This New York Style Cheese Pizza Recipe features a chewy crust, sweet and tangy sauce, and plenty of gooey cheese! This pizza is almost identical to the famous slices sold on the streets of New York. And so much better than delivery!
Cheese Pizza Recipe
Greetings from Sicily! We’re finally here. And you guys… I’m never leaving! Everything about this place is perfect. I’m so happy we have 6 more days before heading to Rome. During this time I will be putting all of my effort into eating as much as humanly possible. Priorities! Also, I will be mentally storing recipe ideas. I think an Italian week is a must. Don’t you?
But enough about Italy. Today’s post is all about New York. More specifically, New York-Style Cheese Pizza! Have you ever had a slice? It is pizza perfection.
New York Pizza Dough Recipe
Great pizza starts with great pizza dough! For the crust you’ll need:
- Bread Flour: This is a high-gluten flour that has a tiny amount of barley flour and vitamin C added. The barley flour helps the yeast activate, and the vitamin C increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises and bakes. Bread flour is typically used for recipes like pizza dough and garlic knots because of the chewiness that the extra gluten provides.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar works best here.
- Active dry yeast: Be sure your yeast is not expired.
- Kosher salt: Table salt will also work.
- Water: Use a thermometer to ensure the temperature is between 110 and 115 degrees (F).
- Olive Oil: You’ll need this for the crust as well as greasing the bowl the dough will rise in.
Best Cheese for Pizza
No surprise here: Mozzarella!!! I suggest using low-moisture mozzarella cheese, which has been aged for longer and has a lower water content than fresh mozzarella. Which means your pizza is less likely to bake up soggy when using it. I also love low-moisture mozzarella because it melts great and has a delicious salty/tangy flavor to it.
Pro Tip: Freeze your cheese! I know that sounds crazy, but it’s key. Because freezing your cheese helps it melt slower, resulting in a perfectly gooey cheese pizza! Try it at least once!
Pizza Sauce
For this tangy homemade sauce, you’ll need:
- Olive Oil
- Yellow Onion
- Celery
- Garlic
- Tomato Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Parmesan Cheese
- Dried Basil
- Dried Oregano
- Salt
- Sugar
- Black Pepper
How to Make Cheese Pizza
Although this recipe may seem like a lot of work for a simple cheese pizza, all of the steps can be done ahead of time. The pizza dough makes enough for 2 pizzas! And you can freeze the pizza dough and sauce for up to 2 months! So then all you’ll need to do is thaw, assemble, and bake! And I promise it’s worth your effort! Because although delivery pizza can be delicious, nothing hits the spot like homemade cheese pizza! For a real New York dining experience, enjoy a slice of The Best New York-Style Cheesecake for dessert!
More Pizza Recipes:

The Best New York Style Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 3 and 3/4 cups bread flour
- 1 and 1/4 teaspoons sugar
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups water, 110 - 115 degrees (F)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons
For the Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For the Cheese:
- 8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded then frozen
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer; stir to combine.
- Fit mixer with dough hook.
- Turn mixer on low speed and add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil; beat until the dough forms into a ball around the hook. If the dough is super sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
- Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm area and let it double in size, about 90 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Wrap one dough well in saran wrap and place in the freezer for a later use.
- Place the dough you'll be using on a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.
For the Sauce:
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-flame. Add the onion, celery and garlic and saute until soft; about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow sauce to cool.
- Spread the sauce on pizza dough, as needed.
For the Cheese:
- Grate cheese, then place it in a large, clean bowl. Place bowl in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.
Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F).
- Roll dough out to a large circle (about 12 inches). Pour a 1/4 cup of sauce in the center and spread it around evenly. Add cheese.
- Place pizza in the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is set and the cheese is bubbling. Cut into slices and serve at once!
Notes
- The trick to a perfect pizza is a very hot oven! Be sure to crank your oven on at least 45 minutes before baking. I usually preheat mine for 1 hour. Hot oven = gooey cheese and crispy crust. YES!
This looks so good, indeed identical to the real thing!
YAY ITALY! YAY ITALIAN WEEK! YAY NY! YAY NY PIZZA!!!! Sooooo yummyyyy!!
and have so sooo much fun!!
Talking about pizza well in Italy! So fun!! Have a great time and girl this pizza! Looks perfect!
Look at all that cheese!!
Cheese is like my bestie 😉
This pizza looks so good!
Oh yum! This pizza looks SO good! I am ALL about cheese pizza. You can never go wrong 🙂
So true! Thank you!!!
Mmmmmm….. There’s nothing in the world look perfect pizza. Yours look delicious!
Have a marvelous Monday
Hope you’re having a blast in Italy! I’ll be here, stuffing my face with this pizza…
you. are. making. me. JEALOUS. but I guess I’ll have this pizza to console me over my lack of Sicily adventures 😉
Whoa this pizza. It looks amazing. Have an awesome time in Italy – I’ve always wanted to go!! Some day : )
You’ll get there, girl 🙂
Looks like the ones we get here!! Can’t wait to try it. Dude I love how many of your recipes I can make for dinner 🙂 Have a great time in Sicily!!
I’m all about the dinner lately 😉 Thank you!
Hope you’re having an amazingggg time in Sicily! I’m super jealous. This pizza sounds incredible. NY pizza really is the best! I’ve actually never made my own pizza dough before, so I’m definitely going to try this.
It’s much easier than you might think! Good luck 🙂 And happy pizza eating!
Hope you’re having a great trip! I cannot wait to try this crust!
Thank you, Jenny! The crust is GREAT 🙂
What if you don’t have a mixer?
Wow, this looks good! Just printed the recipe- I’m going to make this tonight.
Hi Amber! Yay! I hope it’s in the oven right now. Please let me know how it turns out 🙂
It was absolutely delicious! My husband and kids said it was the best crust and sauce ever. Thanks!
That just made my day! So glad to hear you all loved it 🙂 xo
seriously – picture perfect pizza! you rock
*Blushing! Thank you, Kita!!!
I NEED TO HEAR ABOUT SICILY. Also, me likey this pizza 🙂
I’m writing up a Sicily post right now, mama 🙂 xoxo
Absolutely perfect pizza! I love my pizza extra cheesy so I know I will love this recipe!
Yessss for extra cheese! You’ll definitely love this, Rachel!
Can not wait to try this out. Im from NY but I live in TN and could use some good NY Pizza.
Hi Danielle! I’m so excited for you to make this 🙂 From one New York gal to another – you’re going to love this 🙂 xo
Oh man! THIS looks like pizza perfection to me!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood
Sometimes we forget simple is best. I was thinking of making an elaborate pizza tonight, you have just changed my mind!
Hooray for simple and delicious 🙂
Can you please explain more about the importance of the cheese in the freezer? Why do you do this? Thanks!
Hi Lynda! It’s important to freeze the cheese for this kind of pizza b/c the oven is going to be super hot, so if the cheese isn’t frozen it will melt extremely fast and not stay as gooey as we want it 😉
Hi, so you might not respond in time, but the directive’s for the crust are lacking… Do you let the yeast mixture poof? And then after you mix the yeast mixture it days to add the oil and water and mix until dough forms… So I’m assuming we as the flour before you add the water/oil??
Thanks!
Haha! Never mind! My phone was showing it really wonky so I didn’t see add the flour to the yeast right away 😉 you can delete my last comment!
Hi Heather. Happy it worked out 🙂
Can you make this on a square cookie sheet instead? My son loves his pizza in squares lol
Making it tonight!
Thanks!
-Jess
Hi Jessica. While I’ve never tried, I don’t see why not 🙂 Please let me know how it works for you!
Cheese Pizzas are tastier. Thank You for providing the great post. 🙂
I made this today and it was awesome! I’ve had several failed pizza dough attempts! Your recipe was great and the dough was so easy to work with! Thank you!
Hi Melody. That is so awesome! Definitely my favorite pizza dough so far 😉 Thank you for letting me know.
What temp do bake?
Hi Hunter. You’ll preheat the oven to 450 degrees (F). All of this information is in the recipe box in the “assembly” section 🙂
Hi. I have tried the dough recipe, and it turned out great the most delicious pizza crust…but my problem now is that I ran out of bread flour..Can I sub the all purpose flour? Thanks.
Hi Crislen. So happy you enjoy this recipe! Unfortunately all-purpose flour will not yield the same results as bread flour.
This pizza looks amazing 🙂 Can you tell me. please, how many grams is 1 cup?
Thank you, Lucia. Here’s a link that might help you with the conversion 🙂 http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_grams_are_in_a_cup
Can you leave it sit on the counter for longer than 90 minutes? We’re going to be out and about and not sure if we will be back in 90 minutes, I wasn’t sure if that would effect the dough or not?
Hi Nicole. I don’t suggest keeping it out longer than 2 hours.
Hello! Your pizza looks delicious and I am going to make it soon! I was just wondering a few things. Does this make 2 pizzas and if it doesn’t can you just half the dough recipe to make one instead of have leftovers in the freezer? Do you use a pizza stone or a baking sheet? Finally, how the heck do you organize the timing so nicely!? Thank you and I hope you don’t get a headache from answering all these questions. 🙂
Pizza stone or baking sheet??
Looks delicious!
Thanks,
Michelle
Loved the crust (similar to my favorite grandmas pizza pan crust) but sorry, did not care for the sauce. Was sweet and salty but not in a good way. I doubled checked my steps and I ended up using some Raos and tomatoes with spices . Was still delicious. Liked the frozen mozzarella!!!
This would also make great soft breadsticks! Maybe add Italian herbs, garlic and butter before baking….
Only 15 miutes in the freezer? That’s new! Haha it looks great, can’t wait to try it!
I am new to cooking. The crust was great and very easy. My sauce was a bit salty. I am not sure what I did wrong…any suggestions.
I love the sauce! Did you change the recipe? I’m positive it used to contain fennel seeds.
Hi Iris. Nope, no changes have been made to the sauce!
I made the sauce recipe. It was great, but it was SO thick that with all the other ingredients, I couldn’t cook it very long . The recipe doesn’t call for water, but maybe I should have added a little. I’ll add some next time. Your thoughts, please.
You could definitely add a small splash of water, if needed! But the sauce should be quite thick, so only add a teaspoon or two at a time 🙂
How did you cook it? Preheated stone? Thin pizza sheet?
I used my stone, but didn’t preheat heat (cuz how would I spread the dough out then- and I’ve just stuck the cooked pizza Directly on the rack to cook the bottoms crust
Yum
This sauce. Is amazing. And the crust was so good ! Glad I picked this pin !
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed this pizza as much as we do 🙂