Homemade pizza – faster and less expensive than delivery!

When you want a quick and inexpensive meal, ordering a pizza sounds like a good option. The pizza delivery chain near my house offers a medium 2-topping pizza for $8.99. If you want it delivered that will cost $2 more, and that will usually take about 30-40 minutes.

But what if you could make pizza at home in less time and for less money? This quick recipe for individual pizzas can be prepared in 10 minutes. The ingredients cost $6.31 to purchase, and you’ll have enough ingredients for 8 servings – that’s only $0.79 a serving!

For this recipe, I used whole-wheat sandwich rounds as the crust, but English muffins and pita bread work well too. You can also get creative and choose different toppings. Broccoli, olives, turkey pepperoni, and onions are some of my other favorite choices. I was only cooking this recipe for two people, so I have plenty of leftovers to use throughout the week. The mushrooms, bell pepper, and cheese will taste great in an omelet. And I can use the leftover tomato sauce along with diced tomatoes and beef to make meat sauce served over spaghetti.

Here’s how to make the pizzas: 

1. Use one sandwich round per person. Split the bread open, so each person will have 2 mini pizzas.
2. Spread 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce on each sandwich round.
3. Top each pizza with 1.5 ounces of mozzarella cheese. You can use a low-fat variety if you’d like.
4. Add your favorite toppings.
5. Bake for 5-7 degrees in a 400-degree oven or toaster oven for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese melts.

While the pizzas baked, I steamed a bag of frozen mixed vegetables ($1.39) to complete the meal. The total cost of this meal for 2 people was only $2.97!

Food prices are from Food Lion in Durham, NC.