What Is Pepperoni Made Of? How is Pepperoni Made?

So, what is pepperoni made of? Also, how is pepperoni made? Usually, it’s a type of Italian sausage made from ground beef and pork. Also, it’s most commonly found in the United States, but can also be found in other countries around the world. This is part of our Food Articles category it’s in some our our Pizzas and Italian Cuisine categories.

Is Pepperoni real meat?

Some people wonder whether or not it’s real meat because of its taste. However, it really is from real meat and is a popular type of salami. It also contains a good amount of blended spices. We’ll cover each as a separate topic, first starting with more specifics of the meat it contains.

What Meat is Pepperoni Made Of

Two types of meat, pork and beef, make up pepperoni. The ground beef and spices are mixed together. Then, the mixture is injected into natural casings.

While the meat is mostly a mix of pork and beef, there are other versions made with turkey, chicken, or beef. Some are even vegan but, that’s another modern day story. Some make it with about 7-8 spices. Each source has their own recipe. See more on this in the article “What is pepperoni made of?“. Also, it’s a type of spicy salami that usually contains pork and beef. It’s often flavored with pepper, paprika, and other spices. Since it’s actually a type of sausage or salami, a good combination of spices is needed.

What Spices Are In Pepperoni?

Here are a lot of the spices in in this sausage that are blended into the meats mixture. However, each manufacturer uses their own list:

• paprika (most will always include this ingredient, which gives it the reddish color)
• garlic
• black pepper
• crushed red pepper
• cayenne pepper
• mustard seed
• fennel seed

There is a major process that’s followed to manufacture pepperoni and often includes fermentation and curing. However, with that said, it can also be homemade. There are kits easily available for performing that set of tasks.

Meat Casing

So after the meat mixture and blended spices are processed together, they’re packed in casings. These, of course, are intended to be edible so a popular type of casing is fibrous and is created from cellulose. Depending on the thickness of the pepperoni slices, people sometimes desire to peel off the outer casing, which is generally easily. A popular casing producer (Viscofan) for this specialty meat uses a fibrous cellulose product.

Where Does Pepperoni Come From? Not Italy!

Is pepperoni Italian? No! As a matter of fact, it actually comes from America! More specifically, it’s from Italian immigrants to America. In summary, it’s a form of a somewhat “mildly hot” salami and it was created with what resources were available when away from the homeland of Italy. It’s first mentioned in the early 1900s in lower Manhattan.

Photo by Glodi Miessi on Unsplash

Who Made Pepperoni?

The sausage meats, methods, and spices that Italian-Americans were used to, weren’t prevalent in America. And, if they could produce the sausages or salamis they wanted to, the cost was very high. Plus, it would have taken months to cure.

So, with different resources, they eventually started a new way to speed up the curing. Also, the meat processes and different spices for the seasonings were used. All of this made it cheaper. Finally, regarding its naming, mostly the Italian-Americans just considered the name pepperoni as an accepted name for their new type of sausage.

How Pepperoni for Pizza Became Popular

Regarding pizza trends, pepperoni usage didn’t get to be popular on pizza until after WWII. And, although pizzas originated in Italy, this new specialty on pizzas did not. Even then, it was only popular in New York City pizza restaurants. So, around 1950, it was noticed by a foods author as a pizza topping in New Haven, Connecticut. After that, it slowly spread across the country. Coincidentally, the 1950s and 1960s were also when the fast food chains exploded in growth on America. So, it was around 1960 when the pepperoni pizza became very popular nationwide.

What Are Some Pepperoni Pizza Recipes?

Pizza is one of the most popular uses for this meat product. So, here are some examples.

• Pepperoni Pizza
• Half Pepperoni Half Sausage Pizza
• Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza (mixed)
• Calzone using Pizza Dough

PEPPERONI PIZZA Homemade

Conclusion of What Is Pepperoni Made Of

In conclusion, you’ve now read all about what is pepperoni made of. Also, you’ve read about its history and how it was created in America, instead of Italy. Further, you see how it’s a type of meat that comes from pork and beef. Overall, you read about the kinds of spices blended into it to give it its unique flavor. Also, you know there are kits for making it at home, or it can be purchased at a grocery store or pizza shop. Finally, it’s most commonly used on pizzas and subs but also sometimes in Calzones. Also, it can be eaten alone.