Italian Pizza vs American Pizza: 11 Key Differences!

Italian Pizza vs American Pizza: 11 Key Differences!

Pizza is one of the most popular foods in the world. It started in Italy, but America has made it famous everywhere! Both Italian and American pizzas use similar ingredients like dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings. But there are many differences between them too, from how the dough is made to how they taste. Italian pizza and American pizza are both delicious in their own way, and those little differences are what make them special.

In this article, we’re going to talk about all the big differences between Italian and American pizza. We’ll look at ingredients, cooking styles, taste, texture, and more. By the end, you’ll be able to tell the difference between the two and understand why each type of pizza is unique.

Italian Pizza vs American Pizza

There are a lot of differences between Italian pizza and American pizza. We can compare them by looking at the dough, sauce, crust, toppings, cheese, taste, and more. Let’s break them down one by one!

Dough

The dough is one of the biggest differences between Italian and American pizza.

  • Italian Pizza Dough: Italian pizza dough is usually made with something called 00 flour. This is a special type of finely ground flour that’s really good for making pizza or pasta. Italians don’t knead the dough too much, only as much as needed. Then they let the dough rest for a long time, about 16 to 24 hours! This helps make the pizza light and airy. When you bake it, the crust gets a bit crispy, and it even gets a little burnt, which adds a great flavor. Italian pizza dough is rolled out thin to make a very lean crust.
  • American Pizza Dough: American pizza dough is made with regular flour, either all-purpose or bread flour. These types of flour have more gluten, which makes the dough stretchier. The dough is only rested for a few hours, and it’s kneaded for longer, giving it a more bread-like texture. American pizza dough has a thicker crust, and it doesn’t have as many air bubbles. The crust is thicker and has a more bready taste and feel.

Sauce

The sauce on the pizza is also really different between Italian and American pizza.

  • Italian Pizza Sauce: Italians make their pizza sauce with just fresh crushed tomatoes, salt, garlic, and olive oil. They don’t cook the sauce at all. They like to keep it simple so you can really taste the freshness of the tomatoes.
  • American Pizza Sauce: Americans cook their pizza sauce for a long time, sometimes even adding spices and sugar. The sauce is thickened by cooking it, and this also gives it a stronger flavor. The cooking process makes American pizza sauce taste richer compared to the simpler Italian sauce.
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Crust

The crust is a key part of any pizza, and this is another area where Italian and American pizzas are different.

  • Italian Pizza Crust: Italian pizza has a very thin crust. The dough is rolled out very thin and baked quickly, usually in a hot oven. This gives it a crispy texture. The thin crust allows you to really taste the sauce, cheese, and toppings without getting too much bread.
  • American Pizza Crust: American pizza usually has a thicker crust.This makes the pizza feel more filling and gives it that soft, bready texture that many people love.

Toppings

Toppings are one of the most fun parts of pizza! But Italians and Americans like to do their toppings differently.

  • Italian Pizza Toppings: Italians usually don’t put a lot of toppings on their pizza. They keep it simple. The most popular Italian pizzas often just have tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil leaves, and maybe one or two more toppings. Italians like to keep the flavors pure and simple.
  • American Pizza Toppings: Americans love to load their pizzas with toppings! You’ll find everything from mushrooms, peppers, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, to even pineapple on American pizzas. American pizzas often have lots of toppings and cheese to create bold, complex flavors. Where Italians keep it simple, Americans like to experiment with all kinds of combinations.

Cheese

The cheese on pizza is another area where there’s a big difference between Italian and American styles.

  • Italian Pizza Cheese: Italians mostly use fresh mozzarella cheese for their pizzas. They don’t use pre-shredded cheese. Instead, they hand-tear the mozzarella and place it unevenly on the pizza. This gives the pizza a nice look because the cheese browns unevenly, making it look and taste interesting.
  • American Pizza Cheese: Americans often use pre-shredded mozzarella cheese. They spread the cheese evenly across the pizza, and they sometimes use other cheeses like ricotta, gorgonzola, parmesan, and more. This gives American pizzas a cheesier flavor, and there’s usually a lot more cheese on American pizzas compared to Italian ones.
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Texture

The texture of the pizza depends a lot on the dough and how it’s baked.

  • Italian Pizza Texture: Italian pizzas are crunchier because of their thin crust. The crust is crispy but light, and the pizza doesn’t feel as heavy as American pizza.
  • American Pizza Texture: American pizzas have a more chewy texture because of the thicker, bread-like crust. It feels more like eating a sandwich because of how thick the crust can be.

Baking

How the pizza is baked makes a big difference in the final product.

  • Italian Pizza Baking: Authentic Italian pizzas are baked in wood-fired ovens. These ovens get super hot, which helps cook the pizza quickly and gives the crust that slightly burnt flavor that Italians love.
  • American Pizza Baking: American pizzas are usually baked in gas or electric ovens. Some places use grills, but most use regular ovens. The pizza bakes slower, and the crust doesn’t get as crispy as it does in a wood-fired oven.

Freshness

Fresh ingredients are very important when it comes to making pizza.

  • Italian Pizza Freshness: Italians always try to use fresh ingredients. The mozzarella cheese is freshly made and not pre-shredded. The tomato sauce is made from fresh tomatoes, and the toppings are also fresh. This helps keep the pizza’s taste simple and authentic.
  • American Pizza Freshness: In America, people often use canned or pre-packaged ingredients. The tomatoes for the sauce are usually canned, and the cheese might be pre-shredded. Even the toppings like mushrooms or sausage might come from a can. While this makes it easier to make pizza, it doesn’t taste as fresh as Italian pizza.

Taste

The taste of Italian and American pizzas is quite different because of the ingredients and how they are prepared.

  • Italian Pizza Taste: Italian pizza tastes simpler but still delicious. You can really taste the fresh cheese and tomato sauce, and the crust is light and crispy.
  • American Pizza Taste: American pizza has a richer flavor because of all the toppings and the cooked sauce. It’s more filling and has a lot of different flavors going on at once.
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Calories

Because American pizzas have more toppings and thicker crusts, they usually have more calories than Italian pizzas.

Price

Authentic Italian pizzas can be expensive, but there are cheaper versions too. American pizza, on the other hand, is very popular fast food, so you can find cheap American pizza almost anywhere. In general, Italian pizza costs more than American pizza.

Italian Pizza vs American Pizza: Which Is Better?

It’s hard to say which pizza is better because it really depends on what you like! Italian pizza has a more natural taste because of the fresh ingredients like the tomato sauce and cheese. However, some people might find the thin crust a little too dry. American pizza has more toppings, which gives it a lot of flavor. But because it uses more packaged ingredients, it’s not as healthy as Italian pizza. In the end, both pizzas have their own charm, and you can enjoy them both for different reasons!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which pizza cooks faster, Italian or American?

A: Italian pizza cooks faster because it’s smaller and doesn’t have as many toppings. American pizzas are bigger and take longer to cook because they have more ingredients.

Q: Is Italian pizza more expensive than American pizza?

A: Yes, Italian pizza is usually more expensive because it uses fresh ingredients that are harder to find. American pizza uses more affordable, common ingredients, so it’s cheaper.

Q: What is Milan-style pizza?

A: Milan-style pizza is topped with melted mozzarella cheese over tomato sauce, and it’s baked like a souffle.

Q: What is Napoli-style pizza?

A: Napoli-style pizza comes from Naples, Italy. It’s made with a simple dough, crushed tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil leaves.

Q: What is Roman-style pizza?

A: Roman-style pizza is a rectangular or square-shaped pizza. It has dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings, and it comes from Rome, Italy.

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