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Who doesn’t love pizza night? This spicy soppressata pizza with hot honey is the perfect excuse to have friends over! With homemade pizza dough, red sauce, melty mozz, and serrano peppers, it’s cheesy, hot, sweet, and takes just a few minutes to throw together. You will be obsessed with this unexpected (but super delicious!) combo.

A pizza peel with a soppressata pizza with hot honey on a white counter next to basil, white wine, and white and brown bowls of hot honey, parmesan, and red pepper flakes.

I know that when most people think of food in Nevada, they probably think of all-you-can-eat buffets or like, shrimp cocktail lol. But for me, it’s pizza + honey.

If you walk into pretty much any local parlor in Reno, it’ll likely have a giant bottle of honey on each table. It’s technically for dipping leftover crust in, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t find immense satisfaction when a drizzle of honey makes its way to the topping zone.

So needless to say, this pizza is an ode to Reno. It has soppressata, serrano peppers, lots of mozz, and a generous drizzle of the signature ingredient, hot honey, for a spicy, cheesy, sweet-and-savory dinner situation.

As a trained chef (and wife to an Italian), I’ve picked up lots of tips and tricks over the years to making homemade pizza that’s actually good. And this is one of my all-time faves! The recipe is inspired by the famous “bee sting pizza” which I first had at a local spot in Reno. But it’s originally a cult classic from NYC. Grab a six pack and save this recipe for your next casual dinner party with friends!

Looking for more crowd-pleasing pizza recipes? Make sure to try this Sicilian-style pizza, my all-time favorite cacio e pepe pizza, or this spicy buffalo chicken pizza.

Pick a good soppressata

White and brown bowls of pizza dough, red sauce, cheese, serrano peppers, salami, and red onions on a white counter next to basil leaves and a bottle of honey.

This recipe starts with homemade pizza dough but you can totally use store-bought too! Then, you’ll need a good-quality red sauce, it makes such a big difference. I like this roasted tomato sauce but store-bought is great too. For the toppings, grab whole milk mozzarella, soppressata, serrano peppers, red onion, parmesan, store-bought or homemade hot honey, basil, and red pepper flakes.

Also, I tested this recipe with pepperoni, salami, prosciutto, and soppressata. But soppressata was the clear winner! It tastes similar to regular salami but has a deeper, spicier flavor. Of course, if you can’t find it, any good-quality salami will do.

Use freshly-grated cheese in this recipe. Pre-grated has additives that will make the cheese grainy and rubbery once it’s melted.

Let’s make pizza!

Three steps to making flatbread. In photo 1, a wood board has dough on a white counter next to brown and white bowls of cheese, sauce, salami, peppers, and onions. In photo 2, a hand is using a spoon to spread sauce on the dough. In photo 3, a hand is sprinkling cheese on the dough.
Start by stretching the pizza dough into two 12-ish inch circles. Use a spoon to evenly spread the sauce over the dough and sprinkle both pizzas with lots of mozzarella.

To keep the pizza from sticking to the peel, dust it with a generous sprinkle of cornmeal. As a bonus, it also gives the pizza that classic pizza parlor “crunch” on the bottom!

Three steps to making soppressata hot honey pizza. In photo 1, a hand is placing a piece of soppressata on a raw pizza next to white and brown bowls of cheese, sauce, peppers, and onions on a white counter. In photo 2, a hand is placing peppers on the pizza. In photo 3, a hand is drizzling hot honey over the baked pizza.
Top with soppressata, serranos, red onions, and parmesan cheese. Then, bake the pizzas at 500°F (260°C) for 7-9 minutes. Garnish with basil, hot honey, & pepper flakes.

It’s important to use the hottest setting of your oven to bake the pizza. Mine goes up to 500°F (260°C). The high heat will give the crust a nice golden bottom and bubbly cheese on top!

A hand grabbing a piece of soppressata pizza off of a peel on a white counter next to glasses of white wine and white bowls of hot honey and red pepper flakes.
A pizza peel with hot honey soppressata pizza on a white counter next to white and brown bowls of hot honey and red pepper flakes.

Pizza stone

To make great pizza at home, I 1,000% recommend investing in a pizza stone! The pizza stone gets nice and hot as the oven heats which gives you that super crispy crust like you would get at a restaurant. And you don’t even have to take it out of your oven. My stone just lives there full-time. It’s great for heating leftovers too!

No pizza stone or pizza peel? All good. I’ve also tested this recipe using a sheet pan! Just place a metal sheet pan in the oven and let it get super hot. Then, use a wood cutting board to gently slide the raw pizza onto the hot sheet pan.

Refrigerate & reheat

Place leftover pizza slices in a single layer in an airtight container or zipper bag. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat this bee sting pizza, you can use the microwave, oven, or air fryer.

  • Microwave – heat the pizza slices at full power for about 1 minute.
  • Oven – heat a pizza stone or sheet pan at 375°F (190°C). Place the pizza slices on the sheet pan or pizza stone and cook for 8-10 minutes until it’s nice and hot.
  • Air fryer – reheat the pizza at 350°F (177°C) for 2-3 minutes. Cook for another 1-2 minutes if needed!
A hand using a honey dipper to drizzle hot honey over a soppressata pizza on a white counter next to glasses of white wine and white and brown bowls of honey, red pepper flakes, and parmesan.

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you left a star rating and review! I read every single comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thank you for supporting Sunday Table!

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Hot Honey Soppressata Pizza (Bee Sting Pizza)

Yield: 16 slices
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Who doesn't love pizza night? This spicy soppressata pizza with hot honey (a.k.a. Bee Sting Pizza) is the perfect excuse to have friends over! With homemade pizza dough, red sauce, melty mozz, and serrano peppers, this pizza is cheesy, hot, sweet, and takes just a few minutes to throw together. You will be obsessed with this unexpected (but super delicious!) combo.
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Ingredients

  • 1 recipe homemade pizza dough or store-bought (~900 grams/2 pounds)
  • Cornmeal, for dusting
  • 250 grams pizza sauce (1 cup)
  • 454 grams whole milk mozzarella, grated (1 pound)
  • 60 grams soppressata (2 ounces)
  • 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (seeds removed if desired)
  • 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 25 grams grated parmesan (1/4 cup)
  • 6 grams fresh basil, julienned (1/4 cup)
  • Red pepper flakes, for serving
  • Hot honey, for drizzling

Equipment

  • Pizza stone, (or sheet pan)
  • Pizza Peel (or wood cutting board)

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Place a pizza stone or sheet pan in the oven while it preheats.
  • Divide the dough into 2 equal-sized pieces. Stretch one of the pieces into a thin, 12-14-inch circle, leaving a thicker 1-inch border for the crust. Then, dust a pizza peel (or wood cutting board) with a generous sprinkle of cornmeal and place the stretched pizza dough on top.
  • Spread 1/2 cup (124 grams) of the pizza sauce on the dough, leaving a 1-inch border for the crust. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella over the sauce. Then, top the pizza with half of the soppressata, serrano peppers, sliced red onion, and parmesan.
  • Slide the pizza off of the pizza peel and onto the hot pizza stone or sheet pan. Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the bottom of the pizza is crisp and the cheese is bubbly. Meanwhile, make the other pizza with the remaining ingredients.
  • Remove the pizzas from the oven. Sprinkle them with the julienned basil and red pepper flakes, to taste. Drizzle both pizzas with your desired amount of hot honey. Cut each pizza into 8 slices and serve!

Notes

Feel free to halve this recipe to make 1 pizza. Or make one Sicilian-style pizza instead.
Use freshly-grated cheese in this recipe. Pre-grated has additives that will make the cheese grainy and rubbery once it’s melted.
If you can’t find soppressata, any salami you like will work. Also, soppressata ingredients vary from region-to-region, so feel free to experiment with different kinds.
It’s important to use the hottest setting of your oven to bake the pizza. Mine goes up to 500°F (260°C). The high heat will give the crust a nice golden bottom and bubbly cheese on top!
Cuisine: American, Italian
Course: Main Course
Author: Sara Lynn Hunt Broka
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 130kcal, Carbohydrates: 6.3g, Protein: 7.5g, Fat: 8.1g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 300mg, Potassium: 38mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 2.6g, Calcium: 162mg
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Originally posted on June 14, 2019.