Wondering if the Domino's Pizza deals are worth getting over making one at home, if the effort to make one was the same as driving to pick up a Domino's Pizza.
Also if you like making it at home, what's your favourite toppings?
How Much Does It Cost to Make a Pizza at Home VS Buying One at Domino's?
smartProverble on 15/04/2025 - 17:35
Last edited 15/04/2025 - 19:08 by 1 other user
Last edited 15/04/2025 - 19:08 by 1 other user
Poll Options
- 49Making it at home with the home oven is cheaper.
- 194Domino's Pizza is cheaper.
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Comments
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Lots of responses from ppl that don't seem to make much pizza..
It can be incredibly cheap to make a pizza at home. Toppings are the obvious expense but if you're making a few pizzas it would almost always be cheaper at home imo.
If for example you made margherita (cheap end of spectrum) you only need 500g flour, some water and a couple of teaspoons of yeast (sugar if working fast too) to make 3 decent pizzas. $2 passata and some cheese. The total cost would be <$10 for 3 pizzas with cheese and sauce spare.
Note: Personally I'd add a little dried oregano and some fresh basil (when I grow in season) and maybe chili oil to top them off. As a household on the meat front we buy the 500g salami rolls and small ham "chunks" from aldi already and again the cost of using small amounts of these isn't that high. I always have leftover pizza for lunches too.
Yep, we calculated about $6 for 2 pizzas which lines up with your estimation as well
I make pizza all the time at home, it takes no more than 10 minutes to prep the actual dough - you then just need to let it prove for a while.
My go-to dough recipe makes enough dough for 5ish hearty, 8 inch pizzas (I'm guessing on the size, I normally just make them depending on how hungry I am). That's about 650g flour + oil + yeast + water, which for arguments sake is less than $5 worth of ingredients for the base, so less than $1/base.
From there pick your favourite sauce for the base (I grab the Coles pizza sauce but each to their own), cheese and whatever toppings you like, it can be incredibly versatile.
My go to recipes change all the time based on whatever is laying around to be used up at home. Regular toppings include some combo of ham, bacon, pepperoni, salami, rocket, spinach or tomato, often topping with a drizzle of barbecue and/or hollandaise sauce (try it, you'll be surprised).
Price of ingredients is the big factor, but I would suggest it's cheaper to make at home than buy from Dominos, and infinitely tastier.
depends if you are also considering taste.
and if you are one of those people that says dominoes pizza taste great and is fine, then just get the dominoes pizza
The cost of eating Dominos Pizza isnt in the price….
Domino's are cheaper as if I am making it I would never settle for the shit sparse topping they use. Having said that I would not be ordering from domino's in the first place.
Dominos can't be considered pizza at all to begin with, and it's very, very bad for your health.
If you make pizza at home, make enough dough to be able to freeze some and the cost will go down, the pizza will actually taste good and you won't be killing yourself.
Hell, I even tried the premade dough at Aldi once ($2 each) and it was pretty decent but, really, the dough is worth making from scratch.
dominos (with codes) == cheaper … but then taste wise ???
cheap often == nasty +++ carb rich.DIY is a good approach - can be done for about $7.50/$8 per pizza.
can also style it the way you want +++ good way of getting family/kids involved.When have had guests over … we've sometimes done this (DIY pizza) - provide all ingredients in bowls ready, then they style pizza how they want.
It's a great alternative - if you have time to prepare/bake.The worst part is when you find a Dominos that does their pizza really well. I can't compete even with my cast iron pizza…
They don’t, you might be sub par.
If the question was which is better value, home vs Dominos, I think the poll answers would be different.
We make our own regularly/when we can, and order from a nice local pizzeria when we can't be arsed/have people over at short notice. But nothing beats Domino's after a night on the piss. Different food group entirely.
The cheese is expensive.
Even buying a block and grating it. Then adding tomato paste.
Domino’s is cheaper with a coupon.No difference between Dominos pizza and the pizza you get from the fridge section at Coles/Woolies
depends on the value of your time and taste preference
I don't know that I've ever eaten Domino's but I know they were huge in India with fast delivery, etc. and relatively cheap
But making at home, milady spends 20 minutes making dough, then stores it in the fridge overnight to get that delicious sourdough taste, then we use nice salami, capers, and mozzarella to get the taste we love
I've had my best ever Italian pizza in Calabria, and haven't found anything close in Australia in recent memory, so we're happy to stick with homemade
That said, I expect most young people who don't know and aren't interested in cooking and prefer to eat out for potential mating opportunities would simply get commercial pizza
that's if anyone goes out these days - I did see a neighbour girl go to the front door one day to collect a food delivery - I asked what she had ordered - she flushed embarrassed and said 'cheezeburger …'
Dominos is cheaper when you use discounts and promotions. However it is always worse in terms of taste and quality.
If you exclude the cost of labour I think I can make it at home cheaper and for a better quality pizza.
I make my own dough though, with the yeast and flour bought in bulk to keep the cost down.
We look out for sales on pepperoni at the local suppliers and also tend to save bbq or roast meat for later use on the pizzas.
dominos is cheaper. But also a bigger regret.
Cheapest approach I have found is to get a cheap frozen pizza, half thaw it so things adhere then add extra sauce/toppings yourself.
Mix the sauce yourself by combining tomato paste & the correct spices/herbs & you can get something better than takeout OR premium store-bought.
It's all about the bread. Good bread needs good fresh flour and time. Use scales to weigh dry ingredients. If you change anything you'll need to tweak.
Ingredients for 2-3 30x32cm pizzas depending on preferred thickness
- 400g bread flour (Laucke Wallaby is the best of what's easily available in SA/Vic - @$9.90/5kg on special, or cheaper at some places in bulk 12.5/25kg bags).
- 300ml water (30C or so normally, 45C if you're in a hurry)
- 3.5g instant dry yeast (half a foil sachet or 1 tsp - should be stored properly and not out of date, otherwise it may be extra slow).
- 4g salt
- 10g olive oil (optional, only if some of the eaters prefer a softer chew).
Dough Method
- Pour the water into a large bowl, sprinkle a tsp of the flour on top, wait for it to sink.
- Sprinkle the yeast evenly on the surface of the water, wait for it to sink.
- Pour the olive oil on the surface of the water.
- Mix the dry salt with the rest of the dry flour, then add it to the bowl and combine everything without delay. Stop when everything is evenly wet and mixed together. Small lumps are ok.
- Cover and let rest 20 mins.
- With very wet hands, gather the entire lump of dough, stretch it in mid-air or in the bowl and fold/roll in thirds (like an electricity bill) in one direction, then fold/roll in thirds again perpendicular to the first fold.
- Cover and let rest 15-30 mins.
- Foldings again, same as above.
- Cover and let rest 15-30 mins.
- Foldings again, same as above.
- Cover and let rest 15-30 mins. Get the oven preheating - 250C, preferably top+bottom heat or fan-forced electric.
Basic topping
- 810g Tin crushed tomato (SPC works well)
- Plenty of olive oil.
- heavy pinch of salt.
- good dried oregano or majoram.
- chopped fresh parsley. or celery leaves in a pinch.
- finely chopped garlic 1-5 cloves depending on whatever.
- bit of freshly crushed pepper and/or chilli.
- whatever else you want but don't over-complicate it.
That'll make more than enough. Fridge promptly to use another day, or even cook it up and call it a pasta sauce.
Making and baking
- Generously drizzle olive oil on a baking tray and spread with your hands. (Aluminium or enamelled steel is best, stainless or glass is awful.)
- With your oily hands pinch off a half or third of the dough (weigh if you must), assuming you're using 30x32cm trays or close to it, then spread out on the oiled tray, flip so both sides are oiled. If it fights back too much just leave it partly spread out for 5 mins to relax then come back to it.
- Plop on 4-5 large heaped tablespoons of topping, then spread it out somewhat evenly to the edges of the dough but avoid getting it on the tray.
- Add other bits and pieces of cheese or basil or pineapple or salami or zucchini or whatever you like, but don't overdo it or it'll be soggy.
- Put it in the oven, middle shelf, cook for 5-10 mins at 240-260C. If you insist on heavier toppings, turn down the temp to 200-220C and cook for 15-20 mins.
- While you're waiting, assemble the next pizza.
- When cooked, have a clear heat-resistant spot to put the hot tray and use a dry thick oven mitt to take it out. Most oven mitts these days seem unable to cope with 250C trays so you gotta be quick. A damp and/or thin tea towel is asking for severe burns.
Further notes
- You can replace up to 100g of the flour with other flour(ish) things. 30g rolled oats as the first sprinkle into the water works well. 20-30g max rye flour is alright. 60-100g max wholemeal wheat or semolina or durum or spelt is also interesting.
- Scale the dough as needed. You can make more pizzas than you have trays if you're careful to not let sauce make the dough stick to the tray too much.
- With practice you can have pizza on the table in well under an hour from starting the dough. 45C water, double the yeast, keep the dough warm (30-35C core temp). A slower dough has better flavour development though 24-26C core temp is good and takes a couple of hours. Even less yeast, or 20C or fridged can be good too, but will take much longer.
- The dough makes a decent bread if you double the salt (because no topping!). Toss it in flour/semolina instead of oil. Find videos on how to shape whatever shape you like. Bake at 250C for 5 mins then reduce to 200-220C and bake until it smells ready (another 15-50 mins depending on shape/size/oven).
- You can make an all-in-one topping mix for some combos when you want less effort. I sometimes add some crushed feta, pineapple, capers, chopped salami. 5-6 dollops, spread, oven, done.
Ballpark cost for above 2-3 pizzas:
- $0.80 Flour (400g)
- $0.05 Yeast (or $0.20 if you buy sachets, which last longer and are reliably fresh if you don't use it often)
- $1.50 Good olive oil (100ml? Maybe more)
- $2.00 ~400g tinned tomatoes
- $0.20 salt and spices ?
- $0.50 garlic + herbs. (Better yet grow your own where you can. Supermarkets overcharge for fresh herbs)
- $2.00 100g of cheese, meats, capers, whatever. Yes, it's somewhat sparse, but less is more. We're here for the bread and oil.
- $0.56 2kWh electricity @ $0.28/kWh.
- $7.61 Total
$3.80 a serve? That's enough for a couple of adults to feel pretty satisfied on and even have leftovers if not too hungry. Roughly equivalent to 3 bowls of pasta if you do 125g serves.
Time spent is zero if you listen to a podcast or socialise or generally appreciate existence as you do it.
The real savings begin when you get hungry when in town and begin passing up on those $28 gourmet pizzas and just get a banh mi or something instead because you prefer the way you make it.
Upvoted for the effort you've put into it. Brilliant!!
It's a pity we can't pin this comment to the top.
generally appreciate existence
Love this part.
I love pizza, both the making of the dough, and the culture around it. However, who can be bothered to put that much effort in. To truly compete with dominos, it needs to be just as easy. Here's my analysis:
If you're buying dominos, your pizza will cost minimum $8 and maybe up to $12 for the nicer ones (with discounts… we are Ozbargain after all!).
Also, it costs you having to pay for delivery/ go pick it up. Now I wouldn't say it is the worst junk food, but it is pretty bad. A huge hit of carbohydrate loaded dough, lots of sugar in their sauce, a metric kilotonne of salt, an ocean of rendered fat off the bacon or whatever. So that's the breakdown:$10
Really bad for you
Can taste OK if it's fresh/well made
ConvenientSo how do we compete with this? I have found that making your own dough is just too much effort. Also, the supermarket pizza bases with sauce- everyone here lauds them but I find they are pretty bad, just cardboard. Maybe the aldi 3 pack is OK, i can't remember.
Literally, I have had beautiful, marvellous results with the Woolworths or Coles $2 Dough Balls
Here's a picture of the excellent pizza i made a few months ago.
Breakdown:
- I got to stretch my own dough ball! Very fun!
- The structure of the damn thing is incredible. Pillowy air pockets that rose up, crunchy bits, a delicious airy texture, exactly how pizza dough should be (not dominos 'bread').
If you have a pizza oven (say the $200 gas one from bunnings) it's even better, I have gotten amazing results with that. They key being that it can reach extremely high temperatures around 700 deg C, but you can do it in your oven and get great results.
Cost?$2 dough ball
$1 can of diced tomatoes with herbs and garlic or whatever. This is important- DON'T use the "pizza sauce" squeeze bottles, they are rancid in my mind, extremely acidic, thick paste. They can be added to this sauce, but should not be the base. Get a can, blend it with your immersion stick, and pour some olive oil or whatever else you like in there, even honey for a bit of colour and sweetness. Really, cooking this with onions is the way, but doing it raw gives it a lovely bright flavour, and ensures the sauce doesn't go completely dry, which is what i have seen time and again with the ready squeeze pizza sauce bottles.
$ Vegetables- the key here is to use leftovers of what you have. Capsicum, olive, mushroom, onion in the back of the fridge => pizza. Even one of these is enough for a pizza. If you didn't have them, i'd say $3 per pizza is a reasonable cost estimate.
$ Protein. Again, beef mince works, salami, ham, literally whatever you have. If you have to buy it, woolworths has sliced pepperoni for $34/kg at deli. If you use 100 grams on your pizza, that's $3.4 dollars.
$ Oven. 0.2 cents? Nothing really.
You don't need to go get it, or pay for delivery!
Health? You know exactly what you put in it, and it is at least better for you than the takeaway. Not laden with oil and fat, you made it yourself.$The cost is literally comprable, around $10, and usually cheaper than that due to bulk effects. Maybe you can pre-make a stack of them on the weekend and freeze them, that should work. That way, you can make a proper pizza sauce by slowly cooking the canned tomatoes with some onions and garlic. Try it, you will spend a similar amount or even a bit less, and the product will be 10x better.
Homemade is cheaper, but the effort of making and proofing the dough properly probably makes Dominos the better choice. Unless you eat a lot of pizza, then perfecting your own dough recipe may be worth it. I could eat pizza twice a week for the rest of my life I reckon…
I make pizza at home often. I think there would usually only be $2-3 worth of ingredients to make a pizza which is much more enjoyable (and healthier) than anything domino's, pizza hut or our local pizza joint would make. We always have things like flour, yeast, passata, salami, olives, and cheese in our house so we are not usually going out of our way to buy anything special, though sometimes we will get some fancy ingredients and might spend more.
every now and then when we are feeling really lazy and there is a good special on we might buy domino's,
"sometimes we will get some fancy ingredients"
Like pineapple? I see it's missing from your list of your always have got list
.
I'm the guy who bought an Ooni but is too lazy to actually shop for and make the pizzas.
So I'm spending $26 a pop for the same thing.
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Well I liked it.
Reminded me of Busy Gal's Lasagne.
Note it's not their original, they got it from 30Rock.