This Is the Best Cheese for Pizza, According to a Pizza Chef

For three wild years, I was a partner in a busy wood-fired, farm-to-table pizza business based at a farm in Vermont. We brought our trio of mobile ovens to music festivals, where we fed slices to ravenous dancers, and to chic event barns, where we’d spin up pies with artisanal toppings for 200-person weddings. Our specialty was combining seasonal, local ingredients in creative ways, including choosing the best cheese for pizza.

Because the company was located in the town of Cabot, home of the Cabot Creamery, and not far from Vermont Creamery and Jasper Hill Farm, we had lots of local cheeses at our fingertips. (You can have good local cheese, too, if you head to one of the best cheese shops in the country.)

I’m excited to share some classic and surprising cheeses that you’ll want to try on your homemade pizza. You can even use them to make some of our easy pizza recipes.

What is important when choosing a pizza cheese?

• Meltiness: One of the pleasures of pizza is hot, gooey melted cheese. Generally, this is a quality of young, fresh cheeses that haven’t been aged for long or at all. Younger cheeses are higher in moisture than older cheeses, and the right amount of moisture leads to the best melting cheeses.
• Stretchiness: Some of the nicest melting cheeses are also the stretchiest cheeses. This is particularly true of mozzarella, which is pulled like taffy when it’s being made. Stretchy cheeses form that incredible cheese pull when you lift a slice from the rest of the pie.
• Flavor: Unless you’re making a plain cheese pizza, you’ll want to make sure that the flavor of the cheeses you choose pair well with other ingredients. Would your chosen pizza toppings go well together in another context? If so, they’ll probably make an incredible pizza.
• Rinds and veins: Some cheeses are inoculated with bacteria, yeasts and molds, which cause them to develop additional flavors and characteristics as they age. These processes create complexity that wouldn’t occur naturally, and some bloomy rind and blue cheeses make exceptional pizza toppings.
• Age: Because melty, stretchy cheeses are usually young, they generally aren’t particularly complex in flavor—that’s a quality that typically comes with age. To get the best of both worlds, top pizzas with a combination of a fresher cheese and an intensely flavored older cheese.
• Layering: If you’re using a melting cheese, plan to use a good amount of it. Put it on top of delicate ingredients that might burn at high oven temps. Place ingredients that can handle some browning, such as sausage or pepperoni, or extra moist ingredients, atop that cheese layer. If you’re adding small amounts of fancier cheese in addition, that can be sprinkled on last.

What cheese is best for pizza?

Mozzarella

The king of the stretchy and melty cheeses, mozzarella is a must for many varieties of pizza. Choose low-moisture mozz as your all-purpose pizza sprinkle, and use fresh mozzarella sparingly atop specialty pies, such as the classic Italian Margherita pizza. Don’t know what to buy? Here are the best mozzarellas to use when cooking. And, while pre-shredded cheese makes life easier, do note that the additives that keep it from clumping in the package can inhibit some of its pizza-friendly qualities.

Cheddar

It’s not as stretchy as mozzarella, but cheddar is a great melting cheese, and sharp cheddars boast zingy flavor that’s great on a breakfast pizza or a pie with sweet ingredients—think caramelized onions, roasted winter squash cubes or apple slices. If you have a super-aged cheddar, such as a clothbound or cave-aged variation, consider using that as a secondary cheese sprinkled over a milder cheddar, mozzarella or Monterey Jack.

Chevre

The spreadable, tangy goat cheese is another great counterpoint to both sweet and savory pizza toppings. Consider using it alongside items with French or Mediterranean vibes, including salty cured meats, fresh herbs and lovely orchard fruits like peaches and plums.

Alpine-style cheese

These cheeses can be the best of both worlds for pizza making, as many of them are very meltable (they’re the starring players in fondue), and they tend to have amazing nutty flavors. Look for Gruyere, Raclette, Emmenthaler and Appenzeller.

Fancy blue cheese

Used sparingly, a pungent blue cheese can provide the perfect counterpoint to an elegant collection of pizza toppings. Imagine a combo of arugula, prosciutto, pear and a little bit of Gorgonzola, or consider a mix of wilted spinach, bacon and sliced cooked potato with just a hint of an American artisan blue cheese.