How to Throw the Ultimate Pizza Party

Confession: I could have pizza every night of the week. It’s one of my all-time favorite foods so when it comes time to host an event or birthday party, I usually default to making it a pizza party.

Last year I discovered the Ooni Pizza Oven in one of my Peloton Moms groups and bought it for my husband for Father’s Day (although, let’s be honest – I really bought it for me). The Ooni Pizza Oven has quickly become a staple in our house and it’s the only way we’ll cook pizza now. We love using our Ooni so much we throw pizza parties almost weekly because it’s fun and easy.

To celebrate Ooni Day today, I’ll share with you everything you need to know about throwing the ultimate pizza party, what you need, and my tips and tricks to putting it all together!

When to Throw a Pizza Party

What I love about pizza is that they’re great for all kinds of events! Pizza parties can be as casual as you want them to be, as well as can be fancied up to make them a little more upscale – the opportunities are endless! Here are a few of my favorite occasions to throw a pizza party for:

Birthday party (great for kids and adults)

Graduation Party

Family Reunions

Pool Parties

Wedding Receptions (we had a late-night pizza party at my wedding!)

Any time you want! Seriously, there’s no wrong time to have a pizza party. I’ve even thrown one for lunch before just because.

The best part of pizza parties is that they’re completely customizable and can be made to fit almost any diet and allergy.

Ooni Pizza Oven

The best way to throw a pizza party is to use the Ooni Pizza Oven. We’ve had ours for a little over a year now and it’s easily been one of the best purchases we’ve made (you can read my full review of it here).

I love the Ooni Pizza Oven because it makes restaurant-quality pizza in under 90 seconds – seriously. We have the Ooni Koda, which is the gas-powered one (they have the Ooni Fyre, a wood-burning one, and Ooni Karu, a hybrid oven as well) and it’s crazy how fast it can cook a pizza. The trick to making it cook so fast is how hot the pizza oven gets. In about 15 minutes, the oven can get up to 900 degrees!

The Ooni Pizza Oven has been an experience not just for us, but also for our guests. Whenever we have friends and family over we usually turn it into a pizza night because it’s an easy activity that our guests love to do (and it’s an easy setup and clean-up for me!).

How to Throw a Pizza Party

So now that you’re ready to throw a pizza party, how do you start?

Plan

The first thing I do when I’m planning a pizza party is to put together a plan for the event. This doesn’t have to be super detailed, but I find it helpful to have an idea of what I want the event to look like.

Here are a few questions I ask myself when putting together my plan:

When do I want to have the party?

Who am I inviting?

What kind of atmosphere do I want to create?

What kind of food and drinks will I serve with the pizza?

Do I want to let guests make their own pizzas or should I have some pre-made?

Are there any dietary restrictions I should think about?

What kind of activities will I have for guests?

Answering these questions will help you put together a plan for your party. Once you know what kind of party you want to throw, the rest is easy!

Putting Together the Pizza Party

Now that you have your plan put together, the next step is to plan out the pizza party. There are a few ways to approach this and I like to break it down into if I’ll be having guests make their own pizza or if I’ll be pre-making the pizzas.

Make Your Own Pizza

I usually have guests make their own pizzas because it makes the pizza party a fun activity. With our Ooni Pizza Oven, we can make pizzas in about 90 seconds so there really isn’t any downtime for guests. Guests also love being able to step up to the “pizza bar” and select their favorite toppings and see their creations come together. You could even turn this into a friendly competition to see who can come up with the best pizza!

Ingredients

Before guests arrive, I like to have dough prepared. To make things easier on me I order premade dough from Ooni, but you could also use store-bought or even make your own!

Once the dough is ready, it’s time to prep the pizza toppings. I like to have a big variety of toppings so everyone can pick and choose what they’d like. A few of our favorites are:

Pepperoni

Bacon (if you don’t have time to cook bacon, you could also use bacon bits here)

Diced Onion (white and red are our favorites)

Canadian Bacon (or ham)

Sausage

Diced Green Pepper

Mushrooms

Diced Tomatoes

Chicken

Fresh Basil Leaves

Prosciutto

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese (I like to buy shredded so it’s one less thing I need to prep)

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Diced Pineapple (a favorite with our kids)

Olive Oil

Garlic

Oregano

Once I have the toppings prepped, I’ll store in the fridge until it’s time to have them put them out. I like to store them in these containers so when it’s time to make the pizzas, guests can easily help themselves to whatever toppings they want.

Pre-Making Pizza

If I decide to pre-make pizza instead of having guests make them, I like to prep the pizza before guests arrive. I’ll usually prep 5-6 pizzas a few hours ahead of time, depending on how many people will be attending, and keep them in the fridge until it’s time to cook.

I like to keep pre-made pizzas a little more simple so everyone will have something to choose from. I always make a few cheese pizzas as a safety since most of our parties have a few kids, and then I’ll usually do one-topping pizzas. Some of my favorite toppings for pre-made pizzas are:

Pepperoni

Onion

Bacon

Sausage

I try to stay away from toppings like olives or mushrooms because those seem to be a little more hit or miss with my crowd. However, there’s really no right or wrong toppings – it’s really up to what you think your guests will enjoy!

How Many Pizzas to Make?

There’s no perfect math equation to determining how many pizzas to make or how many slices everyone will eat. The Ooni Pizzas we make are usually thinner crust, about 10 inches and I’ve found that an adult will eat 3/4 to an entire pizza. Kids will eat less, about 1/4 to 1/2 a pizza. So generally I’ll have enough to make a pizza for each adult, and then 2 kids can share a pizza.

If pizzas are thicker (like store bought or a thicker crust), then I’ve found adults will usually eat 2-3 pieces each and kids will do 1-2.

Keep in mind, this will also all depend on how many and what types of appetizers you have at the party. If you have some heavier appetizers (or sides for the pizza, like a salad), then guests will eat a little less.

Pizza Party Must-Have Equipment

Here are my must-haves for equipment to throw the ultimate pizza party at home:

Ooni Pizza Oven – This is hands down the best way to make pizza at home (you can read my full review here). It makes gourmet pizza in under 90 seconds!

Pizza Topping Station – I like to have this set up with all the toppings so it’s neat, organized and it’ll stay cool while my guests pick out what they want. Plus they have lids so you can store leftovers in the fridge (and they stack!).

Pizza Peel – This helps rotate and take the pizza in and out of the oven. A must have for any pizza party!

Thermometer – This is a must-have when cooking with a pizza oven. You can use this infrared thermometer to make sure the oven is the perfect temperature for cooking.

What to Serve with Pizza

Here are a few of my favorite things to serve on the side with the pizzas:

Caprese Pasta Salad

Romaine Salad with Simple Vinaigrette

German Potato Salad

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Strawberry, Cucumber and Arugula Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Lemon Pepper Roasted Cauliflower

Chips and Salsa

How to Keep Pizza Warm

If you’re making a bunch of pizzas at your party, the best way I’ve found to keep them warm is to put them onto a plate or round baking sheet and then lightly (key- LIGHTLY!) cover with aluminum foil (tip: you can put a few toothpicks on the pizza to keep the toppings from sticking to the foil).

Since the pizza oven cooks so quickly, I’ve found that there really isn’t a need to do anything special to keep the pizzas warm.

How to Store Leftovers

If you have any pizza leftovers, I like to store them (once it’s cooled) in aluminum foil and in the fridge. Leftover pizza will last for up to 2-3 days in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave or an air fryer.

Final Thoughts

I hope this gives you some good ideas on how to throw the ultimate pizza party at home! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them!