Pizza is one of those things that's pretty much always going to be good, no matter how it's prepared. It's one of the most popular comfort foods and Americans just can't seem to get enough of it. With so many toppings to choose from, everyone may have their personal favorite, but a new study has been conducted to find out exactly which toppings Americans love the most, and which they can't stand.
The Harris Poll surveyed 2,193 U.S. adults online from Jan. 13-18 to find out not only the most favored toppings, but where to find the best pizza, what crust style is preferred and what beverage Americans prefer to wash their slice down with.
For most favorite toppings, pepperoni landed the top spot, with sausage coming in second and mushroom in third. Classic cheese/plain pizza shockingly came in fourth, with onions and bacon following and ham/Canadian bacon and pineapple tying for eighth place. All peppers, whether they be sweet or spicy, finished out the top 10.
As for least favorite toppings, it's no surprise than anchovies were No. 1, as they've been getting a bad rep for years. Interestingly enough, several of the toppings that made the most favorite list also made the least favorite list. Following anchovies came mushrooms, pineapples, onions and olives, and then in sixth place was the all-mighty pepperoni. Then came peppers, sausage, meats in general and classic cheese to round it out.
For decades now, people have fought over whether New York style pizza or Chicago Deep Dish is better, and according to this poll, NYC is where it's at. New York topped the list of states with the best pizza, with Illinois coming in second and California coming in third.
Even though there were clear winners when it came to location and topping choices, crust style didn't have any major breakthroughs. Twenty-nine percent of total participants prefer thin crust, while 18 percent of the adults surveyed prefer regular crust. But what really stood out was that millennials really enjoy stuffed crust, like the kind they offer at Pizza Hut, as it was their top pick.
When it comes to washing pizza down, it's no surprise that Americans prefer a nice, cold beer. More than half of the people surveyed said that they preferred beer, specifically a non-craft domestic beer, followed closely by a craft beer and then an imported beer.
Following that came wine, malt beverages, liquor or cocktails and then hard cider. Twenty-one percent did in fact say that they prefer to skip alcohol all together.
