Homemade Pan Pizza from Scratch: Crisp Edges, Gooey Cheese, Next-Level Decadent Flavor
Americans reportedly eat around 350 slices of pizza every second. Kinda nuts, right? But how many can make it at home BETTER than takeout/delivery!? That’s where this recipe comes in! If you like thicc pizza like Detroit style or Chicago Deep Dish this is the pizza for you.
I love pizza. It might* be my favorite food based on how often that's the go-to if I'm feeling like delivery! I cooked this idea up (I like puns, okay?) last weekend while I was at the grocery store and I'm truly truly happy with the result. Literally after the first bite I said out loud "Damn, I wish I made more of this" and I still had so much left but knew it wasn't going to be enough!
If you've never made pizza at home before, and especially this style of pizza there are some key things we'll go deeper into below, but the dough is the important part where measurements and instructions matter the most! Follow the steps to a T and you will have amazing dough. Change the ingredient amounts or rest too little or too much at the right times and the results aren't guaranteed. 
Gather Your Ingredients
(makes two 12-inch pizzas):
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Dough
- 1/4 cup warm water (~100°F the temp matters - I used a thermometer)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- 1 lb bread flour (important: must be bread flour—don’t use AP or cake flour. And I implore you to weigh it which is why I'm not giving a volume measurement.)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/4 cups cold water
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Toppings
- Garlic confit (plus its oil)
- Caramelized leeks (slowly cooked in butter)
- 8 oz low-moisture mozzarella
- King oyster mushrooms (sliced, seared)
- Oyster mushrooms (sautéed in butter and shallot, finished with lemon juice, parsley)
- Black olives
- Ricotta mixture: 500 mL ricotta, salt, garlic oil, heavy cream, 1 egg, black pepper, parsley, pecorino
- Fresh grated pecorino cheese
This is not a tomato sauce pizza. The ricotta melds with the other cheeses to become a pseudo-sauce and you truly won't miss tomato sauce on this. You can of course steal the dough recipe and make any pizza you want! But if you're making THIS one (and it is incredible) no sauce lol.
Making the Dough
This dough is your foundation, and with all baking type stuff measurement and especially process matters quite a bit:
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Activate the Yeast
- Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl.
- Beat the heck out of it for ~10 seconds, then rest it for 5 minutes. It will foam and thicken a bit - good!
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Combine Dry & Wet
- Mix bread flour, salt, and garlic powder in a large bowl.
- Pour in the yeast mixture, olive oil, and cold water.
- Stir until it forms a rough dough.
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Knead It
- Dump the dough onto a floured surface (This dough is quite sticky and drinks flour up from your counter, so don't be afraid to keep flouring the surface. I'd say 5-7 tablespoons of flour is totally fine)
- Knead for 7–9 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky, adding flour if it’s too sticky (as noted above)
- Put it back in a bowl, cover, and let it rest for 2 hours.
- Punch it down, rest for 1 hour, then punch it again.
- Split into two dough balls, cover, and rest an extra 30 minutes or—if possible—let them sit in the fridge overnight for even better flavor. If in fridge overnight (which I recommend) rest it for 30min before stretching into pan as well.)
Storage Tip: Dough keeps 3–5 days in the fridge or about 1 month in the freezer.
Building Flavorful Toppings
- Garlic Confit & Oil: Take a ton of peeled garlic cloves, put in a small pot and cover with oil (I used canola because it's cheap lol). Put it on the lowest heat setting your burner allows and forget about it for about 2 hours. The cloves will be golden brown and mushy. The flavor will be mellow and 'roasted' without any sharp bite. Strain the cloves out but keep the oil too!! You can make this hours to days in advance and use the garlic and oil on/in everything!
- Caramelized Leeks: Wash your leeks then slice into rings or half rings - saute over low in butter, stirring occasionally then frequently as they brown. Think the same as caramelizing onions. It might take 30min low and slow. Let cool.
- Mushrooms: Seared king oyster slices (slice into reasonable sized slices and sear in oil or butter on each side until golden brown. Season with salt.) and oyster + button mushrooms sliced/torn and sauted in butter with fine diced shallots. Season throughout (and taste throughout!) then finish with a little lemon juice and chopped parsley. Let cool.
- Ricotta Mix: Scoop ricotta into a bowl and season with salt, add in a little garlic oil, a splash of 35% cream, some chopped parsley, zest of 1/4 a lemon, black pepper, and a bunch of fresh grated pecorino. Add an egg and mix it all up. This will act like sauce in the pizza!
- Black Olives: Canned are totally fine and honestly preferred here haha.
- Low-Moisture Mozzarella: Don't buy pre-shredded for this please. Shred it yourself, it's genuinely much better in flavor and texture, and it's cheaper!
- Pecorino: "Italian snow"
Assembling Your Pizza
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Oil the Pan
- Use a cast iron skillet or a square baking pan.
- Grease it well with garlic confit oil.
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Stretch the Dough
- Take one dough ball and stretch it to fit the pan, pressing the edges to every corner or side. It'll wanna pull back a bit so you might have to fiddle with it a little to get it to rest touching the edges.
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Cheese First!!
- Scatter your mozzarella edge to edge. The cheese-to-pan contact creates a crisp, caramelized edge. It might seem like too much. Good. This pizza isn't about cutting calories its about flavor!
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Layer the Toppings
- Add mushrooms, leeks, black olive slices, and whole garlic cloves.
- Slather on the ricotta mixture. Be generous.
- Grate a bunch of pecorino over the top, covering everything. I could barely see anything else before I put it in the oven haha.
- Drizzle a little more garlic oil on top
The Bake
Preheat your oven to 450°F, then bake for 28–30 minutes on the center rack. The edges will look deeply browned or slightly charred—that’s actually perfect for this style of pizza. Once it’s golden and bubbly, pull it out. Let it rest for 5-10min before taking out of pan or cutting into it. For real, it'll ooze everywhere if you don't and you'll be sad.
Troubleshooting & Tips
- Sticky Dough? Add a pinch or two of extra flour while kneading, but you do want it slightly tacky still! Try not to go above the 7-8tbsp used when kneading.
- Avoid Fresh Mozz Overload: Using fresh mozzarella, while amazing on other types of pizzas will make everything soupy. Stick with low-moisture if you want a sturdy, crisp edge.
- Get That Crisp Edge: Make sure the cheese touches the pan sides. This is the secret to that addictive crusty fringe.
- Better Flavor: An overnight rest in the fridge helps dough develop a deeper taste. If you have time, do it.
The Final Slice
Homemade pizza can feel like a project, and it is - this one (ideally) takes 2 days to make lol. But the reward here is massive. As noted in the opener, I was truly impressed by this and am still craving it days later! It's almost a good thing it takes a bit to make otherwise I'd be eating this multiple times a week haha.
If you have any questions about this or need some additional help don't hesitate to drop a comment on the blog post, reach out via you favorite social media, shoot us an email, or the site Contact form.
Feedback is also always welcome! Definitely check out some other blog posts like the recent incredible chicken lasagna recipe, or if you've got a sweet tooth maybe the sticky toffee pudding!
If you're looking for anything needed for the recipe tool wise, check out the store as we've got cast-iron skillets, microplane graters, and much more!
Happy pizza-making!