Did you know that there are more than 10,000 known types of mushrooms in the world? Yes, variety is a wonderful thing, but with so many options out there, how do you know which mushrooms to put on your pizza?

Be sure about your ‘shrooms – order a pizza with one of these types of mushrooms:

Button Mushrooms

There may be 10,000 types of mushrooms on the planet, but when we think of mushrooms, the small white button variety is the first that comes to mind.

When sauteed with garlic, salt, olive oil, and a bit of parsley, button mushrooms go from ordinary to extraordinary.

Shiitake Mushrooms

Looking for a bit more complexity in your mushroom pizza? Shiitakes are the answer, and they’re on more pizzeria menus than you might expect.

Fresh shiitake mushrooms offer a rich and buttery flavor that you won’t typically get from other mushroom types. Meanwhile, dried shiitake mushrooms are a different animal (or, in this instance, fungi) – they tend to get smokier in flavor when dried and that taste is further amplified by the high heat of the pizza oven.

Portabella Mushrooms

Ever have grilled portabella mushrooms at a barbecue and think, “Man, I need to eat these more often”? You totally can when you order a portabella mushroom-topped pizza.

Portabella mushrooms are thicker than most other mushroom types and they also offer a meaty flavor that is not easily replicated by any other vegetable.  Portabellas are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser for your group, especially for vegetarians and vegans who are craving the taste of meat.

Cremini Mushrooms

Looking for the middle ground between the simple button mushroom and the meaty portobello? Look no further than the little brown cremini mushroom, which is literally the midway point between the two.

Fun fact: Portobello mushrooms are merely white button mushrooms that are given more time to mature. At their in-between stage, they’re crimini mushrooms, which have the size and shape of the button mushroom with the brown color and plus some of the meaty flavor of the portobello.

Morel Mushrooms

Feeling fancy? Treat yourself with a morel mushroom pizza!

Morels are prized for their nutty, earthy, and deep flavor and they are positively life-changing for anyone who hasn’t experienced them before.  You’re unlikely to find them at your corner slice shop, but there are tons of pizzerias out there with morels on the menu.

Truffles

Okay, we’re cheating a little bit here, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t take this opportunity to underscore the magic of truffles on pizza.

Truffles, like mushrooms, are a type of fungus. However, mushrooms, by definition, grow above ground whereas truffles are subterranean, which means they grow below the ground.

But, whatevs, this isn’t Earth Science. Truffles are exquisite and they need not be limited to your pasta. We firmly believe that pizza is a gourmet experience and nothing says gourmet like adding truffles to the mix.

— Zach Links is a freelance senior copywriter who is obsessed with all things food. In addition to serving as a staff writer for The Sauce, he’s also the lead writer and editor of ProFootballRumors.com. You can find him on LinkedIn, on Twitter @ZachLinks and on Instagram @FatZachLinks.