Easy Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe {Video}

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!

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
• Cheese Stuffed Pizza Tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Storing and Reheating
• Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe

Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza Video Tutorial

The Best Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza

Our recipe for Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza will bring you right back to the original Pizza Hut cheese stuffed pizza.  All it takes is a simple pizza dough, your favorite pizza sauce and toppings, and a secret ingredient - string cheese.

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 you can even store bought dough.  
• 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.
• Shredded Mozzarella - if you are looking for a substitute for mozzarella, you can try a three cheese blend. Most pizza parlors use a blend of provolone, mozzarella, and Romano cheese in their pizza blend.

Toppings

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

Sauces

Just like toppings, pizza sauce is really a personal preference.  We usually use marinara sauce from a can or jar in a pinch.  Or, you can often find pre-made marinara sauce in the deli area at your grocery store.

When you have a bit more time, these recipes would all make amazing sauces and spreads for your Homemade Stuffed Crust Pizza:

• Make your own Homemade Marinara Sauce!
• 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

First, you’ll need to make the pizza dough.  For step-by-step instructions on homemade pizza dough, check out our full post on the subject.  Here are the basics:

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 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 cheeses 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 and see if the bottom of your crust is golden brown.  
7. Serve.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy!

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, just substitute a baking sheet instead.
• Using mozzarella cheese sticks makes stuffing your crust a cinch.  You can also use shredded mozzarella or slices of mozzarella if that’s all that you have on hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing and Reheating

• Refrigerator: store leftovers either wrapped in foil or inside an airtight container.
• To reheat: you can either microwave leftover Stuffed Crust Pizza, or reheat in a 350 degree oven until warm.

Here are a few more pizza recipes that we love!

• Pizza Pinwheels
• Grilled Pizza Dough
• French Bread Pizza
• Calzones
• Pesto Flatbread
• Sausage Homemade Flatbread
• Pizza Monkey Bread
• Taco Pizza
• Classic Pizza Dough Recipe
• Fruit Pizza

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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