This California Pizzeria Sells Pickle-Stuffed-Crust Pizza, And We Can't Stop Dreaming About It

It wasn't all that long ago that the idea of pickles on pizza was itself a source of viral internet excitement and deeply divided opinions. Back in the late 2010s, a slice shop in Rochester, New York, was fueling fiery social media debate with a garlic-sauce pizza topped with mozzarella, sliced pickles, and fresh dill. The combination has since caught on and spread around the country, though one pizza parlor in California might be launching the next wave of pickle pie. Loosies Pizza in Santa Ana has taken things up a notch, not just topping their pie with sliced pickles, but also working pickle spears into the crust.

Stuffed-crust pizza entered the chat in the '90s, with Pizza Hut bringing the concept into the core of our shared culinary consciousness. The excitement at the time was palpable, with everyone clamoring for a taste of this revolutionary innovation, but since then, it has sort of fizzled out. As divisive as they can be, pickles come out surprisingly high in the ranking of pizza toppings, and this California-based New York-style pizza restaurant may just be giving us exactly what we need to take the next step in pizza crust evolution.

Stop by Loosies, and you can get the full experience with the shop's "Dill With It" pizza. The classic New York-style crust is topped with crème fraiche, mozzarella, fresh dill, Grillo's brand pickles, and a drizzle of house ranch dressing. And, of course, there are more Grillo's pickles and some cheese baked into the crust around the edge — at least some of the time.

It appears that the pickle-stuffed crust at Loosies may be a limited-release offering. Comments on the shop's Instagram posts about the pickle-stuffed crust have customers begging for it to become a part of the standard menu, and the shop replying that it is available only "for a limited time." Will social media excitement around their unique pie be enough to get this off the secret menu and into the mainstream? Only time will tell. But for now, you can try whipping up your own version at home.

Making stuffed-crust pizza really isn't much more difficult than any other type you've made in the past. Start by mixing up a batch of your favorite pizza dough recipe or picking up a bag of dough from the refrigerated section at the grocery store. You'll also need to grab all of the toppings, as well as what you are going to put in the crust. Pickle spears are long and thin, which makes them the ideal cut for this task. If you want cheese in there as well, the shape of string cheese makes it similarly useful, though you might want to split it in half, particularly if it's paired with a pickle. The biggest tip for stuffed-crust pizza is simply to make sure that after you tuck the pickles and cheese in around the edge, you pinch the dough together really tightly. This will keep it from popping open in the oven and ruining the stuffed-crust vibe. Other than that, prepare it just like you would any other pie, and prepare yourself for the refreshing and underrated twist that pickles bring to pizza.