Follow this easy Margherita pizza recipe and make the best homemade Margherita Pizza you’ve ever tasted. This delicious cheese and tomato pizza can be made at home using an ordinary domestic oven and everyday ingredients. It isn’t difficult to make yourself and you’ll be amazed at how much better it tastes than shop-bought.
Pizza may be a modern-day fast food but you’re going to be shocked by how much better it tastes when you make your own. It is so much better for you too. I like to make as much of our food from scratch as I can and easy recipes like this one help me do that
This pizza recipe will guide you and show you how to make a delicious classic Margherita pizza. One that goes for the simplicity of cheese, tomato sauce and herbs. You are about to create the best homemade Margherita pizza you’ve ever eaten and this can all be achieved in 4 simple steps. Maybe the first time you make it, allow a little bit of time to learn the steps. However, the next time and the one after that, it will be so simple. You don’t even need a dedicated Margherita pizza oven to make it.
Almost everyone loves pizza, it’s such a crowd-pleaser.
What is a Margherita Pizza
A classic Margherita pizza is a simple pizza recipe from the Naples area in Italy. It traditionally has a thin pizza base which is topped with a simple tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. This is finished off with a drizzle of olive and a sprinkle of salt for flavour. Simple and delicious.
Why is it called a Margherita Pizza?
Interesting question, after all, it is essentially a cheese and tomato pizza so why does it have a fancy name?
History tells us that Pizza Margherita was named to honour the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy back in 1889. The colours in the pizza represent the colours in the Italian flag of red (tomatoes), white (mozzarella) and green (basil).
So, what is an authentic Pizza Margherita? An authentic pizza Margherita is made using a tomato topping, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and a little olive. Some might say all the wonderful flavours of Italy.
You can definitely get a little bit fancy with pizza, adding all kinds of vegetables as a topping. The Margarita is by comparison truly simple but that’s the beauty of it, it’s flavourful with stretchy mozzarella, deliciously tangy tomato passata, aromatic basil and a truly perfect thin crust. Try it!
Reasons to make this Margherita Pizza recipe
- You want to make good food for yourself and your family. Making food from scratch is a good way of eliminating unwanted sugars, fats, preservatives and other unlovely additives.
- quick. This recipe doesn’t take hours to make or create a kitchen full of washing-up. It takes approximately 30 minutes to get it to the point where you can put it in the oven to bake and most of that time is for letting the dough prove. So, you can get other things done.
- flavourful. It’s amazing that such simple ingredients can create a dish that is so full of flavour. This comes from gentle seasoning, the garlic and the herbs as much as from the mozzarella cheese.
- satisfying. This Margherita pizza recipe makes 2 good-sized pizzas. My son eats one of these on his own so I’m thinking that this recipe feeds two adults. However, if you intend to serve it alongside salads, garlic bread or other accompaniments then you may find that this recipe feeds more of a crowd. Always a crowd pleaser is pizza.
Homemade Margherita Pizza Ingredients
Margherita Pizza Dough
If time is really tight and you still want good pizza you could buy ready-made pizza bases and add the margherita pizza sauce and cheesy toppings as set out below. Then you can still enjoy something extraordinary.
However, I’d love to think that you’ll follow the recipe for homemade pizza dough which is included in this post. Our recipe for pizza dough uses;
- strong white bread flour
- yeast
- olive oil
- salt
- lukewarm water
These pizza dough ingredients are mixed together and kneaded to form a beautiful smooth elastic dough and left to rise for 25 minutes.
Margherita Pizza Toppings – simple and delicious combinations
Passata – for the Margherita Pizza Sauce
Passata is made from tomatoes that have been skinned and deseeded. In this recipe, passata is used to make the sauce for the top of the pizza.
Don’t have passata? Then drain a tin of chopped tomatoes through a sieve (keep the juice for another recipe) and use the tomatoes in the sieve to make the sauce.
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
This is a fantastic fresh Italian cheese that melts brilliantly, has a gentle flavour and is a must on a pizza.
Mozzarella is a fresh cheese and can be made with either buffalo milk or cow’s milk. It is generally sold in bags with water which help to keep the cheese fresh. The drawback is that both types of cheese contain a lot of moisture with the buffalo variety containing the most.
In a traditional wood oven, the temperature gets hot enough to evaporate all this extra moisture but domestic ovens don’t. So how do you avoid ending up with a disappointing pizza with a soggy bottom?
Good question. There are a couple of very simple things that you can do to make sure that your pizza, made in a domestic oven, doesn’t end up with a soggy base. Read on…
Prepare your mozzarella
- The best mozzarella to buy for making pizza when you’re cooking in a domestic oven is a mozzarella made using cow’s milk.
- if you live in the US there is a low moisture mozzarella but I’m told that the flavour differs slightly from Italian Mozzarella. Try both kinds and see which you prefer.
- drain off all the water that is in the bag and dry it with paper towels.
- if you’ve the time and the inclination cut the cheese up and wrap it all in a paper towel. Leave it for up to 1/2 an hour to get rid of even more moisture.
- use a pizza steel or pizza stone. These can be a bit of an investment if you’re not making pizza really frequently. You can get brilliant results using a baking tray so relegate these pieces of kitchen equipment to the nice-to-have one-day pile.
Fresh Basil
This is such a brilliant herb, so aromatic and so good at transferring that wonderful flavour to the food that you use it with. It’s also one of the herbs used throughout Italian cuisine. Dried basil is a poor substitute for fresh so always try to get the fresh herb.
Olive Oil and salt
Olive oil is used in the dough and a sprinkle of salt emphasises the flavour.
Now it’s time to gather up your ingredients and get baking.
Just 4 Steps in Making Margherita Pizza
This easy Margherita Pizza Recipe involves just 4 simple main steps. As M
- making the dough – This is a simple pizza dough that requires kneading for about 5 minutes and then allowing it time to rise.
- making the Margherita pizza sauce – made using passata (sieved tomatoes) and adding a little salt and a crushed clove of garlic. Set this to the side to allow it to infuse whilst you wait for the dough to rise.
- shape the dough – This recipe makes enough dough for 2 pizzas which will serve 2 people. Once it has finished rising, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and shape it into a circular pizza. The dough will be quite springy and you may find it easier to roll it out into shape. You want the base to be quite thin, this should make a base about 25cm in diameter. Place these bases on a pizza tray one that has holes in the bottom so that the base cooks evenly. If this isn’t possible then use an ordinary baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Pizza Topping and Margherita Pizza Baking – Once the pizza bases are sorted, add the toppings. Use the Margherita sauce you made earlier and the mozzarella cheese. (This pizza recipe makes two pizzas and each pizza will use one ball of fresh mozzarella cheese.) Cut the mozzarella into small cubes so that it melts evenly across the pizza. You can tear it if you prefer but it won’t melt quite as evenly as it bakes. Note our comments above about mozzarella cheese and how to get the best out of it and avoid soggy bottoms.
- After baking for eighteen minutes at 390F/200C/180C Fan, your delicious pizza is ready.
F.A.Q’s
To make a traditional authentic Margherita Pizza you really do need to use fresh basil, however, if you don’t like this herb then you could substitute another of the more flavourful Mediterranean herbs such as oregano.
If you cannot find passata then as mentioned earlier in the post you can drain a tin of chopped tomatoes. (Use a sieve for this.) Reserve the tomato juice for another recipe and use the chopped tomatoes as you would the passata. It won’t be as smooth but it will taste wonderful.
If you wish to make this pizza recipe and follow a vegan diet then you can make this using a Vegan Mozzarella. Find one that you really like. There are a few types on the market that taste good and have a similar melting ability.
Serving the Best Homemade Margherita Pizza
Once your Margherita pizza is cooked to perfection, it’s time to serve it up. You can serve up one pizza per adult and if pizza is the entire meal then 1 per adult may be about right. Of course, that depends on your appetite.
Are you making pizza to share as a snack or part of a meal that includes other side dishes such as salads etc. Then if you cut each pizza into 8 you have many more delicious slices to share and everyone will be happy and full.
If you like this recipe then take a look at these…
Other bread recipes you may wish to try…
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How to make a Margherita Pizza
Equipment
- baking tray preferably a pizza tray that has holes in the base that allow the pizza base to cook evenly
- mixing bowls
- Measuring equipment
- tea towels to cover the dough whilst it rises
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 2 cups strong white bread flour
- 2/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dried fast action yeast This is the kind that doesn't need to be started off with warm water etc. It may say that it's also suitable for use with bread machines.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Margherita Pizza Topping
- 2/3 cup passata or sieved chopped tomatoes
- pinch of salt
- 2 balls of mozzarella each approximately 125g/4 1/2 ounces in weight. One for each pizza base.
- small handful of basil leaves
Instructions
- Measure the flour, yeast and salt into a mixing bowl. (keep the salt and the yeast separate.)2 cups strong white bread flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 teaspoons dried fast action yeast
- Add the olive oil and gradually add in 2/3 of the lukewarm water and mix the flour around. Gradually add a little bit of water at a time until you've picked up all of the flour from the sides of the bowl. You may not need all of the water. You want a dough that is soft but not soggy.1 tablespoon olive oil, 2/3 cup lukewarm water
- Once you have a dough, knead it for approximately 5 minutes to get a nice smooth, elastic pizza dough.
- Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
- Measure the passata into a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Stir to distribute through the tomatoes.2/3 cup passata, pinch of salt
- Once the dough has doubled in size, sprinkle the work surface with a little flour tip the dough out and divide it into 2 equally sized pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 390F/200C/180C Fan. Grease two baking trays or a pizza tray.
- Shape these dough pieces into balls. Flatten into rounds using the heel of your hand.
- The best way to get a really nice thin pizza base is to use a rolling pin. Dust everything lightly with flour to prevent sticking. If you're feeling daring you can spin the dough out into a circle. Otherwise, continue with the rolling pin until you get a nice circular base.
- Spoon the passata over the pizza bases leaving an edge all the way around of approximately 2cm/1 inch. Spread it out evenly using the back of a spoon.
- Either tear the mozzarella cheese roughly over the surface or cube the mozzarella first and then spread it over the topping.2 balls of mozzarella
- Bake the pizza for approximately 16 minutes then remove it from the oven. Sprinkle or tear over the fresh basil leaves and put back into the oven for a further 2 minutes or until the pizza is bubbling and is a nice golden brown colour. Repeat this with both pieces of pizza dough.small handful of basil leaves
- Remove from the oven and serve with your favourite pizza accompaniments.
Notes
Nutrition
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Oh yum! What a lovely pizza. Looks delicious. I’m making this for dinner.
This looked so delicious so I had to make it! Thankfully there was in depth instructions and details. It made this so effortless and delicious! Thank you!
Easy and a family pleaser! I used fresh tomatoes, gave them a whirl in the blender then drained them. Delicious.
Loving this margarita pizza! It is so delicious and easy to make! One of my favorite pizzas for sure!
I love the fresh ingredients in this Margherita pizza! It’s so interesting to know about the history of the pizza. It looks delicious and I will be making this for the next pizza night at our house!
Omg my favourite!!! Love Margherita pizza and this looks incredible