The Ultimate Ice Cream and Pizza Topping Pairing

Happy Pizza and Ice Cream Week, everybody! If you’ve never partaken in this very important holiday before, that’s probably because we just invented it to help us pay homage to two of our favorite food groups here at Kitchn. (We know, our jobs are so hard.)

If you’re anything like us, you consider pizza and ice cream to be the pillars of your food universe. This lactose-laden dinner/dessert combo is an unmatched crowd-pleaser — not to mention, the mix-and-match possibilities are endless.

Have you ever noticed that pizza toppings are a lot like ice cream flavors, in that your favorite kind can say a lot about who you are as a person? Well, we did, so we did a little exercise to determine which ice cream flavor belongs with which pizza topping. What do you think — are any of these pairings too much of a stretch?

Vanilla ice cream is a lot like plain cheese pizza. Haters are gonna hate, but there’s no denying that both are the foundations of their respective food group’s existence. Without them, pizza and ice cream would not exist as we know it. So don’t you dare call them boring. They are classic.

Can someone tell me why chocolate marshmallow is always the first flavor to run out at the ice cream social, just like pepperoni is always the first pie to get demolished at pizza night? Oh, that’s right, it’s because they’re the best. Duh! All in favor of more tubs of chocolate marshmallow ice cream and unlimited pepperoni pizzas say, “pie.” PIE!!!

Just like rainbow sherbet is a bit of an outlier at your local scoop shop (is sherbet ice cream?), Hawaiian pizza has its fair share of naysayers too. Pineapple on pizza does not a fruit salad make. Love ’em or hate ’em. (I love ’em.)

Neapolitan ice cream, the classic trio of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, was presumably invented in Naples, Italy. Keep the Italian pride streak alive by ordering a hefty slab of Sicilian pizza while you’re at it. You’ll have the whole boot covered in one night.

If you’re the kind of person who loves to dig for those little bits of edible cookie dough, you’re probably a fan of sausage pizza too because of the way the sausage crumbles majestically scatter over the slice.

This pizza and ice cream match made in heaven is inspired by my Italian grandpa who likes to follow up a glorious feast of oniony sausage and peppers with a big bowl of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. The expert has spoken: It works.

There’s always someone who thrives while being the biggest contrarian in the room and that’s definitely the kind of person who, when faced with every ice cream flavor in the world, voluntarily chooses to consume rum raisin. Oh, and the kind of person who orders sliced black olives on their pizza. Is nothing sacred?

We don’t know what’s more polarizing: mint chocolate chip ice cream or mushrooms on pizza? Green or white mint? Fresh or canned ‘shrooms? None of the above? All of the above? We’ll let you weigh in.