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Pizza Fritta from Italy

Pizza Fritta

Also known as fried pizza, pizza fritta napoletana, montanara (unfilled variant)

📍 Campania ★ 4.2
Last updated Aug 24, 2026 · Reviewed by the WhatWhereVacay editorial team

Pizza fritta is Naples' fried street pizza, golden, puffed dough filled with tomato, mozzarella, ricotta and salami, sold hot from the city's friggitorie.

About Pizza Fritta

Pizza fritta is the golden fried street pizza of Naples, made from leavened dough that is deep-fried rather than baked and then filled or topped with classic Neapolitan ingredients. It has been a Neapolitan specialty since the 18th century, older than the oven-baked pizza Margherita, and long served as a cheap, filling meal for the city's working people.

In its most common form, pizza fritta chiusa, a disk of dough is topped with tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and slices of salami or pork crackling, folded into a half-moon, sealed at the edges and lowered into hot oil until puffed and crisp. The result is a crunchy shell protecting a molten, richly savoury centre. A simpler variant called montanara is fried plain and afterwards finished with tomato, cheese and basil under a hot flame.

Fried pizza is cherished across Naples as a snack and party food, eaten warm straight from the fryer. It is sold in the city's friggitorie, the traditional fried-food shops, and at street stalls and pizzerias, where it offers a crunchier, more portable cousin to the famous wood-fired pizzas.

🏛️ History & Culture

Pizza fritta, or fried pizza, is a traditional specialty of Naples, where it is said to have originated as a street food for the city's working class. Unlike its baked cousin, the dough is fried in oil, resulting in a crispy exterior and soft interior. Regional variations exist: in Naples it's often folded into a pocket and filled with ingredients like ricotta, tomato, and salami, while elsewhere in Italy it may be served flat and unadorned.

The dish holds deep cultural significance in Naples, where it is still sold in pizzerie and street stalls, especially during festivals and local celebrations. Its origins are debated, with some tracing it to the 18th century, but it is undeniable that it represents the resourcefulness of Neapolitan cuisine, using simple ingredients to create a satisfying meal. Today, it is enjoyed as a nostalgic comfort food that connects locals to their culinary heritage.

🍳 How to make Pizza Fritta

AI-assisted, not kitchen-tested

Pizza Fritta (Neapolitan Fried Pizza)

A classic Neapolitan street food, pizza fritta consists of a disc of pizza dough that is deep-fried until puffed and golden, then folded or topped like a classic pizza. This is the version historically sold by 'friggitori' and home cooks alike in Naples.

Prep
20 min
Cook
10 min
Total
30 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Medium

Recipe ingredients

  • 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) 00 flour, or all-purpose; 00 gives the most authentic chew
  • 300 ml (1¼ cups) lukewarm water, around 25 °C / 77 °F
  • 5 g (1 tsp) fine sea salt
  • 3 g (1 tsp) instant yeast, or fresh yeast, 6 g / 0.2 oz
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
  • 500 ml (2 cups) sunflower or peanut oil, for frying; neutral, high-smoke-point oil
  • 250 g (8½ oz) fresh mozzarella fior di latte, torn into pieces; well drained
  • 200 g (7 oz) canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, lightly seasoned with salt
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • fine sea salt, to taste, for the tomato
  • fresh basil leaves, to taste, optional

Steps

  1. 1 Make the dough: in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Add the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead for 8–10 minutes (by hand) or 6 minutes in a stand mixer until smooth and elastic. Drizzle in the olive oil and knead another 2 minutes until incorporated. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 1½–2 hours, until roughly doubled.
  2. 2 Meanwhile, season the crushed tomatoes with a pinch of salt and a pinch of oregano; do not cook them. Drain the mozzarella well on paper towels.
  3. 3 Heat about 3 cm (1¼ in) of frying oil in a heavy, wide pan to 170–175 °C (340–350 °F). Use a thermometer; this is the safe frying range.
  4. 4 Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (about 200 g / 7 oz each). On a lightly floured surface, stretch each piece by hand into a round roughly 22–25 cm (9–10 in) across; do not use a rolling pin if you want the characteristic puffy, blistered edge.
  5. 5 Carefully lay one dough round into the hot oil. It should bubble vigorously; if it barely sizzles, the oil is too cold. Fry for about 90 seconds on the first side, until golden and puffed, then flip and fry 30–60 seconds on the second side.
  6. 6 Lift out with a slotted spoon or spider and drain on a wire rack (not paper towels, which make it soggy). Keep warm while you fry the remaining rounds.
  7. 7 To serve 'alla pizzaiola': spoon crushed tomato over half of each fried round, scatter mozzarella and a basil leaf on top, fold the plain half over like a half-moon, and eat immediately while the crust is still crisp and the cheese is melting.
  8. 8 Food safety: fry only until the dough is visibly golden and has held at 170+ °C (340+ °F) for 90+ seconds; well-drained mozzarella and freshly seasoned raw tomato pose no special risk, but serve immediately and do not hold at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Reheat any leftover fried crust to 75 °C (165 °F) before re-serving.
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