Hawaiian Pizza with Pepperoni and Jalapeños

The key to making a homemade Hawaiian Pizza that actually tastes REALLY great is to balance out the sweet pineapple with smoky, salty pepperoni and spicy pickled jalapeños. There’s no ham in this recipe! If you think you don’t like Hawaiian pizza, you’ve GOT to try this version.

I try to stay away from controversy on the blog, so making a Hawaiian pizza recipe is a bit of a risk for me.

Why? Let me tell you- people have STRONG opinions on whether pineapple belongs on a pizza. And as we know people LOVE to voice their opinions on the internet.

And I have to say, I get it. I’ve had great Hawaiian pizza, and really not so great Hawaiian pizza. Traditionally, Hawaiian pizza is pizza with pineapple and ham on it.

But here’s what I’ve concluded: ham is too sweet to pair with the pineapple on a pizza. Pizza is supposed to be savory and salty.

The solution? Nix the ham, and opt instead for pepperoni. Smoky and salty, it’s the PERFECT balance with the sweet pineapple. Add a few spicy jalapeño peppers to the mix and you’ve got the trifecta: sweet, salty, and spicy.

Alternatives to pepperoni

• If you aren’t a fan of pepperoni, bacon makes a great substitute. Use cooked, chopped bacon and sprinkle it on when you add the other ingredients.
• A spicy sausage would also work well. Cook up ground or uncooked sausage before using it, or slice up a pre-cooked spicy sausage and add it like you would the pepperoni.

My favorite pizza pan

I love using a cast iron pizza pan when I make pizza. It retains heat really well so the dough gets cooked through and crispy without the toppings being overcooked.

Here’s how I use it:

1. Place the pizza pan in the oven while it’s preheating. This will ensure the pan is hot when you put the pizza on it, cooking the dough more.
2. Spread the dough on top of the hot pan, THEN assemble the toppings. This will give the dough some time to cook up a bit and get a head start on the toppings.
3. When it’s done cooking, I like to remove it with a pizza paddle and leave the pan in the oven. That way, I don’t have to wrestle a really hot, heavy pan out of the oven.

Of course, you can use a rimmed baking sheet, a pizza stone or pizza steel, or any other pizza pan you prefer.

Don’t feel like messing with a pizza stone? Make this into a sheet pan pizza instead.

Tips and Tricks

• Pickled jalapeños come in all varieties– hot, medium, mild, sweet, etc. Make sure if you don’t like things too spicy, you get the mild ones. And you can always make your own pickled jalapeños, too!
• Let the Hawaiian pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing it. This will help the toppings stay put a bit more, and will ensure you don’t burn the roof of your mouth when taking that first bite.
• Go completely from scratch by using a homemade pizza dough and a homemade pizza sauce for this recipe! Of course, you can always use store-bought if you don’t have time :-)

Other homemade pizza recipes:

• BBQ Chicken Naan Pizza
• Buffalo Mushroom Naan Pizza
• Sausage and Egg Breakfast Pizza
• Brussels Sprout and Bacon Pizza
• Bacon and Kale Pizza

Other savory pineapple recipes:

• Pineapple and Ham Fried Rice
• Pineapple Chicken and Cashews
• Pineapple Salsa

Check out all my other quick and easy recipes for more ideas in less than 30 minutes.

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