Tennessee Onion Pizza Is The Perfect Way To Turn A Beloved Regional Side Dish Into A Handheld

There's an expansive array of regional foods in the United States. Many emerged as a natural fusion, melding techniques, ingredients, and ideas of separate cuisines into new comforting dishes. An especially appealing example of such a creative culinary crossover is the Tennessee onion pizza.

It borrows from the beloved Tennessee onion casserole, a Southern classic that traces back almost a century. This unpretentious side comes loaded with slices of sweet Vidalias — the only onion you should use for the casserole — as well as a trio of cheeses and seasonings. The results are lightly sweet, aromatic, and gooey — the ideal combination of elements for a pizza topping.

As a result, the delights of Tennessee onion pizza are easy to imagine. Atop fresh or store-bought dough go handfuls of shredded cheeses and an abundance of Vidalia onions cut into rings. Baked to crispy perfection, it's a dish that's one part Southern, one part Italian American, and 100% delicious.

The beauty of Tennessee onion pizza is its easygoing nature. Rather than meticulously melding ingredients in the Neapolitan style, this dish rests in the delightful comforts of Southern food. Use the trusty combination of onions, cheese, butter, and spices, and the results won't be disappointing.

As such, this is a great recipe to cook with an accessible grocery store pizza dough. As long as it stretches out on a sheet pan, your toppings do the work. In place of pizza sauce goes a mixture of seasoned butter. As for what it's seasoned with, mustard, paprika, Italian seasoning, and dried herbs of all sorts show up in recipes across the web. Then, as with the casserole, the pizza benefits from a sprinkling of various cheeses. Use what's in your fridge: cheddar, Gouda, Swiss, and Parmesan are all reliable options. Finally, drizzling melted seasoned butter helps lock in flavor and gives the whole thing a richer finish.

Once baked, the onions turn juicy and sweet, offering visual appeal and defining the dish as more than simply a cheese pizza. After all, if these Georgia onions are delicious eaten raw, imagine their appeal on a pizza pie. Prepare the combination with a pizza stone for an expert-recommended way to get a crispy crust, and you'll get a pizza night option worth repeating.