This Banana Pepper pizza is topped with sliced banana peppers, soppressata, and a mozzarella and provolone cheese mix. It's perfect for the spicy food lover, but is also easy to make mild.
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If we're at a restaurant and there is an option to add banana peppers to virtually any food, my husband is doing it.
Especially the spicy ones. And especially on Italian subs and pizza.
So, he was pretty thrilled when I told him I was making a banana pepper pizza. It's packed with flavor and perfect for anyone who likes a little bit of heat.
Though you're also welcome to use mild banana peppers if you love the taste of them, but not the spice.
I use jarred banana peppers because we like the pickled flavor, but you can use fresh sliced if you prefer.
❤️ Why this recipe works
Balanced flavors: The salty soppressata; tangy, briny banana peppers; and sweet red onion result in salty-acid-sweet-heat in every bite.
Crispy crust: The recipe only calls for ⅓ cup tomato sauce, so the crust stays crispy and the tomato flavor doesn't take over.
Easy spice control: This pizza is great for spicy food lovers, but also doesn't have to be spicy. You can use hot or regular banana peppers and spicy or mild soppressata. And, of course, you can top the pizza with as many red pepper flakes as you want!
Cooked at high heat: But not too high. 450 degrees is a great temperature for baking pizza because it browns the crust and cheese fast, without scorching the toppings before the bottom cooks through.
Easy dough options: I love making my own pizza dough and share my recipe with you here. But if you prefer store-bought dough, you can easily use that, too.
Quick and easy: The recipe uses jarred banana peppers and tomato sauce and deli soppressata, which means you can assemble and bake the pizza in no time at all.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need for this banana pepper pizza (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Cornmeal: for dusting pan
- Pizza dough: you can use the easy recipe I provide or use store-bought dough
- Pizza sauce: I use jarred
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Shredded provolone cheese
- Soppressata: spicy or regular
- Banana pepper rings: hot or regular.
- Sliced red onion
- Dried basil
- Pinch red pepper flakes: optional for extra spice
🍕 Recipe tips
- Dusting the pan with cornmeal helps give the pizza a crisp base without sticking.
- If you're using store-bought dough or dough just out of the fridge, I recommend letting it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, so it stretches easily without having to be over-worked.
- Gently pat jarred banana peppers dry before adding to dough. If they're too wet with brine, that could make the pizza soggy.
- You can use pre-shredded cheese, but I think homemade pizza is always better with freshly shredded cheese as it generally melts better.
- ⅓ cup pizza sauce may not seem like a lot, but this pizza is meant to be more about the toppings than the sauce, so it's intentional. Of course, you can add more if you want.
- I top banana pepper pizza with dried basil and red pepper flakes, but you can use the seasonings of your choice. You can also use fresh herbs, if you prefer.
This banana pepper pizza is a spice lovers dream! But I love that it can be made for people who don't like spice, but love banana peppers and cured meat.
You can even make it half spicy and half mild if you want to please everyone.
🎉 Variations on recipe
If you really want to please everyone, you can add even more toppings to the pizza or swap out anything. Here are some fun ideas:
- Hot Italian sausage
- Pepperoni
- Rotisserie chicken
- Prosciutto
- Feta cheese
- Fontina
- Ricotta
- Caramelized onions
- Mushrooms
- Bell peppers
- Artichoke hearts
- Hot honey
- Chili crisp
If you love the idea of banana pepper pizza, but aren't a fan of red sauce, you can make this a white pizza by brushing olive oil and minced garlic over the dough and adding on some extra cheese.
👩🍳 More pizza recipes
Here are some more of my favorite pizza recipes:
And you can see all my pizza recipes here.
This pizza recipe is incredibly simple, but absolutely packed with flavor.
Make it nice and hot for the spicy food lovers in your life or keep it mild for your kids and other more mild eaters.
📖 Recipe
Banana Pepper Pizza
Ingredients
- Cornmeal for dusting pan
- 1 batch pizza dough store-bought or homemade with recipe below
- ⅓ cup pizza sauce (if you like a saucier pizza, use more)
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup shredded provolone cheese
- 1 ½ oz. soppressata (spicy or regular)
- ¾ cup banana pepper rings (hot or regular)
- ½ cup sliced red onion (from ½ small onion)
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- Pinch red pepper flakes optional
Homemade Pizza Dough
- 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 ½ cups + 1-2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly dust a round baking pan with cornmeal.
- Stretch dough out to fit it on the prepared baking sheet, spoon tomato sauce over the top, and using spoon or spatula gently spread around,
- Gently pat banana peppers dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese over dough and layer on soppressata, banana pepper rings, and sliced red onion. Top with dried basil and red pepper flakes.
- Bake pizza for 10-14 minutes, until edges are turning golden brown.
Homemade Pizza Dough
- Mix yeast and water in a large bowl and let rest for 2 minutes.
- Stir salt, extra-virgin olive oil, and honey into the mixture.
- With a wooden spoon, mix 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoon flour into the mixture. If dough feels too wet, you can add in another tablespoon flour. Form dough into a ball, gently knead a few times in the bowl.
- Cover bowl with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm spot for about 2 hours, so dough can rise.
Notes
- If you want to make dough in advance, you can store it in fridge wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for 7-10 days. Just be sure to bring it to room temperature before using.
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