Name: Homemade Margherita Pizza
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 1 h 7 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 ball Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough); Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel; 1 small garlic clove (1/2 medium); 15 ounces crushed fire roasted tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; Scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 to 1/3 cup pizza sauce; 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or 2 to 3 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese; Parmesan cheese, for topping; Fresh basil leaves, for garnish

This margherita pizza recipe tastes like an artisan pie from Italy! It’s the perfect meld of zingy tomato sauce, gooey cheese and chewy crust.

The ultimate pizza pie, in our opinion? The pure and simple pizza Margherita. This iconic Italian pie is truly something special: stretchy mozzarella cheese, garlicky pizza sauce, and peppery basil all piled on a chewy, charred crust. We’re so enamored with it that we’ve spent years researching authentic Italian pizza methods, interviewing experts, and even traveling to Naples Italy to taste it for ourselves! Here are the secrets to making the very best margherita pizza.

What is margherita pizza?

Invented in the 1800s, pizza margherita showcases the colors of the Italian flag: red from the tomato sauce, white from the mozzarella, and green from the basil. The story goes that the margherita is named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, an Italian queen in the 1800’s.

How to pronounce margherita pizza? With an proper Italian accent, it sounds like pit-za mar-geh-REE-ta. It sounds like the classic Mexican cocktail, the margarita, which incidentally is a common misspelling of this word!

Tools for homemade margherita pizza

It’s easy to make margherita pizza with a few tools and tips! To get that authentic Italian crispy-on-the-outside crust, you need to bake it at a very high temperature. The key? A blazing hot pizza stone. Here are the tools you’ll need to make truly great pie:

Pizza stone: This is what makes the crust crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Here’s the pizza stone we recommend, and a bit more on how to care for it.
Pizza peel: A peel is a paddle used to slide a pie onto the hot stone in the oven. We recommend this standard pizza peel or this conveyor pizza peel. The conveyor makes it incredibly easy to slide onto the stone (it’s worth the investment!).
Pizza oven (optional): If you really want to step up your game, true artisan pizza is cooked at temperatures much hotter than your standard oven can achieve. Here’s the Ooni pizza oven we use: it’s relatively inexpensive and heats quickly to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pizza margherita — Using a pizza stone is key.

How to make pizza dough

Great margherita pizza needs a great dough. Here at A Couple Cooks, we’ve been working on our recipe for over 10 years. Our dough recipe incorporates tips from some of the premiere pizza chefs in America, who themselves have studied the pizza in Naples. Here’s what to know:

For next level dough, use Tipo 00 flour. The best flour is Tipo 00: it’s what Neapolitan pizza restaurants use. It makes for a beautiful, supple and fluffy dough. We buy our Tipo 00 flour online. All-purpose flour also works if you prefer, but Tipo 00 really makes a difference.
Use a great pizza dough recipe! This Pizza Dough Master Recipe is the best method for fluffy, artisan-style pizza dough. You can make it using a stand mixer or knead it by hand. Or you can try Easy Thin Crust Pizza, which similar but rolled out using a rolling pin.

Margherita pizza ingredients

In Italy, the traditional margherita pizza ingredients for toppings are mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and basil. The sauce is generally made from crushed tomatoes, seasoned with garlic, salt and herbs. Often the cheese used is mozzarella di bufala, a fresh cheese made from the milk of water buffalos that has a creamy texture and delicate flavor. Because the toppings are so simple, they must be top quality. The margherita pizza ingredients you need are:

Tomatoes: This easy pizza sauce is quick and made with canned fire roasted tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt and herbs. Fire roasted tomatoes have a sweet smoky flavor and are easily available at most US grocery stores. Another great option is canned San Marzano tomatoes. If you can’t find either, use the best quality canned tomatoes you can find.
Cheese: Use fresh mozzarella cheese, the kind sold in balls, then cut it into small pieces for overall coverage. A light topping of grated Parmesan cheese adds complexity.
Basil: Using fresh basil is key to the flavor of a great margherita pizza. Make sure to add to the pizza after baking so that is stays beautifully green. Fresh basil that is baked in the oven turns black in minutes.

It takes a little bit of practice, but you’ll be making homemade margherita pizza in no time! You can put your know-how to use in our other favorite pizza recipes, too. Let us know what you think of this Italian icon: it really is the best pizza you can make at home!

More homemade pizza recipes

Love a great homemade pizza? Here are a few more of our favorite homemade pizza recipes:

Go classic with The Best Homemade Pizza or Neapolitan Style Pizza
Try Pesto Pizza or Homemade Cheese Pizza
Try these 20 Popular Pizza Toppings
Opt for Breakfast Pizza or Best Ever Taco Pizza

This margherita pizza recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use our Gluten-Free Pizza Dough.