Spicy Sausage Pizza Recipe

Name: Spicy Sausage Pizza
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 14 min
Ingredients: 2 pounds prepared pizza dough , divided into 4 balls; 1 cup marinara sauce, store-bought or homemade; 1 pound mozzarella cheese (low moisture), grated; 8 ounces spicy Italian sausage; 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes; Fresh basil, garnish; Extra flour, for rolling and throwing the pizza; Hot Honey Dip:; 1/4 cup honey; 1 tablespoon hot sauce; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

When most people think of pizza, they first think of pepperoni. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with pepperoni pizza, but I’ve been experimenting with this Spicy Sausage Pizza, and I think it can hold up to any other pizza topping out there. This is especially true if you pair it with some hot honey for dipping. This pizza is a great addition to your homemade pizza arsenal.

The Best Dough for This Pizza

There are many different pizza dough recipes out there, but for my money (and time) I like No-Knead Pizza Dough. Generally, I’ll make it a day in advance so it has plenty of time to rise slowly. Then I take it out at least an hour before I’m ready to make pizza so it can come to room temperature.

If you don’t want to bother with homemade dough, you can buy dough at most supermarkets these days, or if you have a local pizzeria, they will most likely sell you a few dough balls for a few bucks.

Easy pizza recipe with sausage and basil — Nick Evans

Toppings for Spicy Sausage Pizza

The toppings for this pizza are few, but it’s important to not over-top the pizza. Add just enough sauce to lightly coat the dough and enough cheese so the pizza is covered, but not so much that the cheese is piled on.

For the sausage, find a good-quality spicy Italian sausage and tear it into very tiny meatballs. Small meatballs are important so that the sausage cooks all the way through during cooking. Dot the entire pizza with these meatballs, and they will cook very quickly in the hot oven.

Other than that, I like a little sprinkle of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes on my sausage pizza. Add some fresh basil when it comes out of the oven, and you are in for pizza perfection!

Hot Honey Dipping Sauce

One of my little tips for homemade pizza (any homemade pizza!) is to make this hot honey sauce. It takes literally seconds to stir together the honey, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes and is always a hit. After you finish your pizza, dip the crust in this hot honey, and you’ll never want non-honeyed pizza crust again!

Cooking Pizza in the Oven

Cook this pizza on a pizza stone in a 500°F oven. Preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes so the pizza stone is nice and hot. Then slide the pizza onto the stone.

The pizza will need to cook for 8 to 10 minutes in a traditional oven to get cooked through. This will vary to some degree based on your oven and pizza stone, so check the pizza every few minutes. Or you can grill the pizza.

How to Grill Pizza

Reheating Leftover Pizza Like a Pro

If you have leftover pizza (lucky!), please avoid the microwave! All that work will be wasted as your crust turns soggy in the microwave. Instead, add the pizza to a skillet and warm it over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes so the crust heats up. For the last minute, add a lid to the skillet so the cheese melts. Be very careful removing the pizza from the skillet. It will be very hot!

The Best Way to Reheat Leftover Pizza

Looking for The Best Sausage for Pizza? Try these!

If you don’t have or don’t like Italian sausage, try these other spicy sausages.

Merguez
Chorizo
Andouille
Sobrassada
Spicy Pepperoni

Raw or Cooked Sausage to Start?

Start with raw sausage—not in a casing—on your pizza. Tear the raw sausage up into tiny pieces, sort of like meatballs. The tiny pieces will cook completely while the rest of the pizza cooks.

More Pizza Recipes to Try

Spicy Sausage Pizza

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 4 mins

Total Time 14 mins

Servings 8

Yield 4 pizzas

2 pounds pizza dough, divided into 4 balls
1 cup marinara sauce, store bought or homemade
1 pound mozzarella cheese (low moisture), grated
8 ounces spicy Italian sausage
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 leaf fresh basil, for garnish
Extra flour, for rolling and throwing the pizza

Hot Honey Dip:

1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Warm the dough (if refrigerated):

If your dough has been refrigerated, take it out of the fridge an hour before you want to make pizza.

Divide the dough into 4 balls and let them sit at room temperature so they become easier to work with. Keep the dough covered with plastic, though, so it doesn’t dry out. (If your dough was not refrigerated, divide the dough just before shaping.)

Nick Evans
Preheat the oven:

Preheat the oven to 500°F with a pizza stone for 20 minutes so the stone is very hot.
Prepare the hot honey dip:

Add honey to a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 10 seconds. Then stir the honey together with hot sauce and red pepper flakes. Serve the honey as a dip with any and all pizza!
Assemble the pizza:

On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 dough ball until it forms a 10-inch round. It should be pretty thin. Top the pizza with a few tablespoons of marinara sauce. I don’t like my pizzas very saucy, but add an extra spoon of sauce if you do.

Then top the pizza with 4 ounces of cheese and dot on 2 ounces of spicy sausage. Be sure to tear the sausage into very tiny meatballs so they cook quickly. Season the pizza with red pepper flakes and a tiny pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook the pizza:

Slide the topped pizza onto the pizza stone and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the crust is crispy and golden brown and sausage is cooked.
Prepare the next pizza:

While the first pizza cooks, prepare the next pizza.
Cool briefly and serve:

Remove the cooked pizza from the oven, and let it cool briefly. Garnish with fresh basil, slice, and serve with the hot honey dip. Repeat for cooking the remaining pizzas.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
572	Calories
26g	Fat
57g	Carbs
26g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	572
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 26g	34%
Saturated Fat 11g	54%
Cholesterol 62mg	21%
Sodium 1117mg	49%
Total Carbohydrate 57g	21%
Dietary Fiber 3g	10%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 26g
Vitamin C 1mg	5%
Calcium 313mg	24%
Iron 4mg	22%
Potassium 322mg	7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.