Homemade pizza for kids
This easy Homemade pizza recipe for kids is a great homemade lunch or dinner. Making the base is super easy and fun, and kids can then choose their own favourite toppings.
Homemade pizza is a great thing to make with kids. There are loads of steps to get involved with and if you make lots of smaller pizzas your kids can choose their own toppings and make their very own pizza.
Making it from scratch somehow makes it feel like a healthier dinner than shop bought pizza plus you can add loads of vegetables in your toppings. This recipe makes one large pizza or you can do 2-3 small ones so everyone gets one each.
While you’re making the homemade pizza, why not rustle up a batch of Pizza Express dough balls to go with it?
How can kids make homemade pizza?
This is a great homemade pizza recipe for kids – they can measure the ingredients, kneed the dough, and make and add their own toppings. My kids love the sense of achievement from taking part in every step. Equally, your kids can dip in and out of the steps. If you are a bit shorter on time (or want to save the mess), you can make the dough in advance and then just let your kids make the actual pizza.
If you want to cheat a bit you can use a mixer or bread machine to help you make the dough. I find this saves us a bit of time and helps to ensure the dough gets kneaded properly. I normally still let my kids knead the dough by hand for a bit, as they really enjoy it, but I find they won’t do it well enough or for long enough to not also give them a bit of a hand with it.
What flour should you use to make pizza?
00 flour or bread flour work best because of they have more protein which helps to develop the gluten. If you don’t have either flours, you can use plain flour and you’ll still end up with a tasty pizza.
What else can you make with pizza dough?
You can use this recipe to make pizza pinwheels or dough balls or even some tasty bread sticks.
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make homemade pizza with your kids
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Pizza pan
Pizza stone
Ooni pizza oven
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Please refer to my Privacy Policy Page for more details.
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 30 minutes + 1-2 hrs proving + 25 minutes baking
Serves: 1 large pizza or one medium + 2 small pizzas
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
255g (2 cups) of strong white plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp salt
½ tsp fast action yeast
150ml lukewarm water
For the topping
Packet of mozzarella
Tin of tomatoes
Any other toppings you like
How to make an easy homemade pizza
Measure the dry ingredients
Get your child to measure the flour (250g) into a large bowl. While they are doing this you can add the salt (1 tsp) and yeast (1/2 tsp). If you have very little children you might want to do this bit yourself but if your children are older they can probably do this step with a little help.
Make the pizza dough
There are two ways of doing this: the more authentic version and one which is better for slightly older kids sees you mix everything on a floured work surface.
If you want to keep mess to a minimum however, pop it all in a bowl until it all comes together and it’ll work just as well.
To do it on your work surface, make a well in the flour and simply get your toddler to pour the water (150ml) and olive oil (1 tbsp) into the middle.
Mix the ingredients with your fingers, very slowly at first, taking a little of the flour from around the edges, until they come together to form a (slightly wet and sticky) dough.
At this point you can use your hands, and get your toddler to knead it for a five minutes, either in the bowl or on your work surface. Pizza is great for practising kneading as, unlike something like bread, it doesn’t rise much so it doesn’t matter if you don’t do it perfectly. Young kids aren’t likely to knead perfectly, mine certainly just did more bashing and stretching. If you’re worried about it not being done properly, give them a hand, or pop in in a freestanding mixer for a few minutes.
If you’re just doing it in a mixer or bread machine, simply add the wet ingredients to your mixing bowl, and let the dough hook to all the hard work.
Once the dough ball looks smooth, pop it in a bowl, cover it with cling film and leave it in a warm place for around an hour or until its roughly doubled in size.
When it’s ready (or if you can’t wait, just when you’re hungry) turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and roll it out – it’s just like rolling out play dough so your toddler should be good at helping even if you need to get it to the final size and shape. Place it on to a baking sheet.
Heat the oven to 220C / 200C Fan / 425F.
Make the topping
Drain the tin of tomatoes then get your toddler to spread it on the pizza base. We also like to add some tomato puree for a bit of extra flavour.
Chop up or grate some mozzarella then get sprinkle that on top.
Add any other topping you or your child like. Pizza can be a great thing for fussy eaters to make – hopefully if they choose their own toppings they’ll be more likely to eat it!
Bake the pizza
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You may need to turn it if one side is browning faster than the other.
Pizza recipe for kids
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 2 cups of strong white plain flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp fast action yeast
- 150 ml lukewarm water
For the topping
- Packet of mozzarella
- Tin of tomatoes
Instructions
Measure the dry ingredients
- Measure the flour, salt and yeast into a large bowl. (Add the yeast and salt into different corners)
Make the dough
- Make a well in the flour and pour the water and olive oil into the middle. (To limit mess you could do this in a bowl.)
- Mix the ingredients, bringing flour in bit by it until they come together to form a (slightly wet and sticky) dough.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface.
- Once the dough ball looks smooth, pop it in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave it in a warm place until its roughly doubled in size.
- When it’s ready turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface, knead it slightly and roll it out. Place it on a baking sheet.
Heat the oven to 200C
Make the topping
- Drain the tin of tomatoes then spread it on the pizza base..
- Chop up or grate some mozzarella then get sprinkle that on top.
- Add any other topping you like.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You may need to turn it if one side is browning faster than the other.
Pin easy homemade pizza for later
Similar recipes
If you liked this homemade pizza for kids recipe, you’ll love our easy soda bread recipe as well as our other breads and loaves.
Made this with my kids today, added a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder to the flour before mixing, 7yr son made garlic bread and 10y daughter made a random pizza for themselves, both loved it. Easy and quick to make and fun for the kids.
The kids loved making this, we did it the authentic way. My daughter’s asked to make it 3 times now, with different friends and they’ve all loved it 🙂
I’m so glad they’re enjoying it! I love Pizza making is such a fun way to get kids involved in the kitchen.
We made this pizza today! It turned out so good! My five year old had so much fun making and eating it! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed making (and eating it!)
I bet the kids loved making these Helen. I know I would have done. And doubly fun that they’ve made it the authentic way with no bowl.
It’s so much more fun without a bowl!