Exploring the World's 10 Best Pizzas

You know that they say, even if it's not good pizza, it's still pretty good pizza. Because let's face it, anyone who has ever had the late-night munchies is never mad about a Little Caesars^® HOT-N-READY^® pepperoni pizza. While in the moment it may seem like the most outstanding culinary achievement of our time, there are pizzas that even the toughest of food critics can't deny are genuinely impressive. Here are the 10 most popular types of pizza around the world.

#1. Neapolitan

Originating in Naples, Italy, Neapolitan pizza is considered the first modern pizza. Made with Neapolitan flour, the crust has a thin, soft texture in the center, but it's thicker and slightly charred on the edges.

Neapolitan pizza is also characterized by its toppings, including fresh tomato sauce and slices of mozzarella cheese.

#2. Margherita

Also originating in Naples, Italy, the Margherita pizza uses Neapolitian pizza dough for its crust and has a specific topping combination.

With its red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil leaves, the Margherita pizza symbolizes the colors of the Italian flag, honoring the queen of Italy, for whom the pizza was named in 1889. While many pizzas contain tomatoes and mozzarella, it's not an authentic Margherita pizza without the Neapolitan pizza dough.

#3. New York-Style

When you ask someone what they think of when you say what is the most popular pizza, chances are they'll think of New York-style pizza. Developed by Italian immigrants in New York, New York-style pizza is known for being sold by the slice, a trend that began when pizzeria customers couldn't afford an entire pizza.

The key to creating its signature thin, stretchy crust is hand-tossing the dough rather than rolling it, creating a pie that can be sliced into many servings. The thin crust also helps with folding the pizza to make eating its large slices easier, perfect for when you're on the go in the busy streets of New York.

#4. Chicago Deep-Dish

The counterpart to New York-style pizza's thin crust, Chicago deep-dish pizza is more like a pie. The dough for Chicago-style pizza is prepared to have tall, crispy crusts on the side with a broad, deep space in the center.

The other defining characteristic of Chicago-style pizza is that, unlike most other pizzas, the dough is filled with cheese first, then topped with a layer of sauce.

#5. Tavern-Style

Ironically, another popular pizza in the Chicago area is tavern-style pizza. It is essentially the inverse of Chicago deep-dish pizza, with an extra-thin, cracker-like flatbread crust.

Unlike traditional round pizzas, tavern-style pizza is cut into uneven square slices. While it's unclear why they were cut this way, it is commonly believed that it was for convenience, as people could quickly share pieces that would fit onto bar napkins.

#6. Sicilian

Sicilian Pizza comes from a Sicilian food known as sfincione, a focaccia-style bread topped with tomato sauce, onions, and sometimes anchovies. This pizza is rectangular or square and has a thick crust that's crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Sicilian pizza is also known for containing a generous amount of tomato sauce and cheese. Popular in the Northeast, Sicilian pizza is also known as "beach pizza" due to its popularity in coastal towns.

#7. Hawaiian Pizza

One of the great debates of our time, whether pineapple belongs on pizza, can be attributed to Hawaiian pizza. Contrary to what the same suggests, Hawaiian pizza was not invented in Hawaii, but rather in Canada when a chef took inspiration from other sweet and savory dishes, coming up with the pizza's classic pineapple and ham combination. Since then, other meats besides ham have been combined with pineapple to give it that pairing of sweet and savory, such as bacon or pulled pork with barbecue sauce.

#8. California

One of the newer types of pizza, California pizza, gained popularity in the 1980s from celebrity chefs such as Wolfgang Puck. This pizza has a New York-style crust but is cooked inside a wood-burning stove, giving it a charred, smoky finish similar to Neapolitan pizza. Like the California food scene, known for its fresh, local ingredients, toppings are at the forefront of California pizza, featuring fancy and unique toppings such as goat cheese, prosciutto, or scallops.

#9. Greek

Originating in New England, Greek pizza is similar to Sicilian pizza. However, it has a unique preparation process. While most pizzas are placed directly into a wood-burning stove, Greek pizza is made in a metal pan, producing a light crust with no burnt sections.

Greek pizza is also known for its high oil content; olive oil coats the pan and is used in the dough and tomato sauce. As for toppings, this pizza will commonly use ingredients related to Greek foods, such as feta cheese and black olives.

10. Detroit Style

Detroit pizza is known for its impressive height and very generous amount of cheese and toppings. The crust comes out chewy and extremely crispy, with the dough placed in a metal pan similar to a rectangular bread pan. Another common trait of Detroit pizza is that the pepperoni is placed directly on the crust before the cheese. While Detroit Pizza is known for having a ton of meat and veggie toppings, a smaller amount of sauce is used compared to other pizzas, with a small amount drizzled on the top.

Whatever you favor, one thing is for sure: Pizza comes in all shapes and sizes and is universally loved in all its forms across the globe.

Reference: 10 Most Famous Pizza Styles From Around the World