One of our favorite things about making pizza at home is the freedom to experiment with toppings and even the dough – there’s a joy in using unique pizza ingredients and making them your own! Traditional pizzas are always delicious, but there’s something magical about doing something unconventional. They can introduce new flavors, textures, and even cultural experiences to your meals.
Personal Anecdote
I remember the first time I added sardines to my pizza. At first, I was skeptical. I’d read it was tasty but I honestly wasn’t looking forward to it. But the result was phenomenal—a salty, savory delight that really is one of my top 5 pizzas we’ve ever made. Our adventures in writing this blog continue to show why exploring unique pizza ingredients is almost always a surprising reward!
Why Unique Ingredients?
- Excitement and Variety: Unique ingredients can shake up what you expect pizza to be and introduce new flavors to your palate.
- Cultural Exploration: Trying different toppings can be like a mini culinary tour of the world. Think pastrami from New York, paneer from India, or Nashville hot chicken from the Southern U.S.
- Creativity and Fun: Cooking can always (and easily) be an expression of your own creativity and palette. It can really be fun to mix and match ingredients, inventing your own new favorite combinations.
- Conversation Starters: Serve a pizza with unconventional toppings at a gathering, and it’s sure to spark interesting conversations and curiosity.
What are Some of Our Favorite Unique Pizza Ingredients?
While pineapple on pizza might be the ubiquitous question, it’s hardly unique (outside of Italy!).
Instead let’s explore some more uncommon and interesting options! You’ll find many of our recipes use a combination of unique pizza toppings and ingredients, but here are a few that stood out:
- Pickles – yup, this was a surprise, but the tang and pop are often a fantastic addition to a pizza. In particular, this is amazing on a pastrami pizza and on a Nashville Hot Chicken pizza!
- Mustard – from the Trenton Tomato Pie (where it’s been used for decades) to a pretzel pizza, this has been a favorite when we’ve served it to guests.
- Honey – this one has been around for a bit and likely popularized initially by the Colorado Mountain Pie, but now it’s common in a lot of more modern pizzerias (especially as hot honey).
- Beer – don’t try putting this ON your pizza, but it’s an interesting and fun way to make a pizza crust!
- Furikake – while this adds a decidedly Asian flavor to your pizza, I really enjoy it on our umami pizza. You can double down on this idea by using bonito flakes and kimchi as well!
- Cotija cheese – pretty much any pizza with a Mexican twist is going to be great with Cotija cheese (like our Elote pizza). In fact, we think this works pretty well on most pizza biancas wherever you see feta cheese used.
- Buckwheat Flour – lots of people don’t eat gluten. Buckwheat flour can make for an excellent gluten-free pizza dough!
If these seem a little too outlandish, don’t hesitate to try simply substituting pepperoni for chorizo or spicy Italian Soppressata salami or Calabrese salami like you’ll find on a Diavola pizza.
Try Our Unique Pizza Recipes
Ready to embark on a culinary adventure? Here are some unique pizza recipes you must try:
- Spiede Pizza: This upstate New York specialty features marinated meat cubes that add a flavorful punch.
- Sardine Pizza: Perfect for seafood lovers, this pizza brings a delightful briny taste that’s surprisingly simple (no red sauce) and yet so wonderful.
- Pastrami Pizza: A New York deli twist on pizza, combining smoky, savory pastrami with tangy pickles and mustard. I easily could also add using rye flour here, as we used that in our crust!
- Peri Peri Paneer Pizza: This pizza features spicy African Bird’s Eye (aka peri peri) seasoning and Indian paneer cheese as an alternative to chicken. Of course we also have the chicken recipe too!
- Nashville Hot Chicken Pizza: For those who love a kick of heat and pickles again, this pizza tops fiery hot chicken on a cheesy, crispy base.
- Pretzel Pizza: If you’ve got German in your background (or you just like pretzels and mustard), make one of these for Okotoberfest!
Join the Pizza Revolution!
Experimenting with unique ingredients can make your homemade pizza not just a meal, but an event. It’s all about having fun, discovering new flavors, and sharing the experience with family and friends.
Don’t just take our word for it—try one these recipes for yourself!
We’d love to see your creations! Share your unique pizza masterpieces with us on social media and tell us about your favorite unique pizza ingredients and why they make your favorite pizza wonderful!
Todd’s cooking skills have revolved around the grill since about age 12, when he developed a love for grilling and took over for Mom at the BBQ. He worked at Wendy’s and at Earl’s Tin Palace (a restaurant chain in Canada) but never really did any sort of baking…until he and Heather started making pizza together! Now he’s often making dough in the mornings and pizza in the evenings.