Diavola Pizza with Hot Honey Drizzle
Diavola Pizza with Hot Honey Drizzle is a bold, heat-forward pizza that feels restaurant-level; but is surprisingly easy to pull together on a busy night. This recipe has a secret method to deliver a light and crispy crust with a soft center (just like you would find in Italy).
Traditional pizza diavola is known for its spicy toppings. This version uses store-bought pizza dough and adds a drizzle of hot honey, resulting in a layered, flavorful, spicy pizza that tastes elevated without requiring hours of prep. To understand what makes this pizza special, it helps to look at the traditional version first.
What Is Diavola Pizza
Pizza alla diavola, meaning ‘devil’ in Italian, is a popular spicy pizza topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and hot cured meat such as spicy salami, soppressata, or sometimes ‘Nduja (a soft, spreadable spicy pork sausage from Calabria).
My version is built on my Neapolitan-style pizza base, resulting in a light, airy crust with crisp edges. The extra heat comes from sliced jalapeños and Calabrian chilies that are mixed in the tomato sauce.
Instead of traditional cured meats, I use cup-and-char pepperoni, whose curled edges hold little pools of the sweet, hot honey drizzle.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Uses a store-bought pizza dough ball when you’re short on time.
- The sauce is nothing more than canned San Marzano tomatoes, salt and chilies.
- The hot honey can be made days in advance for quick assembly.
- A light and airy pizza crust that feels authentically Italian but is easy to make at home.
Table of Contents
- What Is Diavola Pizza
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Pizza Diavolo
- Ingredient Insight: Why Calabrian Chiles Work on Diavola Pizza
- How to Make Diavolo Pizza with Hot Honey Drizzle
- Expert Tips for Making Diavola Pizza at Home
- Why Simple Tomato Sauce Works Best
- Why Add Hot Honey?
- Make Ahead and Storage Info
- Pizza Diavola FAQs
- Delicious Starts Here
Ingredients for Pizza Diavolo
- Pizza Dough: Store-bought pizza dough will yield a light, airy crust with these techniques.
- Fior di Latte: Or any other soft fresh mozzarella, such as burrata, or bocconcini
- San Marzano Canned Tomatoes: Known for their sweeter and more meaty texture compared to other varieties. Look for D.O.P on the can, so you know you’re getting the real deal.
- Pepperoni: I used the small cup and crisp variety to collect the drizzle of hot honey, but feel free to use any type of cured meat.
- Calabrian Chilies: Since I’m using mild pepperoni, I use these Calabrian chilies to add extra heat to the pizza. If using a spicy soppressata, reduce the quantity of chilies.
- Fresh Jalapeno: Placed on the pizza as it comes out of the oven, completely optional
- Hot Honey: Try my homemade hot honey, which you can tailor to your desired level of spice, or use your favorite store-bought.
Refer to the printable recipe card below for ingredient quantities and detailed instructions.
Ingredient Insight: Why Calabrian Chiles Work on Diavola Pizza
Calabrian chiles are a type of chili pepper from the Calabria region of southern Italy. Unlike many peppers that deliver sharp heat alone, these bring a slightly fruity, smoked spice that pairs especially well with tomato-based dishes.
On Diavola pizza, that balanced heat complements the tomato sauce and cured meat instead of overpowering them; a small amount goes a long way, adding depth and a smoky warmth.
How to Make Diavolo Pizza with Hot Honey Drizzle
1. Stretch the pizza dough by hand to about 15 inches, keeping the outer edge slightly thicker for the crust.
2. Crush the tomatoes by hand and add chilies and salt.
3. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the dough, leaving a 1½-inch border around the edge.
4. Transfer the dough to a pizza peel and slide onto a hot pizza stone. Bake until the crust begins to set and lightly brown.
5. Add the mozzarella and pepperoni to the partially baked pizza.
6. Remove the cooked pizza from the oven and scatter sliced jalapeños over the melted cheese.
7. Drizzle hot honey over the pizza just before slicing and serving.
Expert Tips for Making Diavola Pizza at Home
- Bring the dough to room temperature: Remove the dough ball about 2 hours before baking, so it stretches easily.
- Cook at very high heat: A hot oven (500°F or higher) helps create the crisp edges and airy interior typical of Neapolitan-style pizza.
- Use a light hand with the toppings: Too many toppings will weigh down the dough and prevent the crust from cooking properly.
- Arrange the pepperoni slices fairly close together. As they bake, they will shrink and curl into cups, creating more space between each slice.
- Keep the pizza stone in the oven while baking. Use a pizza peel only to transfer the pizza to and from the hot stone.
- For a deeper dive into stretching dough, baking on a pizza stone, and shaping Neapolitan-style crust, see my full tutorial on creating Neapolitan-Style Pizza from Store-Bought Dough.
Why Simple Tomato Sauce Works Best
Great pizza diavola doesn’t need a complicated sauce. Crushed San Marzano tomatoes, chilies, and salt create a bright base that lets the toppings stand out.
Because the pizza cooks at high heat, the sauce concentrates in the oven and develops plenty of flavor without additional ingredients.
Why Add Hot Honey?
If you’ve ever enjoyed honey drizzled over something salty, you know how dramatically it changes flavor balance. The drizzle gives this hot honey pepperoni pizza a modern twist to traditional pizza diavola.
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Make Ahead and Storage Info
Room Temperature: Let the cooked pizza sit for 5 minutes to set before eating.
Refrigerator: Store slices in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezer: Wrap individual slices in plastic wrap and store in a zippered freezer bag for up to 2 months. To reheat, bake at 300°F until warmed through.
Pizza Diavola FAQs
Traditional pizza diavola ranges from moderately spicy to very hot depending on the type of meat used and the amount of chilies added.
You do not need a specialty pizza oven to make this pizza. My special pizza tutorial shows you how to achieve a restaurant-style, light-and-airy pizza with crispy edges in a home oven.
Hot honey is incredibly versatile. Drizzle it over roasted vegetables, fried chicken, grilled meats, or even soft cheeses. It also pairs beautifully with diavola pizza and works as a finishing drizzle on sandwiches or flatbreads. If you’re looking for inspiration, try it in:
• Hot Honey Brussels Sprouts
• Hot Honey Halloumi Salad with Avocado
Traditional pizza alla diavola uses Fior di latte mozzarella, which I like to cut up into strips so it melts evenly across the pizza. Mozzarella di Bufala also works but avoid using Burrata, as its creamy center releases too much liquid and can make the pizza soggy.
Yes, you can use the same amount of dried chilies for the Calabrian ones.
Delicious Starts Here
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This recipe has been kitchen-tested to ensure consistent, reliable results.
Diavola Pizza with Hot Honey
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce) ball store-bought pizza dough
- 1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed Calabrian chiles in oil * see note below
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat Mozzarella cubed
- ⅓ cup (45g) cup-and-char pepperoni slices * see note below
- 1 fresh jalapeño sliced
- 2 tablespoons hot honey
- all-purpose flour for dusting
Instructions
- Remove the pizza dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before baking and prepare it according to these dough-handling instructions.
- Place a pizza stone in a cold oven and preheat to 550°F using convection bake. If your oven does not reach 550°F, set it to the highest temperature available.
- Shape and stretch the dough to about 15 inches in diameter (or the size of your pizza stone) and place it on a lightly floured surface.
Prepare the Tomato Sauce
- Empty the can of San Marzano tomatoes (with their liquid) into a medium bowl.
- Crush the tomatoes by hand, and set aside ⅓ cup. Store the remaining crushed tomatoes for another use.
- To the ⅓ cup of tomatoes, add the salt and chilies. Stir to combine.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce over the dough, leaving a 1½-inch border around the edge for the crust. You should still be able to see some of the dough through the sauce (about 4 tablespoons should be enough).
Bake the Pizza
- Transfer the sauced pizza to a lightly floured pizza peel and slide it onto the hot pizza stone.
- Bake for about 5 minutes, then check the underside of the crust. It should be lightly golden and slightly firm; if not, continue baking a little while longer.
- Using the pizza peel, remove the pizza from the stone and add the mozzarella and pepperoni.
- Return the pizza to the stone and continue baking until the cheese is melted, the pepperoni is crisp, and the crust edges are deeply browned (about 7 minutes more).
- Using the pizza peel, remove the pizza from the oven, add the sliced jalapeños, and drizzle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of hot honey.
- Let the pizza rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes:
I tested this recipe two ways: a) with convection bake and b) regular bake setting, both at 550°F. If your oven only goes up to 450° or 500°F, add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
The Results: The convection bake produced a nice dark outer crust. The time it took to parbake the pizza was 5 minutes, and 6 minutes for the final bake with toppings. In the regular bake, I first brushed the edges of the dough with olive oil to help achieve a dark brown crust. It took 7 minutes for the parbake, followed by a 9-minute final bake. This recipe uses the same dough-handling technique found in my How to Make Incredible Pizza with Store-Bought Dough’s guide, which produces a light, airy crust with crisp edges. A very small amount of Calabrian chilies goes a long way. Start with ½ teaspoon, and taste the sauce. Depending on how spicy you want the pizza, you may want to increase the amount of chilies to 1 teaspoon total. Use any type of mozzarella you wish, such as Fior di Latte or mozzarella di Bufalo. I don’t recommend burrata as the center is very runny. If you are using regular mozzarella, make sure it is full-fat. If you are using fresh mozzarella and it feels very wet, pat it dry with a paper towel before adding it to the pizza. This helps prevent excess moisture on the crust. Cup-and-char, also called Cup-and-Crisp pepperoni, works especially well for this pizza because the curled edges create small pockets that hold the hot honey drizzle. If you use canned tomatoes other than San Marzano, the sauce will be quite liquid. You can thicken it with some tomato paste or boil the mixture down to evaporate some of the juices. A note on Kosher salt: This recipe uses kosher salt. If you’re using table salt, use half the amount. Kosher salt has larger, airier crystals that take up more space, so a teaspoon of kosher salt actually contains less salt by weight than a teaspoon of table salt. Nutrition information is automatically calculated and provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for professional dietary advice
Nutrition
If you want to learn how to stretch the dough properly to achieve that light, airy crust, start with my guide to creating Incredible Pizza from Store-Bought Dough, where I walk through the full technique step by step.
Once you understand the base, you can use it to build other classic pizzas, like my Neapolitan-Style Margherita Pizza.
And if you loved the sweet heat from the hot honey on this Diavola pizza, you can also try it in:
We love pizza night, but we love it even more when it’s so easy to make a thin and airy crust with store-bought dough! I can’t get enough of that sweet-meets-heat combination!
This sounds incredible. I love spicy pizza with a touch of hot honey, and the idea of getting a light, crispy crust with a soft center makes it even better. Definitely saving this to try!
Thanks! That crispy crust with a soft center is my favorite part. Let me know how it turns out.