What's the Best Cheese on a Pizza?
When cooking pizza, using the best cheese for a pizza is often the key to making a truly delicious pie. Unfortunately, there are so many different types of cheese to choose from, and knowing which will give you the most flavorful pizza can often take time and effort.
Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks to help you make the right selection. We’ll discuss the differences between the various kinds of cheese, some common, some not so common and how to select the best pizza cheese types for you.
What is pizza cheese?
Pizza cheese typically refers to the type of cheese used on pizza. The most common type of pizza cheese is Mozzarella, but other types, such as cheddar, ricotta, Parmesan and others, can also be used. Shredded or grated pizza cheese is placed on top of the pizza before baking and used to provide flavour and bind the toppings together when melted.
Pizza Cheese Types:
Vegan Pizza Cheese
Can you use Vegan and cheese in the same sentence? Yes, vegan cheese is very much real! Since it has been derived from plants, it’s getting popular amongst vegetarians, especially folks who are lactose intolerant.
Vegan cheese is made from nuts such as cashews and macadamias, and vegetable oil. Being plant-based, this cheese is inarguably much healthier than the usual dairy products we use.
Therefore using vegan pizza cheese on your pizza is a good alternative to regular cheese, especially for those avoiding products from animals.
Mozzarella Cheese
Although there are so many types of pizza cheese, mozzarella cheese remains the preferred choice of many including the big brands such as Dominos and Pizza Hut for best cheese on a pizza.
Mozzarella cheese is a staple ingredient in many recipes, but it is especially popular on pizza. Mozzarella is a soft, white Italian cheese made from cow’s milk and known for its mild, buttery flavour and elastic texture.
It’s one of the most popular choices for pizza, as it melts quickly and provides a creamy, gooey layer of cheese on top of the pizza. Making mozzarella cheese involves stretching the curd and kneading it until it forms a smooth, pliable dough. The dough is then formed into balls and stretched until they are thin enough to be used on a pizza. This process allows the cheese to melt easily, and it’s this melting quality that makes mozzarella cheese so perfect for pizza.
The flavour of mozzarella cheese is mild but not bland. It’s slightly salty and tangy, making it a great addition to various toppings, especially pepperoni and Margherita pizzas. It can be used as the main cheese on the pizza or blended with other cheeses such as cheddar, Parmesan, and feta for added flavour. It’s also delicious melted on top of grilled vegetables and meats, and it’s a great addition to lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and other Italian dishes.
When choosing mozzarella cheese for pizza, selecting a high-quality, whole milk, low-moisture cheese is essential. Avoid pre-shredded Mozzarella cheese, which can contain additives affecting how well it melts.
Overall, its pretty hard not to give the title for the best cheese for a pizza to Mozzarella.
Ricotta Cheese Pizza
Ricotta cheese is a soft, mild Italian cheese made from whey. It is a by-product of the cheese-making process often used in various Italian dishes, such as lasagna, ravioli, and cannoli. It has a mild, slightly sweet flavour and is creamy when fresh and crumbly when aged.
Ricotta cheese gives it a creamy texture. It pairs up well with tomatoes, spinach, herbs, and onion. The mild, slightly sweet flavour of ricotta blends well with the tanginess of tomato sauce, making the pair a well-liked option for topping.
A 1:1 blend of Ricotta cheese and Mozzarella on a pizza is bit out of the norm, but creates a remarkably flavour and texture. You might never go back once you try this combo.
Tip: Season the ricotta with some salt, pepper, and garlic for some scrumptious taste.
Cream Cheese Pizza
Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting cheese made from cow’s milk. It is usually white in colour but may be flavoured with herbs, spices, or other ingredients. Cream cheese is commonly used as a spread on bagels, toast, and crackers or as a key ingredient in many baked dishes.
Although not that common, cream cheese makes for a good pizza topping. The creamy texture allows cream cheese to double as a sauce. So if you’re looking to save some dollars, buy cream cheese. It will give you the deliciousness of cheese and can act as a sauce base too, but is an acquired taste so ranks a down lower for me as best cheese on a pizza.
Goat Cheese Pizza
Goat cheese is a type of cheese made from goat milk. It can be made in various styles, from soft and creamy to hard and crumbly, and can range in flavour from mild to tangy. It’s often used in salads, sandwiches, and other dishes.
Although not often heard of, goat cheese makes a stellar pizza topping. This one is a bit tricky though, as you cannot just sprinkle some goat cheese with ranch-flavoured chicken and call it a day.
Goat cheese requires a bit of deliberation. The rich creamy and tangy taste of goat cheese blends well with few toppings such as caramelised onions, basil, mushrooms, bell peppers, and figs.
However, don’t limit yourself to these. Who knows? A bit of trial and error may lead you to the perfect match for your goats cheese pizza topping!
Blue Cheese on Pizza?
Blue cheese is a type of cheese made with cow, goat, or sheep milk and is flavored with a type of mold called Penicillium. It is often crumbly and has a distinctive, strong taste. It can range from pale white to deep blue–gray in color.
Blue cheese pizza is hit or miss. Either you love it or you don’t. If you are a blue cheese lover, you don’t need any convincing to put it on your pizza. But if you are a daring foodie looking to discover some new wonders in the world of food- blue cheese might just be it.
The strong flavour means there are very select toppings it will pair up with nicely, so be careful with your experiments! We recommend trying blue cheese along with some rockets, walnuts, and pancetta.
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan cheese, also known as Parmigiano-Reggiano, is a hard, granular cheese primarily made from cow’s milk. It originates from Italy’s Parma and Reggio Emilia regions and is known for its nutty, fruity flavour and grainy texture. Parmesan cheese is typically grated and used as a topping for pasta dishes, soups, and salads or as a filling for risotto and other dishes.
More of a garnish than a topping, parmesan cheese on pizza is a favourite with many. The hard, dry texture gives it a flavour, unlike any other cheese.
Parmesan cheese will play up the flavour of the toppings, enhancing the overall taste. But remember to only garnish your finished pizza with parmesan cheese and not bake it. The high oven temperatures may end up doing more damage than good.
Provolone Cheese Pizza
Provolone is a type of Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. It is a semi-hard cheese with a mild to sharp flavour, depending on how long it has aged. It is typically used for grating, slicing, and melting on sandwiches, pizzas, and other dishes. Provolone is also a table cheese often paired with fruit and wine. It is similar to Mozzarella but has a more robust flavour.
If you want a more supple and smooth texture, use provolone cheese aged for one to three months.
However, if you are looking for something sharper and dryer, opt for a provolone that’s been aged longer. A telling sign of provolone that has been well-aged is that it has holes and a more robust, spicier smell.
Provolone cheese on pizza is always a good option because it goes well with pretty much all kinds of flavours of pizzas.
Cheddar Cheese Pizza
Cheddar cheese is a hard, cow’s milk cheese that originated in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. It is one of the most widely purchased and eaten types of cheese worldwide and is known for its tangy and slightly nutty flavour. It ranges in colour from white to orange and is made by pressing and aging the curds of cow’s milk.
Cheddar cheese can be used as a topping on sandwiches and crackers and as an ingredient in various dishes. It can be aged for different periods, resulting in many flavour profiles, from mild to sharp.
Cheddar does not go well as the primary source of cheese on pizza in high-temperature ovens as the fats tend to separate from the solids. So if you want to use Cheddar cheese on your pizza for that rich tangy taste, it’s best to supplement another cheese base, such as Mozzarella.
Conclusion
Now that you know what cheese you can use on a pizza, you can experiment a little. Each type of cheese’s different textures imparts unique flavours that you may like, love or loathe.
We can see that Mozzarella is the king of pizza cheese for its worldwide use as a pizza cheese; however, the taste of food is subjective. So you get to decide which is your best cheese on a pizza.
There are no rules to making pizza, so have some fun with it!
