Is homemade pizza cheaper than takeout pizza?
Updated June 2021
Can a homemade pizza beat the $5.55 pepperoni pizza from Little Caesar's or a $7 frozen pizza?
I'm going to bust out of my usual don't-sweat-the-details-or-be-very-precise mode of operation and calculate this down to the last penny.
Ready?
Crust Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that I use to make the crust of my pizza.
Flour
I generally buy my flour when it's on sale, so a 5-pound bag costs around $4. That means each cup costs $0.20, and the four cups necessary for the pizza dough add up to $0.80.
If you use a cheaper brand of flour, this could easily be as little as $0.40. But I really like my King Arthur bread flour for pizza dough, so I splurge.
Salt
The teaspoon and a half called for in the recipe costs a little less than $0.008. In other words, it's negligible. We can just round it up to a penny to make things easy!
Water
I use plain old tap water, which is so cheap, it's practically free. I'll throw in a penny, but I kinda doubt it costs even that much.
Yeast
Because I buy mine in bulk, each "packet" (2 ¼ teaspoons) costs $0.03.
If you don't buy yours in bulk, though, your pizza dough is going to be WAY more expensive. Individual packets of yeast are craaazy expensive.
Olive Oil
I think this bottle costs around $3.50 (I can't find my receipt!) which means that 2 tablespoons cost $0.21.
So, the cost for two pizza crusts is $1.06.
And that's even with olive oil (not canola or corn) and expensive King Arthur flour.
Huh.
Henceforth, I will not even blink at the price of my King Arthur pizza flour, because $0.53 for a pizza crust is a screaming bargain.
Toppings
I'm just going to calculate this for cheese pizza because then you can simply add on the cost of the toppings to compare.
Tomato Sauce
A jar of tomato sauce costs me $1.19, so the cup I need for the pizzas costs $0.40.
Mozzarella
An 8 ounce block of mozzarella is $1.79. I generally use the whole thing for two pizzas, so that's coming in at $1.79.
So, the toppings for two cheese pizzas total $2.19.
Total Ingredient Cost
The total cost of ingredients for two cheese pizzas is $3.25, or $1.62 per pizza.
That's pretty impressive. I thought it would add up to a lot more.
Electricity Cost
This is a little difficult to calculate, but when I figured the cost of a loaf of homemade bread, I found out that an hour of 350° baking at $0.12/kwh costs $0.24.
For this recipe, though, I have to heat the oven to 500° and it has to stay there for a good hour.
I imagine this would cost maybe double what an hour of 350° baking costs, so I'm going to go with $0.50.
Total Homemade Pizza Cost
<drumroll, please!>
$3.25 for ingredients
plus
$0.50 for electricity
equals
$3.75 for two pizzas, or $1.87 per pizza.
So, that means I could add $3.68 worth of toppings to each of my pizzas before they'd reach the Little Caesar's $5.55 level.
I know for sure that I don't add $3.68 worth of pepperoni (a whole package only costs about $3.) or vegetables (mushrooms and peppers are really cheap!)
So it's safe to say that my homemade pizzas are indeed cheaper than Little Caesar's.
And they even beat the super cheap frozen pizzas (you know...the sort that have almost no cheese on them!)
Plus, homemade pizzas produce less trash overall than frozen pizzas do.
Conclusions
Homemade pizza, even with the cost of electricity factored in, is ridiculously affordable.
However, it does take some time to make.
Most of it is hands-off time, though (oven heating, dough rising), so as long as you're at home already, it won't feel like it takes that long.
If, however, you're working outside the home and don't have long to prepare dinner, the rising time and oven heating time could feel really inconvenient.
So, frozen or takeout pizzas could look very appealing.
Also, if you're choosing not between homemade and frozen pizza but between frozen/takeout pizza and eating out, then of course the frozen/takeout option is generally the more budget-friendly option.
I did this cost breakdown myself (sort of) a while ago and was very pleased at the results. I make 4 pizzas every Friday night. That's plenty for all of us and company, too.
BTW, I was sick last Friday and my hubby brought us some Little Caesar's. My kids said my pizza was better....:) I'm sure yours is, too.
Not only is your homemade one cheaper, it's likely much healthier (and tastier) without mystery ingredients.
I make pizza when I need bread, I make 2 loaves of bread and one large pizza, using the same dough. Which makes it super fast and easy. I used to hate making homemade pizza, now we have it all the time, and I love it!
My solution to homemade pizza when you're not at home all day is this: make and bake the crust ahead of time, then freeze them. When I want pizza all I need to is make sauce and top the crust.
One solution for busy people is to make a lot of crust ahead of time to go in the freezer. I use a recipe that doesn't require oil and you don't have to let it rise, so it really takes no more than an hour of hands on work to make eight medium size thin crusts that can be easily frozen.
Could you possibly post or send me the recipe? I've (shock horror) never actually made my own crust and as I work and find it hard to find the time after the kiddos come home hungry from school but being able to make it on a weekend and freeze and be ready to go - sign me up!!! I'm trying to minimize bought and take out and this would be perfect. Thank you in advance 🙂
I would love the non rising dough recipe also. My email is bboop7 (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thanks.
I work full time and make dough (Kristen's recipe) and freeze one pizza's worth in a plastic bag. All I need to do in the morning is pull the bag of frozen dough out and leave it on the counter. When I come home, it has thawed and risen and is ready to roll out and bake.
One note - leave enough space in the plastic bag to allow the dough to rise.
We love homemade pizza. We have pizza night every Saturday night. To save time, I make several batches of dough in the bread machine and keep it in the freezer. Then I just lay it out before my son's soccer games in the morning, and it's ready when it's time to make dinner. My family really loves it!
I am so thrilled to read this! Thank you for taking the time to break it down. We make pizza at home with refrigerated Pillsbury dough, and really love it. We add whatever toppings we happen to have on hand (leftover bits of turkey bacon, mushrooms, etc.). I have never attempted homemade dough, though, but for that price, I think I shall!!!!
I am retired...so the convenience factor isn't usually a problem for me...but do remember needing a break at times. Totally get that part. However, when it come to cost of homemade versus cost of "boughten" pizza....I would make mine even if it did cost more...providing I have the time. The quality and taste are just soooo much better. And then I know exactly what is in it....I can control the additives, etc. But, it is nice to know I am having something that tastes so much better and is still cheaper. But...that is usually typical for homemade versus purchased.
I love making my homemade pizza and, when you use natural/organic ingredients, the cost goes up slightly but not too much! I try to shop at Trader Joe's for cheese and organic sauce and I use King Arthur flour as well. I buy mozzarella cheese for close to $5 for 16 oz. and a jar of organic sauce is around $3. I have found that I like to use crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce (in the can) on pizzas just as much as marinara and that will lower your cost considerably, even with organic canned tomato products. It is a great way to use up the leftover in the cans!
Or use up leftover spaghetti sauce! I put up some in the freezer last night that'll be the perfect amount for pizzas and the kids don't feel like 'eww, leftovers again' lol
This made me smile. Yesterday I tried your recommendations for the KA bread flour and baking on a pre-heated stone. WIN!
We just moved and I'm adjusting to using a gas range/oven. I'm loving the more precise control for baking pizzas.
Thanks for this break-down - now I am even more motivated to keep making/baking our own.
Blessings!
We have now had this pizza two weekends it a row and it has been a hit. It is amazing the difference with the bread flour. We like to make BBQ pizza using barbeque sauce instead of tomato sauce. We usually add spinach, onions and some meatless meatballs for topping and often I use at least half cheddar cheese mixed with the mozzarella.
I LOVE that you even included the cost for electricity! That's awesome! I'd like to see this cost breakdown with ice cream. *hint hint*
I did it myself (though not published or anything) and homemade ice cream is comparable to Hagan Daas or Ben & Jerry's but without the Corporate Hippie junk. Plus even the premium brands have pretty unnatural ingredients.
Cooks Illustrated has a fantastic coffee frozen yogurt recipe that I used homemade yogurt (from Kristen's recipe, of course) and it was really good. That is probably cheaper than buying heavy cream.
The trouble with homemade ice cream is that heavy cream is pretty darn expensive. So, unless you've got a really cheap source of cream, homemade tends to be more expensive, although the upside is that it doesn't have any gums or other odd ingredients.
I did a rough comparison of homemade vs. storebought. At my usual store it was about even. My usual is pretty cheap so I'm guessing homemade is a bit less for most people.
However, this is *heavily* ingredient-dependent. Vanilla ice cream is cheap to make. Chocolate-raspberry-walnut is not.
I don't understand why one is supposed to use heavy cream + milk when, if you calculate the milkfat levels out, you end up with the much less expensive half-and-half. I've been using half-and-half for a few months now, no complaints yet.
I'm having a major "duh" moment for myself! I've always felt that the biggest cost in making pizza is the shredded cheese on top. It definitely makes more sense to buy it in block form and shred it yourself!
Also, in a pinch the Betty Crocker pizza crust packets (in the tomato/pizza sauce aisle) are pretty tasty, and they only cost around $1 each. They also don't require much rising time, so they are great for busy nights.
To cut costs the pizza makers use less expensive, more fatty cheeses. So making it at home, you can buy better quality product and "still save."
It's much healthier in block form too! There's nothing added to keep it from clumping.
And you can shred the block cheese and freeze it!
You can reduce the cost much more (and have even better pizza) by making your own tomato sauce rather than using jars.
I fry up some finely chopped onions in olive oil, add garlic and chilli flakes, add tinned chopped tomatoes (£0.30 each in the UK), herbs (thyme, oregano, whatever) and a pinch of salt, and boil it all up for 30 mins or more until you get the thickness you want. If you want it super-smooth you can blitz it with a stick blender. Then you can batch it into freezer bags (or jars). I make loads and freeze it in portions, then just defrost them in a jug of warm water when I want to make pizza.
I make a pizza sauce that requires no cooking at all and only requires a can of tomato paste and a few spices. It is so good and easy. And very frugal. It's on my website if anyone would like it.
I love making homemade pizza! For busy working people, you can double the dough when you have time and freeze it. Then stick it in the fridge before work when you want pizza for dinner and it will thaw and rise in the fridge. Take it out about a half hour before you want to bake it so it can come to room temp.
My crust making technique is still lacking, and sometimes I just don't have time to do it. Jiffy makes a fairly good crust mix, and it only takes about 20 minutes. Still way cheaper than a store bought pizza, plus they taste better and we personalize our own pizzas (only way I can get mushrooms)!
We LOVE LOVE LOVE our homemade pesto spinach pizzas! I made it without cheese once, and it was so good, that the family requested it cheese-less from there on out ... which made it even more frugal. Yum!!
No-cheese is not only frugal, but lower in fat as well. Recipe please! 🙂
I agree with most of the other commenters that I would still make my own pizza even if it was a little more expensive because it's so much healthier and doesn't have any extra chemicals and preservatives.
I use buckwheat or chickpea flour to make my pizzas, which is more expensive, and I add a lot more veggies to my topping (but less cheese). Even so, I doubt the cost of my pizzas is more than $3, which makes it a cheap tasty dinner.
We had "pepperoni" pizza last night, using scratch crust, from tomato paste homemade sauce, large bag mozza and cheddar cheese and an Italian hot link (bought on moarkdown), sliced thin for pepperoni. I just made 1 large, and figured the cost at around $3, including electricity.
Here in Washington, Little Caesars would also add almost 10% tax to that $5.55 price, whereas my homemade pizza is not taxed.
I know moarkdown was obviously a typo but I'm reading it in a Coach Z voice. 🙂
If you're really bad at making dough, our local grocery store often has a bag of pizza dough from their stand mixer for around $1 when it's on sale. My wife gets them from time to time but I do homemade dough at times too. Even with the bakery made dough,
If I could find a way to buy and store a 25lb bag of Sir Lancelot flour (KAF's high gluten brand) I would. Bagels and pizza are so much better with it!
If you make pizza in the winter you have the added benefit of heating up your kitchen. This isn't so much a benefit in summer. 😛
That's why I grill pizza in the summer! Pizza bagels are also a good hot weather option since they don't need a long baking time and the oven temp doesn't have to be very high either.
Grilled pizza is on my to-do list for this summer. I foresee using a lot of propane this year. 😉
You can freeze flour!
Better yet, make frozen pizzas! I have a bread recipe which substitutes flaxseed, oat bran, wheat germ, whole wheat/soy flour, and vital wheat gluten for the bread flour (I'm in the process of losing 140 lbs.. 43 down, 97 to go!) so while it is nowhere near as cost effective, it helps me meet my nutritional goals and from one batch I can make two loaves, a set of hamburger buns, and two pizza crusts.
When baking the crusts, place a pizza stone (I use my stovetop griddle) in the oven and set it to 450º. Bake the crust for 8 minutes, allow it to cool and then add the toppings. Then wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and place a baking sheet on top, then a weight of some kind to flatten the pizza. After flattening for 15 minutes or so, remove the weight, place the pizza on the pan and move to the freezer. After 3 hours remove the pan.
To reheat your pizza, bake at 400 with the pizza stone for 15 minutes or so (depending on how well you like your pizza cooked).
Can't let that feat pass unremarked upon! Way to go on your weight loss!You're almost halfway there, and the first half is the most difficult. Good luck to you in reaching your goal.
Even if you do work outside the home you can make your dough with a bread machine. All you do is set it on the dough setting and mine even has a delay. Just make sure you put your wet ingredients on bottom then cover with your flour and last, place your yeast on top so it's not activated until the machine starts mixing. The bread machine mixes and then has a gentle heat that allows the rising time. Mine takes an hour and half for the dough setting.
We love our homemade pizza for all the reasons others have mentioned. But I'll add one more--my husband does all the work. He says it is like meditation for him after a long week. Our son helps him, so I get a much deserved break to go for a bike ride, read a book, etc. and then settle in to a delicious dinner with my men.
Yum !
Does your Homemade Pizza Crust have a CRUNCH to it ?
B'cuz I went to a Villa Italian Kitchen ( a little fast Food place ) & OMyGOSH ! They hay a Greek Stromboli that was Soooooo GOOD ! But what made it Good was the CRUNCH of the Dough 😉
It was Spinach & Tomatoes & Feta rolled into a crust then the Crust was cut ( holes ) like a Pastry 😉
I wanna make this but I HATE waste so I've been looking for a crust that's got a Nice crunch but yet still soft
The key to that crunch is a smokin hot oven and pizza stone, hence the 500 degrees in Kristen's recipe. Many good commercial pizza places have stone ovens that go over 1000 degrees and the pizzas cook for only a few minutes, that gives you the crunch. plus a high gluten flour, like bread flour helps, rather than regular bread dough.
What Rebecca said! 😉
I've generally suspected that homemade was cheaper, but honestly I'd still do it even if it wasn't because then I know exactly what's in it. I also pre-cook the pepperoni if it's a topping to get most of the grease out, so the finished pizza isn't greasy and gross like some takeout.
What I've been wondering is if I could make the pizza ahead of time - roll out dough, add toppings - and freeze it at that point so that it can be comparable to a regular frozen pizza. Should I cook it first, or freeze it raw?
You want to par-bake the crust. Give it 5-8 minutes in the oven, let it cool, then add all of your toppings, wrap it, and freeze it.
Thanks!
I am glad I read this bc I have been wondering the same thing about homemade vs store bought. I personally think homemade taste better, so it's a double plus!!!!
I've thought the same thing everytime we make homemade pizza which we do often because we love pizza in this household. One thing we get costs down on is picking tomatoes in the garden and making our own fresh sauce, practically free and tastes so much better!
$1.79 for 8 ounces of mozzarella is a great deal. Cheese isn't that cheap where I live (near Portland, OR), but even if I double your cheese price, which I think would be more than I pay, it's a better deal than takeout. Time to clean the oven so I can heat it to 500* without smoking us out and trying your traditional crust recipe! (I usually do French bread pizza.)
I buy my shredded cheese at Gordon's Food Service. Only $12 for a 5 lb bag, or about $1.20 for 8 oz.
Another option if your short on time is buying fresh pizza dough from the deli at your grocery store. I know mine sells it for $2, which still makes it cheaper than little Caesars, and it has no crazy ingredients. Just roll it out, add toppings, and you've got almost completely homemade pizza 🙂
....and so much healthier too! I make my own pizza sauce, so you have peaked my interest to figure out the cost of that as well!!
My son work(ed) 2 jobs, one day job and an evening job at Pizza Hut. He's decided to start back to school, so he gave up his Pizza Hut job. So now he will be home more and I'm going to get him to show me how roll the dough out JUST right. I never get the shape right and I always have thin, stretched out parts once it's rolled out. Other than that, I love homemade pizzas.
I don't make homemade crust, but I use olive oil & rosemary flatbread. I get a package of 6 for $2, the alfredo sauce I like is about $3 and will make me about 15 of the small pizzas I like, the pepperoni runs $3, and the cheese another $3, and both of those last me about 5 pizzas. That's $1.26/pizza, without the cooking, but that's about 12 minutes in the oven, and at your calculation is about $.05.
Granted I'm a single girl, but this is a perfect amount of pizza for me, because, well, my favorite delivery pizza's smallest size with the toppings I like is about $10, and I'll eat every bite, even though it overstuffs me and is probably 3 times what I should eat. My homemade version satisfies my craving without overeating.
The other "hidden" cost to takeout, in our family at least, is the food waste. If I make homemade pizza, it all gets eaten & there's no waste. With takeout or store-bought freezer pizza, my family doesn't like it as much so the leftovers don't get eaten.
Holy smokes! In our house, even bad pizza gets eaten! I admire the restraint of your family members.
I used to be able to buy the dough for $1/ball of dough at one of the local Italian restaurants. We took a pizza making class there and they taught you to toss your dough. The pizzas always turned out amazing! Unfortunately, they went out of business 🙁
I like to make up a double-batch once in a while, and prep cheese pizzas and stick the extra in the deep freezer. We can then add toppings right before cooking, but have the convenience of "frozen" pizza once in a while. We like to make pizza every other weekend, but sometimes due to timing it just doesn't work out to have time to make the dough.
Also, Dei Fratelli makes amazing pizza sauce. I used to make my own, but when hubby is making pizza he wants it "easy". So he bought Dei Fratelli one time since it was on sale cheaper than anything else, when normally it's more expensive. I LOVE it better than my sauce, I seriously need to try to recreate it. It's more expensive generally, but when it goes on sale we stock up now.
Thanks for doing all of the legwork of how much homemade pizza costs. We don't buy tomato sauce, we use our leftover homemade sauce from a spaghetti night, so it might be even less expensive for us. The only thing we add on our pizza is mushrooms.
Last week we picked up some pizzas, a large cheese and a medium mushroom. Total cost was $25.00. Ouch. That's a huge difference. We'll be making homemade this coming Friday night. :)!
I really enjoyed this post, Kristen. 🙂 I always ASSUMED that homemade pizza was cheaper, but then when you raised the question at the beginning, it made me wonder and doubt. The breakdown with photos all the way to the end kept the suspense up. Homemade pizza rose triumphant!! 🙂 Loved it.
I see even bigger savings, as I buy flour in 50 lb bags. And, our frozen pizza at our only store are $9, and around $12 at our only pizza place. We make a lot of pizza at home, plus each person can make it how they want it.
I just wanted to add that you can make your own pizza sauce for way less than what your spending for jarred spaghetti sauce.
I was a die hard Ragu fan, grew up on it, bought it most of my early married life and then found a recipe to make it cheaper and my family actually prefers it now.
I use the .44 cent can of generic tomato paste, a little oil say a tablespoon, a couple cloves of minced garlic and some spices like oregano, basil, salt, sugar, and water and voila easy cheap sauce!!
I love cooking our fave take out foods at home, saves us money, both in food costs and driving, and my family thinks it tastes better too!!
Good job with the cost break down!! Thanks for sharing!!!
We buy our cheese at Sam's club for about $12/5 lbs...I typically have a $2 off coupon with our membership since it's something we always buy. I also use the large can of tomato paste and season it with some Italian herb mix and garlic powder. We almost always make supreme pizzas and I would say still come out at less than $1o for 4 fairly large pizzas or 8-10 french bread style ones. We are a family of 6 and the kids always have friends over, so pizza is a big deal at our house.
My husband will occasionally insist on buying pizza to give me a break, and they are never happy about that...Hubs, kids and friends prefer the homemade stuff.
We love homemade pizza as well, especially since we can customize it and typically we use lots of garden veggies on it along with any other toppings we desire. For half of the pizza I usually have jalapenos completely covering the top! Yep, I like 'em spicy! Try finding a pizza like THAT at your local pizza joint! LOL
~Taylor-Made Ranch~
Wolfe City, Texas
I was *insanely* curious about this when you brought it up earlier this week -- thanks for the great post. I snickered to myself that your first picture caption should have been "Does homemade pizza save dough?" 🙂
I've been waiting for this post and am thrilled with the results!
Also, just my two cents, but this kind of post is what I love most about your blog.
I made the crust recipe from a couple weeks ago, and my family loved it! Even if cost the same or more, it would be way worth it because hommade pizza is sooo much better! My husband even wants me to open a pizza resturaunt hahaha. He thought it was that good 🙂
I love this post! We bought a pizza just last night with $3 off and we got free bread sticks. Under $10 for a large pizza and bread sticks seemed like a good deal, until I read this! lol
On another note, if you don't have much time to make your own, you can make your own frozen pizzas for the future:
http://purposelyfrugal.com/2011/04/27/homemade-frozen-pizza/#.UXh_R_HEv9Q
I've been making this thin crust pizza recipe for a while now: http://www.thekitchn.com/weekend-cooking-homemade-thinc-45499
It's great and requires no rising time, so it's ready to go in minutes. I can't wait to try it with the King Arthur bread flour you recommended.
Our locally-owned Italian restaurant also sells dough balls for just a couple of bucks if I'm really in a hurry or out of a crust ingredient.
Beautiful! My kids love that they can make their own pizzas at home which makes them taste better (per my five year old)
We always make our own homemade pizza and I also figured out that with electricity it's cheaper to make then buy. Same goes for my olive bread recipe as well, you can't buy it for what I can make it for at home. Plus, homemade always tastes better.
I'd love to know how much your pair of homemade pizzas weighed in at. I wrote a post last summer (linked to my name above) comparing store bought to Little Caesar's. Store bought pizza may be cheaper, but another may be bigger/heavier, thus filling you up more. I found that you'd have to find one heck of a pizza sale to beat the $5 hot and ready price at Little Caesar's, even including the tax 🙂
Yep we've been making home made pizza for a couple of years now. I think mine would be even cheaper as the recipe I use calls for normal plain flour, and we use less flour and yeast because we like it very thin. Also just use Aldi tomato paste bought in the big jar and buy cheese in bulk to grate and freeze. I once worked that 2 pizzas which do a meal and lunch are around $3 for us. This would make it one of the most frugal meals for us.
I did a pizza price comparisonin 2011. In fact I did a 'cooking from scratch cost experiment' for a week over at the blog and posted my conclusion over atex-consumer. My pizza was much more basic than yours, but still served the purpose - particularly with the kids. In the UK a medium tomato and cheese pizza delivered is about £10 my basic one came in at 76p per pizza. I've improved my recipe since, so it is more expensive, but I'd say maximum £1.50 which is a great saving on takeout!
I usually double my pizza recipe when I make, then slice up into pieces and flash freeze the leftovers. The crust does take time so why not make a little extra while you're doing it?When we need a quick meal, we just throw a couple of slices into the toaster oven!
homemade pizza is cheaper, better-tasting and way much healthier!!
Homemade pizza is the best. What I love about it is the fact that some fresh veggies can be added on top after the pizza is cooked. Which gives the pizza more flavor.
Thank you for this post. I had just been wondering how the cost of making my own pizza compared to store bought or buying the dough from the bakery. I just made your dough recipe and the dough turned out great (I love King Arthur flour too!). I've been experimenting with lots of different recipes, but this one was easy and the dough turned out so nice. I also make pizza sauce with just plain tomato sauce and tomato paste seasoned with a little onion powder, garlic and olive oil. I freeze the sauce in the very small Ball jars, which is a perfect portion for one pizza. I also buy big blocks of cheese, shred it and then freeze in 8 oz portions. Keep up the good work... I love your blog!
Don't forget, for a fair comparison, you have to add the cost of baking to the commercial pizza, too!
Homemade wins hands down.
During the summer, I just slice fresh, juicy tomatoes and lay them all over the pizza instead of pizza sauce. I also like ranch dressing in place of the tomato sauce, then pile it high with veggies. Yum!
Hi! Your post was really intriguing and got me thinking about homemade food I make...I am off to price up how much it costs me to make my own crispy crumb fish fillets...
Thank you for the inspiration. I am following you with interest!
Frugal Student Nurse Xxx
I know that this is an old entry but I just read it today. I knew that food in the US was much cheaper than in Canada but less than $1.80 for a block of cheese?? Crikey! I just bought an 8oz block of cheddar yesterday and it was $3.98 and that was at one of the budget friendly stores. If I had gone to Safeway like I normally do, it likely would have been at least a dollar more.
Even so, of course making my own pizza is still cheaper than delivery (I use whole wheat pitas rather than making dough). Pizza is ridiculously over-priced.
One thing Kristen left out was the economy of scale to hit these numbers. In other words, you can't cheaply buy just enough cheese, sauce, and toppings to make one pizza. You would have to be making pizzas very often, and/or have a strict regime for dealing with left-over ingredients. Otherwise, you could end up spending more money than take-out...
Well, I do end up using an entire block of mozzarella, so no waste there. Pepperoni and most other meaty pizza toppings freeze beautifully. And tomato sauce can also be easily frozen.
So, as long as you're not going, say, a year between pizza-makings, I think this should pose no problem.
All of these ingredients minus the dough can be used to make various pasta dishes which are also super cheap.
There are only two of us so I will either freeze the extra dough, or make a 1/2 recipe.
I will also freeze leftover sauce into single serve containers (I make my pizza with pesto instead of tomato sauce, but partner prefers tomato) and I will also freeze the cheese. So no wasted ingredients!
Thanks for sharing this, however, I noticed you did not factor in for your time. That is a HUGE consideration for me when making something. Personally, we hit the marked down pizzas over at Walmart, so for a large supreme pizza, they get discounted below $5.00 a piece. When I see these, I generally buy 4 at a time. And on those nights when I just can't bear thinking and working to hard on dinner...it slides on to my pizza pan and into the oven it goes.
Mmmmm, pizza!!!!!
For people like me that dislike cooking (or don't have the time at night),you can use Naan bread -regular or garlic- as a base and it's excellent! Sauce and toppings on, bake at 375 for 20 minutes and voila! Yummy!
where's the recipe for the crust?
Here you go! https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/how-to-make-great-homemade-pizza/
If you account for the cost of electricity, you should also account for the cost of gas to drive to get Little Caesar‘s.
And the tax/tip!
I just gave you a shout out on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B92SByWFE5u/?hl=en
Can't wait to eat some yummy pizza for dinner tonight! Thanks 🙂
Angie
Yay! Thanks for the shout out.
OMGGGGGGG !!!
I actually tried this and it was so cheap and Delicious
Thank you soooooo. much
Little ceasers pizza taste disgusting!
I just bought a 5# bag of dakota maid whole wheat flour for $2.50.
Peppers are *not* cheap. Bell peppers are approaching $1.50 each. Sausage is cheaper than that by weight.
Mostly, i doctor up frozen pizzas, adding fresh mushrooms, leftover grilled chicken, banana & jalopeno peppers, and broiling the top until the cheese is crispy
One of the big advantages of making pizza from scratch, IMO, is that you can personalize for dietary/personal preferences. I use a yeast-free thin crust recipe, since some family members can't tolerate yeast. Some people love lots of meat (we have bacon, beef and ham on hand for pizza night), I use vegan cheese due to an allergy, and dairy free frozen pizzas are expensive for what you get. So I make small personal-sized crusts, and everyone makes their own. When we were buying frozen pizzas, we'd need to buy at least four (we have four boys), and even store brand pizza adds up.
This has become more and more true for us now that Sonia can't eat cheese! Being able to make pizza that meets her dietary needs is a huge motivator for me making my own pizza.
Pizza for $5.55? Wow. Cheapest here (we don't have chain pizzerias) is $18 for cheese. Obviously homemade is cheaper, but I also can't get mozzarella for under $4-5.
That said, most food is so expensive here $18 isn't bad for a dinner plus a late night snack for our three people.
What we tend to do (because busy/lazy) is make flatbread pizzas in the toaster oven using naan bought from the store. i'm sure I could make naan but my brain is exploding just thinking about it.
Love your pizza recipe and use it all the time. Pizza may be my husband's favorite food, and it is so much cheaper and higher quality to make it at home. No problems with too much sauce, not enough cheese, arriving cold, etc. When I make the dough I make two batches, which of course yields 4 pizzas. I make one that day and then store the other 3 balls of dough to pull out of the freezer when I want to make pizza. It thaws overnight and the pizza still comes out perfect.
This makes me feel so much better! I use the Artissn Bread in 5 minutes a Day recipe, and a full recipe makes four pizzas. Every time I go through two bags of mozzarella and a package of pepperoni (I also use sausage and mushroom, but much less than s package) on those pizzas, I cringe a little inside.
However, our family only eats two pizzas. I only make the full dough recipe when having people over or when planning for leftovers later in the week. I have always wondered if it wouldn’t just be cheaper to grab a Little Caesar’s when we have people over, but I like the way homemade tastes so much better than LC (which is, in my opinion, scraping the bottom of the barrel on quality as far as takeout pizza goes). I always feel a little icky after eating Little Caesar’s, so I’m kind of wondering what they use for ingredients.
Regardless, next time I make pizza, it will be with a lot more satisfaction— I, too, thought it would add up to a lot more! I keep meaning to try your crust recipe. I loved your post on pizza tips. I had been baking at 550 already, and our methods are similar—baking high does make all the difference!!
Yep, that's exactly how I felt when I realized how little my fancy King Arthur flour really adds up to in a pizza crust!
I always buy the more expensive mozzarella at aldi for my pizza. Now I’ll have to try the $1.69 block kind. But I also make my own sauce with their $0.65 can of crushed tomatoes. It makes enough sauce for four pizzas.
I definitely think the more expensive mozzarella is worth springing for, actually!
Whole wheat pizza from scratch is a newfound pandemic skill. I've made it enough times that I'm getting comfortable with variations, so I'm down to about a half teaspoon of salt. Recently, I had a slice of Domino's at my volunteer gig. I was amazed at how salty the crust was, so there's another reason to DIY.
Re sauce: We love Costco pesto. I buy in bulk when it's on sale and freeze it, and I always have one in the fridge. For fast sauce, I use a spoonful of pesto (not too much, it's also quite salty) plus a couple spoonfuls of tomato paste. Add a bit of water and stir. Voila! Almost instant sauce.
I’m also a huge fan of Costco pesto!
So delicious on pizza crust it flatbreads, in addition to pasta!
I switched to homemade years ago thanks to your original post. Mostly the bread flour, and CRAZY hot oven, plus plenty of time to rise. I often triple a batch of dough using my bosch mixer, and freeze after the first rise (and punch down) to make it easier. Anyway, I wanted to mention one other thing that has TOTALLY changed my pizza game here. Whole milk mozzarella cheese. It's still usually called low moisture, but it's made from whole milk. It's still a hard(ish) block, just to clarify that I am NOT talking about fresh mozz. But the whole milk stuff just melts so much better and really takes the pizza up yet another notch. I find it hard to locate sometimes, but can find a 5 lb block at my local costco business center, and then we cut and vacuum seal it for the freezer. Anyway, give it a shot! I know for sure walmart carries it, and I sometimes get it at trader joe's. Just so much more flavor - you won't regret it!
Yes! I should have updated the post to include that; I now use the whole milk mozzarella too and I think it totally changes the pizza flavor. Definitely a worthy expenditure.
This may not be for everyone but I thought I'd share my pizza technique to inspire those who don't have time.
Here's how I make my favorite, Hawaiian Pizza. Its not beautiful, and it wouldn't be considered gourmet. it is tasty & fits my lifestyle. Perhaps it will inspire someone.
Like Kristen, I make my own DOUGH. I only make one pizza at a time, so half the dough goes in the freezer.
I can my own TOMATO SAUCE in 1/2 pint jars perfect for one pizza.
I purchase a 5# block of MOZZARELLA, shred it in my food processor, keep it in the freezer. (when it’s time to make pizza I crumble off 5 oz., after a while in the freezer it gets somewhat compressed & I have to use a knife to break off what I need)
I also can my own MUSHROOMS in ½ pint jars. I use half a jar for each pizza. The leftovers go in the freezer.
I buy a big can of PINEAPPLE tidbits & portion out 20/pizza and keep them in the freezer.
I buy "ends & pieces" CANADIAN BACON. I'm not particular about how the pizza looks. I'm going to chew it up anyway, so I chop the C. bacon up & portion it in 2 oz. portions that go in my freezer.
I buy whole OLIVES (I often have an open can of olives in the refrigerator, since one of my go to meals is Taco Salad.) For pizza I slice 15 olives.
Then I want Pizza for dinner I pull the pre-portioned ingredients out of the freezer the day before. In the time it takes the oven to preheat I assemble the pizza.
If there isn’t a ½ recipe of dough in the freezer already, it takes longer.
They don't call me the Frugal Spinster for nothing.
Let’s not forget Little Caesars uses cheap cheese- it’s oily and pretty tasteless !
What kind of cheese do you use? In your other post on why your homemade pizza isn’t good/meh, you mentioned a fancier mozzarella block but in this post it looks like Aldi cheese.
Your waaaaaay off in some of your pricing.
Cheese & sauce are triple your estimate, sorry to say.
OUT OF HERE! There are so many ads on this page that I can't even read the article. WHY do that? A few ads, sure, but this is loaded with ads that pop up right in the middle of the page where the article is. They have those hidden close buttons so you can't even get them out of the way or an X that actually OPENS another page. Duped! If you do figure out how to close the ad for MENS SKIN CARE on an article for PIZZA (no connection whatsoever so the ads don't even make sense), it comes right back. It is irritating to the point that I don't want to take the time to mess with it. So many intrusive ads just drive traffic away. I am an example and there are plenty more like me.
I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback. And I want to give you a little bit of feedback as well: the tone of your comment is pretty off-putting. If you phrased your concerns in a gentler way, you might increase the odds of your feedback being taken more seriously.
I hope your pizza-making adventures go swimmingly. 🙂