20 mouthwatering photos that show what pizza looks like around the world

July 2024 · 6 minute read

Americans are obsessed with pizza. As our unofficial national food, there's nothing quite like a heavenly pie topped with generous heapings of cheese and sauce. But baked dough with toppings is not an exclusively American or even an Italian culinary tradition.

INSIDER has curated a list of pizza-like dishes from around the world, from more familiar iterations like the thin-crusted Tarte Flambée in France to Sfiha, a Middle Eastern open-faced pie topped with ground mutton.

Keep scrolling to create your own travel bucket list of "pizzas" to try around the globe.

Sfincione pizza, Sicily, Italy

A thick, spongy crust topped with chunky sauce. Scott Wiener/ Flickr

The Sfincione New Year's pie is known as a thick-crust Sicilian pie in America. In Sicily, the thick, spongy crust is topped with bread crumbs, onions, and caciocavallo (a dry, crumbly cheese).

Adjaruli Khachapuri, Georgia

Georgian cheese bread. Aragvi/ Wikimedia Commons

This baked cheese-and-egg-stuffed bread resembles a pizza boat. The cheese is usually made with a blend of mozzarella and feta or a more traditional imeruli and sulguni cheese.

Zapiekanka, Poland

A classic Polish Zapiekanka bread. Myslnik/ Wikimedia Commons

This baguette-like pizza is sort ot like an open-faced sandwich, and topped with cheese, mushrooms, and a drizzle of Polish ketchup. Other ingredients like feta cheese or olives are often added as well.  

Plain slice, New York City

It's not a "regular cheese pizza;" it's a plain slice or a pie. HungryDudes/ Wikimedia Commons

This just might be the style of pizza we're most familiar with: A thin, crispy triangular slice topped with melted mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and sometimes other toppings. This greasy slice is beloved throughout America, and for most people, New York reigns supreme as the pizza capital of the United States. 

Deep-dish pizza, Chicago

Is it a pizza or casserole? Eric Chan/ Flickr

Originating with Uno Pizzeria in 1943, the Chicago-style deep-dish is an extra-thick pie cooked in a pan with high sides, stuffed with cheese, and topped with a tangy layer of tomato sauce. One slice of this pie is more than enough for most people, unless you're ravenous. 

Detroit style, Detroit

Detroit-style pizza has sauce on top of the cheese. Dale Cruise/ Flickr

Detroit-style pizza is also called "upside down" pizza because the cheese is laid down before the sauce. This pizza is traditionally made with ripe Wisconsin brick cheese, while the dough has a chewy, "fried" quality with an extra-crispy crust.

Margherita pizza, Naples, Italy

A classic Neapolitan pie at Vasto in Campania, Italy. Planet World/ Flickr

Also known as Neapolitan pizza, this Italian pie is flash-baked in a wood oven for about 90 seconds, and topped with sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, sparse gobs of fresh Buffalo mozzarella, basil, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Pizza Bianca, Rome, Italy

No cheese or sauce: just pizza bread with olive oil and seasoning. HungryDudes/ Wikimedia Commons

What's known as "white pizza" in America is actually totally different in Rome. There, pizza bianca is a street food that traditionally does not have sauce or cheese, and is instead simply pizza dough sprinkled with sea salt and sometimes other seasonings. It's comparable to a flatter foccacia bread. 

Lahmacun or Lahmajoun, Turkey/Armenia

Traditional Turkish flatbread. Rainer Zenz/ Wikimedia Commons

This crispy Turkish flatbread is topped with spicy minced meat (usually lamb or beef) and garnished with onion, tomato, lettuce, parsley, and lemon.

Okonomiyaki, Japan

This Japanese pie is topped with Aonori (seaweed) and Katsuobushi (fermented tuna) Suguri_F/ Wikimedia Commons

Comparable to a savory Japanese pancake, Okonomiyaki is made with cabbage and piled high with traditional seafood toppings and savory sauces like octopus, shrimp, pork, yam, and kimchi.

Tarte Flambée, France/Germany

Literally a tarte that's cooked in flames. Lulu Durand/ Flickr

This Alsatian-German dish is topped with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, onions, and lardon (bacon).

Pissaladiere, France

Anchovies, onions, and olives top this salty pizza that was made in Brittany, France. Rhian/ Flickr

This Provençal dish is usually served as an appetizer or a light lunch and made with caramelized onions, anchovies, onions, and herbs. 

Coca, Spain

"Coca de trampo mallorquina" or traditional Majorcan salad on top of a pizza-like crust. Tasty Details/ Flickr

Coca means pizza in Spanish. It starts with an olive oil-soaked flaky crust, and can be topped with any manner of sweet or savory toppings including mushrooms, spinach, anchovies, olives, pine nuts, and citrus rind. 

Manakish, Lebanon

This traditional Lebanese bread is topped with sausage. muff cabbage/ Wikimedia Commons

If you love cold pizza in the morning, you'll be pleased to know that Lebanon's version of the dish is usually served as breakfast. Manoosheh (plural, Manakish) is made with pizza dough and topped with za'atar seasoning (thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds). Sometimes, cheese and meat is added to the pie as well. 

Sfiha, Lebanon, Syria, and later Brazil.

An Arabic bread with multiple versions across the Middle East. Marcelo Krelling/ Shutterstock

Sfiha is a flatbread of many spellings (Sfīḥah, Esfiha or Esfirra) and origin stories. This Middle Eastern dish is typically made in the shape of a round pizza pie or an open-faced Hot Pocket, and filled with seasoned ground mutton or beef, labneh (a Middle Eastern cheese), and sometimes vegetables. 

Bulgogi pizza, Korea

Combining the traditional Korean barbecue meat with a pizza crust. TMON/ Shutterstock

This Korean fusion dish that combines Western pizza with Korean barbecue has become very popular in South Korea recently. Pizza dough is topped with bulgogi (Korean marinated barbecued beef), vegetables like corn and peppers, and a bulgogi sauce (white wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar) instead of Western barbecue or marinara sauce.

Lángos, Hungary

This version of a Hungarian bread is topped with ham, cheese, sour cream, parsley, and onions. Kobako/ Wikimedia Commons

Lángos, a kind of fried bread, is a popular Hungarian street food. Deep-fried, it is traditionally made with sour cream or yogurt, and topped with grated cheese, garlic, and/or butter. 

Flammkuchen, Germany

This South German dish is covered with cream cheese, sliced onions, and thin strips of pork. Jacob Dawson/ Flickr

Also known as German pizza, this dish is a culinary cousin to France's tarte flambée. Literally translated as "flame cake," this thin and crispy pizza is topped with crème fraîche, bacon, and caramelized onions. 

Banana pizza, Iceland

The Icelandic version of Hawaiian pizza is topped with bananas, in addition to pineapples and ham. Gunnar Creutz/ Wikimedia Commons

Banana is a popular pizza topping in Iceland, where concoctions like bananas and blue cheese, or banana and pineapple are common. 

Fugazza, Argentina

Fugazza topped with sweet onions, mozzarella and Gorgonzola Miriam Ramos/ Flickr

This dish may be closer in gastronomic DNA to focaccia bread. It consists of dough that's usually topped with caramelized onions, oregano, sometimes mozzarella, and is fire-grilled to crispy-chewy perfection. 

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