23 Pizza Recipes for All of Your Game Day Needs

According to self-proclaimed “pizza freak” Peter Reinhart, pizza is just “dough with stuff on it.” And whether you agree with that taxonomy or not, you can’t argue with the fact that dough with stuff on it usually is pretty delicious, regardless of its country or state of origin.

It’s also the perfect Super Bowl-watching food. (Though you could certainly enjoy it while watching anything, sport or not.) It's handheld, salty and satisfying, and endlessly customizable, so you can please a wide variety of palates. Whether you’re a die-hard Italian pizza truther or are perfectly happy with a French flatbread, we have a recipe for “dough with stuff on it” that is sure to please.

Pour-in-the-Pan Pizza with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

“Though this pizza-making process breaks all the rules … you get an amazing result.” That’s Chris Kimball on pour-in-the-pan pizza—a focaccia-pizza hybrid based on a remarkably crispy, tender focaccia we tried in Bari, Italy.

The key to the perfect focaccia was a shockingly wet, pourable dough, with almost twice as much water than the norm. The excess water both weakens the gluten and turns to steam in the oven, which makes for an airier, more open crumb. Chris applied that principle to pizza, et voila: He achieved the chewy crumb and crispy crust that had eluded him for decades.

Inverted Pizza with Onions, Potatoes and Thyme

An all-time Milk Street favorite: the inverted pizza, or pizza al contrario. In this recipe, learned from Katie Parla and Kristina Gill’s “Tasting Rome,” ingredients first are spread on the baking sheet, followed by the dough; the result is a melding of topping and crust, with a wonderfully crisp bottom.

Roasted Mushroom Pizza with Fontina and Scallions

We created a mushroom pizza with deeply concentrated flavor, no sog, a crispy crust—and our twist on “white sauce” that’s light and spreadable, incorporating earthy fontina cheese to play up the mushrooms’ woody flavor. It's the opposite of the lackluster mushroom pizza to which we are accustomed.

The crust comes from Chris Kimball’s 40-year search for the perfect pizza dough, which he came across by chance on a muggy summer day. The happy accident resulted in a crispy, chewy crust with remarkable flavor. “It was the best pizza I had ever made,” he writes.

Spanish-Style Flatbread with Roasted Peppers, Artichokes and Prosciutto

“Here’s the deal. The veggie topping is the absolute bomb,” wrote one reader of our open-faced pizza, inspired by the toppings-laden Spanish flatbread called coca. We like this person’s method—they drain the roasted red peppers and artichokes, plus garlic, capers, thyme, and oil, then store it in the fridge for an all-purpose topping. (“I label it ‘Mediterranean Medley,” they write.) Here, we press the medley into store-bought pizza dough, brush the crust with oil, then roast 12-15 minutes until the dough’s browned. Add some prosciutto and parsley, and the result is a mouthwateringly savory-sweet, briny, punchy—dead-simple—weeknight pizza.

Roasted Eggplant Pizza with Za'atar and Feta

This eggplant pizza with a Middle Eastern flavor profile is all about piling on the veggies—no tomato sauce or mozzarella here. Soft and browned roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, and shallots are rounded out with creamy feta and pine nuts. The earthy spice blend za’atar adds lots of depth.

Pizzas with Pancetta, Fig Jam and Blue Cheese

Can’t decide between a cheese plate and pizza? Split the difference with these weeknight-easy pies made with a trio of powerhouse ingredients: fruity fig jam, savory pancetta, and pungent blue cheese. We use our simple flatbread dough for a soft, chewy, flavor-absorbing base; make it in the food processor up to a day in advance.

Pepperoncini and Cheese Pizzas with Garlic-Herb Oil

This 30-minute wonder combines buttery fontina and nutty Parmesan with tangy pickled pepperoncini peppers. The toppings are piled on to our supple, easy-to-work-with yogurt pizza dough that bakes up with a chewy-soft crumb and subtle richness. (For convenience, the dough can be made a day in advance.) Finished with an herby oil flavored with chives, dill, parsley and garlic, it’s a pie that hits all the flavor notes.

Three-Cheese Pizza

“It's the best pizza I've ever made” wrote one reader of this simple and classic cheese pizza. We use a quick, no-cook tomato sauce—"It tastes like summer, even with tomatoes from a can," said another happy customer. A mixture of creamy whole-milk mozzarella, buttery fontina and nutty Parm provide a full, complex flavor.

White Pizza with Arugula

A whipped mixture of heavy cream and fontina makes the “sauce” for these pies. During baking, it melts down into something creamy and wonderful, so be sure to crimp the edge of the dough to create a slight retaining wall for the sauce. Lightly dressed arugula is the perfect finishing touch. “Perhaps the best pizza I’ve ever made,” wrote one reader. “Excellent recipe.”

Pizza with Salami and Smoked Mozzarella

Pizza does not have to be round. In Rome, for example, pizza al taglio is baked in long rectangles, sliced, and served to be eaten while standing in the street. Here, we start with pizza parlor dough, fit it into a baking sheet, then top with smoked mozzarella and salami. Quick and easy, and the topping is a home run (or, er, touchdown).

Brazilian-Style Pizza Calabrese

In São Paulo, Brazil, where reportedly half the population of more than 12 million is of Italian descent, pizza reigns supreme. But where Neapolitan pizza is defined by restraint and exacting standards, we learned firsthand that Brazilian pizza is made with an anything-goes attitude, resulting in some uniquely delicious pies. The crust of the typical São Paulo pizza is thicker than that of Neapolitan pizza, so it provides good support for generous toppings, whatever they may be. And though crisp on the bottom, it tends to be rather soft and tender. São Paulo’s Bráz Pizzaria puts the flavors of southern Italy on one of their specialty pies called “Calabria.” The restaurant uses 'nduja, a type of spicy, spreadable salami. 'Nduja is not easy to source, so we opt for hot Italian sausage. We remove the casing and brown it in a skillet before use. Topping the kale with cheese anchors it so the leaves don’t fall off when the pizza is put into the oven.

Brazilian-Style Thai Chicken Pizza with Bean Sprouts and Peanut Sauce

Another exciting offering from Brazil, this surprisingly tasty fusion pizza is based on one we enjoyed at Bráz Elettrica in São Paulo. You’ll need shredded cooked chicken for topping the pies. A store-bought rotisserie chicken is an easy option; one average-size bird yields about 3 cups meat, just enough for the recipe. Serve with lime wedges alongside for extra zing.

Brazilian-Style Pizza with Ricotta, Za’atar and Arugula

“This ticks all the boxes for a nontraditional pizza,” writes one reader of this Brazil-meets-Beirut pizza—adding that the combination of veggies, sumac, and za’atar-laced ricotta “knocked our socks off.” High praise! That was our reaction too, when we first tried a version of this pie at São Paulo’s Veridiana Pizzaria, one of roughly 6,000 local pizzerias that have totally reinvented the format. This ricotta, za’atar, and arugula variety is the best of all worlds: an earthy, fresh, Middle East-inspired flavor palate, with Brazil’s crispy-bottomed, yet soft and tender crust, hefty enough to load up with abundant toppings.

Brazilian-Style Portuguese Pizza

Despite its name, Portuguese pizza is a Brazilian creation and a standard offering at any São Paulo pizzeria. The toppings are tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, olives, hard-cooked egg and onion (usually raw, but we especially liked the sautéed onion Bráz Elettrica puts on their Portuguese pizza). The version we tasted at 1900 Pizzaria also included sliced hearts of palm, which we loved, so we added some to ours, too.

Inverted Pizza with Olives, Anchovies and Caramelized Onions

We turned a classic French tart (pissaladière) into an upside-down, caramelized onion pizza. Baking pizza with the crust on top allows crisping and browning (no pizza stone required), while giving the toppings more intense concentration of flavor. First caramelizing thinly sliced onions, layered with black olives and anchovies, makes for quick, hands-off work.

Slab Pizza with Sausage, Chard and Onion

This slab-style pizza boasts a pillowy, focaccia-like dough topped with garlicky tomato sauce, crisp sausage and silky sautéed greens. A flavorful cheese blend brings everything together. We recommend provolone and Asiago for their slightly funkier notes, but if you prefer to keep things mild, melty fontina and Parmesan are delicious. Coating the baking sheet with oil and semolina ensures the pizza develops a crunchy bottom crust, which is especially satisfying in contrast to the dough’s tender interior. The pizza’s caramelized edges; browned, bubbly cheese; and generous array of toppings make it perfect for a crowd.

Pizza with Ricotta, Zucchini and Mint

A couple years ago, at her 14th-century fortified farm in Puglia, chef Maria Grazia Di Lauro made us a spread of zucchini that blew our minds. Thin-sliced and ribboned zucchini served as a fresh-tasting base for a combination of ricotta, lemon zest, and mint—salty, crunchy, creamy, minty and fresh. We apply that combination to this pizza, punctuated with pistachio bits and a modest amount of Parm.

Pissaladière

Pissaladière is half crust, half a heaping layer of jammy, caramelized onions. Sort of like a thin-crust pizza, it’s a traditional savory French tart often seasoned with potent herbs (thyme and bay) and a punchy, briny ingredient like capers or olives. They’re the perfect balancing note for the sweet-tart onions, supported with a crisp crust. It can be an appetizer, but a salad makes it a meal.

White Pizza with Garlic and Rosemary

Simplicity at its best. Made with our supple Easy-Stretch Pizza Dough and topped with a short list of impactful ingredients, this sauceless white pie is an exercise in elegant restraint. Creamy fontina and nutty Parm make up the cheesy backbone; thin slices of roasted garlic and fresh rosemary amplify the savoriness.

Pizza with Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

A pint of cherry tomatoes, sliced and salted to drain away excess moisture, stands in for the typical sauce on this simple pizza. Fresh mozzarella dots a bubbly crust, and it’s all finished with hand-torn basil and just-ground pepper.

Pizza with Pepperoni, Mozzarella and Hot Honey

These pizzas feature a combination of salty, spicy, tangy and sweet flavors. Pepperoni is the type of chili-spiked salumi that’s easiest to find, but if you can get hot capicola or hot soppressata, they’re also fantastic. Pickled peppers bring vinegary brightness and a drizzle of hot honey after baking layers on more spiciness, along with a sweetness that works with the other flavors. Hot honey is sold in most supermarkets, but if it’s not available, finish the pies with a drizzle of regular honey and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.

Lebanese Flatbreads with Tomatoes, Za’atar and Sumac

These savory flatbreads are Middle Eastern in origin, but we learned about them in São Paulo, Brazil, where they’re called esfihas (sometimes spelled esfirras). The breads were introduced to Brazil by Arab immigrants, particularly from Lebanon and Syria, in the late 19th century. Esfihas might be formed into dumpling-like buns that fully enclose a filling, but the ones we favored were open-faced, like pizzas, and about the size of a saucer. At São Paulo’s Restaurante & Rotisserie Halim, Yasmin Sultan showed us how to make those pizza-style esfihas. We adapted the recipe, adding some yogurt to the dough for a richer, more tender crumb that complements a simple topping of chopped tomatoes and olive oil mixed with earthy za’atar and tangy sumac.

Arrabbiata Slab Pizza

We call this “focaccia pizza” (aka Slab Pizza) around the office because it merges the flavor, chew, and height of focaccia with a pizza dough that takes almost no times to make—no overnight rise, just one hour of active time. The key to the airiness and chew is a higher level of hydration — the moisture weakens the gluten and turns to steam in the oven, creating bubbles in the crust. A layer of olive oil and semolina on the baking sheet ensures a crunchy, crispy crust.

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Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.