Why Mozzarella is The Quintessential Pizza Cheese

Pizza with cheese
Photo by Nicolás Perondi on Unsplash

Pizza is one of the most popular dishes on this planet, and for good reason. It’s not just incredibly tasty, it’s also practical and easy to make. It’s the kind of thing you can just whip up on the spot, and it’ll usually be satisfying in most cases. As long as you’ve got some form of bread, tomato sauce, cheese, and some way to heat it up—you’re good to go. When it comes to cheese, mozzarella has always been the go-to when it comes to pizza, and here’s the reason why.

It’s Subtle

Subtlety is the name of the game when it comes to cheesy perfection on pizza. If you use a cheese like cheddar or pepper jack or gouda, your pizza will be amazing, there’s no doubt about that. But you might find that the overbearing strength of those cheeses may take away from the entire experience. Mozzarella is a little bit more passive.

In other words, mozzarella certainly tastes incredible, but it’s subtle enough to allow the tomato sauce and crust beneath to shine as well. Ultimately, that’s exactly what you want out of a pizza. It’s not all about the cheese, but the other ingredients as well. Mozzarella does an amazing job at threading that needle and maintaining that beautiful balance.