Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza

This Easy Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe makes it simple to have delicious, piping hot pizza in less time than it would take for the delivery guy.  It’s got a chewy garlic bread crust on the outside, ooey-gooey mozzarella cheese on the inside, and couldn’t be easier to put together!

We will show you how to make the best cheese stuffed crust pizza recipe. We will show you a no-fail pizza crust recipe, a variation of sauces you can use, and all the tips and tricks you'll need to know to have homemade stuffed crust pizza in no time.

Jump to:

• Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Video Tutorial
• The Best Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza
• Ingredients in Cheese Stuffed Pizza
• How to Make Homemade Stuffed Cheese Crust Pizza
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Storing and Reheating
• Cheese Stuffed Pizza Tips
• Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe

Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Video Tutorial

The Best Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza

Pizza Hut is the king of takeout Stuffed Crust Pizza and this recipe for Homemade Copycat Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe will bring you right back to the original. We'll show you how to make simple pizza dough, add your favorite pizza sauce and toppings, and a secret ingredient - string cheese to make this Copycat Pizza Hut Recipe.

Making your own stuffed crust is so simple you will absolutely wonder why you haven’t been doing this all along.  Check out our step-by-step video with instructions and tips, including how to toss your dough like a pro!

Ingredients in Cheese Stuffed Pizza

• Pizza Dough - you can make your own homemade pizza dough per our instructions or store-bought dough.  You can usualy find deli-made pizza dough by the pepperoni at the supermarket. Frozen Rhodes rolls or bread dough also work great and is so easy to have on hand.
• Mozzarella Cheese Sticks - string cheese sticks are such a great trick to have up your sleeve because they are already the perfect shape and size.  All you need to do is unwrap them!  If you don’t have any on hand, the next best option would be a block of cheese that you can just cut down into sticks.
• Butter - you’ll want to melt your butter so that you can brush it around the edges of the crust.  Either salted or unsalted will work.  Olive oil makes a great substitute.
• Garlic Salt - this is for sprinkling around the edges of the crust.  You can either purchase garlic salt or make a mixture by combining half salt and half garlic powder.

Toppings for Pizza

Our family is a pepperoni and cheese family all the way.  But it’s also our humble opinion that there are no bad pizza toppings.  Yes, we even support pineapple on pizza - whatever floats your boat!  Here are a few other ideas:

• Meat Lovers with cooked sausage, diced ham, pepperoni, cooked ground hamburger, or grilled chicken
• Margherita style with fresh basil, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella
• Spinach and Artichoke with artichoke hearts, cooked spinach, and mozzarella cheese, add some bacon on there too. 
• Veggie pizza loaded with your favorite fresh veggies, peppers, mushrooms, red onions, and mozzarella cheese
• Mexican pizza with refried beans, corn, cilantro, sliced jalapeños, cooked taco meat, and a Mexican cheese blend

Best Pizza Sauces

• Homemade Pizza Sauce
• Make your own Homemade Marinara Sauce! This takes a little longer to make, double the batch for pasta night later in the week.
• Spread a thin layer of Garlic Spread over your crust before adding cheese and any toppings.
• Use Sundried Tomato Alfredo Sauce to make a white pizza.
• Try using the Homemade Pesto from this Chicken Pesto Pasta recipe.

How to Make Homemade Stuffed Cheese Crust Pizza

1. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast and mix well.  Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes or until it becomes frothy and bubbly.  
2. Once your yeast has “proofed,” add the olive oil, salt, and about 1 ½ cups of flour.  Using the dough hook, mix until all of the ingredients are completely combined.  
3. Add in the rest of the flour, about a ¼ cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl.
4. Mix on low speed for another 1-2 minutes, then cover and let the dough rest in a warm place for 15 minutes or until about doubled in size.  You can also wrap it tightly and store it in the fridge overnight if you want to make your dough a day ahead.  

Once you’ve got your dough, it’s time to get cooking:

1. Form the dough into a round.  Lightly flour the countertop and remove pizza dough from the large bowl.  Form into a nice, round ball.  Using your fingertips, press about 1" from the edges of the dough ball all the way around.  Then lift the dough and use your knuckles to carefully spread it out into a thin and even round.  Keep using your knuckles to spread out any areas that are a little thick.
2. Toss or roll the dough.  Using both hands, toss the dough making 90" turns (see video for more on this - you can also use a rolling pin if you are more comfortable).
3. Add dough to pan.  Place your dough onto your 15" pizza pan (or 18” x 13” baking sheet) and press the edges of your dough out past the edges of the pan by about 1".
4. Stuff crust with cheese.  Take your mozzarella string cheese sticks and line them up about ½"-¾” from the edge of your pizza, and roll the dough over the top.  Take the dough over the cheese, pinching it to cover the cheese to secure them in place.  Continue all around the edge of the pizza dough.  Patch any holes that may have formed by pressing the dough together, and gently press to spread out any thicker areas that you still see.
5. Add sauce and cheese.  Using a pastry brush, brush the melted butter over the stuffed edges of your dough, then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Spoon the marinara sauce evenly over the dough, then sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top of the sauce.  If you are using pepperoni, place the slices evenly over the cheese.
6. Bake.  In an oven preheated to 400 degrees, bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is lightly browned around the edges.  You can also use a spatula or fork to carefully lift up the pizza to check if your crust's bottom is golden brown.  
7. Serve.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing and Reheating

• Refrigerator: store leftovers either wrapped in foil or inside an airtight container. A ziplock bag works great too.
• To reheat: you can either microwave leftover Stuffed Crust Pizza for about 30 seconds on high, reheat it in a 350-degree oven, on a baking sheet until warm, or place it in the air fryer for about 8 minutes or until the cheese is melted again.

Cheese Stuffed Pizza Tips

• You can make the dough a day ahead of time and keep it wrapped tightly in the fridge overnight.
• If you don’t have a round pizza pan, substitute a baking sheet instead.
• Using mozzarella cheese sticks makes stuffing your crust a cinch.  You can also use slices of mozzarella if that’s all that you have on hand.
• Add your favorite toppings!
• You can also wrap your pieces of string cheese in pepperoni for a fun pepperoni cheese-filled pizza crust recipe.
• Make this even easier by using store-bought dough.  You can usually find deli-made pizza dough by the pepperoni at the supermarket. Frozen Rhodes rolls or bread dough also works great and is so easy to have on hand.

More Pizza Recipes

• Pizza Pinwheels
• Grilled Pizza Dough
• French Bread Pizza
• Hawaiian Pizza
• Calzones
• Pesto Flatbread
• Sausage Homemade Flatbread
• Pizza Monkey Bread
• Taco Pizza
• Fruit Pizza
• More Pizza Recipes

More Cheesy Recipes

• Jalapeno Artichoke Dip
• Cheesy Breadsticks
• Easy Alfredo Sauce
• Cheese Ball with Ham

If you’ve tried this recipe, please rate it and leave a comment on this post. I love hearing feedback from you helps me and other readers too! If you love Pinterest,  feel free to leave a comment and photo there too.  Also, if you like to share, use the hashtag #thecarefreekitchen on Instagram and tag me @thecarefreekitchen so I can find you and give your post some love. You can also find me on Facebook at The Carefree Kitchen. Thank you!!

This Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza recipe makes it simple to have delicious, piping hot pizza in no time.  It’s got a chewy garlic bread crust on the outside, ooey-gooey mozzarella cheese on the inside, and can be topped with any of your favorite pizza toppings.

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