Halal Pizza in Los Angeles: What Makes a Pizza Halal?

Pizza looks simple, but for a Muslim customer an ordinary pizza has several places where it stops being halal — and most of them are not obvious from the menu. Here is what to look for, and how we handle each one.

What “halal” means for a pizza

Halal means permissible under Islamic dietary law. For a pizza, that comes down to three things: no pork or anything made from it, meat from animals slaughtered the halal way, and no alcohol used as an ingredient.

Where a regular pizza usually isn't halal

1. The pepperoni and sausage. At most pizzerias, pepperoni is pork or a pork-and-beef blend, and Italian sausage is usually pork. This is the most common problem, and the easiest to miss.
2. The chicken and beef. Leaving off the pork is not enough on its own. Meat is only halal if it came from an animal slaughtered according to Islamic law.
3. Shared prep. In a kitchen that also handles pork, the same surfaces and utensils are often used for everything.
4. The less obvious ingredients. Some cheeses are made with animal rennet, some desserts contain gelatin, and some sauces are made with wine. Scholars differ on a few of these, cheese rennet especially, so if one matters to you, ask.

How we do it at Next Level Pizza

Every meat we serve is halal, and there is no pork anywhere in the kitchen. Our pepperoni is beef and our sausage is beef, so there is nothing to pick off and no separate “halal menu” to ask for. The whole menu is the halal menu.

These are our meat pizzas, with exactly what goes on each one:

• Next Level Pepperoni — Red sauce, beef pepperoni, mozzarella blend, parmesan. From $12.95.
• Hot Honey Pepperoni — Red sauce, beef pepperoni, mozzarella blend, chili flakes, hot honey drizzle. From $12.95.
• BBQ Boss Chicken — BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, red onions, mozzarella, parsley. From $12.95.
• Chicken Alfredo Pizza — Alfredo sauce, grilled chicken, mushrooms, mozzarella, parmesan. From $12.95.
• Meat Lover's Supreme — Pizza sauce, beef pepperoni, beef sausage, gyro beef, mozzarella, parmesan flakes. From $12.95.
• Spicy Hawaiian Jalapeño — Choice of red or BBQ sauce, chicken or turkey ham, pineapple, jalapeño, mozzarella. From $12.95.

If you have a question about a specific ingredient — the cheese, a dessert, a sauce — ask us when you order and we will tell you exactly what is in it.

Halal pizza near Van Nuys

We are at 7400 Van Nuys Blvd in the heart of the San Fernando Valley. Order online for pickup, or get delivery across Panorama City, Valley Glen, Arleta, Lake Balboa, North Hills, Sun Valley, Mission Hills and Sherman Oaks — see all the neighborhoods we deliver to.

Not sure what to order? Start with our guide to the menu, or go straight to the full menu.