The Perfect Pizza Date Night at Home

This homemade pizza date night is one of my favorite ways to spend weekend nights. It's a great Friday or Saturday at-home date night idea. But, it could also be a great "make your own pizza night for a family." I'm sharing a no-fail homemade pizza crust recipe along with some of the best homemade pizza ideas.

Pizza dough: homemade or store-bought?

You can always opt for a store-bought pizza crust. For example, I like Trader Joe's pre-made pizza crust, or my family has been using Bobby Flay's recipe for YEARS. I think like 10 years now. My mom has got it down to a T, and the pizzas turn out perfectly every single time. If you want to make an easy homemade pizza crust, I couldn't recommend Bobby Flay's Homemade Pizza Dough more.

Preparing for your homemade pizza date night

To have the perfect pizza date night, you have to prep just a bit! Here is how you can prepare for a homemade pizza night. I personally love a Friday night pizza night in the winter (it makes for such a cozy evening), but this is perfect for any day of the week. 

1. Prep your crust

If you're making homemade pizza dough, you'll want to be sure that your dough is prepared and ready to go when you're ready to start your night. If you're using store-bought dough, you'll want to take the ball of pizza dough out of the fridge and let it sit out for 15-20 minutes to get to room temperature.  

2. Prep your toppings

Get all your favorite toppings out and prep them! Whether that's cooking and crumbling Italian sausage, chopping veggies, picking fresh basil, or anything you need to do with the toppings, be sure to get that done before date night starts.

3. Set up your homemade pizza station

Set out all your favorite pizza toppings, pizza sauce, cheese, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, granulated garlic, flour to roll the dough out, and a pizza stone (or two!) depending on how many pizzas you're making. It's ok if you forget to put something out! Remember, this is a low-key fun date night that shouldn't require that much planning! Also, be sure to pour yourself and your significant other a glass of wine! 

Pizza date night ideas

Here are a few pizza night ideas, but you really can't go wrong with almost any pizza you want to create! 

​Classic Margarita Pizza

• Pizza Sauce, or just crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Fresh basil to top after cooking

BBQ Chicken Pizza

• BBQ Sauce for your pizza sauce, yes that's right, do not use pizza sauce. Use BBQ Sauce.
• Mozzarella cheese
• 1 chicken breast, cooked + diced (or shredded)
• ¼ - ½ red onion, either thinly sliced or diced
• BBQ sauce + dried oregano to drizzle on top

Chicago Style Pizza

• Pizza Sauce
• 1 lb Italian sausage, cooked + drained 
• Roasted garlic -- just chop up some garlic and over low heat with 2 tablespoon of olive oil, cook your garlic until it is a golden brown
• Giardiniera 
• Mozzarella cheese
• Ground fennel + oregano to top

​The Special

Whenever you go to a pizza place in Chicago, they always have this pizza as the "[restaurant name] Special."

• Pizza Sauce
• 1 lb Italian sausage, cooked + drained
• Green Pepper, diced
• Onion, diced
• Mushrooms, diced
• Fennel + oregano to top
• Fresh basil to garnish after cooking

​Pepperoni

• Pizza Sauce
• Mozzarella cheese
• Pepperoni

White Pizza

• Olive oil base
• Roasted garlic
• Ricotta mixture -- 1 c. ricotta, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper + ½ dried Italian herb blend
• Fresh mozzarella log, sliced
• Freshly grated parmesan
• Fresh basil to garnish once cooked

More pizza topping ideas

• Black Olives
• Pineapple
• Ham
• Spinach
• Bacon
• Prosciutto
• Meatballs
• Banana Peppers
• Jalapenos
• Leeks
• Roasted Red Pepper
• Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Corn
• Arugula
• Hot Honey

Best pizza sauce for homemade pizza?

I really like just buying store-bought pizza sauce or using a quality marinara sauce like Rao's! Alternatively, you can simply use crushed San Marzano tomatoes. 

DIY pizza date night tips and tricks

Once you start having your own pizza nights, you'll love it! It's seriously one of the best date nights. It's a great way to spend some quality time together in the kitchen. 

Line your pizza stone with parchment paper. ​This is a precaution to ensure that your crust doesn't stick to the pizza stone!

Pre-bake your crust. Roll out your pizza dough to your desired size and place it on your parchment paper-lined pizza stone. Sprinkle with olive oil and bake at 450F for 5-7 minutes. Take it out of the oven and flip the crust, this will help it stay crunchy and avoid it getting soggy once you assemble. 

Broil.​ To get that beautiful golden brown color on your cheese, let your pizza broil for 2-3 minutes on high. But be careful! You have to watch the pizza when it's under the broiler, that is not the time to get distracted or your pizza will be ruined. 

Heart-shaped pizza.​ This is such a cute idea for your next date night, especially if it's around Valentine's Day. It's so easy to shape your pizza into a heart, and if you want to use pepperoni to top your pizza, you can cut those into little hearts, too. 

Check your local pizzeria.​ They might have a pizza kit that you can purchase! This is a great idea if you want to support your local pizza parlor and keep pizza night easy. 

Do I need a pizza oven to make homemade pizza?

No! Not at all, you can totally make homemade pizza with your traditional oven. 

Dessert ideas to end your at-home date night with

You may be stuffed after all that delicious food, but that doesn't mean you can't end your night on a sweet note. If you want to continue the pizza theme, you can make this homemade Nutella pizza. These condensed milk brownies, brown butter sugar cookies, or chocolate peanut butter rice krispie treats are also great options to have something prepared ahead of time.