- A plain pizza is fine,
but do you know how to top your pie just right?
These are the top 10 best toppings
that you need to try on your slice, off top.
What's up everyone, I'm Cliff Skighwalker,
host of Thrillist's new hit show, "Instachef,"
owner of Cliff's Pizza,
and overall bonified pizza fanatic.
I believe that pizza in any form is something beautiful,
even if it's as simple as a plain cheese pie.
But variety is the spice of life,
and pizza toppings are, well,
they can make or break a slice.
Today, I'm sharing with you my definitive list
of the 10 best pizza toppings,
and my number one pick is definitely gonna surprise you.
And no, it's not pepperoni.
Get with the times.
Ten, ham and pineapple.
Let's just get it out the way, let's get real controversial.
I'm not opposed to it.
Some of you people are so adamant
about hating this combination.
Even if you're not a fan, give it a try
before you straight up say no.
If you hate it so much, you might be doing it wrong.
Try instead of ham, capicola,
and instead of pineapple, make a pineapple chutney.
That's what I'd do.
It's pretty good, you should try it.
Nine, pepperoni, on pepperoni, on pepperoni.
It's a timeless classic.
Can never go wrong with it,
but there are so many more flavors to try,
thus, it's number nine on my list.
Number eight, black olives and mushrooms.
The brininess of the black olive
paired with the meatiness of a mushroom come together
and form this Voltron of flavors.
Look, you might be an olive hater in real life,
but once you put it on a pizza, whole different ballgame.
I like it, if you're not sure about it,
just give it a try.
You never know, that may turn out to be your favorite slice.
Number seven, sausage and peppers.
It's a classic, the salty, meatiness of the sausage,
paired with just a very, very calming array of peppers,
just, it's amazing.
So sausage and peppers is a great topping combination
for Chicago-style pizza.
Whether it's deep dish or Chicago thin crust,
which is one of my favorites.
Try it, it's number seven on my list,
might be number one in your heart.
We're keepin' the list rollin'.
Number six, roasted veggies.
Listen, leave those weird child hangups
about hating vegetables behind.
Just because you're putting veggies on a pizza
doesn't mean it's healthy.
It's not.
That's all I got, I'm sorry.
Roasting a vegetable brings all type of flavors,
and caramelization to it.
And really, when you take all of that
and put it on top of a pizza,
the flavors just continue to bloom and grow,
and just open up as you're chewing.
My roasted veggie go-tos, I like a roasted broccoli,
a roasted pepper, roasted onion.
Let me say that one more time.
Roasted onion, do it.
Number five, bacon.
With everything.
Bacon and sausage, bacon and pepperoni,
bacon and onion.
If you're feelin' real freaky, bacon with fig.
Bacon with fig.
Don't knock it till you tried it, I'm just sayin'.
The saltiness, the gaminess,
it brings everything to another level.
We all love bacon, and if you don't,
probably had a terrible childhood.
Now bacon might not be the first thing
you think of when it comes to pizza toppings,
but look, you already eat cold pizza for breakfast,
you might as well throw bacon on it.
Number four, salami, sweet sausage, sopressata.
The combination of meat flavors, they just go well together.
This combination goes great with Detroit-style pizza.
This combination goes great with Chicago thin crust,
maybe even a New York slice.
I guess I'm sayin' it goes great with everything.
Number three, barbecue chicken, and red onions.
So the same folks that don't like ham and pineapple
don't think barbecue chicken and pizza should go together.
Y'all are wrong.
Barbecue chicken, pizza, harmonious combination.
Sprinkle in the red onion for a little bite
and to cut through the richness of the barbecue chicken.
When it comes to making barbecue chicken pizza,
you don't wanna burn the chicken.
So my advice, as soon as you get the dough laid out,
add a thin layer of barbecue chicken.
The cheese develops a protection
so that your chicken doesn't burn.
And then after parcooking it for awhile,
add a little chicken on top,
let it go for about five to 10 minutes.
Number two, banana peppers, and pickled onions.
There's a good chance you've never tried this combo,
and you're missin' out.
This is one of my signature pizzas.
The acidity of both flavors comes together,
cuts through the richness of a pizza,
especially if it's a Detroit-style.
The brininess, the pickliness.
Pickliness isn't a word, I made it up.
Just roll with me.
Those flavors, when it comes to dough, sauce, and cheese,
they just work, it's beautiful,
you should try it too.
My number one pick.
Shrimp pizza, yes.
I said it, shrimp pizza.
Listen, shrimp is so great on its own,
but when you mix it with
just with a beautiful slice of pizza,
you hear that?
It's birds singin'.
It's the ocean breeze.
Maybe a honk or two of
your uncle's Mercedes.
You smell that?
It's a fresh pie comin' out of the oven.
Shrimp topped all on it.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.
Shrimp pizza is a signature pizza that I like to make.
I like to cook the pizza, parbake it a little bit,
add the shrimp, and just when the shrimp
is cooked through all the way,
you pull it out of the oven,
you serve it immediately.
The taste and textures of the shrimp
paired with just standard pizza toppings,
offer a great, meaty substitute
to the toppings that you're used to.
The pepperoni, the sausage.
You get a real taste of the sea when it comes to shrimp,
and when you pair that with pizza,
it's a match made in heaven.
I told you you'd be surprised at my number one pick.
I wasn't gonna let you down.
Shrimp pizza.
Give it a try.
As you can see, I've got some strong opinions
about pizza and pizza toppings.
Do yourself a favor.
Pick up a phone, dial up your favorite pizza spot,
and get a pie topped right, off top.
Once again, I'm Cliff Skighwalker.
Thanks for hanging out, talking pizza.
If you wanna see me explore how chefs
are using social media to show their food to the world,
make sure you tune into "Instachef" on Thrillist.