Is It Cheaper to Make Pizza at Home?
Eating pizza as a family once a week is a huge habit at our house. According to The Daily Meal, one-third of Americans eat pizza at least once a week. They also noted that the average American eats 15 slices of pizza a month. Unfortunately, eating take-out pizza every week for a family of 4, can really add up to a lot of money!
Average Cost of a Large Pizza in the US
Let’s take a look at some costs associated with an average pizza night:
The average price of a 16 inch pizza in the US is $16.59 (based on more than 74,000 prices from pizza places across the country.)
The average price of a large frozen pizza is about $6.00 (Frozen pizzas generally range from $3-9 depending on brand and toppings)
So that means that is you purchase 1 take-out pizza per week for your family for a year, that totals: $862.68! (If you usually order 2 pizzas like my family, that is $1725.36 a year! WOW!
Now if you switched to just buying one frozen pizza a week, your total for one year would be $312. That is a savings of 74% per year on a family pizza night.
So, for my family that would be $624 vs $1725.36. (Still a 74% savings)
Why is frozen pizza so expensive?
Frozen pizza may seem like it is a cheaper option than take-out pizza, but it is still pretty expensive. When you add up the cost to make a pizza at home, frozen pizza is 18 times more expensive. At home you don’t have to pay employees, overhead costs, and giant equipment, so your costs are very low for just ingredients, and you can truly customize it any way that you like! By making a pizza at home you can also cut down on the high calories, sodium, and carbs that are typically found in take-out pizza and frozen pizzas.
How Much Does a Homemade Pizza Cost?
1. Ready Made Crust Pizza
This is really just the easiest option to make pizza at home. These are premade pizza crusts that are usually sold in a package of 2. They typically taste pretty similar to a freshly made pizza and sometimes you can score a great deal if they are on sale! As a bonus, these premade crusts can also be frozen until you are ready to use them. So if you find an awesome deal, this would be a great item to stock up on.
All you need to do is add your sauce and toppings, then heat in the oven. From start to finish, this pizza night using a ready made crust will take you about 30 minutes tops.
The average cost of ready made crusts tend to run about $3, so a year of family pizza night is now $156. (82% savings from take-out pizza)
2. Pizza Crust Mix
If you look in the baking aisle at the grocery store, you can typically find pouches of pizza crust mix near the biscuit mix. These pre-measured mixes are super easy to make and in general you just add water and mix with a fork. Like seriously it is so easy, that I let my 4-year-old help my mix up the dough.
After you have mixed up the dough, it proofs (doubles in size) for about 30 minutes. Then you add your favorite sauce and toppings, and back for about 15 minutes. From start to finish, pizza night using a pizza crust mix will take you about an hour.
The average cost of a pizza crust mix is about $1.50, so a year of family pizza is now only $78. (90% savings from take-out pizza)
3. Truly Homemade Pizza
Let’s first look at the ingredients that go into making pizza dough from scratch. You will need all-purpose flour, oil, sugar, water, and dry active yeast. All the items needed to make the dough except the yeast, are things that most of us always have in our house at all times. Even if you needed to buy a 5lb bag of flour, it cost about $1.50 at Wal-mart.
Now just like a pizza crust mix, all you need is a fork to make the dough. It is so easy to make at home and Pinterest is full of different recipes. The most expensive ingredient is the dry active yeast, and you typically buy it in a 3 pack for less than a dollar. From start to finish, pizza night using a truly homemade pizza crust is going to take about an hour.
The average cost of the yeast needed for the crust is about 33 cents a pizza, so that makes pizza for a year cost about $17.
Is it cheaper to make your own pizza?
$17 a year for family pizza night is just incredible. When you compare spending $17 for homemade pizza versus $862.68 for take-out pizza, that is a savings of 98%. You would have an extra $845.68 in your pocket. That money could be used to pay off debts, go on a vacation, pay for christmas, or anything else that is important to you.
Spending time with your family over a delicious meal is priceless in itself, but if you could save an additional 98% off the cost, that is huge. There are also over benefits from making pizza at home that can really add up.
Is homemade pizza better than store bought?
- Make it a learning activity with your kids. They get to learn how to measure, pick their own ingredients, and it’s just fun to get a little dirty and make yummy pizza!
- Make it super healthy. You control the ingredients, so you get to control how healthy you want to make the pizza. Load it up with vegetables and low fat cheese, or try out a cauliflower or whole wheat crust options. The possibilities are endless.
- Food Allergies and Special Diets. Just like making it healthier, you can also adjust the pizza to work for your family. It can be made gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, or sugar free. If you have ever ordered a gluten free pizza, you know the cost is like double of a normal pizza. The homemade version will save you a ton of money.
- Use up your leftovers. Personally, I look at pizzas the way my mother looked at casseroles. I have made so many pizzas out of what was left in the fridge at the end of the week. Take some leftover meat, some already cooked vegetables, and just add sauce and cheese. We have made some very unique pizzas that turned out awesome like fried chicken and potato pizza. I know it sounds weird, but it was very tasty!
- Explore new flavors. For a long time, I just wasn’t a fan of tomato sauce on a pizza. It was too acidic, and it upset my stomach. Then I realized white pizza sauce was a thing. So, we started making all of our pizzas using jarred alfredo sauce. Since then, I now use ranch dressing, olive oil, and even leftover chili as a sauce. Once you really start making pizza on your own, it is amazing the flavor combinations that are available.
- Picky Eaters. Making one large pizza is pretty simple but cutting the dough into 4 pieces and making personal size pizzas are just as simple. If you have picky eaters or if everyone likes different toppings, just make your own pizza buffet and have everyone build their own pizza. No more trying to satisfy everyone with just one set of toppings.
If switching from ordering pizza to making your own seems like a huge challenge, check out our “No Spend Day Challenge” to baby step your way into it and save money!
