Pizza Recipes & Ideas

A fast and fancy dinner for any night of the week.

It's better — and faster — than delivery.

From classic to unconventional and everything in between.

Leftovers make a fantastic lunch, too.

Between the smart shortcuts, quick cooking time, and the fact that my kids devour it, these flatbreads are my family's no-fail Miracle Meal.

Everything you love about the appetizer, transformed into a 5-ingredient pizza.

Dare we say it's better than cauliflower?

Besides the crackled crust and bungee pulls of melted cheese, the beauty of grilled pizza is that all the real work is done ahead, so the final cooking goes fast.

Use them as the base for a Mediterranean-inspired spread.

I’m not one of those moms who likes to hide vegetables in my kids’ foods, but I’m certainly not above covering vegetables with cheese and serving them up as pizza! Veggie supreme pizza is not only a way to get kids (and grown-ups) to eat more vegetables — it’s also a thoughtful way to clear out the crisper drawer at the end of the week.

Because every vegetable secretly wants to grow up and be a pizza.

A version of this post was originally sent to our email subscribers yesterday, January 29. To receive Sara Kate’s weekly email, sign up in the column to the left or click here. Something tasty will arrive in your inbox every Thursday.

Last year I spent some time on Kea, a completely un-touristy Greek island off the coast of Athens. I went to spend a week cooking with Aglaia Kremezi, a thoughtful cook and talented teacher of Mediterranean cuisine. She had just finished the manuscript for a vegetarian cookbook and so many of the dishes I learned came from that body of work. My stained photocopied recipes and frayed notes from that trip have occupied a permanent place in my kitchen ever since that trip.

If it were up to my husband, we’d eat pizza for dinner every single night. Yes, even though we have a standing Pizza Friday each week, it’s just not enough for him. So I’m never surprised when he suggests these flatbreads for dinner, seeing as they’re essentially pizza with a fancy name. I usually let it slide since they’re such a quick, satisfying meal and I will also happily eat them on repeat.

It's the ultimate party appetizer.

A two-ingredient crust meets some of the season's best veggies.

green leeksglass of proseccoLeek, Ricotta, and Lemon Zest Flatbread2 large leeks1 red-skinned waxy potato1 16-ounce tub ricotta cheese4 sprigs thyme1 batch pizza dough or a ball of store bought1 cup shredded Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheesezest from two lemonssalt and pepper Pre-heat the oven to 450°. If you have a baking stone, place this in the oven now. ***This can also be done over on the grill outside. Check out instructions for this here.

Bread. One of the most fundamental yet soul satisfying foods known to man. Then why is it so darn intimidating? Bread baking isn’t something I do very often. It’s not for the want of it, honestly who wouldn’t want the warm scent of freshly-baked bread wafting through the house? It’s the time it takes, the kneading and proofing and, quite frankly, the fear of failure. Bread baking is kind of scary isn’t it?

I’ll make no claims to authenticity with this recipe. It’s really more like an Indian-style calzone than the stuffed naan I’ve ordered in restaurants. But once those potatoes go all creamy in their spiced sauce and the flatbread bakes into a perfect toasty pocket on the grill, I’m pretty sure all those distinctions become moot.

I’ve shared how much more likely I am to eat breakfast when it’s a meze style – I just love being able to sample from a spread of olives, cheese, fresh vegetables, bread. Pita is nice, but when I have a little extra time, I make up a batch of manakish zaatar to eat over a few days. Topped with a fragrant, zingy blend of spices, these Lebanese flatbreads make lovely snacks and appetizers, too.

Here’s a recipe that can easily work both as a party-worthy appetizer or as a light supper, perhaps served with a salad dressed in a sharp, mustardy vinaigrette. The sweet caramelized onions, sharp goat cheese and pungent fresh basil work together beautifully, especially when supported by a crisp but chewy flatbread. Basil isn’t exactly in season right now but it’s pretty easy to find wherever you go.

Whether you choose the toppings or let your guests join in on the fun, pizzas and flatbreads are great crowd pleasers. I’m especially fond of socca, a chewy, crispy, gluten-free flatbread made from chickpea flour. As an appetizer or main course socca can be served plain or topped, like this one for spring. It features an herby, lemony pesto and fresh salad — plus it should even satisfy the worst dinner guest ever!

Pizza and flatbreads are in constant dinner rotation at my house. I’m always shocked at how quickly homemade dough comes together (not to mention that it freezes like a dream) so we always have an extra round or two on any given weeknight. And because you can justify putting practically anything on top, there is nothing you can’t throw in the mix — even potatoes and truffle oil! What is flatbread exactly?

I’ll be honest: The appetizer is often the last thing I think about when planning a dinner party. But as someone who can never quite get dinner on the table when expected, I find an appetizer to be all-too-necessary for forestalling hunger pangs among my guests. This is where a simple yet elegant first course like this flatbread becomes extremely handy. I am a sweet potato fiend.

It’s amazing what you can do with a pound of pizza dough. Of course you can make a traditional pizza, but why not get a little more creative? This easy flatbread, which can do double duty as an appetizer or as a full meal, has a fun combination of grapes, Taleggio cheese, and walnuts — all on whatever pizza dough you like best. This easy flatbread starts with pizza dough, and the kind you choose is up to you.

If you want a quick, fresh-off-the-griddle flatbread, it doesn’t get much easier than this dough that uses just two ingredients. In just about 30 minutes from start to finish, you’ll be tucking into tender flatbreads that can be eaten with dip, rolled up with your favorite fillings, or used to sop up something saucy that you’re serving for dinner. Oh, and guess what? There’s no stand mixer or special equipment required. Here’s how we do it.

Harness the flavorful power of pesto in these easy grilled chicken and cheese flatbreads.

Do you ever reach the end of the week and feel like there’s absolutely nothing in the fridge and takeout seems to be the only option? This flatbread is for you. Tender yet crisp, it can be turned into pizza, sandwiches, or even fill out a hearty cheese and snack board for Friday movie night. These flatbreads take about an hour and a half from start to finish, so start them before you grate the cheese, make a sauce, or just continue to stare into the barren fridge any longer.

You know those decadent flatbread pizzas that you devour at your favorite wine bar with friends? You can totally make those at home when you need a fast and fancy snack for book club (aka wine-drinking club) or even a date night at home. These flatbreads are everything you want in a grown-up, restaurant-inspired pizza. A crisp crust cradles jammy figs, salty prosciutto, and peppery arugula while pops of gorgonzola add just enough funky tang.

This is the best kind of sheet pan pizza.

If it were up to my fiancé, the only appetizer that would be served in our apartment would be Bagel Bites. That’s not what these are, but I’ll tell you — he declared that these are better. Maybe it’s because the hard, flavorless mini bagels are replaced with extra-buttery, flaky puff pastry squares, which are topped with juicy fresh tomatoes and melted fresh mozzarella.

The perfect pizza crust at home is chewy and crispy, with a slightly yeasty flavor. It should be easy enough to throw together on a Friday afternoon before friends come over. This is universally true for both traditional pizza and gluten-free pizza crust, despite the fact that each mixes and bakes up slightly different. Working with a readily available gluten-free flour blend, we set out to make an easy gluten-free pizza dough.

A homemade take on the microwave French bread pizza from my childhood, still weeknight-friendly, thanks to some help from the grocery store.

Five simple ingredients tag team on a dinner that everyone at the table will love — including mom and dad, given all of the veggies tucked inside!

You only need four ingredients to make it.

Occasions when having this dish in your back pocket is handy: post-game Little League gatherings, movie nights, midnight study sessions, football playoff parties, birthdays bashes — need I go on? If you’ve got a pizza-loving crowd, this appetizer is there for you. Here’s how to put it together. There are few occasions when I actually recommend low-fat cheese, but this is one of them. Look for low-fat, low-moisture mozzarella cheese — don’t get fancy.

Sheet pan pizza isn't reinventing the wheel or anything (see what I did there?), but it's a classic that never gets a single complaint.

It just has this way of drawing people together — which is what the holiday is all about.

They're stuffed with melty cheese and lots of pepperoni.

Goodbye, frozen pies!

There's a reason why it's famous.

"In short, it was more like pizza bread than pizza crust."

Maybe he should stick to the grill.

It's packed with three kinds of meat and just as many cheeses.

Brilliant.

They're cheesy, saucy, and piled high with veg.

I could eat it any time of day, any day of the week.

Ancient Grains for Modern MealsMaria and I have the same literary agent, so we were delighted to meet up in person at a recent culinary conference. She is intensely warm and lively in person, practically crackling with life. At the moment I met her, she was literally staggering from joy; her book had just been named in the New York Times’ roundup of good summer cookbooks.

My mother–in–law’s signature dessert is this colorful twist on an easy–to–assemble, perfectly light, fruit galette. Somewhere during the years where she was raising two athletic boys and feeding their gang of hungry friends, she deemed it “dessert pizza” and a classic was born. Today, we are lucky enough to have her share the recipe with all of us.

While meandering the internets recently, I found several references to an odd but intriguing method of making pizza. The pizza is started on the stovetop using a very hot cast iron griddle or inverted skillet and then the whole thing is whisked to the broiler to finish cooking. It seemed worth trying so I gave it a whirl last night. Except for a few minor adjustments, I think it works! Read on for the full story and recipe.