I don’t know about you, but Friday night around here has typically meant that it is pizza night. My family loves a good pizza. The kid’s favorite these days has been pizza with bacon or sausage. My husband and I love trying all different types of pizza. There are so many to choose from when it comes time to picking out all your favorite toppings. You can top it with veggies such as peppers, onions and mushrooms or meat toppings like chicken, pepperoni or even shrimp. You can add fruit like pineapple and pair it with ham for a Hawaiian style pizza. To sauce or not to sauce? You have your choice of a traditional red pizza sauce, buffalo wing sauce, BBQ sauce or even a Ranch. If you like a white pizza, that is typically a white cheese like Ricotta & garlic combo (one of my favorites)!
Our local pizza shop does a great job at making pizza. They also help to make it a super easy night for me in the kitchen or should I say night off from the kitchen?! Although I occasionally like a night off from cooking, what better way to kick off your weekend than by making some homemade pizzas? I love pizza on the grill; the crust gets so nice and crispy and flavorful. They turn out great in the oven too.
It is so much fun to get the entire family involved in the pizza making. This has become one of our favorite dinners because everyone gets their own dough to make individual pizzas. I also love when the kids have a friend over for dinner when we have pizza night. It’s a great way to give the kids something fun & creative to work on together. We laugh over the shapes our pizza crust turns out sometimes. We have rolled out dough in the shapes of hearts, some that resembled the shape of states and all by accident!! They don’t have to be in perfect circles; I would say our pizzas are more rustic, which I love. By giving everyone their own dough, they can create and add any toppings they like.
We all start out by rolling out our pizza dough. Then we cook one side of the dough, remove from oven or grill. I clear off our island counter top and setup a toppings station. I like to set out all the toppings in bowls and line them across our counter. Everyone can stand around our counter for easier access to all the yummy toppings. Our toppings have consisted of shredded mozzarella cheese, grated parmesan cheese, red pizza sauce, pesto, ricotta cheese, ranch dressing, crumbled bacon, sausage, grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, sautéed mushroom & onions and spices like garlic powder, Italian seasonings just to name a few! The possibilities are endless! It is fun coming up with different toppings each time we host Make your own Pizza Night!
Pizza Topping Bar, Pizza Party!
You can brush the edges of your pizza crust with some oil. Put the pizzas back into the oven to bake or on the grill until the cheese is melted.
It is also fun to set the pizzas on platters or on cutting boards, place them in the center of your table for everyone to share. The kids are becoming more adventurous trying the different pizzas if they see them in front of them on the table with mounds of bubbly cheese melted on them.
Do you have pizza night in your house? What are some of your favorite toppings? Be sure to check out our Recipe section as we add new recipes for pizzas.
Check out my Bacon Chicken Ranch Pizza: Bacon Chicken Ranch Pizza Recipe
Check out my Wild Mushroom & Onion White Pizza: Wild Mushroom & Onion White Pizza Recipe
Check out my Buffalo Chicken Pizza: Buffalo Chicken Pizza