Your favorite ghouls will love this spooktacular spider web pizza, topped with an easy string cheese web and black olive creepy crawlers.
If you want to make something festive (but not this festive) for Halloween dinner, then you've come to the right place. Not only is this recipe super easy to make, but it's also delicious and kid-friendly.
How to Make Spider Web Pizza
Time needed: 30 minutes
All you need is a ball of pizza dough, four sticks of string cheese, some black olives, and pizza sauce. Ready to get started? Here's the step-by-step breakdown:
- Preheat the oven.
If you're using a baking stone or steel, place it on a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F (if you're using a baking sheet) or as high as possible (if using a baking stone or steel).
- Prep your spider and spider web toppings.
Peel the string cheese into thin strips, trying to make them all about the same thickness.
Cut all of the olives in half lengthwise. Push eight of the halves to one side of your cutting board (these are the spiders' bodies). Then, cut the remaining olive halves lengthwise into four strips each (these are the spiders' legs).
- Roll or stretch out the dough and top with sauce.
Stretch or roll out the pizza dough to a 12- to 14-inch round. Place it on your baking sheet or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone or steel), then prick it all over with a fork. This will prevent bubbles from popping up while the pizza bakes, which could ruin your cool spider web pattern and launch your olive spiders off the pizza.
Spoon the sauce onto the dough and spread it out evenly. - Bake until the crust is just golden.
Transfer the sauced dough to the oven. Bake just until the crust looks dry and is golden in color, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove the pizza from the oven, but keep the oven on!
- Assemble the spider web and spiders.
To make the web, first make a grid with four strips of string cheese, then place a strip of cheese in between the lines in each open section of the grid. Next, use the remaining strips of cheese to make three circles inside the straight lines: a large one around the edge, a smaller an inch or two inside the web, and the smallest one in the center.
Use the olive halves and slices to make eight spiders across the pizza (each spider is made of one olive half and eight olive slices).
- Bake until the cheese melts.
Return the pizza to the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the cheese melts.
Looking for more Halloween pizza inspiration? Switch it up with this Spooky Ghost and Eyeball Halloween Pizza recipe.
Thursday Night Pizza's Creepy Halloween Spider Web Pizza
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Rolling pin (optional)
- Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
- Pizza peel (optional)
Ingredients
- 4 sticks whole-milk string cheese
- 12 large pitted black olives
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough (I recommend my overnight recipe, but you can also use a ball of your favorite store-bought dough)
- ⅔ to ¾ cup Super-Easy Marinara Sauce (or your favorite store-bought pizza sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone/steel in the oven before you start preheating).
- While the oven preheats, prep the spiderweb and spider toppings: Pull the string cheese into thin strips and set aside. Cut the olives in half lengthwise. Set 8 of the halves aside (these will be your spiders' bodies), and cut each of the remaining halves lengthwise into 4 equal-size strips (these will be the spiders' legs).
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet/pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel). Prick the dough all over with a fork (this will prevent crust bubbles from messing up your spiderweb design).
- Spread the sauce on top of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around.
- Transfer the sauced dough to the oven. Bake just until the crust looks dry and is light golden in color and the sauce is bubbling but not yet browned in spots, about 3 minutes on a stone/steel and 5 minutes on a baking sheet.
- Remove the pizza from the oven. Working as quickly as you can, arrange the strips of string cheese on the pizza in the shape of a spider web (watch the video for a step-by-step tutorial), then assemble the spiders wherever you like across the web (each spider gets an olive-half body and 8 olive slice legs).
- Return the pizza to the oven and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese has just melted.
- Remove the pizza from the oven. Let cool slightly, then slice and serve.
Robbert says
Your Halloween Spider Web Pizza is such a fun idea! To go with it, I made an Argentinian salad, and it was the perfect match. The fresh ingredients and tangy dressing balanced the richness of the pizza beautifully. It’s a great way to add something light and refreshing to the meal.