Cheese, White or Tomato: Three Ways to Build a Pizza
Three pizzas that differ by one thing: whether there is tomato sauce, and if so, whether it sits under the cheese or on top of it.
A cheese pizza is sauce first, cheese on top. A white pizza has no tomato sauce at all. A tomato pie reverses the order — cheese underneath, sauce spooned over the top.
That sounds like a technicality. It changes how all three taste.
| Sauce | Cheese | Eats like | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese pizza | Under | On top | The standard slice |
| White pizza | None | The whole point | Richer, garlicky |
| Tomato pie | On top | Underneath | Brighter, sharper |
The three builds
Everything on a pizza is layered, and heat reaches those layers in order. What sits on top gets direct heat and browns. What sits underneath is insulated and stays soft.
Swap two layers and you have changed which ingredient is cooked hard and which is protected. That is the entire difference between a cheese pizza and a tomato pie.
Cheese pizza
The default. A thin layer of tomato sauce goes onto the base, mozzarella over it, and the cheese browns in the oven while the sauce beneath stays wet.
The cheese is what you taste first, and the sauce arrives behind it. It is the build that most toppings are designed around, because anything added sits on the cheese and browns alongside it.
White pizza
No tomato sauce anywhere. The base is usually brushed with oil and garlic instead, and the cheese does all the work.
Without the acidity of tomato, a white pizza is noticeably richer, and it needs something to stop it being flat — garlic, herbs, black pepper, or a salty cheese alongside the mozzarella.
It is not the same as an alfredo-sauce pizza, though the two get confused. A traditional white pizza has no sauce at all, not a cream sauce.
Tomato pie
The regional one, and genuinely a South Jersey and Philadelphia thing. Cheese goes down first, then sauce over the top, often in stripes or spoonfuls rather than an even layer.
Because the sauce is exposed to the oven rather than buried, it reduces and concentrates. Because the cheese is underneath, it melts without browning. You get a sharper, more tomato-forward slice with a softer cheese layer.
Tomato pies are frequently baked in trays and cut into squares, and in some places they are served at room temperature rather than hot — which suits a build where the sauce is the loudest element.
Where the tomato pie came from
Tomato pie is not a variation somebody invented to be different. It is what a lot of Italian-American bakeries were making before the round, cheese-heavy pizza became the American default.
Bakeries had trays, ovens and dough already. A tray of dough with sauce over the top keeps well, travels well, and does not depend on being eaten in the first ten minutes — all of which suited a bakery rather than a restaurant.
Cheese was the expensive part, which is why it was used sparingly or put underneath where a little went further. The build survives in South Jersey and around Philadelphia because those bakeries did, and it is one of the more genuinely regional things on an American pizzeria menu.
It also explains why tomato pie is so often sold by the square and eaten at room temperature. That is bakery behaviour, not restaurant behaviour.
Why the order of the layers matters
Three practical consequences follow from which layer is on top.
- Browning. Only the top layer browns. Cheese on top gives you the blistered, patchy surface people associate with pizza; sauce on top gives you a darker, reduced tomato flavour instead.
- Moisture. Sauce under cheese is sealed in and stays wet. Sauce on top loses water in the oven and concentrates.
- Reheating. A tomato pie holds up better cold or at room temperature, because the sauce has already reduced and the cheese is not a browned crust.
Which to order
- Cheese if you want the familiar thing, or if you are adding toppings that need to brown.
- White if you want something richer, or you are pairing it with something sharp alongside.
- Tomato pie if you like a bright, tomato-led slice, or you are eating it later rather than straight away.
Ray’s lists Cheese, White and Tomato as three separate pies, in Medium, Large and Sicilian. The gourmet range sits alongside them.
If you are choosing a base as well, our guide to crust styles covers which suits a heavier build, and what the cheese is doing matters most of all on a white pie.
Pizza Questions, Answered.
What is a tomato pie?
A pizza with the cheese underneath and the sauce spooned over the top. It is a South Jersey and Philadelphia speciality, often baked in trays and cut into squares.
Is white pizza the same as alfredo pizza?
No. A traditional white pizza has no sauce at all – usually just oil, garlic and cheese. An alfredo pizza uses a cream sauce, which is a different thing.
Why does tomato pie taste sharper?
The sauce sits on top and is exposed to the oven, so it reduces and concentrates instead of steaming under a layer of cheese.
Can you get toppings on a white pizza?
Yes, though they work best if they bring salt or acid, since there is no tomato to balance the richness.
The short version
Same three ingredients, three different orders. Cheese on top browns, sauce on top concentrates, and no sauce at all means the seasoning has to do the work.
All three are on the Ray’s menu, open daily 10:30am to 9:00pm.
Ray’s Pizza Team
Ray’s Pizza & Sub Shop is a neighborhood pizzeria at 95 Woodstown Rd, Swedesboro, New Jersey, serving pizza, stromboli, hot and cold subs and dinners seven days a week from 10:30am to 9:00pm. These guides are written by the people behind the counter.
Visit Ray’sMore From Ray’s
