Once you learn how to make pizza at home you will forget about take-out and get excited about trying a new recipe every week. You can even go as creative as dessert pizza with chocolate chips.
For the best results, you should try the best outdoor pizza ovens but a supermarket base can taste delicious too with the right toppings. Try any of these tasty pizza topping ideas and you will start to wonder why your local Italian does not have it on their menu.
15 Amazing Pizza Toppings Ideas You Must Try
1. Spinach & Artichoke But Not the Dip
If this is already your go-to party snack then you will love it from the oven, too. To translate this recipe, replace the sour cream and mayonnaise with mozzarella and parmesan to make a white pizza.
2. Sausage Spiced Veggies
For a vegetarian option that meat-eaters will love too, add all the best sausage spices to everyone’s favorite vegetables like bell peppers, corn, onions and mushrooms. Key sausage spices are fennel seed, white pepper, cumin, paprika, cayenne and thyme.
3. As Easy as Pesto
When you are feeling fancy, try pesto as the base sauce instead of the traditional tomato sauce. Keep the rest simple with just mozzarella and fresh tomato slices.
4. Shakshuka Pizza
Shakshuka is an Israeli breakfast staple and makes for a truly inspired vegetarian-friendly pizza. The traditional dish is eggs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce with green bell peppers and feta as a topping – now imagine those same hearty flavors for a pizza recipe.
5. Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion and Mushroom
The sweetness of the caramelized onions is a great compliment to the creaminess of goat cheese and earthy flavor of mushrooms. This works best with a white pizza sauce base and you can add crushed walnuts for some extra crunch.
6. Pancetta – Italian Bacon
Bacon tastes delicious on anything and the same goes for pancetta which is the Italian version. So, think of what your favorite bacon pairing is and put it all on a pizza with pancetta, instead.
7. More Than One Sausage Pizza
Italian sausage is delicious, especially covered with cheese, but that is not the only sausage that works on a pizza. Try combining different kinds of sausages like herbed turkey sausage, chipolata, breakfast sausage and so on – don’t worry, the cheese brings it all together.
8. Red Sauce Pasta Dishes
Whatever your favorite pasta dish is, chances are that it tastes just as good on bread. So, take any popular red sauce pasta dish recipe and take away the noodles to make a delicious new pizza topping.
9. The Controversial One
Fruit and blue cheese on pizza may be one of the most dividing preferences but somehow this pairing works. This recipe combines peaches and gorgonzola and you can add grilled chicken for some extra lean protein.
10. Super Spicy
If you like your food with some heat then layer on these ingredients with a kick; pepperoni, jalapenos, cayenne pepper or sriracha, and spicy minced meat. Adjust the heat to your preferred level or balance it out with a cheesier tomato sauce base.
11. Prosciutto Pairings
The lovely saltiness of prosciutto works great on flatbread and pairs well with arugula, mozzarella, basil, juicy fruit like melon or pears and a garlicky olive oil drizzle. You don’t have to put all these ingredients together though – choose the topping combinations that you like best.
12. The Health Nut
Certain ingredients pop up on every healthy bistro menu and you can take these flavors as inspiration for your own healthier version of comfort food. Think of popular combos like kale with pine nuts, avocado, garlic, and chicken breast or pumpkin, ricotta and walnuts.
13. The Best Cheese Pizza
The traditional Quattro Formaggio calls for mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola and something creamier like stracchino. However, you can mix it up by switching them out or adding more of your favorites like ricotta, gouda, gruyere, goat cheese, cheddar or provolone – you can never go wrong.
14. Shrimp Scampi Pizza
Oven baking adds a yummy smokey flavor to shrimp so consider this an elevated version of your quick weeknight dinner. Take the ingredients that you would normally use for the pasta dish (shrimp, lemon juice, parsley, etc) and put it on a crust instead.
15. Mediterranean Style
This is a take on the Nicoise salad which is full of traditional Mediterranean flavor profiles. For this recipe, use a red sauce base with Italian spices, tuna chunks, black olives, capers, red onions and parmesan cheese with bell peppers and basil to your liking.
Truthfully, anything topping will probably taste delicious on a pizza so don’t be afraid to experiment with unusual pairings. In the end, it is still pizza and that will always taste good for any meal of the day.
