano,” not “Parmesan.”
- Fresh Cornmeal and Flour: You will need just a touch of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the surface when you stretch it out. The cornmeal keeps the crust from sticking to the pan and also gives a deliciously crisp bite to the crust.
- Seasoning: A bit of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes, fresh garlic brings depth, and fresh basil adds a pop of color and flavor to the finished pizza.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make a Margherita pizza
Step 1: Make the pizza sauce. Combine the crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl and mix to combine. If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can blend the ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Step 2: Stretch the dough. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to gently stretch one of the dough balls into a 12-inch round. Don’t worry if it’s not a perfect circle—rustic is part of the charm. If the dough springs back, let it rest for a few minutes and try again.
Step 3: Prep the pizza for baking. Transfer the dough to a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, then gently stretch it out again to help it keep its round shape. If the edges shrink back a little, just nudge them back into place—no need to be fussy.
Step 4: Add the sauce. Spread the sauce over the dough, leaving about a ½-inch border around the edges.
Step 5: Parbake. Pop the pizza in the oven for 7 minutes to give the crust a head start. This gives it a chance to bake and start crisping before the cheese goes on, so you don’t end up with a doughy center or overcooked, rubbery cheese. It might seem like an extra step, but it’s the key to a crisp bottom and a perfectly melted top.
Step 6: Add the cheese. Remove the pizza from the oven and scatter half of the mozzarella cubes over the sauce, followed by half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Step 7: Finish baking. Slide the pan back into the oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling. About 4 minutes more is perfect. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with the basil and slice.
Pro Tips for the best margherita pizza
- Cooking Two Pizzas: This recipe makes two pizzas. Cook one at a time or if you prefer to bake both pizzas together, you can fire up two ovens. Another option, if you don’t mind the crust a little thicker, is to cook them on the same baking sheet. Shape each dough ball into a 8×12-inch rectangle and place them side by side on the baking sheet.
- Don’t Overload the Pizza: Less is more here—too much sauce and cheese will make the crust soggy.
- Hot Oven: Make sure you preheat your oven in advance to 500° F. A hot oven is essential for baking the pizza crust perfectly.
- Make-Ahead: This pizza is best made fresh, but you can prepare the pizza dough in advance, prep the cheese, and mix together the pizza sauce up to 48 hours in advance. For best results, stretch the dough and assemble the Margherita pizzas when you’re ready to cook them.
- Leftovers: To reheat leftover pizza, the oven, air fryer, or a toaster oven are your best bet. Place the pizza slices on a baking tray and heat in a 400°F oven for 5 minutes, or until heated through. Avoid using the microwave if you can.
More Italian bread and Pizza Recipes
Margherita Pizza
This crispy thin-crust Margherita pizza is simple, fresh, and ready in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Flour, for stretching the dough
- 2 (1-lb) homemade pizza doughs
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella, not packed in water, cubed
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil, lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal, for baking
Instructions
- Make the Sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, pepper, and oil. (Alternatively, for a completely smooth sauce, you can blend the ingredients in a small food processor or blender.)
- Preheat the oven to 500°F and set an oven rack in the bottom position. Dust a 13x18-inch baking sheet with half of the cornmeal.
- On a lightly floured surface, using your hands, stretch and press one ball of dough into an 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to the cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, and gently stretch it out again so that it maintains its shape.
- Spread about ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of the sauce over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until the crust is partially cooked. Remove from the oven, and scatter half of the mozzarella cubes over the sauce, followed by half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Slide the pan back into the oven and cook until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 4 minutes more. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with the basil and slice. Repeat with the remaining pizza dough and ingredients. (If you'd like to bake the two pizzas at the same time, you can fire up two ovens. Or, if you don't mind the crust a little thicker, you can form the two dough balls into 8x12-inch rectangles and place them side by side on the baking sheet.)
- Note: This recipe makes enough sauce for 4 (12-inch) pizzas. Refrigerate extra sauce for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Serving size: 3 slices
- Calories: 734
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated fat: 13 g
- Carbohydrates: 80 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 31 g
- Sodium: 710 mg
- Cholesterol: 57 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this last night with your dough recipe from your cookbook I bought for my Kindle which is different than website recipe.Does this one make more dough?We found the book recipe just right for us and rolled out nicely,tasted good and provided a good texture cooked on the pizza stone in the screamin hot Weber gas grill(to hot to run oven). The no cook sauce is delicious as well.One Margherita and one Italian sausage with peppers,onions and mushrooms.
Glad you enjoyed the pizza! Yes, earlier this year, I updated the version on the website to make a slightly larger quantity.
We recently purchased a pizza oven for our backyard and as such we have been on a quest to find the best pizza dough – look no further, this is it! Super simple and failproof!
This pizza is spectacular. Absolutely delicious! We lived in NYC, so we know good pizza. Thank you for all of your amazing recipes. I also bought both of your cookbooks-everything I have made has been incredible. You are a blessing to this mom of two little boys under the age of four. And you make me look like a total gourmet chef to my husband. Thank you, thank you, thank you! xoxo
💗
First recipe that really disappointed me. The sauce wasn’t spectacular. The dough wasn’t noteworthy. Overall a very bland pizza
Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes I’ve had the pleasure of serving my family this year.
On Christmas Eve, we are foregoing the usual big Christmas dinner for heavy hors d’ oeuvres. I would like to use this pizza recipe to add to other items. I have a large pampered chef rectangle pizza stone that I rarely use. Do you think it would work with this pizza and would you change the baking times in using a pizza stone?
Sure Jennie, I think a pizza stone would work here. (If you’re accustomed to using a pizza stone, I’m sure you know that you need to preheat it first.) I’m not sure if using a stone will impact the baking time at all so just keep a close eye on it. Hope you enjoy!
I used my round Pampered Chef stone to make this recipe. I use it for all pizzas I make. I did not preheat it (oops Jenn, I didn’t know!), but my pizzas always come out great. I had to bake it a little longer than the recipe states, maybe because I used the stone rather than the pan in the recipe. Also I didn’t heat the stone .
I have a Pampered Chef round stone and I don’t preheat it. There is conflicting info online about whether Pampered Chef stones should be preheated. I tried it once anf my family said the crust was too crispy. Just so others might want to know, an authentic pizza crust in the Italian North End of Boston is not crispy. It is kind of floppy and you fold it to eat it.
I didn’t make the sauce because my daughter had made some sauce for me and it sounded similar. Also , she had made dough that I had in my freezer. I had never made a pizza before by prebaking with the sauce – good idea. I baked this at 425 because when I bake at 500 my family says the crust is too crisp. As I mentioned above, we are used to a softer crust (old school Italian pizza in Boston). I had to bake it longer at 425. Thanks for a great recipe.
I made this recipe using Trader Joe’s pizza crust to save time. I served it with a lovely salad. I had two guests that were used to very fine food. They said it was the best pizza they had ever tasted. Its absolutely delicious.
I froze the sauce, without labeling it. A few months later I took it out of the freezer, thinking it was tomato soup. I ate the sauce as soup and it was delicious!. I haven’t tried that again, but it sure tasted good.😃
I love the recipes I have used of yours, I am vegetarian so don’t make everything, but always check what you are posting. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed this and your comment about eating the sauce as tomato soup cracked me up!!
Delicious recipe. The sauce is so easy and delicious. Next time I will try to make the dough.
Thanks for sharing!!!
We made the the Margarita pizza and loved it. To get it a little more true Neapolitan, we made the crust a little thinner and turned up the heat a bit. Almost got the bubbly crust. It was fantastic. The dough is key and this recipe is completely on point and almost failproof. We now have homemade pizza night, affectionately call ‘Pizza Night Honey’, once a month. This crust does well for any toppings that we have thrown at it! Thanks Jenn! And a huge fan of your cookbook. Great recipes that are easy to execute!
Our family discovered Chef Jenn at the beginning of Covid a year ago. It was perfect timing! Every recipe has been a hit! I say I have a new chef! Not me! I really want to make awesome pizza at home. I have spent hours on the Margherita recipe and I can’t get it right! The dough is too thick and tough! What am I doing wrong?
The pizza topping is too watery and I would recommend only one clove of garlic! I bought a pizza stone, but still not great! Help! Jenn G.
So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes! Regarding the pizza dough, I’m wondering if you’re using too much flour. Did you use the spoon and level method to measure the flour? Even a few extra ounces can make a big difference. This article/video explains it nicely.
I made this with Jenn’s homemade pizza dough as one big pizza rather than two small pizzas. The sauce was fantastic with the San Marzano tomatoes. I think the pizza could have used either less cheese or more sauce to really let the sauce shine as I felt it was overpowered by the cheese. As one pizza on a 14×17 baking sheet, I found I needed more time in the oven (I gave it an extra 4.5 minutes and it was perfect).