Fried Pizza Recipe

Fried pizza

Although most people probably don’t realise it, fried pizza is actually a traditional Italian dish. It is commonly found in Naples, the birthplace of pizza. Just like other types of Italian pizza, it features classic toppings.

Here’s one I made earlier… delicious fried pizza

Pizza dough is deep-fried in a large pan with hot oil. The toppings can be added after cooking or the dough can be wrapped around them before cooking, like a Calzone.

In this article you’ll find out everything about fried pizza, including the history and origins of it. At the end of the page there’s a recipe, which you can skip to by clicking here, if you like.

What is a deep fried pizza called?

In Italian, deep fried pizza is called “Pizza Fritta” – it’s a literal translation. It can mostly be found in Naples, the birthplace of pizza.

Naples, the home of Neapolitan pizza
Naples, in Italy, the birthplace of pizza…

Not all pizzareias in Naples serve Pizza Fritta though, it tends to be more commonly found amongst street vendors. It does seem to be making somewhat of a resurgence in restaurants though.

What is Pizza Fritta Napoli style?

Pizza Fritta in Naples in basically just deep fried pizza dough with toppings added. There are a couple of different ways it tends to be made though.

Sometimes, it can be made like a Calzone, where ingredients are sealed inside the pizza dough, before being deep fried. A variety of ingredients can be used but Ricotta cheese is often used along with some type of pork.

Pizza Fritta interior
The inside of Pizza Fritta I made with Ricotta cheese

This way of serving it is more common with street vendors. The pizza can be served wrapped in paper and eaten on the go.

Pizzette Fritte

The alternative way of making pizza fritta is called Pizzette Fritte which translates to “mini fried pizza”. In the recipe at the bottom of the page, I include the method for both Pizza Fritte (like fried calzone) and Pizzette Fritte (like mini fried pizza).

Pizzette Fritte
Homemade Pizzette Fritte or “mini fried pizza”!

For Pizzette Fritte, a piece of dough is shaped like a small pizza and then fried without toppings. The pizza is then topped once it has finished cooking in the frier.

This more closely resembles a typical pizza and tends to be more common in restaurants. It can be eaten with a knife and fork and cut into slices to be eaten by hand.

I would recommend making Pizzette Fritte at home, at least to begin with. It’s quite an easy method with little to go wrong. This is in contrast to pizza fritta (like calzone) where you risk the dough ripping during cooking and the toppings spilling out, spoiling the oil.

Making pizza without an oven?

Fried pizza has to be the best way to make pizza without an oven. In fact, the lack of an oven is arguably one of the main reasons for the popularity of fried pizza or “Pizza Fritta” in Naples.

Fried pizza saw a resurgence in Naples following the second World War. A lot of pizza ovens were destroyed in the bombings so fried pizza became a common alternative. Also, cheaper toppings tended to be used, such as Ricotta cheese (not necessarily cheap today though), which is a byproduct of the Mozzarella making process.

Pizza being cooked in a pizzeria using a deep fat frier
Fried pizza being cooked in a pizzeria

Contrary to popular belief, though, it seems unlikely that fried pizza was invented in the 1940s. In fact, there are refrences to fried dough in Italian recipe books dating back to the 1500s (source). It seems more likely that fried pizza simply became more popular due to necessity (cost and availability of pizza ovens).

Can you fry raw pizza dough?

Fried raw pizza dough is exactly what Pizza Fritta is – the traditional Italian style of pizza. Part of the beauty of making fried pizza at home is that you can just use your regular pizza dough.

Pizza dough being fried
This is me frying raw pizza dough!

All you need to do is to make sure the dough is proved, as normal. There’s no need to make any changes to the way you prepare the dough and there’s no need to cook the dough in any way before frying.

Fried pizza dough

The only difference I would recommend with fried pizza dough is to use a small dough ball size. I typically use around 175g instead of 250g to 275g for a normal pizza. This should ensure that the dough comfortably fits inside a large pan.

Small dough ball
I would recommend a small dough ball size of around 175g

You can make dough especially for fried pizza or you can make extra dough to give it a try the next time you make normal pizza. Why not do a taste test and see what the difference is? You may be surprised just how different the same dough can taste.

Another great option is to make fried pizza with leftover dough the next day. Simply reball your leftovers, seal them up, and refrigerate them. Remove them from the fridge the following day a few hours before and you’re good to go.

What happens if you fry pizza dough?

The main difference with fried pizza dough is probably the taste. This may sound surprising, but the dough typically tastes significantly sweeter, even without added sugar.

This is probably why many people have taken to frying the dough for dessert pizza. The sweeter dough can work well with sweet toppings. Stay tuned for my dessert pizza recipe, which is coming soon!

Dessert pizza dough
Here’s some dessert fried pizza I made earlier!

Having said that, the sweeter dough also works great with savoury toppings. You get a subtle sweetness without overpowering the savoury flavours.

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The other surprising quality of fried pizza, at least for me, is that it’s very light. You might expect it to produce a heavy dough but when done properly, it is soft, light, and easy to eat.

Well made Pizza Fritta has a naturally sweet flavour with a cripy outside but a very soft interior. It’s actually delicious when eaten plain, but it is elevated with quality toppings.

Pizza fritta crumb
The light texture of some of my homemade pizza fritta

Personally, I would recommend trying it with very simple toppings first so you can see how it differs in flavour to a normal pizza. But of course it’s up to you how you experiment with the toppings!

How to deep fry a pizza

Fried pizza is typically cooked in a large, deep pan with plenty of oil in it. Two long spatulas or slotted spoons are usually used in order to turn the dough.

With the correct oil temperature, the dough should float on the oil. As it cooks, the spoon is used to douse the top of the dough with oil. This ensures that the top of the dough cooks as well as the bottom.

Frying pizza dough
The top of the dough being doused with the hot oil

The dough is typically flipped once or twice to ensure even cooking. It is removed from the oil when it is golden, crispy, and evenly cooked on both sides.

The cooked dough is usually set on a wire rack, or kitchen paper, to drain. The pizza can also be patted dry with some kitchen paper in order to remove any excess oil.

What is the best oil to fry pizza in?

Peanut oil (also known as groundnut oil) is one of the most commonly used oils for fried pizza. The benefit of this oil is that it has a higher smoke point than olive oil, which allows higher temperatures to be reached during frying. It also provides some depth of flavour to the dough.

A good alternative to peanut oil is rapeseed oil, which is also known as canola or vegetable oil. This oil is cheap and readily available, and has a high smokepoint like peanut oil. The downside (or upside depending on your preference) is that rapeseed oil doesn’t contribute much flavour.

Hot oil
The key is to use an oil with a high smoke point

Another option is to mix olive oil and rapeseed oil in a roughly 50:50 mixture. This provides the flavour of the olive oil but with an increased smokepoint, which allows for better frying of the dough.

I wouldn’t recommend frying in just olive oil since it will probably start to smoke as you reach the required temperature.

Oil temperature for Pizza fritta

The temperature of the oil is key to making great Pizza Fritta, or fried pizza. It is generally recommended that a temperature of between 190C/375F to 205C/400F is used.

Any lower than this temperature window, and the dough won’t cook properly – it won’t brown and become crispy on the outside. Any higher than this and you risk the oil smoking and the dough burning.

Golden Pizza Fritta
Pizza fritta should be golden and crispy, yet soft on the inside – high oil temperature is key

To be clear, this is a high temperature, which is why careful selection of the oil is required. You can always check the smokepoint of your oil – it should be comfortably higher than 205C/400F.

You should always use a thermometer, not only to ensure the correct temperature for cooking, but also for safety reasons. The temperature of the oil should never get too high. It is also important to never leave the oil unattended while cooking.

If your oil begins to smoke, the temperature is too high for the oil. Simply turn it down or turn it off until the temperature reduces and the oil stops smoking.

How long should you fry pizza dough for?

Pizza dough should be fried until it is golden and crispy on the outside. At the recommended temperature of between 190C/375F to 205C/400F, the cooking should take around 60 to 90 seconds per side.

Be sure to allow the fried pizza to drain (and cool) for at least a minute or so before serving.

Fried pizza draining
It’s probably a good idea to dry the fried pizza on some kitchen roll

Pizza Fritta Recipe

Check out the recipe for pizza fritta below. It’s really easy and it doesn’t even require an oven, let alone a pizza oven! What’s more, it’s delicious.

If you’ve never tried fried pizza before, I think you’ll be surprised. When made well, it’s very light and tasty, it’s not at all greasy and heavy, as you might suspect.

Fried pizza slice
A delicious slice of fried pizza!

Also, this pizza fritta recipe is a great one to show your friends. Chances are they’ve never heard of it and they’ll be amazed with the results.

With that being said, let’s get into the recipe!

The Recipe – Pizza Fritta

Authentic Neapolitan Fried PizzaFried pizza with parmesan

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With this recipe, you can make traditional Neapolitan style fried pizza. Just use normal pizza dough, you can even use leftover dough.

If you’ve never made pizza dough before, check out my pizza school series here. There you’ll learn how to make pizza from start to finish, with lots of detailed information and videos.

Important Notes:

Do not skip over the following notes before continuing to the recipe.

  • I’ve actually included 2 different methods for fried pizza. The first method is for Pizzette Fritte which are basically mini pizzas that are fried. This is what I recommend trying first as it is easier.
  • The second method is for Pizza Fritta, in which the dough encases the toppings, like a fried calzone. The risk with this method is that your dough rips and the toppings leak out, spoiling the oil. That’s why I recommend leaving this method until you’re confident with Pizzette Fritte (mini fried pizzas).

Ingredients

Makes 4 x 175g pizzas.

For the dough (ingredients)

For more detailing information on making the dough click here for my article (with a video).

Note: Caputo 00 pizza flour is an excellent option, especially for Neapolitan style pizza. It is one of the more widely available “professional” pizza flours. Click here to check the price on Amazon. Aside from this flour, most 00 flours should work fine.

For the oil (ingredients)

Fill a large, deep pan with oil. Do not fill right to the top, leave a few inches for safety. A deep frying pan can be used but a deeper pan (saucepan) is safer. Alternatively, a deep fat fryer is probably the best option – it is safer as it will maintain a constant temperature for you.

Frying pizza in a saucepan

Using a large saucepan is probably a safer option than a frying pan

You will require:

  • 1 litre of high smoke point oil

I recommend any of the following types of oil:

  • Peanut oil (groundnut oil)
  • Rapeseed oil (canola oil)
  • Sunflower oil
  • 50:50 mix of rapeseed/sunflower and olive oil

Note:

  • I would not recommend using olive oil on it’s own. The smoke point will probably be too high, potentially leading to burning (smoking) of the oil.
  • If you only have olive oil you will have to keep the temperature lower (do not let it smoke). This would sacrifice the quality of the cook.

For the toppings (ingredients)

Feel free to experiment with toppings. I have kept it simple with the following recommendations, which should be enjoyable for everyone.

Toppings for pizzette fritte (ingredients)

For pizzette fritte (like mini fried pizza) I have copied the ingredients used in a classic Margherita, but with parmesan instead of mozzarella. When added afterwards, the mozzarella can become watery if it is not dry enough or fine enough. I recommend getting comfortable with just parmesan before trying it with mozzarella.

Pizzette fritte with parmesan up close

Pizzette fritte with parmesan

  • Tomatoes – 300g tin of quality tomatoes
  • Salt – sprinkling of table salt or sea salt
  • Pepper – freshly ground black pepper
  • Parmesan – a generous sprinkle
  • Basil – handfull of fresh leaves (optional)

Toppings for pizza fritta (ingredients)

For pizza fritta (like fried calzone) I have kept the toppings as simple as possible, using just ricotta cheese (this is often used traditionally). Without any more toppings, the chance of the dough ripping is reduced. With practice, you can start adding more ingredients if you like. Pork scratchings or fried pork are often added along with the ricotta traditionally.

Pizza Fritta interior

Pizza fritta with just ricotta sauce

  • Ricotta – 250g
  • Pepper – freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Utensils Required

Not all the following utensils are required but these are what I use and they tend to make the process much easier.

Method

Small dough ball

For the pizza dough (method)

Fortunately, the same dough (including dough weight) can be used for both pizzette fritte and pizza fritta. Simply make your normal Neapolitan dough but use a dough weight of around 175g.

For a detailed recipe, check out my article (with a video) on mixing dough here. Alternatively, use the simplified directions below:

  1. Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl.
  2. Allow the dough to rest (sealed) for around to 30 minutes.
  3. Knead the dough for around 5 minutes.
  4. Cover tightly and leave to prove at room temperature for around 18-24 hours.
  5. Divide the dough equally into 5 parts (175g each) – once your dough has roughly doubled in size.
  6. Cover the dough balls tightly and leave to rest for around 15 minutes.
  7. Shape them into tight and smooth pizza dough balls and cover tightly.
    Balling pizza dough
  8. Allow the dough balls to prove again for 4-6 hours.
  9. Your dough balls are now ready to be shaped and cooked into incredible fried pizza!

For the toppings (method)

First I’ll cover the preperation of toppings for pizzette fritte, and then for pizza fritta.

Toppings for pizzette fritte (method)

Follow the steps below to prepare some simple toppings for pizzette fritte (mini fried pizza).

  1. Blend a tin of good quality tinned tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper.
    Blending tinned tomatoes
  2. Grate some parmesan ready or alternatively, you can grate straight onto the pizza if you prefer.
  3. All toppings should be added once the pizza has cooked.

Toppings for pizza fritta (method)

Follow the steps below to prepare a simple ricotta sauce for the pizza fritta (like fried calzone).

  1. Add up to 250g of ricotta to a bowl.
  2. Using a jug, add small amounts of water whilst mixing (with a spoon) until you achieve a smooth sauce-like consistency.
    Note: don’t use up all of your ricotta, if the sauce becomes too watery you can add more.
  3. Season with pepper (and salt) if you like.

Heating the oil

Follow the steps below for both pizzette fritte and pizza fritta.

  1. Heat the oil to around 200C/400F.
  2. Ensure the oil is up to temperature before shaping the pizza.
  3. Monitor the temperature using a thermometer.

Shaping the pizza

Shaping pizzette fritte

For mini fried pizzas, the method is pretty easy.

  1. Shape the pizza into a disk of roughly 6 to 7 inches (using your fingers, no rolling pin, more air will remain in the dough. Do not worry about the crusts – the whole pizza will puff up, there effectively aren’t any crusts.

    Shaping fried pizza

    Shape as normal but ignore the crusts

  2. Smaller pizzas tend to puff up more and larger ones tend to be flatter. Start with a smaller pizza size to ensure it comfortably fits in your pan – it will stretch slightly as you lower it in also. Once confident, experiment to see what you prefer.

Shaping pizza fritta

This calzone style fried pizza is trickier to shape so I’d recommend becoming condifent with the mini pizzas first.

  1. Shape the pizza into a disk of roughly 8 to 9 inches, ensuring the pizza will fit in your pan (it will stretch slightly as it is lowered into the pan). Do not worry about the crusts – the whole pizza will puff up, there effectively aren’t any crusts.

    Pizza fritta base

    Stretch the pizza out quite large but with no crust

  2. Spread around 3 dessert spoons of the ricotta sauce onto the middle of the pizza.
  3. Fold the pizza over to encase the sauce.
  4. Press the ends of the dough together using your fingers to form a light seal.

    Sealing pizza fritta

    Press the edges together, forming a light seal initially

  5. Bang the seal with the heel of your hand to form a strong seal.

    Using heel to seal pizza fritta

    Use the heel of your hand to create a firm seal

  6. Repeat the previous step to ensure the dough is properly sealed.
  7. When transferring the pizza to the pan, gently lift it with a hand at each end. The dough may gently stretch, this is fine.

Frying the pizza

Follow the directions below for both pizzette fritte and pizza fritta.

  1. Carefully lower the shaped dough into the oil (use both hands and allow the dough to stretch a little). IMPORTANT: Do not get hot oil on your hands.
  2. Use 2 long utensils (spatulas/slotted spoons or similar) to turn the dough, cooking both sides. To turn the dough, press down on one side of the dough with one of the spatulas and with the other, reach under to carefully rotate the dough. Be sure to turn very slowly to avoid dangerously splashing hot oil.

    Turningfried pizza

    Turn the dough slowly and carefully

  3. Use a slotted spoon to baste the top of the dough with hot oil. Alternatively, if there’s not much room in your pan, just press one side of the dough down, this will cause oil to coat the top of the dough. Don’t press the dough down at both sides (to hold it under the oil) as this will cause splashing of the oil, which is dangerous.

    Frying pizza dough

    Use a slotted spoon to baste the dough, if you have enough space in the pan

  4. Cook for around 60 to 90 seconds per side, until golden and crispy.
  5. Remove the fried pizza and allow to drain. I like to use a colander inside a metal mixing bowl (to catch any oil).

    Draining fried pizza at home

    This is how I drain my fried mini pizzas. I also like to push down a little in the middle of the pizza to allow for the toppings.

  6. At this stage, you can use kitchen paper to remove any excess oil if you like.
  7. Transfer to a plate or board for serving and top the pizza (for pizzette fritte) while it is still warm to allow the cheese to melt somewhat.
  8. That’s it, now you can tuck into your delicious fried pizza!
Homemade fried pizza

Here’s one I made earlier, with mozzarella and nduja!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Always monitor the oil temperature and don’t allow it to get too hot (above around 210C/410F). The oil will probably cool slightly as dough is added and heat us once it is removed.

Recipe Notes

Overall recipe notes

  • Ensure to perform deep fat frying in a safe manner as it is a potentially hazardous way to cook. Take a look at the USDA page on the safety basics of deep fat frying here.
  • Use as little flour as possible during shaping to prevent the oil from becomming dirty.
  • Try making Pizzette Fritte (mini fried pizza) before attempting Pizza Fritta (calzone style) as it is easier with less to go wrong.
  • Feel free to experiment with toppings once you’ve become confident.
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Final thoughts on fried pizza

Most people I speak to have never heard of fried pizza, and they’re surprised when I tell them it’s a traditional Italian dish. Initially, they probably think it sounds unpleasant, until they try it that is!

When done well, fried pizza truly is delicious. Just like Neapolitan pizza that’s cooked in a wood fired oven, fried pizza is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Close up of pizzette fritte

A delicious Pizzette Fritte (mini fried pizza) I made earlier!

It’s the pefect option for any time you don’t have access to an oven. Also, it makes a pleasant change from “normal” pizza.

I hope this article has encouraged to give fried pizza a try, you may just fall in love!

Be sure to leave a comment below, I’ll try to answer any questions as best as I can. Also, feel free to leave a rating in your comment.

Good luck!

Tom Rothwell from My Pizza Corner eating homemade pizza

About Me

I’m Tom Rothwell and I’m super passionate about all kinds of homemade pizza! In the last few years I've been on a quest to find the perfect pizza. Now I'm sharing what I've found out with the world!

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Tom Rothwell from My Pizza Corner eating homemade pizza

About Me

I’m Tom Rothwell and I’m super passionate about all kinds of homemade pizza! In the last few years I've been on a quest to find the perfect pizza. Now I'm sharing what I've found out with the world!

Pizza oven fire with logo
Subscribe for FREE Guide

Subscribe today for your FREE PDF guide! You'll also stay updated with our latest pizza recipes, articles, and videos.

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Pizza Catering

I'm now doing pizza catering in the UK!

If you're interested in hiring me for your event in the UK, feel free to check out my website with the link below.

Pizza Catering

Ooni Karu