Making Your Own Pizza Dough – Recipe, Plus Cost Difference (Store vs Homemade)

Make pizza delicious again. The hardest part of making your own homemade pizza is making the crust. Planning ahead does play a huge part in making the perfect dough. See this recipe and make your own Homemade Pizza Dough.

Homemade Pizza Dough 

Please note that the printable recipe is listed below. 

The hardest part of making your own homemade pizza is making the crust. Planning ahead does play a huge part in making the perfect dough. One of my favorite homemade pizza dough recipes requires the dough to rise for an hour.  But I have to admit, I am sometimes in a hurry to make dinner and can’t wait an hour for the dough to rise.

One way to make your own shortcut is to double your pizza dough recipe.

Once you’re ready to top your pizza dough, take the extra, divide and freeze.  This way you will have extra dough available and ready. The day you plan to use the dough, transfer it from the freezer to the fridge in the morning to thaw for dinner in the evening. Or use my super quick method (you can tell I do this often): to unfreeze I place in a warm bath of water and within 20-25 minutes you are ready to start.

Is Homemade Pizza Dough Cheaper Than Store Purchased?

Can a homemade pizza beat the $4.99 Boboli 12-Inch crust or Pillsbury refrigerated dough priced on sale for $2.99?

My first quick answer is…”hmmm, I don’t know”. So I thought I would break the cost down in my very precise mathematical mode of operation and calculate it out. 

Here goes: 

Homemade Pizza Dough Crust Cost Breakdown

Yeast

This cost will really depend on if you are purchasing the bulk jars or the 3 packs of yeast. We make pizza often and let us not forget all the extra baked goods in our home, so bulk is how we purchase.

A 4-ounce store brand jar is often on sale for $3.49. 2 teaspoons of yeast is equivalent to 0.25 ounces. That means there are 16 servings in a jar. After doing the math 2 teaspoons costs just $0.42.

Flour

I generally buy my flour when it’s on sale. Typically, a 5 lb bag of flour when on sale costs around $2.49. Generally speaking, there are typically 17 cups of flour in a 5 lb bag. That means each cup costs $0.15, and the two cups necessary for the pizza dough add up to $0.30. 

Olive Oil

My bottle of Olive Oil costs around $3.50 for 8 oz. Which means that 2 tablespoons cost $0.21.

Salt 

The teaspoon that this recipe calls for costs a little less than $0.007. For the basis of calculation lets just round this cost up to the nearest penny. 

Sugar

A 4-pound bag of sugar costs $1.49. There are 9 cups of sugar in a 4-pound bag. That is $0.16 per cup. We a literally only using 2 teaspoons of sugar. This is so hard to measure out based on cost. But in reality, it may cost us just $0.01.

Water

I am going to say that the tap water from our home cost next to nothing. But for the basis of calculations and to give it a cost, let us call it a penny. $0.01

Total Cost for Homemade Pizza Dough (Drum Roll Please), Just $1.23

That price is just screaming BARGAIN. On that note, here is a very simple pizza dough recipe that our family loves.

And remember, homemade just tastes better. No extra ingredients that you can not pronounce. 

Tips For Making a Better Pizza

• Use a Pizza Stone or Pizza Screen Pan. (I own both and prefer the screen, we like a crispy pizza) – if using a pizza stone pre-heat stone as well prior to placing dough on it to cook. How to transfer your already top pizza to a pre-heat stone. I like the parchment paper method. Roll your dough on a floured piece of parchment paper. Make your pizza. Once topped, slide your pizza using the parchment paper onto the preheated stone and bake. Leave the paper intact.

• Pre-Heat your oven to 450 degrees. (I have heard of others go even higher), then bake for 10 – 15 minutes.
• Always place your pan in the center of the oven rack.
• Let your pizza rest a few minutes after baking and before cutting.  It makes cutting the pizza a lot easier.

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

If you made this recipe, we would love to hear all about it. We get so excited when we learn that you have chosen to make one of our recipes featured on Inspiring Savings. Please leave us a comment below.

Other Homemade Frugal Recipe Ideas

Make Your Own Homemade Dry Onion Soup Mix

Delicious Homemade Dinner Rolls

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Eating out is easy, and it usually tastes delicious, but it’s expensive. Making this meal at home will save you money. Add this recipe to your weekly meal plan.