Salami vs. Pepperoni: What's the Difference?

By the site editors. Fact-checked against USDA FSIS, FDA and university extension sources. Last updated October 27, 2026.

Short answer: Pepperoni is a kind of dry sausage, and so is salami. Pepperoni is basically America's own spicy salami. It's made from pork or pork and beef (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI'), it's usually fine-grained, lightly smoky and bright red (New York Times, 2011), and paprika gives it that color (Bon Appétit). "Salami" is a much bigger family that covers Genoa, Milano, hard salami, soppressata and more, and some of them are coarser and unsmoked (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'; 'MILAN OR MILANO SALAMI'; 'SALAMI, HARD'). And food historians call pepperoni an Italian-American creation. Italy has no salami by that name (New York Times, 2011; Bon Appétit).

What is salami?

US labeling policy defines "Salami" as "a dry sausage that requires an MPR [moisture-protein ratio] of 1.9:1 or less," and adds that it "may be cooked to shorten drying period" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'SALAMI'). That one word covers a lot of styles, many with Italian place names:

• Genoa salami: "prepared with all pork or with a mixture of pork and a small amount of beef. The meat is given a coarse grind and enclosed in a natural casing. No smoke is used in its preparation" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'). It's "moistened with wine or grape juice and seasoned with garlic" (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety).
• Milano salami: "an Italian-type salami, except the meat is finely cut," spiced with garlic (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'MILAN OR MILANO SALAMI').
• Hard salami: made with beef and pork, seasoned with garlic, and "usually more heavily smoked than Italian Salami" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'SALAMI, HARD').
• Soppressata: FSIS lists "Sopressata (a name of a salami)" as a dry sausage (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety).

There's also cooked salami, a different animal: it's cooked in a smokehouse, softer, and has to be refrigerated (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety). On a US label it usually has to say "Cooked," and "cotto salami" is defined as "a mildly flavored cooked, cured sausage" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'SALAMI, COOKED'; 'SALAMI, COTTO'). More on that in Is salami raw?.

What is pepperoni?

FSIS labeling policy defines pepperoni as "a dry sausage prepared from pork or pork and beef." If more than 55 percent of the meat is beef, it's "beef and pork pepperoni." The same entry says "pepperoni made with beef must be called beef pepperoni," which we read as the name for pepperoni made from beef rather than pork (that reading is ours, not FSIS's). Pepperoni "must be treated for destruction of possible live trichinae and must have an MPR of 1.6:1 or less," and "extenders and binders are not permitted" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI'). Turkey can go in too, but the label has to say so, for example "Pepperoni with Turkey (kind) Added" or "Turkey and Pork Pepperoni" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI WITH POULTRY').

Where it came from. Food historian John Mariani told the New York Times pepperoni is "purely an Italian-American creation, like chicken Parmesan." In Italian, "peperoni" means large peppers, like bell peppers, and "there is no Italian salami called by that name," though some salamis from Calabria and Apulia are similarly spicy and red with dried chilies. Mariani dated the first printed reference to 1919 (New York Times, 2011). Bon Appétit, quoting the authors of the cookbook Italian American, says it appeared "sometime in the early 1900s in butcher shops and pizzerias in the US," and co-author Angie Rito says "Paprika would have been more readily available and cheaper [in the United States]" (Bon Appétit). That's your light Italian nod: an American sausage with southern Italian roots.

How salami and pepperoni differ

Meat. Pepperoni is pork, or pork and beef (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI'). Salami runs from all pork (Genoa can be) to beef and pork (hard salami) (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'; 'SALAMI, HARD').

Grind. Pepperoni is typically "fine-grained" (New York Times, 2011). Salami varies: Genoa gets "a coarse grind," while Milano is "finely cut" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'; 'MILAN OR MILANO SALAMI').

Seasoning: paprika and chili. Paprika "helps give the sausage its characteristic deep red hue," along with garlic and aromatics like fennel seed (Bon Appétit). Pepperoni is described as "an air-dried spicy sausage" (New York Times, 2011). FSIS notes paprika is "less pungent" than pepper and is "used primarily for its coloring qualities" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPER'). Many classic salamis lean on garlic instead: Genoa, Milano and hard salami are all described as garlic-seasoned (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'; 'MILAN OR MILANO SALAMI'; 'SALAMI, HARD'). Spicy southern Italian salamis do exist, red with dried chilies (New York Times, 2011).

Smoke. Pepperoni is "lightly smoky" (New York Times, 2011); FSIS even describes frizzes as "similar to pepperoni but not smoked" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'FRIZZES'). Salami is all over the map: no smoke for Genoa, and more smoke for hard salami (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI'; 'SALAMI, HARD'). Paul Bertolli of Fra' Mani told the Times, "I've never seen a smoked sausage anywhere in Italy" (New York Times, 2011).

Texture. Pepperoni is "relatively soft" for a dry sausage (New York Times, 2011) and "dense, chewy" (Bon Appétit). It also has the lowest moisture-protein ceiling of the two on paper, 1.6:1 versus 1.9:1 for salami and 2.3:1 for Genoa (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'MOISTURE PROTEIN RATIO (MPR)'). That's a labeling standard, not a safety test.

Size. Pepperoni is usually sold as sticks (Serious Eats).

Fermentation and drying. Both are fermented and dried. FSIS says dry sausages can be fermented "for preservation and to produce the typical tangy flavor," or cultured with lactic acid, then dried by "a carefully controlled, long, continuous air-drying process" (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety). Pepperoni goes through "mild fermentation" and is "smoked and dried" (Bon Appétit). Dry sausages end up at "60% to 80% of their original weight" (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety).

How they're eaten. Pepperoni is the classic pizza topping; the Times story is about pizzerias and pizza chefs chasing good pepperoni (New York Times, 2011). At our house, salami mostly goes on sandwiches and boards. Michael Ruhlman put it simply: "Bread, cheese and salami is a good idea" (New York Times, 2011).

Salami vs. pepperoni at a glance

Is pepperoni a type of salami?

Functionally, yes. Both are classed as dry sausages by FSIS (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety), and Bon Appétit quotes chef Angie Rito saying pepperoni "seems to be most closely related to a Neapolitan- or Calabrese-style dried salami" (Bon Appétit). But on a US label they're separate products with separate definitions (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI'; 'SALAMI'), and Italy has no salami called "peperoni" (New York Times, 2011). Think of pepperoni as a cousin that moved to America and changed its name.

Cooking pepperoni on pizza (and why it cups)

Those little crispy cups have a job: some say they keep "the spicy, molten fat" from pouring over the pizza (New York Times, 2011). Serious Eats tested why they form. The top of a slice "heats faster than the bottom, which is insulated from heat by the cheese and the dough," so it shrinks more and curls. Pepperoni stuffed in a natural or collagen casing curls, whether or not the casing is still on when you cook it, and medium-thick slices of about 0.1 to 0.225 inch cup best (Serious Eats). An industry trade magazine adds that how the meat flows into the casing during stuffing affects the curl (Meat+Poultry). Want flat pepperoni? Look for sticks from fibrous casings that are stripped before slicing (Serious Eats).

One labeling quirk: "Cooked pepperoni is not an acceptable product name" under FSIS policy (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI, COOKED').

Safety in brief

Both are dry sausages, a group FSIS says is, "with a few exceptions, cooked" in the US. FSIS's own list also describes pepperoni as "not cooked, air dried" (FSIS: Sausages and Food Safety), so don't assume either way; read the label. The CDC lists "chorizo, pepperoni, salami, and summer sausage" as fermented or dry sausages that can pick up Listeria after processing, and says "reheating before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats" (CDC: Deli Foods and Prepared Meats).

Pregnancy and other higher-risk groups. The CDC tells people who are pregnant, 65 or older, or have weakened immune systems to avoid "unheated ... fermented or dry sausages" and choose them "reheated to 165°F or until steaming hot" (CDC: Preventing Listeria Infection). Pepperoni baked on a pizza counts only if the pepperoni itself gets steaming hot (CDC).

For storage and spoilage, see Does salami go bad?. For the full raw-versus-cooked story, see Is salami raw?.

FAQ

Is pepperoni Italian? Not by origin, according to food historian John Mariani, who called it "purely an Italian-American creation" (New York Times, 2011). In Italian, "peperoni" means large peppers, like bell peppers.

Can I swap salami for pepperoni on pizza? Sure. Just expect less red color, since pepperoni gets its hue from paprika (Bon Appétit).

Is pepperoni made from beef? It can be. Standard pepperoni is pork or pork and beef. A mix that's more than 55 percent beef is labeled "beef and pork pepperoni," and pepperoni made from beef is labeled "beef pepperoni" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI').

Is turkey pepperoni allowed? Yes, if labeled, for example "Turkey and Pork Pepperoni" (FSIS Labeling Policy Book, Sept 8, 2025, 'PEPPERONI WITH POULTRY').

Can I eat pepperoni straight from the package? Ready-to-eat pepperoni, yes, for most healthy adults; higher-risk groups should heat it to 165°F or until steaming hot (CDC).

Can I make pepperoni at home? Start with our how-to-make-salami guide, which covers the safety caveats.

Sources

1. USDA FSIS. Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book (Sept 8, 2025 ed.; archived Mar 11, 2026). Entries: PEPPERONI; PEPPERONI, COOKED; PEPPERONI WITH POULTRY; PEPPER; SALAMI; SALAMI, HARD; SALAMI, COOKED; SALAMI, COTTO; GENOA OR GENOA SALAMI; MILAN OR MILANO SALAMI; FRIZZES; MOISTURE PROTEIN RATIO (MPR). http://web.archive.org/web/20260311192724/https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/import/Labeling-Policy-Book.pdf
2. USDA FSIS. Sausages and Food Safety (archived Feb 16, 2024). http://web.archive.org/web/20240216213407/https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/meat/sausages-and-food-safety
3. CDC. Preventing Listeria Infection. https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention/index.html
4. CDC. How Listeria Spread: Deli Foods and Prepared Meats. https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/causes/deli-ready-to-eat-foods.html
5. Moskin, J. "Pepperoni: On Top." The New York Times, published Feb 1, 2011 (archived Dec 15, 2016). https://web.archive.org/web/20161215224013/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/dining/02pepperoni.html
6. Bon Appétit. "What Is Pepperoni and How Do I Get the Best Stuff?" https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-is-pepperoni
7. Serious Eats (J. Kenji López-Alt). "Why Does Pepperoni Curl? The Pizza Lab." https://www.seriouseats.com/the-pizza-lab-why-does-pepperoni-curl
8. Meat+Poultry. "Keeping the curl in pepperoni" (Mar 27, 2020). https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22842-keeping-the-curl-in-pepperoni