Simple Crispy Pan Pizza
If you want a homemade pizza that requires no kneading, no special flour, or long wait time (because who among us has ever said “what I really crave is pizza that will be ready 1 to 3 days from now”), you should really, really be making more pan pizzas at home. You might even consider it a worthwhile addition to your 2026 cooking bucket list.
They’re actually impossible to mess up, falling into none of the other traps that besiege most homemade pizza efforts. Not only do you not need to knead the dough, you can pile it with all of the toppings your heart desires and it will never sog or flop in the center. You don’t have to watch the oven like a hawk or end up with something that tastes more like a cracker than a pizza — it actually bakes at a high heat for a full 30 minutes, yet will forgive you if you pull it out a little late. You don’t need a fancy pizza oven; the extremely basic one in my apartment handles this like a pro.
But the texture of the pizza tastes like something you worked much harder for — a thick, airy dough, pillowy and rippled with blistered cheese and toppings that go all the way to the toasted cheese edges (one of my favorite parts), and browned to a seasoned crouton-like crisp underneath, the kind that makes an audible crunch when you cut through it.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup lukewarm water (100° to 115°F)
- Olive oil
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce, prepared or homemade
- 6 ounces coarsely grated or torn mozzarella cheese (1 1/3 cup grated)
- 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
- Seasonings such as salt, pepper flakes, and dried oregano
- Handful fresh basil