This Margherita pizza recipe, made with uber-fresh ingredients, delivers sublime flavor in every bite.
Margherita pizza (AKA Margaritta Pizza), with fresh mozzarella cheese, grape tomatoes, basil, and parmesan cheese, is sprinkled across a sauced pizza crust and baked until golden.
Pizzeria-Perfect Margherita Pizza
- Named after the Queen of Italy, Margherita pizza features the colors of the Italian flag – red, green and white. It has been an Italian style favorite and tourist must-have for generations.
- Making homemade pizza is such a fun family activity, especially if you have fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden.
- Create a DIY pizza bar with all the toppings and shape the dough into personal pan pizzas, which are great for sleepovers or movie nights.
- A Margaritta pizza makes a wonderful vegetarian meal. With rich flavors of the cheese and toppings, no one will miss the meat.
Staples for Spectacular Slices
The best authentic Margherita pizzas have few but fresh and flavorful ingredients.
Pizza Dough: Make it or buy it fresh and ready to roll from the supermarket.
Sauce: Choose a very basic pizza sauce or marinara that allows the flavors of the cheese, tomatoes, and basil to shine. You can make your own pizza sauce with tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and garlic for this delicious pizza base.
Cheese: Look for fresh mozzarella and slice it into any thickness you like. Fresh mozzarella is very wet and adds a delicious creaminess to the pizza. Freshly grated parmesan provides a tangy, salty complement to the rich flavor of the cheese.
Toppings: Pizza sauce, tomatoes, and fresh basil are essentials for this Margherita pizza.
Playful Pizza Pivots
Any kind of tomatoes work on a Margherita pizza. Grape or cherry tomatoes add visual interest, but thinly sliced Roma tomatoes work well. They are more meaty than regular tomatoes and won’t make the pizza soggy.
Basil is easy to find in small packages or as rooted plants (for windowsills) in the produce department. If fresh basil isn’t available, use dried basil or small dollops of jarred basil pesto.
Halved Kalamata or Manzanilla olives will add flavor and color to the pizza. Fresh baby spinach and a drizzle of olive oil or balsamic vinegar will level things up even more. If meat is a must, use thin slices of capicola, prosciutto, or bacon bits so the flavor retains its character.
How To Make Margherita Pizza
- Roll pizza dough on a floured surface and brush both sides with oil.
- Bake one side of the crust and remove from the oven.
- Add sauce, garlic, oregano, and cheese evenly on the pizza. (Full recipe below.)
- Bake until the cheese is melted. Remove pizza and let rest 5 minutes.
- Top with tomatoes, basil, and parmesan (if using) before serving.
Pointers for Perfect Pizza
- If using a pizza stone, preheat it with the oven so the surface is hot and cooks the pizza as soon as it hits the oven.
- Don’t try to get a perfectly round pizza shape. Most authentic pizzas are ‘round-ish’ and over working the dough will make it tough.
Pizza Preservation
Leftover pizza? (Is that even a thing?) Keep leftover Margherita pizza covered in plastic or an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Enjoy a slice cold straight from the fridge or reheat wrapped or tented in foil and popped in the toaster oven. Avoid the microwave as it will toughen the dough.
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Margherita Pizza Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ recipe pizza dough or storebought pizza dough
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 5 slices fresh mozzarella cheese ⅛" thick
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅓ grape tomatoes halved (or cherry tomatoes)
- 12 fresh basil leaves
- parmesan cheese garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 450°F.
- Sprinkle flour on the work area and roll pizza dough until about ¼” thick (I usually try for a circle, but any shape will work). Brush both sides with olive oil.
- Place pizza crust on the hot pizza stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until browned on the bottom.
- Remove crust from oven, flip over so that the brown bottom is on top, and place on work surface.
- Spread with pizza sauce, leaving a ½” edge. Sprinkle with garlic powder, arrange cheese on top, and sprinkle with oregano.
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing. Top with tomatoes and basil leaves. Garnish with parmesan cheese if desired and serve.
Notes
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic for up to 4 days.
- Tent or wrap in foil to reheat in a regular or toaster oven.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information does not include optional ingredients or garnish and is an estimate. It may change based on actual ingredients and cooking methods used.
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