Toy Story 5 arrives on Disney+ on September 23, and I think I’ve figured out exactly what should be on the menu for movie night. A copy of The Pizza Planet Cookbook: Official Recipes from Your Favorite Food and Fun Spaceport recently landed on my doorstep, and after flipping through it, my first thought was that somebody needs to throw a full-blown Pizza Planet party at home.
Actually, scratch that. I need to throw a Pizza Planet party at home.
I’ve seen plenty of Disney cookbooks over the years, but this one immediately struck me as something families could actually use regularly. It’s packed with pizza recipes, of course, but what I really love is how approachable the whole thing feels. If you’ve got kids who are interested in helping out in the kitchen, this could be such a fun place to start because you can make the dough, choose toppings, build your pizzas together, and then sit down to watch Toy Story 5 when all the work is done.
And if we’re going to celebrate a new Toy Story movie, making dinner at our own little Pizza Planet seems pretty perfect.
This Is a SERIOUS Pizza Cookbook
Don’t let all the aliens and Toy Story references fool you. There’s a surprising amount of actual pizza-making information packed into this book.
It starts with the basics, including several kinds of pizza dough and sauces, before getting into classic Pizza Planet pies. You’ll find the Official Pizza Planet Pie, Pizza Planet Supreme, Veggie Pizza, Meat Lovers Pizza, and even the Green Alien Pie. From there, things get much more adventurous with recipes inspired by planets and outer space, including the Mars: Red Planet Pie, Jupiter Pie, Rings of Saturn Sicilian Pizza, Neptune’s Garlic Shrimp Pizza, Pluto: Dwarf Planet Pizzas, and more.
There are different crust styles, too, including thin crust, whole wheat, garlic basil, deep dish, focaccia-style, and even outdoor pizza dough. That’s one of the things that surprised me most about this cookbook. You could use it for a cute Toy Story movie night once and then keep pulling it off the shelf whenever your family wants to make pizza.
Kids Can Get in on This One, Too
My favorite part may be Buzz Lightyear’s Mix-and-Match Toppings, because THIS is where my imaginary Toy Story 5 pizza party really starts coming together.
The book gives you different proteins, vegetables, herbs, cheeses, and garnishes and lets everyone create their own combination. Pepperoni? Sure. Sliced meatballs? Absolutely. Black olives? Go for it. Hot honey? NOW we’re talking.
Set all of those toppings out on the counter, give everybody their own little pizza, and suddenly dinner is part of the entertainment. Kids can stretch their dough and create whatever questionable combination their little hearts desire, while the grown-ups can make something slightly more civilized. Or not. There are no rules at Pizza Planet.
The cookbook even includes activities and more Toy Story fun with character callouts, trivia, and puzzles. Even though my kids are adults now, I love this because it makes the book feel like something kids can explore rather than something they’re only allowed to look at while a grown up does all the cooking.
And Pizza Isn’t the Whole Story
Once you’ve sufficiently covered your kitchen in flour, there are plenty of other things to make. The cookbook includes Woody’s Chicken Tenders, meatballs, chicken sandwiches, garlic knots, fried mozzarella, cheesy breadsticks, calzones, mushroom skewers, garlic bread, bruschetta, salads, and more.
There’s even an entire chapter devoted to Starry Sweets and Sips, which means you could very easily build an entire Pizza Planet menu around your movie night rather than stopping with the main event.
And I think that’s what makes this book so much fun. You don’t have to recreate some elaborate Disney Parks dish requiring 19 ingredients you’ve never heard of and a culinary degree you forgot to obtain before starting dinner. You can make pizza. Really good-looking pizza. And everybody can help.
So…Pizza Planet Party on September 23?
I’m already picturing this. Put Toy Story 5 on Disney+, spread out a bunch of pizza toppings, let everybody make their own pie, throw together a couple of sides from the cookbook, and call it a Pizza Planet movie night.
You could go completely overboard with red-and-white checkered napkins, Pizza Planet cups, little green aliens, and whatever Toy Story toys are already hiding around the house. Personally, I don’t require much convincing to theme dinner around a Disney movie, so the fact that an official Pizza Planet cookbook now exists feels like Disney has essentially given me permission.
More than anything, though, I’m impressed by how usable this cookbook is. The Pizza Planet Cookbook doesn’t feel like something you’d buy because the cover looks cute and then leave sitting on a shelf. There are enough different doughs, sauces, pizzas, sides, desserts, and ideas in here that I can genuinely see families cooking their way through it for a long time.
And with Toy Story 5 making its Disney+ debut on September 23, I can’t think of a better excuse to start. Order your copy now for just $19.80 (it’s 21% off right now!) so you can get it in time for Pizza Planet Movie Night!
Now the only real question is whether the Pizza Planet aliens approve of pineapple. I’m not getting involved in that argument.
Disclosure: A complimentary review copy of The Pizza Planet Cookbook: Official Recipes from Your Favorite Food and Fun Spaceport was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions expressed here are my own.
