School Cafeteria Pizza Recipe – pizza day was my favorite day in school. I loved that rectangle pizza! I found the recipe in a government cookbook and had to give it a try. OMG! So good and super easy to make with a simple pourable pizza crust. Yeast, flour, dry milk, sugar, salt, water, and oil. Top the pizza sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings. Can freeze the pizza for a quick meal later!
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Pin This RecipeLunch Lady Pizza
I don’t know about you, but when I was in school my favorite day of the week was pizza day! Chicken Legs and I were talking about lunchroom pizza the other day, so I started Googling where to buy school pizza. While I couldn’t find a good place to buy it, but I did find an authentic recipe! I came across a government cookbook and it had the pizza recipe! I immediately added it to the menu. OMG! It was SO good. It was much better than the School Cafeteria Pizza I remember eating. I’m pretty sure it has to do with using real cheese and homemade pizza sauce. This has quickly become our go-to recipe for pizza night!
How to Make School Cafeteria Pizza
The original recipe made enough pizza for 100 servings. Obviously, most people don’t need to serve 100 people at a time, so I had to scale the original recipe WAY back. This recipe is made in a half-sheet pan and serves at least 8 people.
The crust is very easy to make. Start with dissolving some yeast in warm water in a small bowl. Let it stand for a few minutes. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine all-purpose flour, dry milk, sugar, salt, and oil. Add yeast mixture. Mix on medium-low speed for 10 minutes, until a batter forms.
Brush a rimmed sheet pan with olive oil and sprinkle it with some cornmeal. Pour the pizza dough batter onto the baking sheet and let rest for 20 minutes. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes. Spread pizza sauce over the dough. Sprinkle cheese and pizza toppings over the sauce. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Slice into rectangles for an authentic look and enjoy. Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- This recipe uses non-fat dry milk. I buy it at Walmart.
- Can use store-bought or pizza sauce made from scratch.
- I used our Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce on the pizza: https://www.plainchicken.com/easy-homemade-pizza-sauce/
- You can also use our No-Cook Pizza Sauce: https://www.plainchicken.com/no-cook-pizza-sauce/
- The original recipe for old school cafeteria pizza was topped with ground beef/hamburger.
- Top the pizza with your favorite pizza toppings – Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, olives – anything goes!
- You can even add toppings in sections so everyone gets what they want.
- Can School Cafeteria Pizza be frozen? Yes! Bake the crust and add the toppings. Let the pizza cool completely and cover the pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze the pizza. When ready to eat, bake the pizza at 425ºF until the cheese has melted and the crust is warm.
- You can also freeze the leftover pizza slices for a quick meal later. Let the pizza cool and place the slices in a freezer bag. To reheat, heat in the microwave or in the oven.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
What to Serve with Rectangle School Pizza
This recipe brings back great childhood memories! Our cafeteria always served corn, a roll, and a cookie or brownie with our pizza. When I make this pizza at home we usually eat this pizza with a salad or some pasta salad. You can also whip up some garlic breadsticks. YUM!
Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this homemade school pizza recipe:
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School Cafeteria Pizza
Equipment:
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp shortening
- 1½ Tbsp cornmeal
- 1 (0.25-oz) packet of yeast
- 1⅔ cup water
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups instant non-fat dry milk powder
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ tsp oil
- 1⅓ cups pizza sauce, or to taste
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or to taste
- pizza toppings of your choice
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 475ºF. Oil a half sheet pan with 1 Tbsp Crisco shortening. Sprinkle pan with cornmeal and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water and let stand for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add flour milk, sugar, salt, and oil to the bowl. Mix with the whisk attachment for 10 minutes. The batter may be lumpy.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the crust from the oven and top with sauce, toppings, and cheese.
- Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Slice and serve.
Notes:
- This recipe uses non-fat dry milk. I bought it at Walmart.
- I used our Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce on the pizza: https://www.plainchicken.com/easy-homemade-pizza-sauce/
- You can also use our No-Cook Pizza Sauce: https://www.plainchicken.com/no-cook-pizza-sauce/
- The original recipe for old school cafeteria pizza was topped with ground beef/hamburger.
- Top the pizza with your favorite pizza toppings – sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, olives – anything goes! You can even add toppings in sections so everyone gets what they want.
- Can School Cafeteria Pizza be frozen? Yes! Bake the crust and add the toppings. Let the pizza cool completely and cover the pan with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze the pizza. When ready to eat, bake the pizza at 425ºF until the cheese has melted and the crust is warm.
- You can also freeze the leftover pizza slices for a quick meal later. Let the pizza cool and place the slices in a freezer bag. To reheat, heat in the microwave or in the oven.
Steph
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What can you substitute for the dry milk
I am not familiar of a substitute for dry milk powder.
Can I use full cream milk powder? It is what I have in my pantry.
I think that would be fine.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. It was delicious! Brought back .any memories. I sausage on mine. I will be freezing individually wrapped slices for lunches. Will be making this again!
Could you divide this recipe in two cookie sheets? Also, can you use powdered whole milk?
I want to make a bunch of these for a party…Can you make the crust a day ahead? Would be convienient for me to make the crust then top and bake the next day. Anyone have any experience with this?? TIA
I think that would be fine. Make the crust and do the first bake. Add the toppings and finish baking at the party.
Made this tonight and though it did not taste at all like my school pizza, it was good.
Is there a measurement equivalent version to grams for this recipe. I know I can convert so w of this on my own. All flour is t equal though, so I wanted weights of flour and water if you knew.