Top 10 Strangest Things People ACTUALLY Put on Pizzas

#10: Shrimp, Sweet Potato, Cookie Dough Crust, Blueberry Dipping Sauce

South Korea

South Korean pizza chain Mr. Pizza is unusual in a number of ways. For one thing, they cater primarily to women, whereas pizza is often seen as “guy food” in the western world. For another, they offer a number of pizza toppings that foreigners goggle at whenever they visit. Arguably the most unusual is the Grand Prix Cookie Crust. While the toppings, shrimp and sweet potato, are different enough, what really sets the Grand Prix apart is its crust, which is sweet and contains sunflower and pumpkin seeds and raisins, and is accompanied by blueberry dipping sauce.

#9: Mayonnaise, Corn & Potato

Japan

The land of the rising sun is known for its eclectic cuisine and their pizza pies are no exception. One of the country’s most popular pizzas is called “Mayo Jaga.” Along with the usual tomato sauce and cheese, Mayo Jaga pizza is topped by hot mayonnaise, corn, and potatoes, and is often paired with a meat, like chicken or bacon. While putting something with mayo in an oven may seem like blasphemy to some, the Japanese clearly think it’s yummy, and we’d be lying if we weren’t curious to try taters on a pie.

#8: $2,000 Gold-Leaf Pizza

U.S.A.

Americans, particularly New Yorkers, are known for their love of pizza and experimentation with various unusual tastes. However, easily the weirdest pizza to come out of the Big Apple is made in Industry Kitchen, which offers a pizza that costs $2,000! The dough is made with black squid ink, the cheese is English Stilton, and it’s topped with foie gras, truffles, caviar, and edible 24 karat gold leaf! As decadent as most of the toppings are, edible gold leaf can’t have much taste or nutritional value, so it really is just putting your money where your mouth is.

#7: Green Peas

Brazil

Brazilians are an enthusiastic people and they certainly don’t hold back when it comes to pizza. While there are plenty of cultural differences when it comes to their pies, such as their less frequent use of tomato-based sauces, one of the most unusual things about their pizzas is that many of them feature green peas. Veggies are a common pizza topping and peas are among the most popular in Brazil, so it was inevitable that the two coincided. Most other countries have yet to latch on to the idea, but Brazilians and the more adventurous seem to be appeased by the taste.

#6: Canned Tuna

Germany

Seafood is another pizza topping that’s an acquired taste, though even connoisseurs of aquatic cuisine may turn their noses up at this topping. Canned tuna, or the chicken of the sea, is generally looked down on as a cheap foodstuff bought at a grocery store, so putting it on pizza seems an odd choice. This is particularly true for Germany, which is a country more famous for its sausage than its sea fare, but the topping is more common there than you’d think. And still – it’s not far off from anchovies, which are much more common.

#5: Mockba

Russia

While we’re on the subject of seafood, Russia takes its marine pizza to even greater heights, or deeper depths, than the rest of our entries. Named for the Russian name for Moscow, Mockba features not just one kind of fish, but four! This fishy creation features sardines, mackerel, salmon, and tuna. It’s also garnished with onions and occasionally roe (that’s fish eggs, in case you didn’t know). Additionally, Mockba, unlike most pizza, is traditionally served cold. This certainly seems like an acquired taste, though regardless we certainly wouldn’t want to smell the breath of anyone who dines on this bit of Russian fare.

#4: Crocodile & Kangaroo Meat

Australia

The land down under has a huge number of animals unique to the island continent, including kangaroos. While it might seem odd to outsiders that Australians eat the large marsupials, it’s actually pretty common. There are many laws in place about what kind of animals can be brought into the country, so it only makes sense that Aussies would use the food that’s available and that extends to their pizza toppings as well. Kangaroo, crocodile, and even emu meat are all favorites that sound exotic to everyone who doesn’t live in Australia, but one man’s exotic is another’s humdrum.

#3: Banana, Curry & Peanuts

Sweden

And you thought pineapple was weird! Yeah, okay, it still is, but this might be even weirder! The Swedish might be famed for their seafood, but their most widely discussed contribution to pizza couldn’t be further from their native fare. Swedes are in the habit of putting bananas covered in curry powder on their pizzas, which is sometimes accompanied by peanuts. This is especially popular during winter, apparently. Because nothing says, winter food like…bananas….although, curry can help keep you warm, or at least set your mouth on fire, so we suppose that makes sense.

#2: Reindeer, Chanterelles & Onions

Finland

Sticking with Nordic pizzas, Finland’s pizza chain Kotipizza offers a more regional pie…with an unusual backstory. Despite its native flavors, this pizza is nicknamed Pizza Berlusconi, after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi expressed distaste for Finnish food during a visit in 2005, joking that they only ate marinated reindeer. Kotipizza leaned into the joke by naming a pizza after the foreign politician and including reindeer, as well as chanterelle mushrooms and red onions. Trolling politicians is always a good time, but how many times has someone done it with the name of a pizza?

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Cone Crusts with Honey Mustard, Chicken or Cream Cheese
United Arab Emirates

Poutine
Canada

Coconut & Shrimp
Costa Rica

Hotdog & Shrimp
China

Vegemite Stuffed Crust
Australia

#1: Haggis

United Kingdom

A traditional dish of Scotland, haggis is a mixture of sheep’s organs, as well as oatmeal and spices, usually cooked in a sheep’s stomach. Although certainly an acquired taste, haggis has gained popularity outside of its land of origin. Still, it’s in the UK that haggis made its way onto pizza. The unusual topping features in Scottish pizza joints, and has also been a limited time offer from the UK’s Papa John’s, in celebration of Scottish poet Robert Burns, who famously wrote a poem about haggis. While plenty of people no doubt feel weirded out by the idea of it on a pizza, the rest of our list has proven that strange toppings are a worldwide phenomenon and that it’s a matter of perspective.