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Step aside frozen pizza, there’s a new guy in town. We’re talking about air fryer pizza! These perfectly crispy, easy-to-make, personal-sized pizzas are about to revolutionize pizza night. And with over 200 5-star reviews, you can rest assured this recipe is foolproof!
save this recipe!Recipe Improved
This recipe has been updated to fix the uncooked crust issue that many have commented on. Thank you everyone for your input. This community wouldn’t be the same without you!
After dozens of rounds testing different doughs, cheeses, temperatures, and cook times, we landed on this method that delivers a crispy, golden crust every single time (without overcooking the toppings).
The secret? A quick par-bake and a high-heat blast that mimics the effect of a pizza oven (without one).
Reader rating
“I’ve been craving a good pizza for so long. I gave up until now. Easy, breezy great tasting cheesy pizza in minutes.” —Winnie
Key Ingredients
This is just an overview–jump to the recipe card for measurements and printable instructions!
- Pizza Dough: You can use store-bought or homemade pizza dough, rolled-out crescent rolls, or a tortilla.
- Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese: This type of mozzarella has a higher moisture content, meaning it stays soft and creamy even after baking (but shredded would also work!).
- Pizza Sauce: Store-bought tomato sauce is great to save time, but nothing beats homemade marinara sauce!
Dough Options
We’ve tried just about every dough out there in the air fryer. Here’s how they stack up:
- Tortillas: These cook up super thin and crispy (almost cracker-like), but burn fast, so keep a close eye on the cook time.
- Homemade pizza dough: Our go-to for chewy, restaurant-style crust. It crisps beautifully when par-baked and gives you full control over thickness and shape.
- Naan or pita bread: A foolproof shortcut that’s great for beginners or quick dinners. No rolling or rising; just add toppings and air fry.
Try These Pizza Toppings
Three Cheese Roasted Grape Pizza
30 minutes
Easy Roasted Veggie Pizza
40 minutes
Black Truffle And Mushroom Pizza
30 minutes
Air Fryer Pizza (With Fresh Mozzarella)
Ingredients
- buffalo mozzarella
- pizza dough, 1 12-inch dough will make 2 personal sized pizzas
- olive oil
- tomato sauce
- Optional toppings to finish: fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, pepper flakes
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat air fryer to 375°F (190°C). Spray air fryer basket well with oil. Pat buffalo mozzarella dry with paper towels (to prevent a soggy pizza).
- Cook Crust: Roll out pizza dough to the size of your air fryer basket. Carefully transfer it to the air fryer, then brush lightly with a teaspoon or so of olive oil and prick in a few places with a fork. Cook for 3 minutes, then flip the dough over.
- Assemble: To the precooked crust, spoon on a light layer of tomato sauce and sprinkle with chunks of mozzarella.
- Air fry for about 7 minutes until crust is crispy and cheese has melted. Optionally top with basil, grated Parmesan, and pepper flakes just before serving.
Notes
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Do I need to put pizza base on anything in oven fryer
Just the air fryer racks should be good!
My bottom of pizza never got brown and I put it on bottom rack for 20 mins
Sorry to hear it, Carol! Every air fryer is a little different. Next time you might try preheating the air fryer so it’s piping hot when the pizza goes in. Otherwise, try bumping up the heat 😀
Wow! So many crust issues. I’m wondering if those who had crust problems precooked the crust as per the recipe before adding their toppings. It doesn’t sound it. I always preheat my small Ninja for five minutes before I add food to it. I will try your recipe, including the dough. I’ll probably have to flip it as others have suggested.
Exactly how cooked should the precooked crust be? Should it have started to brown? Perhaps if you were to add a range of time for precooking, such as 3-5 minutes, it might help. Thank you for trying.
I precook it until it is dry to the touch but not browned yet!
Maybe flip it half way
I followed directions exactly but crust didn’t crisp on bottom. Yes on the sides. I’m wondering If I made the crust too thick. Next time I might try to heat the crust a bit before putting toppings on so crust gets a head start
Every air fryer is a little different too, so it may just take some finessing to figure out what works best in your air fryer! 😀
Missing a step. You have to put the dough in by itself for 5-7 minutes then take it out and flip it the. Put the oil and all that on it and put it back for another 5-7 minutes. Otherwise the bottom won’t crisp up. I’m using the Emril lagasse air fryer
In my experience this hasn’t been necessary, but every air fryer is different 😀
I love the idea of making pizza in the air fryer, but this really wasn’t worth the hassle. Like other posters, the center bottom was not done at all. If I was to turn up the heat, the toppings would all have burnt. This is what finally worked: fry the dough 3 minutes (poke holes in it first), flip over and bake for 1 minute more. Then place sauce and toppings and fry for around 3 minutes. Thanks for the idea, though.
Yes, your method actually works in any air fryer incl my 8-qt. Bella pro. You may want to lower temp during final fry with the toppings so they wont burn.
This seems to be the recipe with the least amount of hassle. I will give it a go but I’m wondering about the dough…. We don’t put oil in ours and I’m wondering if anyone can specify a dough recipe! Maybe if there is oil in it it would crisp up on the bottom where if it is not made with oil it would stay dry?
This is our dough recipe! Just uses a smidge of oil.
Iliked the idea of this, but it just did not work out. Other reviewers had my problem-soggy bottoms. And I don’t think that saying every airfryer is different solves the problem. I made 4 of these, adjusting time and temperature. There is only so much you can adjust before the toppings burn. We had to put one in the oven. It just wasn’t getting done. I won’t attempt this again. It’s a big waste of time and ingredients.
Sorry to hear it, Deborah! Thanks for letting us know how it went.
try using a pre cooked crust thats what im going to do cook it 3 min or so then flip it over so bottom browns take out and make your pizza i think this will work great
Your comment that you tried it 4 times doesn’t contradict “every air fryer is different” unless you tried it 4 times in 4 different air fryers, which you didn’t. All your experiment proved was that it didn’t work for you 4 times using the same equipment. You could have also listed your times if you wanted to help other readers…
I found it a little soft for my liking but next time, I’ll add a few minutes to the crust. Everyone else like it without complaints.
Disclaimer: It’s really a 4 star review but I’m giving it 5 stars to off-set the unfair one(s) from people using different equipment and getting less than ideal results.
The very middle of the pizza bottom didn’t cook at all and the bottom in general was undercooked. The top was perfect. Maybe a lower heat and longer cook time?
Use parchment paper and preheat air fryer. Coat the parchment with a little oil and the air fryer will not be needed to be cleaned.
This was a bust (and a waste of precious food budget in our low income home).
I’m having the same issue everyone is having and I don’t see anyone in comments who had success. Please don’t say “every air fryer is different”.
Maybe update this recipe to be specifically for whichever one worked for you, and add the suggestions from other commenters (like the step about cooking the dough separately and flipping before starting.) I was skeptical I could cook a pizza from scratch, since the dough pretty much stops the air from circulating all the way around. That proved to be true in my Instant Pot Vortex. Husband decided to flip the entire pizza (toppings and all) upside down as a last resort, and that seems to have saved it for the most part.
If I try pizza again, it will be with a pre-cooked dough.
Thanks for your thoughtful review, Chandra, and I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t work for you. I’ll get to retesting this one soon so we can work out where the problem may be.
I was scrolling around and found this site my son loves his air fryer and was looking for some descent sounding recipes,just a suggestion from a dumb old truck driver, could you put a pizza stone or pizza steel in fryer basket and preheat it I don’t know if that defeats the air circulation but could be worth a try
I think that may interrupt the air circulation! Can always give it a go though! 😀
Considering I have seen a shrimp scampi recipe being made on YouTube where she uses a small pan in her air fryer to contain the sauce, if you have a baking stone that fits, I would definitely try to make a pizza in your air fryer if I were you!