Pizza is just such a great meal that everybody enjoys. After eating a bunch of slices, you might want something to either clear your palate or refresh it with a different taste.
Having an appetizer that perfectly blends along with your pizza is always great. These appetizers that go with a pizza are the perfect thing so you would not get tired of eating that delicious slice of pizza.
Pizza is very versatile so you can cook anything you want. With store-bought doughs, homemade toppings, sauces, you can make any type of pizza that you want.
Pizza is just the perfect dinner but it did not start that way. The pizza was once considered as a food for peasants at an early age since it is very cheap and easy to make.
But since its recognition, it has become one of the most known foods in the world. From there, pizza has been reinvented and improvised to cope up with different palates.
Cities from around the world have made their own versions. This is the beauty of pizza since you can take the basic components and add whatever is available or whatever fits your taste.
But just because pizza is delicious, it does not mean that eating it cannot get any better. It is always great to have something on the side to make you appreciate the deliciousness of a pizza.
So here, we have a list of all the appetizers that go well with any type of pizza that you have. Take a look and see which one will best pair with your pizza.
1. Garlic Bread
If you think about it, pizza is already full of carbohydrates in the dough. So why not make your meal a full-on carb-fest with delicious garlic bread on the side?
Garlic bread is often dubbed as one of the best bread in the industry because of its distinct taste and its versatility. The bread is a meal in itself but having it as an appetizer makes it even better.
The essence of this bread is so versatile that you can top it off with anything. So if you have a pizza, then you might as well counter it with bread that has a different topping or sauce on it.
Just like pizza, garlic bread can also be topped with different herbs and spices that you want. So it does not matter where you are, as long as you have the basic ingredients, you can go wild with garlic bread.
Its rich, golden-brown crust, the crispy crust just gives a refreshing taste plus all the herbs that go with it. The texture is perfect for warming up for your delicious slice of pizza.
Making your own pizza is not that hard so you can let it cook along with our pizza.
Short Recipe-
The basic components of garlic bread are olive oil or butter, garlic, and of course, the bread itself.
First, saute the garlic in olive oil and leave it there until it turns golden brown. You can add spices and other herbs while the garlic is cooking.
After the garlic is perfectly cooked and the olive oil has absorbed the flavor, put it in a bowl and mash it until it becomes a paste that can be spread on the bread.
Season to your liking and then bake the bread that is pasted with the mixture. Just two or three minutes will be enough and you get a flavor-packed garlic bread to go along with your pizza.
2. French Fries
Well, if we are talking about pizza, it is often associated with fast food such as burgers and french fries. French fries, or fries, sit beside pizza as the best food that humankind has ever made.
Fries are healthy and they can add a lot of flavor to your pizza night. They are also easy to make so you can get any amount that you want.
Ordering fries are great too, but we suggest that you make your own so you can take advantage of the versatility of the food and add any flavor that you want.
Fries are simple and can be made with the most basic ingredients that are most likely already available in your kitchen. Just prepare the potatoes and the other ingredients to get the perfect fries.
See, with a beautiful potato, you can make enough fries for one sitting. So buy as much as you want and you can even use the extra potatoes in other recipes.
Short Recipe-
Peel the potatoes and slice them into strips. Maybe around a quarter of an inch thick will be enough so that the inside will stay soft.
While doing this, you can start heating up your oil. Then put the fries in and make sure that you submerge them in the oil so all sides of the sliced potatoes are cooked.
You go ahead and take the fries out to drip or let them cool down for a bit and then put them again in your frier so that the outside parts of the fries become crunchy and the insides stay soft.
If you do not have a frier or if your oil is not enough for deep-frying the potatoes, then do not lose hope just yet as you can cook perfect fries on a regular pan with just enough oil.
All you need to do is to get the oil heated and then put just enough fries on the pan. Ook it for about 8 to 10 minutes while stirring them continuously.
Stirring them will make the fries roll around the pan so that all sides are cooked. Remove the fries from the pan and then place them on a plate with a paper towel.
The towel will seep the oil in while the fries are cooling down. Before it cools down, make sure to put the seasoning that you want.
This is where you will see the versatility of fries as you can put any toppings that you want. From a simple salt and pepper to cheese, and other powders.
Put it on the side while you are eating pizza, having a beer, and watching your favorite sport and you get the perfect meal while you cheer on your team.
3. Buffalo Wings
This might be one of the first things that come to mind when you think about something to pair with a pizza. Buffalo wings are great and they pack a lot of flavors to blend with your pizza.
Great finger food is always pleasant to start with before the main course. Buffalo wings are well-known and for all the right reasons.
With an amazing and unique flavor, you have the proper heat to warm up your palates and then much on the pizza that you have once you get the right flavor to go along with it.
Buffalo wings or any wings for that matter, can be a great appetizer for your pizza. They pack a lot of flavors as well as nutrients that will get your body ready for that pizza of yours.
They can also be packed with other flavors with sauces and dips that go along with the wings. You can choose mayo, ranch, cheese, or even an extra dip of buffalo sauce.
You can order a box of buffalo wings before you go to a game or when you are just watching on your couch at home or make your own so you get to experiment with what you have.
Chicken is one of the most abundant meats in the market so you can surely find it. A simple breading and deep-frying will be enough to make an amazing bunch of wings.
Then, you get your buffalo sauce, drip as much as you want in a container with the wings, cover it and shake so all the wings get coated with the sauce.
Serve while it’s hot and it will be the perfect combo with a cold beverage and the pizza ready to be chowed down while watching or doing any activity that you are doing with your family.
4. Corn on a Cob
Corn is another veggie that can go well with your pizza. It packs a lot of nutrients and it is always fun to eat corn on the cob.
You can make your own corn appetizer in many different ways. One is to grill it when you are outside getting your pizza ready or just simply having a barbecue.
See, corn is not only for pizza and you cook one to combine with your steak. But with pizza, corn just makes it better with the flavor that it brings.
You can let the corn steam or grill it on the side while your main is cooking. While the corn is still hot, spread some butter on it to enhance the flavor and make it more aromatic.
Corn is very easy to cook. You will not need any special equipment or appliances to cook them and it saves you time since you can cook it beside your pizza especially when you are using a grill.
It also does not require you to put extra ingredients as the corn alone can already pack a lot of nutrients and flavors that will perfectly set your stomach for that amazing pizza.
Although you are not confined with the corn alone as you can put anything that you want with it. Having a compound butter is what we found as one of the best combinations with corn.
Put some blue cheese, butter and let them melt on the corn while it is how so that every bite will taste like the flavor has seeped all the way through the cob.
You can be as creative as you want and sprinkle some chili on the cob or mix your butter with hot sauce if you want more hotness or spice on the corn.
The corn will stimulate your palate and every bite on the main, which is your pizza, will be as great as the following.
This is one way to make your pizza-eating session healthier and more enjoyable. Kids and adults love corn so go ahead and cook a fresh one before eating that delicious pizza.
5. Grilled Asparagus with Lemon
This is a pretty straightforward recipe that has a lot of nutrients and a flavor that will only make you hungrier for that delicious pizza in front of you.
Just get a bunch of asparagus, season it with salt and some lemon zest, and then grill it for a few minutes.
Take it off the grill once it acquires a vibrant green color.
The asparagus will naturally take the grill marks and will turn the green color to a beautiful deep one, this is an indicator that the asparagus is ready to go.
Place them on a plate and then put some lemon beside it before serving. The zesty flavor will remove the sour taste and will get you ready for your pizza.
It is a healthy appetizer that will go along with any pizza especially with pizzas that are full of meat as toppings.
It counters the fats and the calories that you get from every bite.
6. Salads
Now, this may be the best appetizer for pizza as well as any other recipe that you enjoy. Salads are great and of course, there is no need to remind you that they are healthy.
Salads are one of the greatest balancers for your calorie and carb intake. They pack a lot of nutrients that will not only remove the bad things from your body but will also freshen up your palate.
If you are getting a little bit conscious about your weight, then you can eat a salad beforehand as it will help you get more nutrients and less fat and calories.
Salads are great as they can help you get enough food so you do not overeat when the main course comes in.
By the time you take the second slice of pizza, you will already feel full from the salad so it will surely help you lose weight while making you feel like you have already eaten enough.
There are so many varieties of salads that you can make or if you are eating out, then you can ask for any restaurant for their best salads and it is most likely that they have one.
We also have a list of the best salads that you can make in your home to encourage the kids to eat their greens before they can get a slice of pizza.
Here are some of our best picks
Apple and Kale Salad
This type of salad is the best way to get your family started so that the kids would want to eat their greens too. It is a colorful mixture of healthy ingredients.
This salad can also get your kids started with loving the veggies that they so despise. As an adult, you can start with this to give a little bit of sweetness on your palate before that cheesy pizza.
The sweet and juicy flavor from the apple will be countered by the cheesy and perhaps salty flavor of the pizza so you get a better taste from the slices of pizza with every bite.
You can also add a little bit of cheese on the salad to warm your palate up with what’s coming. Then put as many vegetables as you want and balance the bitterness with apples.
As the combining ingredient, pour a cider vinaigrette on the veggies and the apples and then mix them well so that the ingredients are drenched with the flavor.
Broccoli with Almond Dressing
This is another salad that your kids will surely enjoy. With the sweetness and crunch coming from the almond nuts, you are going to enjoy munching on this before your pizza.
This salad ditches the classic flavor from ranch or mayo with the sweet and appetizing flavor coming from the almond dressing that will stimulate your palates.
The broccoli is cooked either steam or fried to make it softer. We find it best to fry it in medium heat so that it cooks all the way through the insides of it.
Steaming the broccoli is also great since it absorbs the dressing very well and it can make the salad mushier to counter with the crunchy texture of the nuts.
You can change it up by putting some butter and orange juice into the mixture so that it tastes better and more appealing to the kids.
The zest from the orange juice will also counter the fatty taste that you might possibly get from your pizza. So you can eat this salad before and even in between slices of pizza.
Berry Caprese Salad
Now, this one is the best way to get the healthy sweetness that you need before you get down to business with your pizza.
A berry Caprese salad is filled with refreshing fruits that each member of your family will surely enjoy. It is not only aesthetically pleasing but it packs a lot of healthy nutrients and minerals.
You can also make variations of this salad with the available ingredients. Just put the main ones such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and a little bit of olive oil.
This sweet concoction can also be eaten as a dessert with a bunch of whipped cream. It is best to eat the day it is made but you can also refrigerate it if you want a cold appetizer or even a dessert.
The best Berry Caprese Salad will be a complete version where you get some mozzarella in the mix plus some basils to freshen up the taste of the sweet fruits.
It is easy to prepare as you only need to make sure that the fruits are thoroughly washed before cutting them. You can put the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries whole.
The strawberries need to be cut in smaller pieces for easier consumption. Then put the olive oil and mozzarella and mix it well and top it with a few chopped fresh basil leaves.
The Classic Caesar Salad
Of course, how can we forget the most famous kind of salad? Caesar salad is a protein and nutrient-packed meal that can also serve as a perfect appetizer.
You can get experimental with this recipe and put all the ingredients that you want. Just keep the protein content by always putting the right amount of chicken in there.
Get the classic dressing for the salad or spice it up with some olives and Worcestershire sauce to keep the salad’s flavor intact and combine with the chicken.
The chicken should be grilled to get the most flavor and protein from it. This will surely make you want more and eat more of that amazing pizza.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of appetizers that can get you started before you dive into that pizza. Obviously, there is still a lot that we did not mention so you can get those too.
The recipes mentioned above have all the nutrients and flavors that will surely stimulate your palate to get it ready for pizza and they are healthy choices as well.
So if you want, you can follow these recipes while your pizza is cooking. Having something before the pizza will make eating it more fun.
Be creative and add anything you want to spice up your appetizers. Let us know what you think!
If you liked the post and want to share these appetizer ideas with a friend, then do share the post on social media!
Leave a Reply