For when you are really lazy, you can do the stonefire naan bread that is in all of the grocery stores and everyone can make their own (just heat in the oven for a few minutes before adding toppings) and i actually really like the pillsbury crust - just roll out on a baking sheet and done.

This recipe is amazing. We make 2 at a time.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/crispy-cheesy-pan-pizza-recipe

Trader Joe's is super cheap and really good. We've never had a bad experience yet. And we've been using it for years

Make your own dough in 5 minutes the night before:

Enough for two cookie sheet-sized pizzas.
5-6 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 yeast packet (or 2 1/4 tsp yeast)
Stir all your dry ingredients together.
Gradually add enough water (2-3 cups) to form a fairly wet dough.
Cover mixing bowl with plastic and place in the fridge. No kneading necessary.
Let rise until 2-3 hours before you bake. Then bring out bowl and let it come to room temp.
Turn oven as hot as it will go.
Shape dough, top and bake until golden brown.

Whole Foods has a good one. I strongly dislike Trader Joe’s dough.

Serious question - whenever we buy pizza dough like from WF to make our own pizzas, I can’t get the dough to lie flat - I try to stretch it to fit the pan but it always shrinks back from the edges and is too thick in some spots and too thin in others. Any tips?

I've tried pizza dough from a lot of places, and Wegman's is the best, hands down. We usually make our own (after much experimenting), but always have some from Wegman's on hand, too.

I buy cheese when it goes on sale for half price. It keeps in the fridge unopened for a couple of months. Ditto with sausage - I buy a couple of Sage flavor sausage rolls and freeze them for breakfast or pizza. You can buy small quantities of pepperoni at the deli counter, and it keeps in the fridge for at least a couple of months. I always have red and green peppers, ditto with mushrooms. I make a double batch of pizza sauce and freeze a portion. Very simple recipe, but it's good - saute finely chopped garlic in olive oil, add a 14-oz can of tomatoes (give them a quick whirl in the blender first), cook until the right consistency. In the end, you can economize by waiting for the sales and then buying in bulk to bring down the cost of scratch made pizza.

I use Smitten Kitchen’s 24 hour pizza dough. Mix it up the night before and it is ready for dinner.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/10/lazy-pizza-dough-favorite-margarita-pizza/

We also bought a pizza stone and cook on out gas grill because it can hit the high temperatures without setting off our smoke alarms.

I have been making my own pizzas for years and honestly it's far from a guarantee that you'll be saving money making your own.

If your family normally eats fancy pizzas like Andy's/Pete's/Timber it's possible, but if you're eating Dominos/Paisanos/Duccini's you're gong to be spending a lot of time and effort for very little savings, if any.

Even at home you still need decent tomatoes, and high quality cheese or else your homemade pizza it going to taste like a cheap frozen pizza. If you're buying the dough premade you'll be looking at $3-$4 for each dough ball, then ~$8 for a pound of low-moisture whole milk mozzarella. Add in $5 for a can of San Marzanos, $3 for basil, $1 for garlic, $8 for a pepperoni stick, you're looking at $33 for the ingredients for 2 large pizzas that you still have to make yourself and clean up after.

If you're used to paying $26 a pie at Andy's you're saving money, but your pizza also isn't going to be nearly as good. If you usually get a 2-for-$28 deal at Papa Johns you're paying more and doing more work.

Making pizza at home can certainly be a fun activity if your kids like to help, but I would be wary of using it as a way to save money. Pizza places simply have economies of scale that we don't.

Anonymous wrote:The Trader Joes crust is cheap, easy to work with, and tastes good. It also freezes well, so I buy a bunch at a time and just pull one or two in the morning to toss into the fridge for dinner. The only caveat is that you want to let it come to room temperature before you start working with it.

In all my years of shopping TJs, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never seen this!

Whole Foods has prepared dough that is decent. honestly, started making my own at the start of the pandemic and it's pretty straightforward. 1 cup water heated to 115f, 1 pack active yeast, tbsp of sugar. Let sit until it foams (5-10 minutes). In kitchenaid stand mixer, with dough hook, add 2.5 cups of flour, 2 tbsp olive oil, some salt. stir around. Add the water/yeast. Mix with dough hook until a ball. Might need to add up to another 1/2 cup of flour to get it the right consistency. Cover bowl with foil and proof for about an hour. Punch down, spread out on a perforated pizza pan (I cheat and use a smear of olive oil on the pan to make it easier to spread out). Pretty quick and straightforward.

have then make their own dough, it is really fun as well they will like it.

The Trader Joes crust is cheap, easy to work with, and tastes good. It also freezes well, so I buy a bunch at a time and just pull one or two in the morning to toss into the fridge for dinner. The only caveat is that you want to let it come to room temperature before you start working with it.

We’ve been doing pizza Friday but it’s getting expensive. Kids are interested in making their own pizzas at home, but want them to taste decent. Any suggestions?