What’s your go to pizza order? Pepperoni? Sausage? Perhaps even the always-controversial pineapple? People are sensitive about their toppings on the ‘za and rightfully so! But, if you dare to venture into the wild side, I urge you to look for your next topping idea in the beautiful Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. After all, we’re innovators! We’re willing to test a combo once and sometimes, the result pays off. In fact, Colorado has a pizza topping that I simply can’t get enough of when I’m visiting home and that’s cream cheese.

Why I Love Cream Cheese on Pizza

Yes, cream cheese. On pizza. While not the weirdest pizza topping ever (I’m looking at you, anchovies), every time I try to order this delicacy outside of Colorado, I’ve gotten some interesting looks. In fact, others seem to agree that cream cheese simply doesn’t belong on pizza. 

When one Reddit user asked for tips on how to best put cream cheese on pizza, another simply responded: “I’m all for weird pizza toppings but just use ricotta, please.”

Another wrote, “A good trick is don’t because that is awful.” 

But I counter that you have to try it at least once. My go-to order is always a pepperoni pizza with jalapeños and dollops of cream cheese on top. The cream cheese is gooey and adds a little bit of sweetness to mask the heat from the jalapeños. While this is my perfect riff on how to use cream cheese on pizza, there’s actually a rendition of this that I didn’t even realize existed outside of the Mile High state: a jalapeño popper pizza.  

How To Make Jalapeño Popper Pizza

This pizza has everything you love about a jalapeño popper. Here’s how to make it: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until evenly browned. Then, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels and reserve the drippings in the pan. Saute onions in the bacon drippings until translucent for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add your garlic and continue to saute until the garlic is golden. Season the onion mixture with cumin, oregano, and black pepper. Stir cream cheese and sour cream into the onion mixture until smooth and spreadable, then layer the mixture evenly over the pizza dough. Top with mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Arrange your bacon and jalapeño pepper rings over the cheese layer. Sprinkle parsley on top of the entire pizza. Bake in a preheated oven until the crust is firm and crispy and the cheese is browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

While you might be hesitant to try this, I promise it will completely change your life.