pepperoni

American  

[pep-uh-roh-nee] / ˌpɛp əˈroʊ ni /

Or peperoni

noun

1. a highly seasoned, hard sausage of beef and pork.

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pepperoni British  

/ ˌpɛpəˈrəʊnɪ /

noun

1. a highly seasoned dry sausage of pork and beef spiced with pepper, used esp on pizza

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Etymology

Origin of pepperoni

1920–25, < Italian peperoni, plural of peperone cayenne pepper plant, augmentative of pepe pepper

Explanation

Pepperoni is a flavorful sausage that's usually cut in thin slices. On pizza night, you and your sister might argue about toppings: you prefer pepperoni, while she likes mushrooms and olives. Officially, pepperoni is a variety of salami, a sausage that makes most people think of sandwiches rather than pizza. Usually pepperoni is bright red, with a peppery, smoky flavor and a soft, chewy texture. Rather than black pepper, most pepperoni is flavored with paprika, a seasoning made from sweet bell peppers. The origin of the name backs this up: it comes from the Italian peperone, "bell pepper."

Example Sentences

But the people who worked and ate at the Moscow Pizza Huts still remember the pepperoni and the red-checkered tablecloths and what they represented: In Russia, change wasn’t always an empty promise.

From Slate • Nov. 13, 2025

It could be as simple as swapping out an ingredient or two in a pepperoni pizza or corn dog.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2025

For him that means a tightly edited menu of classics like pepperoni, meatball and a white pie with mushrooms.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

In recent years, I've given up pork, but that adoration for the pepperoni breads of my youth hasn't waned.

From Salon • Sep. 4, 2024

Some of the lines are silly—about how he hogged the pepperoni pizza at our birthday party, put an obviously recyclable cup in the trash, and often leaves his shoelaces untied.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

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