This Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza is a Friday night favorite, and it's a million times better than your standard boxed pizza! This post will show you exactly what to do and how to make it—It's Easy!
Are you ready for some juicy gossip? Listen to this...
Dustin and I have never agreed on what type of pizza we like best. I know. Crazy, huh? How can we still be together if we can't agree on something as vital to marriage as pizza?
You know we both love our pizza. But without fail, Dustin will always be an Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza kinda guy. Me? I like variety! I bounce from the Hawaiian to the Vegetarian to the Supreme to the...I imagine you get my point.
Dustin is the way he is because meat-only toppings are his jam. Add some breakfast bacon and maybe some salami and he's in heaven.
Eventually, I decided to embrace Dustin's beloved pizza. But...in my own way. I wasn't going to use mediocre Italian sausage or cheap, thin pepperoni found in the majority of frozen pizzas. Nope. I bought freshly made sweet Italian sausage links from my butcher and some nitrate and nitrite free pepperoni. Yep, my way.
I remember the look on Dustin's face when I told him my plans to make his favorite pizza at home. Total brownie points for Lacey.
Well, turns out the pizza was fantastic. I used fresh mozzarella and made my Simple Tomato Sauce with Homemade Pizza Dough (both are consistent winners in our home).
I have to say -- Italian Sausage and Pepperoni is now a strong contender for the position of my favorite homemade pizza. It was that good. I've already made it again. Twice.
Healthy Protein Options For Your Pizza
There are many healthy proteins for your pizza, take it from me. While pizza has gotten a bad rep in the health arena, being mindful about toppings will serve you well. Here's my top two recommendations for healthy proteins:
- Chicken: Look no further because you can never go wrong with chicken, especially if you're using white meat! Similar to what I did for my Alfredo Chicken Pizza, I shredded some chicken breast and garnished it on of my pizza. Not only will it keep you full longer but it is also a low-fat option packed with protein, iron, zinc, and potassium!
- Sausage: Look for options with low sugar and low sodium, as well as no nitrates or no nitrites.
- Pepperoni: Look for options with low sugar and low sodium, as well as no nitrates or no nitrites.
Should You Put Raw Italian Sausage On Pizza?
Cook it first, please! It is always important to cook Italian sausage before placing it on your pizza.
Pizza's don't usually take long to bake, roughly around 25 minutes. So if you add raw meats like Italian sausages, chicken, or bacon...it will simply not cook through within this short baking window. Extending the time it spends inside the oven isn't an option either because you'll end up with a burnt crust. So fry up the sausage first.
*Exceptions exist for smoked sausages, pepperoni, and pastrami. These you can toss on right away without pre-cooking.
What Type Of Sausage Is Good For Pizza?
Look for sausage that has low sugar and low sodium, as well as no nitrates or no nitrites. The best sausage for pizza has around 80-85% pork and 15-20% fat. That's my rule of thumb. Of course, you can choose not to follow this rule but I've found it to be the sweet spot, or should I say savory spot (wink). This ratio has just the right amount of fat to add that extra oomph, but not so much that you pizza becomes super greasy and inedible.
How Can I Make A Vegan Italian Sausage Pepperoni Pizza?
I am pleased to say that - yes! - you can make a Vegan Italian Sausage Pepperoni Pizza. In fact, it's easy! When making this pizza vegan-style, switch the Italian sausage and pepperoni with plant-based substitutes. You can even try making your own vegan sausage and pepperoni at home with some chickpeas, tofu, and tempeh.
Gone are the days when we found vegan meat alternatives lacking. Just a few years ago, if you were vegan and craved that meaty pizza flavor, you'd be mostly out of options and out of luck. But lately I've been impressed by all of the company's stepping up with new alternatives. Do you feel the same?
How Do I Store This Pizza?
You can store your pizza and save it for later just like supermarkets keep a stockpile of frozen pizzas.
Just partially bake your dough (to prevent it from being sticky or soggy) and add the toppings to the dough. Remember that if you're adding meats like sausage or chicken, be sure to cook it first. Now wrap your pizza with parchment paper or foil. Voila! Keep it in your freezer for the next time you need a fast and kid-friendly meal.
More Healthy Pizza Recipes:
- Alfredo Chicken Pizza
- Pizza Margherita
- Chicken Marinara Pizza
- Best BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Grilled Pizza with Maple Onion Jam
Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For The Whole Weat Pizza Crust:
- 2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For The Sauce:
- 1 cup your favorite healthy tomato sauce My Roasted Tomato Sauce recipe works well.
For The Pizza:
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup nitrate-free and nitrite-free Pepperoni sliced
- 1 link sweet Italian sausage casing removed
- 6 oz fresh mozzarella cheese thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat. Cook Italian sausage until well-browned, making sure to break into bite-size pieces. Once browned, allow to cool. Set aside for later.
- Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza dough, leaving about ½ inch around the outside edge for the crust. Sprinkle sauce with oregano, basil, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Spread the mozzarella slices evenly across the pizza. Arrange the crumbled sweet Italian sausage and pepperoni slices over the mozzarella.
- Place the pizza into the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the crust edges are golden and the cheese is melted. After taking the pizza out of the oven, allow it to cool for a few minutes so that the cheese has time to set. Slice pizza and serve
Recipe Notes:
- I added 1 teaspoon of oil in the pan to brown the sausage.
- Break up the sausages into little chunks before adding it to the plan, because it's a lot more difficult to crumble them once cooked.
- I used a pizza paddle and stone to make the Italian Sausage Pepperonni
- If you plan to use one make sure that you build the pizza on the paddle.
- Remember to flour the paddle well so can easily transfer the pizza into the oven.
- I stretched the dough into an 11 ½ to 12 ½ inch round, maybe ⅛ to ¼ inch thick which you are free to adjust based on your preference.
- If you don't have a paddle no worries, you can flip your baking sheet the other way around instead.
Cecelia Evertez
I made this Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza and my family loved it! However, this recipe does not explain how to make the sauce. Do you cook the sauce or not cook the sauce? I cooked the sauce and had to drain it because it was too watery. This is not the best pizza I have made but it was good.
Jen Moderator
Hi Cecelia, that's wonderful to hear! And sorry about the sauce confusion (we see exactly what you mean). It looks like we used the ingredients in Lacey's Roasted Tomato Sauce and you can find that recipe - plus cooking instructions - here: https://www.asweetpeachef.com/roasted-tomato-sauce/#wprm-recipe-container-20442
Mr.Banana cheff head
THE ABSOLUTE BEST CHICKEN CURRY IN THE WORLD EVER!!!!!
Cooking Crave
I just love pizza. Want to taste it right now <3
Maha Khan / sooperchef.pk
Wow This Is great recipe.I love Your Way of making Recipe.I am going to make this recipe for my family now.
Dustin
One of my faves.
Judith Foyabo
Hi lacey! I love the recipeand so do my kids.they want to eat it every single day! Too bad my husband don't like chese, he would love it.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Thanks for sharing, Judith!
Diane
Love love love love this recipe. it is super easy to make it and i am actually in the process right now! The smell is a amazing and its coming together with ease! Thanks!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Love love love 🙂
Corbin
Good texture and is very tasty
Silvia
Lacey,
I just discover this website and I LOVE IT. In respect to Bread or All-Purpose Flour, you mention that Bread Flour will make the dough more chewy. This past weekend I made pizza and bought Bread Flour because of all the searching and reading about the perfect flour for Pizza. I did get a crunchy dough, though even though everywhere it says that the hight gluten will make a chewier crust. Could it be that I made a thin crust? What is your thought on making chewy or crusty pizza?
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Silvia. Very good question. You are correct: it is still quite easy to have a crunchy, rather than chewy, crust when you use bread flour. You are also right that this likely had to do with the thickness of your pizza crust, as a thinner crust definitely will get crunchy more quickly. The recipe I have posted on my site gives a slightly crunchy, slightly chewy crust most of the time (though it also depends on the weather -- gotta love dough, right?). I hope this helps normalize the issue you had. I'd suggest you try playing around with it to see what you like the best and how thick you want to make it. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Diana
Hi Lacey, this is Diana from TasteSpotting!
This pizza looks fabulous! Have you thought about submitting the recipe for the $1000 grand prize in TasteSpotting’s Johnsonville Sausage recipe contest? You can find out more details here – http://www.tastespotting.com/features/sausagespotting-win-1500-dollars-johnsonville-recipe-contest
Would love to have you participate – cheers!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Thanks, Diana, for the suggestion! I have already submitted this recipe to TasteSpotting before, but I will check out your site to see if it can be submitted specially for this contest. Thanks again!
Jazz Rules
All you need to do is add bacon and this would be perfect!!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Haha! You and my husband would get along well. He thinks bacon makes EVERYTHING better. Most times, it is hard to disagree 🙂
Winnie
I love your photos! I am new to making pizza from scratch (just made my first attempt about a week ago), and am on the look-out for new things to try for next time.
Just checked out your pizza dough recipe too -- the recipe that I used was really similar to yours (from Wolfgang puck), except his recipe called for all-purpose flour rather than bread flour -- do you happen to know what difference bread flour makes?? I was thinking of trying a different flour mix (whole wheat? spelt?) for next time.
Looks great! Love your step-by-step photos. 🙂
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Winnie! Thanks so much for your kind words. Bread flour has a higher gluten count than all-purpose flour which helps make the dough be more chewy and pliable. Any type of flour would probably work...I just prefer the bread flour. I have also made this same recipe with whole wheat flour with good results, though.
Good luck with your pizzas!
delicieux
This looks like a fantastic pizza, and definitely one my boyfriend would enjoy given his love of sausages.
Given I'm vegetarian it's impossible for us to agree on one pizza. He loves pizza with meat, meat and more meat, while I love a pizza with a plethora of vegies,including asparagus, which he can't stand. At least this way we never have to fight over the last piece!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Haha, way to look at the bright side! I had never thought of the benefit before of not fighting over the last piece. Good point! 🙂 I think Dustin would cringe if I tried putting some asparagus on a pizza, too.
Thanks for commenting!
Big Boys Oven
a truly delicious italian pizza, I like it!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Thanks! Glad you think so 🙂
Miss Becky
Hi Lacey
this looks so dang good. I'm currently transitioning to a vegan diet and you are making this very difficult! It will be a gradual process, and I'm needing to use up a lot of dairy in my fridge, so I think I will splurge this evening and make one of these pizzas, using up my fresh mozzarella and the remaining tomatoes from the garden. I'm leaving out the meat and going with veggies only, but hey, I'm trusting this is going to be delicious anyway! Your sauce is beautiful. I love me some pizza.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Miss Becky! Good luck with your vegan transition. I'm sorry I don't really have a lot of vegan recipes to share as of yet. I agree: can't let fresh mozzarella go to waste! I bet the pizza will be delicious nonetheless...it is pizza, after all 🙂