Pizza fritta is the BEST way to enjoy crispy Italian fried pizza at home in just 10 minutes! Layer your epic fried pizza bases with our quick pizza sauce, melty mozzarella and fresh basil for a fast and easy snack or dinner.
Table of contents
Why We Love This
Like all good Italian recipes, pizza fritta is simple food done right. In just 10 minutes you’ll be biting into fluffy, pillowy fried pizza dough that’s crispy on the edges, light on the stomach and not greasy at all.
The best part is you don’t need a wood fired pizza oven for this amazing Italian fried dough pizza – just a simple frying pan. You can literally make this pan fried pizza just about anywhere!
Related: No Knead Italian Pizza Dough / Easy Napoli Sauce
What is Pizza Fritta?
Pizza fritta or pizza fritte (literally fried pizza) originated in Naples, Italy, after World War II.
When the price of traditional Italian pizza ingredients like mozzarella, not to mention wood for pizza ovens, became very expensive, fried pizza was a cheaper way to make and serve this classic Neapolitan street food.
There are two main ways to make pizza fritta:
- Pizza Fritta Montanara – This is the full name for today’s recipe, which originated in the mountains near Naples, hence the name montanara. The dough is usually round and deep fried, with Italian tomato sauce and toppings added on top after.
- Pizza Fritta Calzone – Shaped like a half moon, this version is usually stuffed with ingredients before being deep fried. It can then be served as is, or topped with tomato sauce, Parmesan and basil leaves.
Where We Learned This
Today’s Italian pizza fritta recipe comes to you straight from Naples, Italy, the heart of fried food and the home of Italian fried pizza! Big thanks to our wonderful friend Ida and her mum Rita who shared their beloved family recipe.
What You’ll Need
- Pizza Dough – Homemade pizza dough will always taste better, but feel free to use store-bought pizza dough to save time and effort. If using store bought dough, let it sit on the bench for an hour or so first to bring it up to room temperature before you cook it. This will give you the best texture and a nice crispy outside once cooked.
- Vegetable Oil – Use a vegetable oil for frying the dough (such as canola, corn, peanut or sunflower oil). The high smoke point and low flavour profile make them perfect for shallow frying the pizza and won’t fill your kitchen with smoke or smell. Only use olive oil as a topping for flavour if you like.
- Pizza Sauce – Follow the recipe below for a quick montanara style pizza sauce using passata, garlic and olive oil. Sub with crushed tomatoes, store-bought pizza sauce or use up leftover homemade tomato pasta sauce.
- Toppings – This pizza is amazing with simple margherita style ingredients like mozzarella cheese or bite-sized bocconcini, fresh basil leaves and Parmesan cheese.
How to Make Pizza Fritta
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
For the quick pizza sauce:
- Heat up the passata in a small saucepan along with the garlic and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes for the flavours to infuse, then switch off the heat. Tip: You can skip this step if you want to use plain passata.
For the pizza fritta:
- Sprinkle flour over a clean work surface, then portion out pizza dough into pieces roughly the size of your fist. Flatten and stretch the dough out into rough circles around 1 cm / 0.4 inch thick and 10-15 cm / 4-6 inch wide.
- Pour vegetable oil into a small frying pan until it’s just covering the bottom of the pan by about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch. Heat through. Test with a wooden chopstick or toothpick and when bubbles form on the tip, it’s ready to start frying.
- Stretch each piece of dough out again just before cooking, then gently slide into the oil. Fry each piece separately for 1 minute per side until golden brown and puffy. Drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Top fried dough with sauce, mozzarella / bocconcini and fresh basil leaves or your chosen pizza toppings. Optional: Garnish with freshly grated parmesan.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Shaping the Dough – Dust your hands with flour while you shape the dough to stop it sticking to your fingers, and make it nice and easy to work with.
- Oil Temperature – Test the oil temperature with a wooden skewer or chopstick. When tiny bubbles form at the base, the oil is ready for frying.
- Dough Size – With this method your pizza bases should be perfect for a single serving, so each person can add their own toppings once the bases are cooked. Cook one piece of dough at a time to allow plenty of space for the dough to puff up. This also maintains the oil temperature and stops the dough becoming gluggy.
FAQs
You need just enough to cover your frying pan around 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch deep. Use the right size frying pan to suit the size of dough you want to make – that way you won’t have too much excess oil in the pan.
Yep, so don’t feel like you have to use all the dough at once. Portion it out and store leftover dough in the freezer in an airtight bag or container.
Frozen dough can take around an hour or two to thaw to room temperature, so plan ahead and leave enough time before you want to start cooking.
Turn leftover pizza dough into dessert pizza (similar to fried donuts). Portion the dough out into smaller pieces and cook until crispy. Drain and roll in granulated sugar or cinnamon sugar, like simplified zeppole donuts. Serve drizzled with melted chocolate or nutella, sliced strawberries and ice cream to make them even fancier!
Variations
- Bake the Crust – After frying the pizza fritta and adding your toppings, pop in the oven to bake for another minute or two. This is a nice way to add extra crunchy texture and smoky flavour! This method is great when using toppings like fresh ricotta cheese, spinach and red onion to enhance the flavour.
- Make it a Calzone – Before frying, fold the dough into a half moon shape and stuff with traditional Italian ingredients like salami with mozzarella or provolone, black olives, charred capsicum / bell pepper, eggplant, or your favourite combo of classic pizza ingredients. Press the edges to seal, then fry as normal.
- Extra Simple – Serve the fried dough with napoli sauce on the side for dipping.
More Italian recipes our readers love:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 400 g passata sub homemade tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes
- 1-2 tsp garlic finely chopped
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the pizza bases:
- 250 g pizza dough homemade or store-bought
- ½ cup vegetable oil canola, sunflower, peanut or corn oil
For the toppings:
- ½ cup mozzarella or bocconcini sliced into small pieces
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
For the quick pizza sauce (optional):
- Heat up the passata in a small saucepan along with the garlic and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes for the flavours to infuse, then switch off the heat. Tip: You can skip this step if you want to use plain passata.400 g passata, 1-2 tsp garlic, 1-2 tbsp olive oil
For the pizza fritta:
- Sprinkle flour over a clean work surface and your fingers, then portion out pizza dough into pieces roughly the size of your fist. Flatten and stretch the dough out into rough circles around 1 cm / 0.4 inch thick and 10-15 cm / 4-6 inch wide.250 g pizza dough
- Pour vegetable oil into a small frying pan until it’s just covering the bottom of the pan by about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch. Heat through. Test with a wooden chopstick or toothpick and when bubbles form on the tip, it’s ready to start frying.½ cup vegetable oil
- Stretch each piece of dough out again just before cooking, then gently slide into the oil. Fry each piece separately for 1 minute per side until golden brown and puffy. Drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
- Top fried dough with quick pizza sauce or passata, mozzarella / bocconcini and fresh basil leaves or your chosen pizza toppings. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan.400 g passata, ½ cup mozzarella or bocconcini, ½ cup fresh basil leaves, 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
Video
Recipe Notes
- Pizza Dough – Homemade pizza dough will always taste better, but feel free to use store-bought pizza dough to save time and effort. If using store bought dough, let it sit on the bench for an hour or so first to bring it up to room temperature before you cook it. This will give you the best texture and a nice crispy outside once cooked.
- Shaping the Dough – Dust your hands with flour while you shape the dough to stop it sticking to your fingers, and make it nice and easy to work with.
- Dough Size – With this method your pizza bases should be perfect for a single serving, so each person can add their own toppings once the bases are cooked. Cook one piece of dough at a time to allow plenty of space for the dough to puff up. This also maintains the oil temperature and stops the dough becoming gluggy.
- Vegetable Oil – Use a vegetable oil for frying the dough (such as canola, corn, peanut or sunflower oil). The high smoke point and low flavour profile make them perfect for shallow frying the pizza and won’t fill your kitchen with smoke or smell. Only use olive oil as a topping for flavour if you like.
- Oil Temperature – Test the oil temperature with a wooden skewer or chopstick. When tiny bubbles form at the base, the oil is ready for frying.Â
- Pizza Sauce – Follow the recipe below for a quick montanara style pizza sauce using passata, garlic and olive oil. Sub with crushed tomatoes, store-bought pizza sauce or use up leftover homemade tomato pasta sauce.
- Toppings – This pizza is amazing with simple margherita style ingredients like mozzarella cheese or bite-sized bocconcini, fresh basil leaves and Parmesan cheese.
- Bake the Crust – After frying the pizza fritta and adding your toppings, pop in the oven to bake for another minute or two. This is a nice way to add extra crunchy texture and smoky flavour! This method is great when using toppings like fresh ricotta cheese, spinach and red onion to enhance the flavour.
- Make it a Calzone – Before frying, fold the dough into a half moon shape and stuff with traditional Italian ingredients like salami with mozzarella or provolone, black olives, charred capsicum / bell pepper, eggplant, or your favourite combo of classic pizza ingredients. Press the edges to seal, then fry as normal.Â
- Extra Simple – Serve the fried dough with napoli sauce on the side for dipping.
Nutrition
20 Comments
kim
08/04/2020 at 10:24 pmSuch a great recipe! I love how easy and tasty this was! I will definitely be making again and again!
Wandercooks
14/04/2020 at 4:56 pmAww thanks Kim, glad you liked them!
Jordin
08/04/2020 at 9:58 pmThese pizza fritters look soo good! I need to make these for my house I know everyone will love them!
Wandercooks
14/04/2020 at 4:56 pmThanks, hope you have fun frying them! 😀
Liz
08/04/2020 at 9:43 pmPizza night is my favorite night!! This fried pizza sounds AMAZING! My husband and my son are going to love this!
Wandercooks
14/04/2020 at 4:56 pmSame! We usually do pita pizzas to save time, but these are even quicker than that!
Dannii
08/04/2020 at 9:29 pmPizza in just 10 minutes sounds amazing to me.
Wandercooks
14/04/2020 at 4:55 pmYep, it’s hard to go back to the oven now haha!
Jacqueline Meldrum
08/04/2020 at 7:24 pmThat looks great. I was just watching Jamie Oliver on TV making a similar pan pizza. It must be a sign! Sharing!
Wandercooks
14/04/2020 at 4:55 pmHaha! Timing! Hope you enjoy making this version. 😀
Agness of Run Agness Run
21/01/2017 at 4:57 amThis is such a pleasure to prepare. Quick and easy to prepare + very tasty, it is marvelous combination. Thank you Laura and Sarah!
Wandercooks
25/01/2017 at 11:22 amThat’s fantastic feedback thanks Agness, so glad you enjoyed!
Tina
07/12/2016 at 9:21 amIt sounds so good to fry the pizza dough! I’ve never done it before, and I really need to give this method a try now.
Wandercooks
13/12/2016 at 10:26 amHaha yes you do Tina! It has a totally different texture to dough cooked in the oven.
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes
07/12/2016 at 9:17 amI’m so hungry right now– and this pizza sounds amazing!
Wandercooks
13/12/2016 at 10:27 amIt’s definitely the cure for those hunger pangs haha.
Platter Talk
07/12/2016 at 9:04 amOh! That looks pretty darn good. I love fresh basil, mozzarella and tomato. I’ve never fried pizza dough before.
Wandercooks
13/12/2016 at 10:27 amOoh keen to hear how you go. This trio of toppings is an oldie but a goodie – and sometimes simple is best!
swathi
07/12/2016 at 8:50 amI never tried fried pizza, I like fried goodies, now i am not making it as often as earlier, I need to try it . I make pizza dough in bulk and freeze them. I think next time I can make this.
Wandercooks
13/12/2016 at 10:28 amOhh that’s a great idea Swathi, we’ll definitely do that next time we make up a big batch of dough.