5 Tips to Eliminate Stress from your next Pizza Party

Hosting a pizza party should be a fun experience for you as a host, as well as your guests. However, it can often descend into chaos without the correct preparation and organisation. If you’ve ever found yourself frantically stretching out dough while guests hover over you, you’ll know just how stressful it can become. The good news is, with a bit of smart planning and a few of our expert tips (trust us, we’ve hosted our fair share of pizza parties!), you can eliminate the stress out of your next pizza party and focus on what really matters: great food and great company. Let’s dive in.

• Plan Your Menu in Advance

There’s nothing worse than hosting any form of party without a plan. Sounds boring, but it makes your life so much easier. Now, don’t get us wrong, it doesn’t have to be so organised that it takes all the fun out of it, but having a loose structure and planning ahead is the real key to taking the stress away. 

A few days before your party, write a quick list of the pizzas you want to make, and the ingredients you’ll need to make them. We recommend keeping it fairly simple, i.e. one or two meat choices, one veggie pizza, and then you can always make a few pizza Margheritas for the kids. Planning ahead helps streamline your shopping list and ensures you’re not scrambling for ingredients last minute. Use your phone’s notes app to add ideas and turn them into a shopping list as you go.

• Make the Dough Ahead (Or Buy It!)

Nothing beats making your own pizza dough, and if you plan to make it for your party, that’s great. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We recommend a simple Neapolitan dough, so you achieve that authentic, chewy crust that everyone loves. Make a sourdough starter and leave it to proof for 16 hours in the fridge. Then on the morning of your party, combine the rest of the ingredients to form your dough. Section out the dough into neat, evenly sized dough balls. We aim for 250g and use a dough box dusted with fine semolina to store it until needed.

If you think it would be easier to buy a good quality frozen dough – do it! The goal is tasty pizza that everyone will enjoy, not a baking masterclass.

• Prep Your Toppings Early

A couple of hours before your guests arrive, get your toppings prepped and into neat containers or, better still, a pizza topping station. Get the veggies and meat sliced, grate or slice your cheese, and make your sauce. Then, when it’s time to cook, simply bring out the topping station and place near your pizza oven so everything is within arm’s reach. The last thing you’ll want to be doing to running back and forth from the house to your pizza oven.

One thing we would draw the line at is pre-stretching your pizza dough. We’ve seen plenty of similar articles advocating this, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Although it would certainly save you time, it’s not the best in terms of the finished product. The dough can often form an oxidised crust and can even prevent it from rising properly.

• Don’t forget the sides

We don’t want anything to detract from the star of the show, but having a thoughtful side can really balance things out, as well as giving your guests something to pick at while you’re baking their pizza. A simple green salad gives a refreshing contrast to the pizzas, or we know from experience that a creamy Caesar salad is always a hit.

If you don’t think a salad quite hits the right note, how about a big tray of roasted veggies, for example carrots, red onions, potatoes, beetroot, sweet potato and even tenderstem broccoli and asparagus. You can roast these in your kitchen oven to get them started, and then quickly finish them in the pizza oven for 5 minutes to reheat and achieve that gnarly char that everyone loves! Get some dips on the go as well, like a spicy mayo or creamy aioli.

• Get Everyone Involved

Pizza should be interactive, and to make your life even easier, we’ve saved the ultimate hack until last. Get your guest involved! Set up a DIY pizza station and let your guests top their pizza. It’s fun, engaging, and allows you as the host to concentrate on baking the pizzas. One thing to note is that if someone has never made a homemade pizza before, they might tend to go mad with the toppings, so tell your guests about the rule of 3 so you don’t have any trouble launching a heavily topped pizza, and no complaints that the dough is soggy!

Final Thoughts

The secret to a great pizza party is not trying to achieve perfection. With a bit of planning and the right tools, you can host like a pro without breaking sweat. Let your guests get hands-on, and most importantly, enjoy the process.

If you want any help choosing your next pizza oven, or any of the accessories we’ve mentioned, get in touch with us by calling 01423 608648, or send us an email at sales@thepizzaovenshop.com. We’re always happy to answer your questions and help you elevate your outdoor cooking game.