California Pizza Recipe
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I remember loving my mom’s homemade pizza. Now I’m happy to make it for my own family – and my son chomps it down happily. My mom always made a white cream sauce – that will be another post :).
Homemade pizza never gives me that “heavy” feeling like frozen or takeout does, even if I eat more than my fair share. Hope you and your family enjoy this California Pizza recipe. It’s a fun thing for kids and dads to do together – maybe for mothers day?…
Ingredients for California Pizza Dough:
3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
Ingredients for Toppings (what I used):
Red Pizza Sauce – our best homemade red sauce
2 cups (8-10 oz) shredded Mozzarella cheese
6 slices of deli ham, chopped or cut into strips
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 small red onion, finely sliced
6-7 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup Black olives, sliced
More topping ideas:
Fresh Basil Leaves, roughly torn prosciutto, pork or turkey sausages, pepperoni, red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and julienned, or whatever else your heart desires.
How to Make Pizza Dough:
Making pizza dough in a bread-maker makes it sooo easy!
1. Add 3/4 cup water and 1 Tbsp of dry yeast in the bread maker and let it stand for a 3-5 minutes.
2. Next, add 1/2 Tbsp of honey, 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp of flour, 3/4 tsp of salt in the bread-maker in the order they are listed and select the dough setting.
Mine takes about an hour. The dough will be sticky and it will be easy to work with once it’s oiled.
NOTE:
Using a mixer or kneading by hand method: Put warm water in a large bowl, add the yeast and let stand for a few minutes. Add honey and olive oil. Add flour, then the salt and mix until well-combined (use a dough hook on speed 2 with a mixer). The dough should be sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until doubled in volume.
Prep the Sauce while the dough is rising: Our Easy Red Sauce takes a few minutes and is a no-cooking required sauce.
1. When the dough is ready, preheat the Oven to 415˚F. Drizzle another 2 Tbsp oil onto a large baking sheet. Transfer the dough onto the oiled baking sheet and turn it a couple times to make sure the dough is covered in oil.
2. Roll the dough out in the cookie sheet. (I use my handy “Chef Roller“ for this job. It saves a potentially messy step (transferring the dough after it’s rolled out) and you don’t have to clean your counter tops afterwards) and spread on the pizza sauce.
3. Spread on the cheese, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives and onions.
4. Bake at 415˚F for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is crisp and toppings are cooked.
Now, marvel at your masterpiece! Your family will be so impressed and it’s really easy.
California Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for California Pizza Dough:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
Ingredients for Toppings (what I used):
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups 8-10 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 6 slices of deli ham, chopped or cut into strips
- 1 medium tomato, sliced
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 6-7 mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 cup Black olives, sliced
More topping ideas:
- Fresh Basil Leaves, roughly torn prosciutto, pork or turkey sausages, pepperoni, red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and julienned, or whatever else your heart desires.
Instructions
How to Make California Pizza Dough:
Making pizza dough in a bread-maker makes it sooo easy!
- Add 3/4 cup water and 1 Tbsp of dry yeast in the bread maker and let it stand for a 3-5 minutes.
- Next, add 1/2 Tbsp of honey, 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp of flour, 3/4 tsp of salt in the bread-maker in the order they are listed and select the dough setting.*
- Mine takes about an hour. The dough will be sticky and it will be easy to work with once it's oiled.
Make the easy pizza sauce.
Once the dough is ready, preheat the Oven to 415˚F.
- Drizzle another 2 Tbsp oil onto a large baking sheet. Transfer the dough onto the oiled baking sheet and turn it a couple times to make sure the dough is covered in oil.
- Roll the dough out in the cookie sheet and spread on the pizza sauce.
- Spread on the cheese, ham, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives and onions.
- Bake at 415˚F for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is crisp and toppings are cooked.
Now, marvel at your masterpiece! Your family will be so impressed and it's really easy.
Notes
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
hello, Natasha,
I’ve made the dough following your recipe, step by step with mixer, it came out tough and dry(( can you please confirm 3/4 of a cup of water is enough, cause it seemed not. or it is only for the bread machine only?
Hi Alty! That is correct. A tough and dry dough is often the result of using too much flour. Be sure to measure your flour correctly. I’ve attached my tutorial on how to measure ingredients. I hope that helps!
I’ve lost count of how many recipes of yours I’ve used, can’t wait to try this one. My dough is rising as we speak.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Mark!
I’ve made this recipe about five times now, totally love it. Tastes great and is easy to make. I just always have to cook it longer not sure why but not a problem. This is definitely a 5 star recipe.
Hi Linda! So glad you enjoy this recipe. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
This pizza crust is fantastic. I made it in my bread machine. I used your white sauce with some shredded tex mex cheese just to give it a go for the first time OMG YUM so delicious. This will be my go to pizza crust recipe for sure. Thanks very much
Laurie R
Awesome, I’m happy that you found your new go-to recipe!
Hi there,
This is especially timely for me, given that CPK just declared bankruptcy….
but this is a very loose dough: almost 74%. Is there a reason for this degree of hydration? Otherwise, I might drop it back to 70%. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Doug
Hi Dough, I hadn’t heard that news, but a bummer for sure. We found this balance to work well with the amount of yeast but you can experiment.
I’m Doug – the product is Dough~
Common typo! Thanks for replying and yes, Chapter 11 is nasty – especially since they were going to expand into Canada! My wife loves thin crust – but I’m afraid with this much yeast, it will be more NY style than thin crust…. You have a great site.
How long should I let my dough rise in a 100 degree oven? And if I’m making 2 pizzas should I let each pizza dough rise in separate bowls or can I let it all rise in one?
Hi Hailey, you can definitely mix and knead it by hand and then let it rise in a warm place (not warmer than 100˚F). You can let it rise in separate bowls if you’d prefer.
Hi Natasha hope you’re doing well:) First of all thank you for all your recipes and hard work. I wanted to know the difference between this recipe and the most recent pizza one you did. Why do you cook california pizza on 415 f and the most recent one on 550? And you’re not doing the dough the same method ? Putting in the fridge for overnight?
Hi Mariam, that dough is more of a quick dough and a completely different recipe (it’s an oldie for sure), but it uses more yeast and rises quickly. The new dough recipe baked at 550 on a pizza stone is the one we have fallen in love with and make all the time.
Natasha, this is a fantastic pizza recipe! I’ve tried probably 5 other recipes at home and the pizza always comes out too hard or dry. This one is perfect! I just love following your recipes. They’re always so accurate and easy to make! My picky kids approved too! I made it even more simple than yours because my kids don’t like too much flavor in the sauce and prefer just cheese as a topping. So I used tomato paste mixed with ketchup as a sauce and topped it off with cheese only. If I make it for myself, I’d follow your recipe for the sauce and the toppings. Thank you thank you so much again! ❤
You’re so welcome, Polina. Thank you fopr sharing that with us and I hope you and your kids love every recipe that you try!
I made links wrapped in dough(sosiska v teste) using this dough. Soooooo delicious!
And also made chicken bake like the ones sold at Costco. I actually like them better because this dough is softer and tastier. Thank you, Natasha, for sharing your foolproof recipes😊
That’s so great! Thank you so much for sharing that with me :).
Hi Natasha. We really liked the pizza. Thank you for your great recipes!
I have a question, can you freeze the dough by itself? I was thinking to make a few and freeze it. Then when I need it to just thaw overnight and make it.
Hi Julie, I haven’t tried freezing this dough to be honest so I’m not sure how that would work. I think it’s worth a test and if you experiment, let me know how it goes. 🙂
you can typically freeze dough after the first (if using a second rise) doubling.
The recommendation is to divide the doubled dough into individual quantities for the size of pizza you will ultimately make.
Take the frozen dough out for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
Thanks a bunch for an awesome recipe. My girls enjoyed making this. Oh, & they put so much love into topping the pizza. Came out yummy and dough was perfectly cooked… looks like we will be making this more often.
Yay, I’m happy to hear the whole family enjoys this recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review Jessica!
Natasha,after you took out the dough from breadmachine and rolled it out did u covered it and let it rise just little,cause my hubby likes thicker dough not thin dough?
Hi Olga, I did not wait for it to rise again, but you can if you want to. It wouldn’t hurt 🙂
I dont have a bread maker, is there another way I can make the dough?
This looks yummy!
Hi Tina, you can definitely mix and knead it by hand and then let it rise in a warm place (not warmer than 100˚F).
Thanks! Ill have to try it
You’re welcome 🙂
Hi Natasha! Thank you for awesome recipes, this pizza turned out delicious. have you tried freezing the pizza after it was all put together ?
Thank you for the great review Anna :). Freezing should work, but you might have to increase the baking time.
do you have a favorite ham/pepperoni you use for pizzas? what brand?
I love Boar’s head brand for deli meat. It’s a little spendy, but the flavor is so good! I buy mine in the deli section at Fred Meyer 🙂
i realy liked the dough it was easy to work with, we realy enjoyed it.:)
I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Music to my ears! You should try the Greek pizza that I posted. It uses the same dough. So yummy!
I did just like you and it tasted better then any pizza at store! I just used this technic from this girl how to roll the dough and it was much softer and crast was delicious!!! How to make Homemade Pizza From Scratch – Recipe by Laura Vitale – Laura in the Kitchen Ep. 86
ByLaura in the Kitchen1,998,230 views
I will have to check it out! I love Laura’s episodes 🙂 Thanks so much for the tip!
I never buy pizza just make it home-made!
Thanks again for your recipes!!
Woohoo!!! That’s music to my ears. Thanks Jessica 🙂
I just made this for lunch. I put leftover turkey pieces on top. It was awesome! We love this crust a lot. The dough is very easy to roll out. Thank you very much!
I love the idea of adding turkey. That’s brilliant! 🙂
Thanks for posting this recipe Natasha. I made this pizza and it turned out perfect. I used 1tsp of yeast and for the sauce I used ranch and it was delicious. Thanks again for such an amazing blog!
I’m glad you like the recipe Dina :).
I have used the same pizza crust for years but decided to try your recipe and it was awesome. I also made your home made pizza sauce recipe. Will be my new go to pizza recipe from now on. Only two of us so we will be having leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Never afraid to make your recipes as they always seem to work for me. Thank you.
I’m so glad you gave our pizza a try! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made two pizzas today. My very first dough didn’t come out as sticky but the second one was really sticky. However, after rising for 3-4 hours, both were extremely puffy and sticky. Interesting. Anyways, I gave one pizza to my in-laws and the other one for my little family! I can’t wait to try it! Be blessed!
Hm… I wonder why the two were different? Mine are usually sticky but once I oil them up; they roll out really easily. I hope you love the pizzas!
How far in advance can the pizza dough be made? If I make it tomorrow afternoon but want to bake the pizza around 7 – will the dough still be okay?
You can make it in afternoon, just cover with plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature.
I have instant dry yeast. do I use the same amount? thanks
I really haven’t tried instant yeast so I’m not sure how it compares or if you need a different amount. Sorry that’s not very helpful 🙁
Hi Natasha, my family really enjoyed pizza yesturday. Yummy! I thank u soooo much 4 all of your recipes. Just quick ?, I want to buy a good breadmaker- any suggestions? Thank u! God Bless Your family!
You are welcome Tanya :). I like to read review on Amazon and pick machine that has good rating and not too expensive. You might like something like THIS.
That looks great. I been wanting to make pizza for such a long time. Not really a fan of red sauces especially knowing my husband does not like it, will try making it with some white garlic sauce…
Lidiya, I do have a pizza with garlic sauce posted. I hope your husband approves 🙂
Great pizza dough! Thank you Natasha!
Yes i used a 13×9″ and it was delicous i just had to leave it in the oven for extra 10 mintues! Just like pizza hut pan pizza perfect! Thanks Natasha!!!!!
It turned out delicous!!!! It was like pizza hut pan pizza really good! Thanks so much darling! Plez post the white sauce soon cant wait to make it!!!!!
Thanks Olga! I love hearing peoples cooking success stories 🙂 So glad you liked it. Did you end up using all the dough in the 13×9?
If i use 13×9” pan will my dough be messed up or just a thick crust?
I’d use 1/4 less of the dough. You will have a thicker softer crust and might have to bake a couple minutes longer if you use the full amount.
Im using oster bread machine it works great for dough! When adding all ingredients does it first come out not sticky but when it rises it becomes sticky? i checked my dough after half hour and it seems like its not sticky dough i used exact ingredients you gave:) any idea Natasha?
It’s hard to say without seeing it. It should be very soft and easy to roll once the dough is finished rising and you put oil on it. Mine was sticky before i oiled it. You can try 1 tbsp flour less next time if your dough isn’t as soft as you’d like. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Is it ok if i use 13×9? or will the crust be too thick?
is that a 13″x9″ pan your using?
It’s a 15×10 cookie sheet
I made this pizza again today using a 12×17 and found I like that even better (I like a thinner crust 🙂
Only ebay sells the rollor?
Amazon or eBay is where I found them. I think they are $20 plus s&h also direct from pampered chef. I like amazon 🙂 I have links to amazon and eBay in the shop tab at the top under cooks tools. It’s also great for pies and that cherry cheesecake!
Your very welcome! God bless you too!!!!!:)
🙂 You should post “Tres Leches”cake!its mexican, So spongy and has 3 types of milk to cream! Definitly should try baking it!
REcipe-
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9×13 inch baking pan.
2.Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
3.Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.
4.Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.
6.Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
7.Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!
WOW thank you soo much! My cousin sent me a recipe for tres leches cake a couple weeks ago as well – I know I have to try to make it soon! I will compare the recipes and see if I can combine them – they seem very similar. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your recipe. You are awesome! God bless you!
Yes plez post white sauce cant wait either:):)
When is the one with white sauce coming up? 🙂 Can’t wait.
quick question Can you post some smoothie recipes for summertime thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Of course!! I’ll be posting more summer recipes like smoothies and compot for summer. I’ll put them both on my list.
oh ok cuz i dont have that in hand! Thanx ill try it! also adding green bell pepper will give it flavor and color! thanx again girl!!!!!!!!!!!
Is there a reason u dont use plain all purpose flour?
Unbleached is just healthier than bleached. It keeps more of it’s nutritive value if it is unbleached.
Natasha, thanks for bring this pizza over to our house for Slavik and I to enjoy. It was delicious. Cooking with a new baby at home is impossible and food from friends and family is very appreciated.
You’re welcome. I love cooking for family. Let me know if you are ever feeling run down and I will make you another!
Natasha I’m feeling a little run down can u make me a pizza hehe
I’m feeling run down too Anna – sorry. I’m not even cooking for myself tonight. But, nice try!
Bread flour or all-purpose flour? Thanx
All purpose unbleached – sorry 🙂
Natasha, this pizza looks amazing, I love all of the ingredients!