5 Underrated Cheeses To Try On Pizza

Making homemade pizza is an easy pastime and a great way to bond with family or friends. Depending on how many toppings you add, it's often less expensive than ordering delivery, and if you have a pizza stone and a decent broiler, you can make restaurant-style pizza right in your home oven. Ultimately, though, the cheese you use makes a major difference when building that perfect pie.

A traditional pizza is made with mozzarella cheese and an easy pizza sauce, but with so many different topping combinations available, sometimes mozzarella actually isn't the best cheese for the pizza you want to make. Some cheeses shred, some crumble, and others need to be dolloped. But whatever kind of pizza you're making, it doesn't hurt to experiment with underrated cheeses that you won't often see coating pizza pies in your favorite takeout spot. Maybe you need the smokiness from gouda, the saltiness from feta, or you just prefer stretchy Oaxaca to typical shredded mozzarella.

There are two main reasons why smoked gouda deserves a spot on your next pizza: It melts easily, and its smoky flavor profile brings a new level of flavor to a classic pie. It's primarily a cow's milk cheese, so it doesn't have too strong of a flavor, meaning it's great when you're cooking for a crowd. It's made by exposing the cheese to smoke from certain types of wood, such as hickory or maple.

Smoked gouda pairs best with ingredients that will complement its smoky flavor. Barbecued meats like pulled pork or chicken are a good option, as well as flavor contrasts like sliced pears or apples. You can add the fruit to the pizza before cooking it, so it softens and caramelizes, or add it once the pizza comes out of the oven for a sweet, crunchy bite.

If you like the stretchy texture of mozzarella but are looking for something slightly less spongy, you should give Oaxaca cheese a try. It looks and tastes similar to the classic Italian pizza topping, but Oaxaca cheese (also called quesillo) is a cow's milk cheese that originated in the eponymous southeastern Mexican state and is broadly popular in kitchens across the country.

One of the main distinctions between the two fermented dairy products is that mozzarella is often made from water buffalo milk, but Oaxaca is only made from cow's milk. Oaxaca cheese is used in everything from quesadillas to quesabirria tacos, so it's perfect as a substitute — especially when making a birria pizza or when pairing with spicy toppings like jalapeños or habaneros.

If you're making a Greek pizza pie loaded with red onion and kalamata olives, then you better not skip the feta. This tangy, crumbly sheep's milk cheese is ubiquitous in Greek or Mediterranean cuisine and pairs nicely with such flavors, but it can add so much to any kind of pizza.

Crumbled feta won't melt the same way mozzarella does, so it is great when used in tandem with a stringier cheese. However, it doesn't only complement Mediterranean ingredients. Feta will add a pop of salt to almost anything, from spicy Buffalo chicken pizza to a roasted vegetable pie. It's also a great sharp addition to a white pie, which is a pizza with no sauce.

For a smooth, creamy flavor with a hint of nuttiness, try shaving some manchego atop your pizza pie. Manchego is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese that has a rich, slightly earthy flavor. Its flavor can vary depending on how aged the cheese is — younger varieties will be milder, while aged manchego will have a sharpness similar to Parmesan. It shaves easily, too, making it great to sprinkle on your pizza.

You can keep the tomato sauce here, but manchego is best when paired with bright toppings that have a little zing to them (think: piquillo peppers, serrano ham, or caramelized onions). You can round a manchego pizza out with a hint of sweetness from fresh figs or a drizzle of warm honey.

It's true that blue cheese is a bit of a polarizing cheese, but when paired with the right ingredients, it offers robust flavor without being too powerful. With blue cheese's tangy richness, a little goes a long way, so you can pair it with a milder cheese like mozzarella or ricotta, then crumble it sparingly over the top of the pizza.

Anything nutty or sweet will balance blue cheese's flavors, so try adding a little honey to the pie or chopping fresh fruit, such as apples or pears, and garnishing with chopped walnuts. And for an unexpected flavor pairing, also garnish the cooked pie with a few fresh peppery arugula or mint leaves. The tangy blue cheese paired with the freshness of herbaceous greens makes for a surprisingly delicious combination. Remember that different blue cheeses have different flavors, so check the cheese's appearance to help gauge how it will taste. Creamier varieties with less blue in them tend to be milder.