NEW YORK -- Pepperoni is tops on Americans’ list of favorite pizza toppings, according to a recent Harris Poll of 2,193 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 13 and 18, 2016.
Sausage and mushrooms rank second and third, while a simple cheese pizza ranks fourth. Adults point to onions as fifth, olives in sixth, and bacon as their seventh favorite. Ham/Canadian bacon and pineapple are tied for eighth place, while peppers round out the top 10.
Anchovies rank No. 1 as America’s least favorite pizza topping. Mushrooms fall second, followed by pineapple, onions and olives to round out the top five. Pepperoni, the No. 1 favorite, is sixth on the least favorite list. Peppers and sausage rank seventh and eighth, while meat in general falls ninth. And a plain cheese pizza rounds out the list of top 10 least favorites.
When it comes to crust style, there’s no majority rule though a plurality (29%) prefer thin crust. A bit more distantly, adults turn to regular crust (18%), deep dish (15%), and stuffed crust (14%). Fewer than one in 10 prefers thick crust (9%), French bread (4%) or Sicilian crust (3%).
Generation appears to play a factor in preferred crust style: Millennials don’t just want toppings on their pizza; they want it in their pizza! Stuffed crust is the number one pick for this group, while all other generations default to thin crust as their top choice.
Six percent say they really have no preference when it comes to crust type. Meanwhile, 2% say they don’t eat pizza at all.
And in the great debate over New York-style versus Chicago deep dish, Americans may have an answer as New York is seen as the best state to get a good slice while Illinois lands second.
New York and Illinois top the list of states with the best pizza, with California landing in the No. 3 spot.
Easterners stick to the East Coast through and through. New York is No. 1, followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Dwellers in the Midwest maintain Illinois as the best, while they settle for New York as second. Ohio and Michigan tie for third place.
Those in the South jump all over the map, from New York at No. 1, to Illinois in second, with Texas taking spot No. 3.
Westerners stick to their roots, with California in the No. 1 spot; New York and Illinois round out their top three.
Among those who drink alcohol at least a few times a year, a majority say their preferred adult beverage to wash down a slice is a nice, cold beer (54%). More specifically, non-craft domestic beer is number one (29%), followed closely by craft beer (24%) and import beer (23%).
Two out of 10 (20%) say they’re most likely to pick up a glass of wine, while imbibers are less likely to turn to flavored malt beverages (9%), liquor or cocktails (9%), or hard cider (8%). However, two in 10 (21%) say skipping the alcohol altogether is the way to go.
And while beer may be the No. 1 choice across each region, Westerners are more likely to turn to wine compared to any other region (30% vs. 16% South, 15% Midwest & 18% East).
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