How To’sday: How to Make Crispy, Homemade Pizza Without a Pizza Stone
I can’t really express in words how much I love pizza. The enormous quantities of free pizza I ate at college events (and, let’s be honest, continue to eat at college events) has never quelled my craving for crispy pizza crust topped with any manner of sauces, cheeses, meats, pineapple, spinach… gaaaah. I really love pizza.
And I really love that I can make it at home. No, I don’t have a 900°F pizza oven. And yes, I do have a pizza stone. But! I didn’t until only a couple years ago, and though I really love my pizza stone, I’m here to tell you that you can cook beautiful, crispy-bottomed, bubbly-topped pizza at home TONIGHT with no pizza stone.
Here’s how:
1. Take two large cookie sheets and nest them together. Place them on a center rack of a cold oven upside-down. Heat the oven to 475°F. Preheating the pans in this way will allow the pizza to cook from the ambient heat in the oven but will allow the crust to become crispy from contact with the hot pan, similar to using a pizza stone.
2. Prepare your pizza dough (I have a wonderfully easy recipe here). While it rises, cut a sheet of parchment paper the size of the cookie sheet and place it on a cutting board. Sprinkle with corn meal.
3. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and transfer it to the cornmeal-sprinkled parchment paper.
4. Add toppings to your pizza as desired. Leave about half an inch of space around the edges of the crust.
5. Open the oven and slide the rack with the trays out slightly. Gently slide the parchment and pizza off of the cutting board onto the cookie sheet bottom. Don’t worry, you can bake parchment paper!
6. Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes until the edges of the crust are browning and the cheese is bubbling and developing golden-brown spots. Remove the pizza from the oven and carefully slide the pizza onto a cutting board. Slice into pieces and eat!
See that? That is a crisp, beautiful pizza crust. The pre-heated cookie sheets help to form this crispy treat, while the ambient heat in the oven cooks the rest of the pizza.
Now if you have the space, I do recommend buying a pizza stone. I really love mine, and it’s great to make a round pizza every once in a while. There are a whole bunch of other tips to help you work with a pizza stone, but that will make for another How To’sday!
In the meantime, even without the stone, you can still make a dang good homemade pizza.
What are your favorite pizza toppings? Do you have a favorite pizza crust recipe?
Suzy
February 19, 2013 @ 2:14 pm
Yum! Looks and sounds great! Now I want pizza for lunch!
jake
February 19, 2013 @ 4:50 pm
pizza…one version i made at least once a week last summer during kale season. Bush crust with olive oil (no tomato sauce), toss lots of shredded shredded kale with sliced garlic, salt and a bit more oil and pile on the crust, sprinkle with a bit of either half cooked bits of bacon or sliced spicy cured sausage (i use hot cacciatore sausage), a very light touch of good mozza and parmesan. This is best on a thin, crispy/chewing crust. so good.
cheers
Jessica
February 20, 2013 @ 1:55 pm
I like vegetables on my pizza. Spinach, onions, green peppers. Not mushrooms, though.
And I am DYING to try the smitten kitchen recipe for shaved asparagus pizza.
Arden
March 14, 2013 @ 1:16 am
I thought your first picture of pizza looked like Texas:)
Hope all is well and spring is in the air.
ox
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Schira
July 8, 2013 @ 11:46 am
Can i use just 1 baking sheet instead of nesting them up as shown?
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
July 16, 2013 @ 10:53 pm
Yep! I like the heft of two, but you can definitely just use one.
Ed
February 9, 2014 @ 6:18 pm
It worked! Nice crispy crust. I typically make my pizzas on a cold pan since I don’t have a way to transfer them. I don’t have a pizza peel. The parchment paper was a big help. solved the problem of not being able to transfer the pizza to a preheated pan/stone.
Tracie
August 7, 2014 @ 11:11 am
I received a pizza stone as a gift some umpteen years ago but never quite figured out how to use it, so I gave it away and never really tried to make homemade pizza again, which is odd because we eat garden to table in our own home as long as our garden is producing.
My son was craving pizza. We recently returned from vacation where we ate some of the best NY style pizza, and I felt a little depressed about eating marginal pizza from one of our local joints. On a whim, I purchased a couple pizza dough balls from our local food coop but didn’t know how to prepare them. I searched “how to make pizza on a cookie sheet,” and came across your pizza crust baking instructions. And thank god I did! I was about to make a MESS of things.
I prepared two pizzas and cooked them following your instructions implicitly. The pizzas were perfect! I look forward to trying your pizza dough recipe next and will possible invest in a new pizza tray. Good job.
Rick
December 5, 2014 @ 8:31 pm
Just used this recipe, absolutely fantasctic! Mom is out of town on business and made pizza with my 13-yr old son…he said, “wow, this is perfect!” Many thanks for posting this recipe!
Pia
July 30, 2015 @ 9:13 am
Hi There
We can’t easily get parchment paper here in South Africa what could I use instead? Also will it work with one baking sheet?
Ashley
October 17, 2015 @ 7:49 pm
Hi,
Why does the cookie pan need to be upside down?
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
October 18, 2015 @ 2:22 pm
It’s much easier to slide the crust on and off of the cookie sheet this way.
Katie
February 10, 2016 @ 4:14 pm
Can wax paper be used instead of parchment paper? Thanks!
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
February 29, 2016 @ 10:02 pm
I wouldn’t recommend it. The wax may melt in an oven that hot.
Britni
April 14, 2017 @ 5:29 pm
Hey!! Love your recipe, I bookmarked it!! Can a baking sheet with lines/bumps on the outer part of it be used too? Or will it just ruin and leave marks in the pizza?
Kristi @ 30 Pounds of Apples
April 19, 2017 @ 11:21 pm
I think that should work just fine!
alnc
May 9, 2018 @ 4:00 pm
I roll out the dough on parchment paper and just slide it onto an oven rack (that I’ve taken out before pre-heating the oven). Slide the rack into a 500 degree oven and bake 8-9 minutes. I like thin crust with a little chew and a bit of crunch so this does a great job. Why buy a stone when parchment paper works so well?
Regan
July 15, 2018 @ 9:57 pm
These are excellent, helpful questions that your readers have asked, and I appreciate your answers. I am about to try your method. Wish me luck!
Mrs. J. Clemons
August 14, 2018 @ 6:21 pm
I have pizza dough that is sealed flat and rectangular with no instructions on how to continue baking. I think it is so raw that it is even moist on the outside of the sealed wrap. What’s the best way to handle this? I am inclined to want to add flour to it so it won’t be too slippery. Not sure if it needs to be kneaded or not and if so how long should it be kneaded? I have not done that before. I don’t have a pizza stone but only have one round solid pizza pan large and the dough is rectangular. Not sure what to do with it. As in is it safe to bake and eat knowing it’s about a weak old already. Please help, I don’t want to throw it away raw, and not sure about baking and temp. duration. Have only baked prepared pizza before and rarely home made. Which this is commercial package probably whole sale no instructions on it. 😞
Mrs. J. Clemons
August 14, 2018 @ 6:22 pm
That should be week old, not weak! Sorry.
Bonnie
August 24, 2018 @ 1:34 pm
I had a small pizza uncooked from a local store and it had no directions – I found this and gave it a try. It was round so used the back of a smaller pizza pan and it worked great, though done, the middle wasn’t as crisp as the sides, maybe turning down the temp a little and cooking a little longer?
Great idea anyway!
DANIEL
October 1, 2018 @ 4:53 pm
If you read the instructions on the parchment paper it says do not use over 425. or it will burn