Pizza night is always an exciting time for the family. And, homemade pizza can be even better than pizza bought from a restaurant. Kids will especially love a chance to form their own crust and choose their favorite toppings. With the whole family involved, not only will you have more fun, but you will also get dinner ready very quickly. While the pizza is in the oven, you can whip together a simple salad for a complete meal. Here are some tips to making great homemade pizza, an inexpensive and tasty meal:
Sauce
There is really no need to make pizza sauce from scratch in order to save money. Instead, buy a jar of basic spaghetti sauce for about a dollar. I have tried more expensive sauces for pizza and have found that the cheap brands actually taste better on pizza. You can try different types of sauces, but the traditional flavor is always a good choice because it tastes more like regular pizza sauce. One can of spaghetti sauce should be enough to top 4-6 full-size pizzas. Store leftover sauce in the freezer.
Cheese
Buy mozzarella cheese when it is on sale for a great bargain. I stock up on cheese when I can get an 8oz bag for a dollar. The expiration date for an unopened bag of cheese is generally a couple of months away, so don’t worry about purchasing cheese far in advance. Don’t buy imitation cheese, since it doesn’t melt well and does not make for good pizza.
Toppings
Having a variety of toppings for people to choose from makes pizza night even more fun. Although, you’ll need to make sure that you don?t get carried away and spend too much money on toppings. Look through your refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards for items you already have on hand that would make tasty toppings. This is a good way to use some of your leftover meat and vegetables. In addition, think of less expensive alternatives to some of your favorite ingredients. For instance, buy uncut pepperoni in a log. If you can slice it or dice it yourself, you’ll save a lot of money.
Crust
For my small family of three, my bread machine makes enough pizza crust for the entire family. I use a simple pizza dough recipe found in the cookbook that came with the machine. If you don’t have a pizza dough recipe, try the one from this article. Another alternative to homemade crust is substituting French bread, English muffins, biscuit dough, etc.
Baking
If you make homemade crust, follow the recipe’s directions for baking. If you are substituting another type of bread, then load the pizza up with toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!