© Tracy Schuhmacher/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK
Audio By Carbonatix
Pizza is awesome. That much is undeniable. I mean, who doesn’t love bread, sauce and cheese? And the great thing about pizza is it can be great in almost any form with any toppings. Gluten free? Costco has a great cauliflower pizza. Lactose intolerant? A Philly-style tomato pie with nutritional yeast is surprisingly delicious. Vegetarian? Sweet, veggie pies are awesome much in the way that meat-lovers pies are too.
Simply put, pizza is the absolute cat’s meow. But we need to have a talk about pizza. Because what is it that makes a great pizza? We’re not talking the bastardized pizzas like the awesome chicken caesar slice that local place has the on the menu. Yes, that’s my favorite slice in the world, but it’s not pizza in its purest form.
No, we’re talking the plain cheese slice with the three essential ingredients: dough, sauce, cheese.
Several years back I nearly started a war in my family group chat by posing a simple question: what is the most important part of a good cheese slice? I was certain that it was the sauce. Because whether it’s Detroit style with a chewy crust, bar style with a thin crust, or tomato pie with just a sprinkling of cheese, the sauce brings everything together.
Not enough sauce and you get a dry cheesy breadstick. Too acidic of a sauce and it overwhelms the pizza. Too sweet and it doesn’t balance well with the cheese. But I quickly learned that this was a controversial take!
Fast forward to the present day and I have found that I have my supporters. But I have also learned that this is an extremely controversial topic. Some strongly believe that cheese is the worst part of the pizza (to be clear here, I believe that all parts are good).
sorry to Queens but that slice is straight grease and has too much cheese (the worst part of a slice of pizza) https://t.co/bcv3BMIgjz
— Alphonse (@Al_Peeair) February 28, 2025
While others say that good cheese is a necessity.
Cheese is the worst part of the pizza? Yea, and Charlie Brown had hoes, what are were talking about man?? https://t.co/5i6FRpNqcD
— Ed Rose (@ESRosebud) March 1, 2025
Personally, unless it’s burnt I’ve yet to a find a place with truly bad cheese on a pizza (except for St. Louis Style, which as an abomination). As someone else stated, if the dough is the most important part of pizza for you then just buy breadsticks.
There are no bad elements of a cheese pizza slice. It is truly one of mankind’s great creations. But the sauce is the linchpin which holds it all together, and that’s simply a fact of life.