If you're like me, then you prefer homemade pizza to any other. But making pizza can get pretty costly if you aren't careful. There are many ways I like to make homemade pizza. Here is my favorite quick and easy homemade pizza recipe for those on a budget.

For this quick and easy budget homemade pizza, you'll need a low-cost way to make the crust. Homemade is the lowest-costing, but unless you have prepared some the night before, it isn't very quick. The next best thing is to purchase pizza crust in a bag or box. I prefer Martha White brand pizza crust. It comes in a small bag and is usually about 75 cents per bag. Usually the ones that come in boxes are twice as much but make the same amount of dough.

Anyhow, you'll also need some low-cost pizza sauce that also tastes good. I find that the Hunt's brand tomato sauce gives me the flavor I'm looking for at a low price - usually just a little over a dollar. Plus, if you buy the plain one that is just pure tomato sauce, it can be flavored how you want. I like to add garlic, pepper, and oregano. What, no salt? Well you can add what you want, but I'm not too big on salt and leave it out of many of my recipes if at all possible. Besides, my pizza usually contains pepperoni, which already contains salt.

That leads us to the next ingredient - pepperoni. I find that the cheapest pepperoni slices that still have flavor are the Kroger brand pepperoni slices. I have a big family, so of course I am going to be buying a large package. Today I bought a large package of Kroger brand pepperoni slices for just under three dollars.

What's a pizza without cheese? My favorite cheese is actually mozzarella, so it makes sense that I make homemade pizza often. I most often use mozzarella cheese for my homemade pizza. It's low-cost and stretchy, as pizza cheese should be. Mixing Pepper-jack cheese with the mozzarella works well also and gives some variety. Parmesan is also a common pizza cheese. I find mozzarella and pepper-jack to be two of the most budget-friendly options for homemade pizza.

If you'd like toppings other than pepperoni and cheese, but would still like to keep the cost low, try mushrooms in a can, sliced black olives in a can, sliced jalapenos in a jar, and marinated artichokes in a small jar. The artichokes are usually a little over a dollar and the mushrooms, jalapenos, and olives are usually less than a dollar.

To actually prepare the pizza, follow the directions for preparing the dough. Once you have the dough flattened and shaped to your pizza pan, pour some sauce in the middle of the dough in a circle. Take a spoon and circle around the sauce until it spreads in an even circle around the crust dough at the point you want it to be.

Then, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the sauce at an amount to your liking. Now, because I have kids, I put the mushrooms and artichokes on first and then cover those with the pepperoni. They may know they are there already, but I think it helps them forget there are vegetables on the pizza. Other parents will understand the purpose behind that.

Now, stick the pizza in the oven at the recommended temperature on the pizza crust package. It generally takes about 10-15 minutes to cook. Watch for browning crust and bubbling cheese. That will tell you that the pizza is done. The only thing left to do after that is eat. Enjoy!

-- Note that any reference to any particular product/s in the above document is based solely on the opinion of the author. The author has not been compensated by the product company/companies in monies, gifts, or monetary awards for the mention of said product/products.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain