An Italian-style Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza, made with crispy cupped pepperoni, sweet and spicy hot honey, and cool dollops of ricotta cheese. This recipe is a bold and flavorful take on a classic favorite, known for its perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and savory elements.
Table Of Contents
Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza is made with a traditional pizza sauce base and melted mozzarella cheese layered over a crispy, chewy crust. On top, slices of cupping pepperoni give the pizza a hearty, meaty kick. Drizzles of hot honey add sweetness with a subtle heat. Topped off with fresh ricotta "flowers", this recipe has a balanced smoky, warm, sweet and spicy flavor that you'll find irresistable.
Hot honey pepperoni ricotta pizza has quickly become our favorite Friday night or weekend dinner, along with a Mediterranean-style pizza or spinach feta flatbread when we want to stick to a healthier choice.
Tips For Making The Best Pizza
- For the best pizza, start out with a homemade pizza dough. You can use my NY-style neapolitan pizza dough, thin crust pizza dough (or thin crust dough made in the bread machine), classic thicker crust dough and even a flatbread like na'an.
- Make it in a wood-fired pizza oven. This has been a game changer for us, but if you don't have a pizza oven use your oven at a high heat. I cook my pizza on a preheated seasoned pizza stone at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes (depending on the style of crust).
- Use a wooden pizza peel generously coated with semolina flour. Spread the dough and add the sauce, cheese and toppings on the peel so it will easily slide off onto the pizza stone. Use as much semolina flour as needed, and make sure the dough isn't sticking to the peel before adding the toppings. Shake the pizza peel a little bit to check.
Tips From The Chef
- Drizzle the pizza with as much or as little hot honey as you want. Get a good quality hot honey and test it before using it on your pizza. Some brands are more mild than others, some are sweeter and some are spicier. Find one you love for the best pizza flavor.
- Add as many ricotta dollops as you'd like and sprinkle with some fresh herbs like basil or oregano for a more refreshing, earthy flavor.
Ingredients
To make hot honey pepperoni pizza you need:
- 1 pound of pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
- ½ cup of pizza sauce or marinara sauce (store bought or try our go to no-cook pizza sauce)
- 1 ½ cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
- 20-30 slices of cupping pepperoni
- ½ - 1 cup of ricotta cheese (plus a piping bag to squeeze it on the pizza)
- About ½ cup of hot honey (our favorite is Trejo's hot honey)
How To Make Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 500°F. If using a pizza stone, preheat it for at least 20 minutes in the oven.
- Stretch and roll the dough into a 12-14" round on a semolina coated pizza peel, parchment paper or olive oil coated baking sheet.
- Gently spread a thin layer of pizza sauce onto the dough without pressing down too hard. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese evenly. Layer cupping pepperoni slices generously around the pizza.
- Transfer to the pizza stone and bake on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling and browning in spots.
- Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with hot honey. Put the ricotta cheese in a piping bag with a star shaped tip. Dollop clusters of ricotta cheese on the pizza. Slice and serve.
How To Store
Store leftover pizza wrapped in foil or an airtight container for 3-5 days. It can be frozen for up to 6 months. Reheat pizza slices in the microwave, oven or air fryer until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Cup n' crisp pepperoni catch the drizzles of hot honey, keeping a generous amount of it on each slice. If you only have traditional pepperoni, that will work but the hot honey will drizzle more onto the plate rather than stay on the slices.
Goat cheese, feta cheese, jalapeños, red pepper flakes, sopressata, prosciutto, crispy bacon, basil, chives, and arugula pair well with hot honey and pepperoni.
For hot honey pepperoni pizza, the honey used is a chili-infused honey called hot honey. Tejo's hot honey and Mike's hot honey are two popular options.
Recipe
Hot Honey Pepperoni Pizza
Equipment
- pizza stone or baking sheet
Ingredients
- 14-16 oz pizza dough
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 20-30 slices cupping pepperoni
- ½-1 cup ricotta cheese
- ½ cup hot honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F. If using a pizza stone, preheat it for at least 20 minutes in the oven.
- Stretch and roll the dough into a 12-14" round on a semolina coated pizza peel, parchment paper or non-stick baking sheet.
- Gently spread a thin layer of pizza sauce onto the dough without pressing down too hard. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese evenly. Layer cupping pepperoni slices generously around the pizza.
- Bake on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling and browning in spots.
- Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with hot honey. Put the ricotta cheese in a piping bag fitted with a star shaped tip. Dollop clusters of ricotta cheese on the pizza. Slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Kristina Tipps says
This is one of the best pizza recipes! The ricotta really takes it up a level. We love it with a ton of hot honey.