Italy’s most emblematic culinary creation, the genuine pizza Napoletana is made with just a few simple ingredients and prepared in only two variations – marinara, the basic Neapolitan pizza topped with a tomato-based sauce flavored with garlic and oregano, and margherita, which is topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves, a delicious combination whose colors are said to represent the Italian flag.
The crust is very thin at the base, and the dough puffs up on the sides, which results in airy crust that should have typical charred 'leopard spots' if baked properly. The origins of this iconic Neapolitan dish can be traced to the early 1700s, when what we know today as pizza marinara was first described by Italian chef, writer, and philosopher Vincenzo Corrado in his treatise on the eating habits of the people of Naples.
VARIATIONS OF Pizza Napoletana
MOST ICONIC Pizza Napoletana
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MAIN INGREDIENTS
Pizza Margherita is a delicacy that is literally fit for a queen. In 1889, Queen Margherita of Savoy visited Naples, where she was served a pizza that was made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag: red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese, and green basil.
It was made by a chef named Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi, who is credited for its invention. The Queen loved the dish, and Esposito named it after her - pizza Margherita, but such a pizza was also made before that time, and can be dated back to at least 1866, when the most popular pizza toppings included basil, cheese, and tomatoes, but the pizza was not yet named Margherita.
MOST ICONIC Pizza Margherita
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Diavola is a variety of Italian pizza that is traditionally topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, spicy salami, and hot chili peppers. Black olives are optional and can be added for extra flavor.
MOST ICONIC Pizza alla diavola
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Tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella are the standard toppings for pizza bufalina. Mozzarella di bufala, as they call it in Italy, is a type of mozzarella prepared with the milk of the Italian Mediterranean buffalo. Renowned for its rich flavor and tender texture, buffalo mozzarella gives this traditional pizza variety its distinctive, one-of-a-kind flavor.
Pizza bufalina is typically finished off with a drizzle of olive oil and a handful of fresh basil leaves before serving.
MOST ICONIC Pizza bufalina
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This is a variety of Italian pizza that is traditionally topped with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves. It provides a great way to use up leftover tomatoes, and some cooks like to finish it off with a drizzle of balsamic reduction on top.
MOST ICONIC Caprese Pizza
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Quattro formaggi is a variety of Italian pizza topped with a combination of four kinds of cheese, as the name suggests. Traditionally, the cheeses should be mozzarella and three other, local cheeses, depending on the region, such as Gorgonzola, Fontina, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Optionally, the pizza can be further enriched with the addition of basil and tomato. The combination of cheeses gives the pizza an unusual, unique flavor that is loved by cheese-aficionados all over the world.
MOST ICONIC Pizza quattro formaggi
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The name of this pizza literally translates to capricious, and seems quite appropriate, considering that the toppings tend to vary from one region to another. Capricciosa is made with an ever-changing combination of ingredients which most often include tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, ham, olives, and a sliced hard-boiled egg, whereas in central and northern Italy, it is not uncommon to add capers, sausages, and sometimes even anchovies.
One of Italy's favorite pizza varieties of the 1980s, capricciosa still sells well and is once again becoming increasingly popular.
MOST ICONIC Pizza capricciosa
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Pizzetta is a small version of pizza that varies in size and shape, so some pizzettas can even be prepared in the shape of a heart. It is made in the same way as a regular, large pizza, consisting of a dough base (or puff pastry) topped with sauces, cheeses, and various additional ingredients.
The dish is usually served as an appetizer, a quick snack, or a light meal. In Rome's bakeries, pizzette are often sold by weight, and if you order an apéritif at a café, you might even get a complimentary pizzetta with your order.
MOST ICONIC Pizzette
View morePizza al taglio is a variety of Italian pizza that is baked in rectangular trays and sold sliced into squares or rectangles. Prices can be marked either per slice of pizza or per kilogram. The first pizza al taglio was baked in Rome in the late 1950s, when it was topped with olive oil and tomato sauce.
Today, the dish is one of the most loved street food items both in Rome and in most of Italy. When making pizza al taglio, it is important to let the dough rise and ferment for a longer period of time. The dough is usually baked, topped, and then baked once more, resulting in an evenly-cooked pizza that's light, airy, and easily digestable.
MOST ICONIC Pizza al taglio
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Prosciutto e funghi is a pizza variety that is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, thin slices of prosciutto cotto, and mushrooms. Some varieties can be topped with olives or served drizzled with olive oil.
MOST ICONIC Prosciutto e funghi pizza
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 92 Pizzas in the World” list until March 20, 2025, 13,140 ratings were recorded, of which 10,802 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.