The Best Pizza Cookbooks for Becoming a Master Pizzaiolo

Pizza: It’s not just something that comes out of your freezer late at night, or mysteriously arrives on your doorstep after you’ve been slamming Negronis at the bar with your crew (or drinking wine alone on your couch). In fact, pizza was an important part of home cooking long before The Age of Home Pizza Ovens™, aka the modern era, when Oonis and Gozney’s Roccboxes have taken over domestic ‘za production and made everyone think that their lopsided, charred attempts at Neapolitan pizza were somehow beautiful and delicious. (OK, they usually are actually delicious.) Not to sound pedantic, but pizza is a craft, something great chefs work for years and years to master; sometimes, students of the ‘za even travel to Italy to become pizzaiolos or train in fine dining restaurants before they’re satisfied enough with their skills to open their own spot or write a cookbook.

Thanks to the trials and tribulations of our world’s finest pizza masters, we have access to a ton of fantastic cookbooks so that we, too, can learn to make incredible ‘za at home (and thus impress our Tinder dates and summer barbecue attendees). Indeed, you do not have to rely on disappointing chain pies or disastrous attempts based on dubious internet recipes—take it from me, someone who became kind of good (in my humble opinion) at throwing a pizza at home during the pandemic while y’all were doing sourdough and mainlining The Sopranos (which I admittedly also did). Maybe you’re already pretty good at putting together a grandma-style pie at home; or perhaps you’ve become decent at firing a Neapolitan-ish creation using a pizza steel and even some high quality flour. In any case, we can always do better. Fortunately, our forefathers in the home pizza game have left us plenty of amazing books filled with killer recipes and impeccable techniques so that we can all become masters. Truly, friends, it’s not that hard. Here are a few of our favorite pizza cookbooks, so you can finally remove from your speed dial whichever pizza franchise brings you the most shame.

Ken Forkish is undoubtedly one of the GOATs of home baking and pizza-slinging, and his Portland, Oregon restaurants have long been destination spots for many (though he recently got out of the game). When I was learning to make good pizza at home, The Elements of Pizza was my bible—it taught me how to make perfect dough, how to shape it impeccably, how to form and top pizzas, and what to look for in the ideal pie. When anybody asks me how to get into pizza, The Elements of Pizza is the first thing I recommend; Flour Water Salt Yeast has pizza recipes as well, and really is the equivalent when it comes to baking bread. Thus, with these two, you can become an extremely powerful baker and pizzaiolo without leaving your home (except to buy wine).

Chris Bianco is perhaps best known as the guy who made people from all over the world travel to Arizona to eat pizza. Yes, his ‘za is considered that good. To me, this pizza is about simplicity and perfection, meaning that even you can tackle these recipes. You’ll learn pizza and focaccia, but also get recipes for some amazing small plates and even sandwiches.

Based on food from L.A. restaurant Gjelina, this cookbook is a work of great beauty. Seriously, if there’s one cookbook I own that could easily double as a coffee-table book (if not just by virtue of how much I enjoy simply looking at the pictures), it would be this one. The Gjelina pizza dough is simple, not using a sourdough starter but rather finding flavor in the time the dough takes to develop, as Lett writes. There are some very cool pies here, like pizza with asparagus, Sottocenere (a truffle-infused cheese, for the unfamiliar), and a sunny egg; and one with bacon and radicchio. But the pomodoro crudo pie—it’s ultimately just a high-concept tomato and cheese pizza—is a gorgeous winner. Plus, there are many non-pizza recipes here worth making, so it’s just a solid addition to your shelf.

Eric Wareheim is a powerful foodie, home cook, and winemaker, though he’s perhaps better known as one half of the comedy team Tim & Eric. His first cookbook, Foodheim, is an incredibly fun, vibrant look at the food Wareheim loves, and pizza is one of the front-and-center categories here. One indication that Wareheim’s pizzas are worth making is that he’s a known friend of Joe Beddia (peep the following entry); but these pies are worth it by their own merit. I’d happily give up a body part or two for the stunning Queen Madi’s Potato Pie. Actually, JK, I’ll just make it myself this weekend.

NGL, I have a love affair with Joe Beddia’s pizza. Not only was going to his restaurant in Philadelphia last year one of my favorite dining experiences ever, but my girlfriend was an early obsessive over his book, Pizza Camp, which was to her during the pandemic what The Elements of Pizza was to me. Anyway, this one will bring masterful pizza (as well as other things, like hoagies) and copious amounts of fun into your life. His arrabbiata pizza is one of the best things in the world. Amaro sold separately.

Jim Lahey is best known for being “the no-knead guy”—he made home bread and pizza accessible to millions with his super easy but still excellent recipes, which require minimal labor but yield very good results. His no-knead pizzas, whether the grandma-style pies in My Bread or the more classic pies in My Pizza, are truly a great place to start for people looking to break into baking/slinging. If your spouse/friend/parent ever complained that they’d love to get into bread or pizza but that they’re not a good baker, these books are the perfect gift. Proving them wrong will be a tasty win.

I was pretty impressed with this new cookbook’s approach to dining. Here are pizzas that will simply make you happy to be alive, and a volume that will elevate your entertaining game quite a lot. 

When beloved New Jersey restaurant Razza’s chef-owner Dan Richer’s book came out a few years ago, people went insane. For real—The Joy of Pizza was the book your favorite food figure was losing their fucking mind over. Plus, it’s co-written by Italian cuisine wizard Katie Parla (whose own Food of the Italian Islands is one of our fave cookbooks of 2023 so far), making it an essential volume. If you really read through the opening sections of this book, you’ll gain a deep knowledge of everything from evaluating tomatoes and olive oil to using pizza peels to reading your oven. Indeed, this is one of the more “scientific” options, but it’s one that serious pizza heads read and love.

That is, as they say, amore.

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.