When most people think of pizza, they think of a time saving meal.  Some people are willing to pay for that time saving convience by ordering delivery.  Making pizza at home can take extra time, but can save you money.  You can also do a little prep work to make pizza making less time consuming.  Here are a few ideas on pizza making that can cost less and be made quickly.

Pizza Dough

You could buy frozen dough to make your pizza and save time, but why not make your own dough.  You can even freeze your own dough to use later.  It is recommended that dough can be frozen for 3 months, but I’ve been known to freeze it for 6 months without noticing much difference.  Making your own dough will save you money, but when freezing the dough you will also save time.  There are many nights; I just do not have the time I need to get 1 pizza dough made let alone 3 which is what I need for my family.  I bought a bread machine several years ago and it takes me 1 ½ hours to make one pizza dough.  I make pre-made bags of the dry ingredients for the recipe and then add the wet ingredients when I am ready to mix the bread.  The bread machine does all the work for you, while you do something else.  So, when you get the extra time you can just place it in the bread machine and come back later.  To freeze the dough, you just roll it in a little oil and then wrap it in some saran wrap and then place it in a zip lock baggie and place in your freezer.  On the day you are ready to make the pizza, remove from the freezer. Place it in a large bowl coated with olive oil.  It will take several hours for the dough to thaw.  If you plan to be gone to work all day, just do the same but place in the refrigerator.  The dough will rise as it thaws.  Then when the dough is thawed and you are ready for pizza making, just roll out the dough.  If you don’t have a bread machine, just make your dough as usual and place in freezer as directed above.  Making the dough ahead of time will save you a lot of time on pizza night.  Here are a few dough recipes I like to make for my family that you may enjoy trying.

Low-Fat Bread Machine Italian Bread

Pizza Hut Style Pizza Dough

Bread Machine Pizza Dough with Whole Wheat Flour

Pizza Sauce

There are premade pizza sauces sold at the store.  Those can cost a lot of money.  I can get a lot more pizzas made using a large jar of spaghetti sauce.  I have also made my own sauce and then frozen it in freezer safe containers for later use.  When you are ready to make your pizza just place it in your refrigerator the night before.  Here is a recipe I really like to use for my sauce.  You can also use barbeque sauce on your pizza.  I can find these for real cheap and have even gotten several for free by using coupons.

 Pizza Cheese

You will save the most by buying cheese in bulk.  If you do this,  it would save you time if you go ahead and shred what you will be using before your night of pizza making, this will make pizza night go a lot faster.  I have also found store brands of shredded cheese that worked just fine too.  It all depends on how much money you want to save.

Pizza Toppings

You can save lots of money on the toppings.  In the summer, you can grow a garden and use vegetables like peppers, onions, broccoli etc.  You can pre-chop many of these vegetables and freeze them until you are ready to use.  This makes it nice in the winter months when some of the vegetables we like on our pizzas are out of season.  I like to use leftover meats, like chicken on my pizza.  This is a great way to use leftovers and save money on your toppings.  Finally, just use cheese.  Cheese pizzas make lots of lids and adults happy and will save you money on your pizza making.