Home - REAL California Pizza Contest 2021

~ THIRD ANNUAL ~

REAL CALIFORNIA PIZZA CONTEST

We’re looking for 2021’s top professional chefs and pizzaiolos to craft winning pizza recipes using Real California Cheese. As a follow-up to our successful 2019 and 2020 competitions, the California Milk Advisory Board invites professional chefs and accredited culinary students to share their best pizza recipes in three categories. A live bake-off will determine the winning recipes for Best in each Category and the Grand Prize.

ENTRIES OPEN AUGUST 2, 2021!

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2021 CATEGORIES - 3 CHANCES TO WIN

A pizza recipe blending your interpretation of the culinary and flavor fusion of California and Mexican cuisines featuring Hispanic-style cheeses from California.

This fusion pizza recipe will celebrate the great flavors of both Mexico and California along with these delicious Real California Cheeses: Asadero, Cotija, Cotija (Queso Anejo), Enchilado, Enchilado Anejo, Manchego, Menonita, Oaxaca, Panela, Queso Blanco Fresco (Queso Para Frier), Queso Fresco, and/or Requeson.

A pizza recipe representing your interpretation of the REAL California pizza. This is the “wild card” category allowing pizza chefs to a create a signature California pizza recipe. The goal is to feature ingredients that showcase the best of the Golden State with a special focus on Real California Cheeses.

Everyone knows what’s on a “Hawaiian” pizza. Here’s your chance to create a “California” pizza for the world to fall in love with.

A pizza recipe emphasizing the delicious flavor combinations of plants (e.g., fruits, vegetables, nuts, and/or beans and other legumes) and Real California Cheeses.

This on-trend flexitarian pizza recipe will deliver flavorful produce-centric toppings layered to complement cheeses made from California milk, where meats or other non-cheese proteins are considered an optional garnish or condiment.

For a list of the more than 250 varieties and style of Real California Cheese and the approved brands that produce them, as well as clarification on which Hispanic-style cheeses from California qualify for the Hispanic pizza category, please refer to the California Cheesemaker list.

We recognize some of these cheeses may not be available in your location. You are encouraged to enter the contest anyway, substituting the cheese you use in your development process for the cheese from this approved list in your official recipe entry. The California Milk Advisory Board will supply the specified approved cheeses from finalists’ recipes at the bake-off.

WHAT'S NEW IN 2021

After two successful Real California Pizza Contests and awarding over $60,000 to the winning pizzaiolos, we’re planning on an even bigger contest for 2021: We will have an international cook off to go with our U.S. event. We will invite the winners of the CMAB Real California Pizza Contests in China, South Korea, and Mexico to compete in a cook-off as part of the regular contest. The international chefs will compete in the same categories – Cal-Mex, Plant-Forward, and the REAL California – in the search for innovative, cheese-centric pizza recipes capitalizing on the latest food trends. Coming off a stressful pandemic year and a half, we’re hoping to offer pizza chefs and operators a reward for their commitment to their craft. And the chance to discover new and better ways to use California cheese and dairy on pizza.