Pepperoni pizza is one of the most beloved foods in the U.S. Each year, over 3 billion pizzas are bought by Americans. Pepperoni pizza only comes second to cheese pizza, which is popular enough for it to get its own holiday. This is a holiday known as National Pepperoni Pizza Day and is one that occurs every single year on September 20th.

So anyone wanting to celebrate this day might want to head to their local pizza parlor and grab a slice of this tasty food on this day.

The History Of Pepperoni Pizza

Although the history of National Pepperoni Pizza Day is lost to time, we can go over the history of pizza—or more specifically, the history of pepperoni pizza. So let’s start with when pizza was first invented and then work our way towards when pepperoni started to be added to these pizzas to take them to the next level.

The first pizza—or more accurately, proto-pizza, was a flatbread known to the Romans as panis focacius. This was a type of flat-bread focaccia that was baked on a hearth. This flatbread was then customized with a variety of different toppings.

Unfortunately, none of those toppings included pepperoni but were more likely a combination of olive oil, cheese, and various other products. At this time there weren’t any tomato-based sauces because tomato is a New World crop.

During the 16th century, the first tomatoes were brought to Europe from the Americas — although many Europeans at the time thought of this fruit as poisonous and therefore refused to use it. It wouldn’t be until the 18th century, that vendors around Naples began to use tomatoes and tomato sauces on their yeast-based flatbreads.

This is widely considered to be the origin of pizza. It’s believed that pepperoni wasn’t added to pizzas, however, until the early 20th century. This is when Italian immigrants to the U.S. began making pepperoni and adding it to their pizzas. So it’s probably accurate to say that no one culture invented pepperoni pizza. Instead, it’s probably accurate to say that a variety of different cultures influenced this food.

How To Celebrate National Pepperoni Pizza Day

Probably the best way to celebrate National Pepperoni Pizza Day is by grabbing a slice of your favorite type of pepperoni pizza. On this day, pizza parlors all over the U.S. give their customers deals on pepperoni pizzas.

Of course, if a person is celebrating National Pepperoni Pizza Day, they don’t just have to stick with pepperoni and cheese. Several great pizza variations exist that use pepperoni as its base. Below are some of our favorite pepperoni pizza combinations that are sure to get everyone engaged in celebrating this holiday.

Top Pepperoni Pizza Combinations

• Pepperoni & Pineapple Pizza
• Pepperoni, Bacon & Onion Pizza
• Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza
• Pepperoni Deluxe (Pepperoni, Onions, Green Peppers, Bacon)