8 food experts share their all-time favorite pizza toppings
- When it comes to toppings, pizzaiolos have free rein to get as creative as they want.
- We reached out to professional chefs and culinary experts who told us their absolute favorite toppings.
- Toppings like mozzarella and basil, and Italian sausage and meatball, are considered classics for a reason.
- Others recommended less traditional additions like kimchi and a cured meat called guanciale, and even dessert pizza toppings like grilled fruit, dulce de leche, and mascarpone.
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From New York-style pies to Neapolitan classics, it's tough to imagine a more universally beloved food than pizza.
When it comes to toppings, pizzaiolos have free rein to get as creative as they want. And since you could have any number of pizza-topping combinations, expert advice on the best types of meat, vegetables, and fruit to add to your pie should come in handy.
We asked professional chefs and culinary experts to share their favorite toppings that can take a simple pie to the next level. From kimchi to dulce de leche, what they recommend.
Chef Pasquale Cozzolino of Ribalta in New York City says dried shiitake mushrooms make a great pizza topping.
Chef Pasquale Cozzolino of Ribalta in New York City says he loves to use shiitake mushrooms as a pizza topping. He told us that "the savory, brothy flavor [emphasizes the] tomato sauce and mozzarella, making [the] pizza taste more balanced."
Chef Mindy Oh says kimchi matches well with tomato sauce and cheese.
Executive chef Mindy Oh of Mora Italiano in Encino, California, recommends adding kimchi to a plain cheese pie.
"My favorite pizza topping would have to be kimchi! I grew up with my sister making this for me before Saturday morning cartoons," Oh told us. "The slight funky and crisp nature of kimchi combined with cheese and tomato sauce is unlike anything else."
According to chef Harrison Bader, traditional pizza toppings like mozzarella and basil make for the best addition to pizza.
Los Angeles, California-based private chef and "Food Network Star" alum Harrison Bader has a soft spot for classic choices like mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.
"I'm a New Yorker, so I have a VERY strong opinion when it comes to pizza! There's nothing better than classic Margherita toppings; the acidity of the tomato sauce with the richness of the mozzarella all marries together with the herbaceous bite of fresh basil," Bader told INSIDER. "Add a drizzle of EVOO and some red pepper flakes and bada bing! It's a chef's kiss of a perfect slice!"
Read more: How Italy's biggest mozzarella balls are made — the huge 'Zizzonas' can weigh up to 88 lbs
Alejandro Benes, culinary director of Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill in California, goes for spicy pepperoni.
One of the most on-trend pizza toppings has to be "roni cups," a type of pepperoni that rolls into oil-capturing vessels while in the heat of a pizza oven. They're the topping of choice for culinary director Alejandro Benes of Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill in California.
"My favorite pizza topping at just about any pizzeria is pepperoni, but in particular, the spicy pepperoni that cups while cooking and holds the oil so it doesn't get on the rest of the pizza," Benes said.
Chef Michael Reed suggests trying guanciale, a cured meat, as an alternative meat topping.
If you want to mix up the meat topping on your pizza, Michael Reed, the executive chef of H Café, Poppy + Rose, and Viviane Restaurant in Los Angeles, has a suggestion.
He recommends "guanciale, an Italian cured meat product prepared from the pork jowl or cheek of a pig," he said. "I like to use this on pizzas and pasta, because it adds so many aromatic flavors to your dish. It's basically bacon on steroids!"
Baker Buddy Valastro of "Cake Boss" fame says Italian sausage and meatballs shine as pizza toppings.
"Cake Boss" star and baker Buddy Valastro says his preferred pizza topping is Italian sausage and meatballs combined with ricotta and peppers. He includes the pizza on the menu at his Italian-American eatery Buddy V's Ristorante.
"When it came time to whip up some pizza recipes at Buddy V's, I wanted to showcase one that highlights all of my favorite elements of a good sausage pie — juicy pickled peppers with the right amount of heat, pieces of our traditional meatballs, high-quality sausage and, of course, ricotta," Valastro said. "As soon as I walk into the door at one of my restaurants, I really look forward to digging into one of those pizzas."
Culinary influencer Luisa Ruocco of The Hungry Traveller likes pineapple more than any other pizza topping.
We can't think of a pizza topping that inspires more passionate arguments than pineapple. But for those in the pro-pineapple camp — like culinary influencer Luisa Ruocco of The Hungry Traveller — the fruit's distinctive flavor highlight's the pizza's core ingredients, resulting in a harmonious bite.
"I'm just going to come out and say it... my favorite pizza topping is pineapple! Often the topic of much heated debate, I actually love how the sweetness and tartness cuts through the fatty ham meat it's often paired with," Ruocco told us. "My Italian grandmother would kill me for saying this!"
Chef and cookbook author Josephine Caminos Oria is a fan of dessert pizza made with grilled fruit, dulce de leche, and mascarpone.
"Dessert pizzas" don't often get much respect from sweets aficionados or, for that matter, from pizza aficionados. But chef and cookbook author Josephine Caminos Oria of La Dorita Cooks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, says it's a great finishing touch to a meal.
"Grilled peach, dulce de leche, and mascarpone pizza for dessert is the perfect way to end your summer meal, especially if the grill is already heated up for another dish," Oria told us. "The hot, grilled peaches marry the dulce de leche and mascarpone, creating a wonderful bed of subtle sweetness layered atop a crisp, chewy crust infused with a great smoky flavor from the grill."
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