Prepare Homemade Pizza Using Your Bread Machine

Tired of paying an arm and a leg for pizza? Got a bread machine gathering dust somewhere? This article will teach you to prepare a basic pizza and salad for a family meal and is very budget friendly. Skeptical? Try making your own pizza, keeping the wonderful tastes you love, is healthier for you and saves you money. Win. Win. Win. Plus, homemade is better for you and your family!

Things you’ll need for Pizza Crust

A bread machine or use frozen bread loaves, or refrigerated pizza crust

1 cup + 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 ½ teaspoons regular active yeast or quick-acting dry yeast

Things you’ll need for Pizza Sauce and Toppings

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped bell pepper

sliced or chopped mushrooms

2 or 3 Italian sausage links (1/2 package)

8-10 small slices of Canadian bacon (1/2 package), or pepperoni

1 can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, I use Hunt’s tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce, 15 oz.

Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste

1 large bag of shredded pizza cheese or mozzarella

1 bag salad and your choice of salad “fixins”

Step 1

Get out your bread machine and dust it off. Place all ingredients in bread machine pan in the order listed above. Use the White Dough cycle of your machine and follow manufacturer’s directions. Makes 2 regular pizza crusts or 1 cookie sheet pizza crust. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Step 2

Start your sauce. Chop onions and bell pepper and sauté with butter in skillet on medium heat until done (onions will be clear, but butter is no burned). Remove to a separate bowl. Now sauté your sausage in the same skillet until brown, breaking into small bites. Drain any grease in the pan. I use a paper towel and dab it. Place in a separate bowl to be sprinkled on pizza with Canadian bacon or pepperoni.

Step 3

Put back your peppers and onions back to the pan. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. Lower heat to low and add Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Careful, not too much seasoning as you can always add more, but you can never get it back out. Simmer until sauce thickens, breaking down any big tomato chunks into little pieces. Cool. This sauce can be done earlier in the day and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Step 4

When ready to cook, roll out your pizza dough. Put on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put sauce on your dough. Add meats, mushrooms (and other veggies you like), and cover with cheese. Put in oven until cheese is bubbly and starts to brown, usually 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your pan and the thickness of your dough.

Step 5

While everything finishes up, make your salads and set your table. Supper is done! See my article on How to Prepare Homemade Spaghetti Sauce – American Style to learn a new recipe and use this same sauce and the other half of your meats not used in this recipe.