Italian

Pepperoni Pizza (Pizza alla Diavola) — served

Serving

Italian Quick & easy

Pepperoni Pizza (Pizza alla Diavola)

Name: Pepperoni Pizza (Pizza alla Diavola)
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 ball pizza dough (made with all-purpose flour); 150g (2/3 cup) tomato/pizza sauce; 200g (7 oz) mozzarella cheese, shredded; 80g (3 oz) pepperoni slices; Olive oil and dried oregano; Fresh basil (optional)

A crisp-crust pizza blanketed with mozzarella and spicy pepperoni.

25 minutes

Serves 4

Dinner/Lunch

11 min prep

19 min cook

Contains common allergens

Dairy Wheat

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Good to know

Crispy
Ready in under 30 minutes

Matched from this dish's own ingredients and timing. Browse more: crispy recipes 30-minute meals

Instructions

6 steps

1
Preheat: Heat the oven (with a pizza stone or steel if you have one) to its highest setting, around 250°C (480°F).
2
Stretch the Dough: Stretch the dough into a round on a floured surface, keeping a slightly thicker rim.
3
Sauce and Cheese: Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce, scatter the mozzarella cheese, and arrange the pepperoni on top.
4
Season: Add a pinch of oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.
5
Bake: Bake for 8-12 minutes until the crust is blistered and the pepperoni edges are crisp and cupped.
6
Serve: Finish with fresh basil if using, slice, and serve hot.

Pepperoni Pizza (Pizza alla Diavola) — plated and served — Serving moment. How Pepperoni Pizza (Pizza alla Diavola) looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

69/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 80

Kid-friendly 55

Weeknight-easy 86

Budget-friendly 72

Great leftovers 50

Pantry-friendly 47

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

260

Calories

15 g

Protein

3 g

Carbs

20 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Pizza alla Diavola ('devil's pizza') is the Italian predecessor to what became the American pepperoni pizza. It uses spicy salami or Calabrian soppressata rather than the milder cured sausage that Italian-American butchers created for the North American market. Pepperoni as we know it was developed by Italian immigrants in the early 20th century as a shelf-stable blend of pork and beef seasoned to suit American tastes; it became the most popular pizza topping in the United States by the 1960s.

Listahan note

This version cups the pepperoni by using thin-sliced whole muscle pepperoni and baking on a screaming-hot surface — the edges curl up and crisp, creating little pools of orange-red fat.

Technique cues

Use natural casing pepperoni sliced thin (about 1/16 inch) rather than the pre-sliced deli kind; natural casing slices curl into cups when exposed to oven heat and hold rendered fat inside, intensifying flavor.
Spread the tomato sauce in a thin, even layer and stop about an inch from the edge; a thick sauce layer prevents the cheese from browning and makes the crust steamy instead of crisp.
Bake on the highest rack with the broiler engaged for the last 60 to 90 seconds if you want the cheese to blister and the pepperoni tips to char slightly, replicating a wood-fired result.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Preheat the oven and baking stone or steel to 500 F or higher at least 45 minutes before baking. Prep the sauce, shred the cheese, and portion the dough while the oven heats.
Make-ahead: Dough balls can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and cold-fermented in the refrigerator, developing more flavor each day. Sauce keeps refrigerated for a week.
Leftover move: Reheat slices in a dry skillet over medium heat with a lid for 2 to 3 minutes — this re-crisps the bottom without drying the top, far better than microwaving.
Cleanup rhythm: A baking steel stays in the oven and rarely needs cleaning beyond a brush. Line the pizza peel with cornmeal or parchment to prevent sticking and easy sliding.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

pizza dough

foundation

Purpose: A properly fermented dough develops a complex, slightly chewy crust that stands up to the rich toppings.

Handling: Stretch by hand on a lightly floured surface rather than rolling; rolling compresses the bubbles that form the open crumb.

Adaptation: Store-bought fresh dough works well; avoid the shelf-stable tubed doughs which bake up biscuit-like.

crushed San Marzano tomatoes

sauce base

Purpose: San Marzanos have lower acidity and more natural sweetness than standard canned tomatoes, giving a sauce that does not need much cooking.

Handling: Season with salt, a pinch of sugar, and dried oregano; no cooking required for a fresh pizza sauce.

Adaptation: High-quality domestic whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand are a fine substitute.

whole-milk low-moisture mozzarella

melting cheese

Purpose: Whole-milk mozzarella melts into puddles with golden-brown blisters; part-skim stays white and stretchy but lacks the same richness.

Handling: Shred from a block; toss with a pinch of salt and let it air-dry on paper towels for 15 minutes if the shreds feel wet.

Adaptation: A blend of mozzarella and provolone adds a sharper flavor layer.

pepperoni

defining topping

Purpose: The rendered fat colors the cheese orange-red and distributes the spiced, smoky flavor across every slice.

Handling: Slice thinly if buying a stick; arrange in a single layer over the cheese so each slice can curl independently.

Adaptation: Hot sopressata or Calabrian salami for a spicier, more Italian-style version.

Technique notes

The single biggest upgrade in home pizza is a fully preheated baking steel or stone; launching a pizza onto a room-temperature pan is the primary reason homemade pizza tastes bready instead of crispy.
Do not overload the pizza — 4 ounces of cheese and 20 to 25 pepperoni slices on a 12-inch pie is the right ratio; more topping means more steam, which softens the crust.
If the pepperoni is not cupping and crisping, your oven is not hot enough; crank to maximum temperature and let the steel preheat for a full 45 to 60 minutes.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Use a gluten-free pizza crust (par-baked rounds work well for home ovens); top and bake as directed, reducing bake time by 2 to 3 minutes.
Dairy-free direction: Vegan mozzarella shreds melt acceptably; add them in the last 4 to 5 minutes of baking as they scorch faster than dairy cheese.
Lower-sodium direction: Use a reduced-sodium mozzarella and skip salting the sauce; pepperoni is inherently salty so the dish needs less added sodium than you might expect.

Serve alongside

Garlic knots with marinara
Fennel and citrus salad
Antipasto platter with olives and roasted peppers
Peroni or Moretti lager
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Classic Coca-Cola (the American pairing that made this dish iconic)

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Store leftover slices refrigerated in a flat container or stacked with parchment between them for up to 3 days.
Freeze baked slices individually on a tray, then transfer to a zip bag for up to 2 months; reheat directly in a 400 F oven for 8 to 10 minutes from frozen.

Equipment

Baking steel or pizza stone preheated at maximum oven temperature for at least 45 minutes
Pizza peel (wood or metal) dusted with semolina for launching without sticking
Pizza cutter with a sharp wheel for clean slices

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