A Pizza Chef's Tip For Perfect Topping To Dough Ratio

Making pizza at home can be a delicious and rewarding experience — or it can be a frustrating nightmare that makes you wish you'd called for delivery instead. Among the many factors that home pizza makers need to consider is their toppings. This includes not only what to put on their pie but also how much. For help dealing with this critical issue, we turned to an expert: Nicole Bean, owner and operator of Pizaro's Pizza Napoletana, a family-run pizzeria with two locations in Houston, Texas.

According to Bean, the proper amount will vary depending on which toppings you're using, but her overall message is simple. "Less is more when it comes to toppings," she tells Mashed. That's because too many toppings add moisture and extra weight to a pizza, preventing proper browning and crisping of the crust.

Bean says that, depending on your pizza's size, this means around 3 to 4 ounces of ground meat, with just a "small handful" of vegetables recommended for pies larger than 12 inches. Cooks can also pre-cook their veggie toppings or fatty meats before adding them to the pizza, a classic trick for eliminating some of that pesky moisture and grease while adding flavor.

Fortunately, home pizza chefs can be a bit more liberal with their other pizza toppings. "Salamis can be piled on, but you may [want to] avoid more than half a pound because now we're in the oil zone," Nicole Bean notes. Her guidance is great news for many pizza lovers, as pepperoni was chosen by over half of the respondents in our exclusive survey of fans' favorite pizza toppings. That's far ahead of the next alternatives such as extra cheese (18%) and mushrooms (14%).

Aside from structural and cooking-related issues, there's another reason why overloading toppings can be a classic mistake everyone makes with pizza. Too many toppings can clash, resulting in a muddled mess of flavors. Two or three is often the sweet spot, and you should aim to combine fat, acid, and texture for the best pizza experience.

So, whether you're tossing on some old favorites or experimenting with pizza toppings like hummus and avocados that you haven't tried (but should), remember this advice, and be mindful when designing your pie. Simply using the correct ratios can go a long way if you want to step up your pizza game.