Step By Step Instructions On Making A Football Shaped Pizza

Pizza is great. But have you ever tried football shaped pizza? Learn how to make this simple yet delicious snack with our step by step instructions.

With the big game coming up this weekend – I wanted to try something fun and festive – especially since our Cincinnati Bengals are playing! Who Dey!!!! This football-shaped pizza will have everybody cheering on the team! 

Pizza Crust Ingredients

Pizza Dough – I used Guy Fieri’s Prime-Time Pizza Dough Recipe – you can use any dough recipe you like – or even a premade dough (like Pillsbury canned pizza crust). You’ll just need to use one that is still pre-baked. 

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bowl
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

You can find the whole recipe for the crust on FoodNetwork.com. This was my first time making pizza dough and it’s a bit of a labor of love but I’ll tell you – it tasted delicious!!! This pizza dough recipe took a total time of 2.5 hours to make.

For the toppings, I went with my favorite pizza toppings: Pizza sauce, Pepperoni (40 slices Pepperoni) & Mozzarella cheese – but you can put on anything you like! Next time, I’ll try and italian sausage, bell pepper and onions on my pizza!

Where do you keep dough warm while it rises? 

I turned my oven on to warm (approx 180 Degrees) for 30 minutes while I made the dough and then turned the oven off and set the glass bowl with the dough into the oven. I covered the dough with press and seal while it was in the oven. 

How to make a Football Shaped Pizza

With the big game coming up and our Cincinnati Bengals in it for the first time in 30 years – I had to do something fun. I’ve seen other ideas for incorporating footballs into pizza – usually with the toppings – but not a crust! Here’s what I did: 

• Made my amazing Guy Fieri pizza dough – I made his full recipe which was enough for two round pizzas
  • You can use store-bought dough – the size of your dough will impact the size of your finished football
• Once your dough is ready – preheat oven to 500 degrees F. 
• Stretch dough out to a rectangle. I used a rimmed baking sheet and pushed and stretched the dough to cover as much of the baking sheet as possible. 
  • There were a few spots that stretched a bit too much – I pulled off excess dough to cover those
• Using a pizza cutter, slice from the center of the short end of the pizza around the top and back to the other short end to make the football shape. Take off as little dough as you must so you can still have a sizable pizza. 
• Using the leftover dough – roll out a large piece of the dough to make a rectangle. Using the pizza cutter, slice out one long strip about 6-8″ long and 7-8 small strips about 1-2″ long. These will make your football laces!
• Top your pizza with sauce, cheese and toppings 
• Lay out your football laces on top of the pizza
• Sprinkle garlic salt, oregano and a little shredded cheese onto the outside edge of the dough and brush the outer edge of the crust and the laces with melted butter (or an egg wash)
• Bake according to dough directions. This pizza baked for 12-15 minutes at 500 degrees. 

What size is a football pizza? 

I made this pizza on a rimmed baking sheet and got 8 large slices out of it. It was approx 16 inches long. 

How much dough do you need for a football shaped pizza? 

I did make the full recipe of Guy’s dough which said it was enough for two pizzas. With the cut off dough – I did have a little excess but not too much! 

More Pizza Ideas

• Big Mac Pizza
• Casey’s Breakfast Pizza
• Copycat Cheeseburger Pizza

Game Day Food for a Crowd

• Skyline Chili Cream Cheese Dip – you have to try Cincinnati’s #1 favorite game day dip!
• White Chicken Chili
• Queso in the Slow Cooker