Giada De Laurentiis Reveals Her Secret To ‘Sexy’ Pizza Dough And Her Most Proud Achievement

You know her as a celebrity chef. You know her as a TV personality. You know her as an entrepreneur. Whether it’s from her multitude of cookbooks, successful restaurants, or hit TV shows, you’ve seen Giada De Laurentiis in your atmosphere. Stemming from her Italian heritage, Giada has made it her mission to bring accessible, healthy choices to her audiences. Now? She’s partnering with Peroni to expand her culinary lexicon and showcase how true authenticity can bring your palette to a whole new level.

I had the chance to sit down with Giada to learn more about her partnership with Peroni, her successful career path, and, most importantly, about her.

Foodbeast: So how did this partnership with Peroni manifest itself?

Giada: Well, it just felt natural! Growing up in Italy, Peroni was always around and always felt genuine to my story and my history. Most people assume Italians are always surrounded by wine but the real deals know that Peroni is always in the fridge. They value rich, authentic flavors and that’s what I’ve built my legacy on as well.

Foodbeast: People always think wine and Italian cooking go hand-in-hand so how does one go about pairing beer with Italian cuisine?

Giada: What’s interesting is that people always assume it’s about pairing when in reality beer is actually incredibly helpful in the recipe as opposed to adjacent to it. For example, one of the recipes I crafted with Peroni was a simple margherita pizza. Instead of pairing beer and pizza, why not use the beer in the pizza dough?? In any risen dough, yeast is the main ingredient that allows the dough to rise. And what’s in Peroni? Yeast. So I replaced half of the water in the dough with Peroni which gives the dough this sexy, light, airy texture when it cooks and makes the whole pizza taste incredible.

Foodbeast: I’ve never heard dough be described as “sexy” before but, if anyone were to make it sexy, I’m glad it’s you!

Giada: It’s true though! The effervescence of the beer along with the yeast give the dough so much levity that when you finally bite into it, the pizza just floats into your mouth. It’s insane. We also crafted an amazing recipe for a lemon pasta with Peroni that’s out of this world.

Foodbeast: It takes a true culinary savant to make something that sounds so technical feel so simple and accessible. How has your approach to cooking evolved through the years?

Giada: Well, I always say that my cooking approach evolves with the phases and eras of my life: I cooked one way when I was on my own, then I started cooking for my daughter, and now I am cooking for the world. What I will say is that whenever I create a recipe, one of my top priorities is coming up with unique and inventive ways to utilize the entirety of an ingredient for that recipe. Nothing is worse that having to buy some random, expensive ingredient in a big container just to use “only one tablespoon” of it and leave the rest to go to waste. Like what are we doing?? We need to use up everything we can, not just to eliminate waste, but to also make sure your money takes you as far as it can go.

Foodbeast: Yeah, definitely don’t come to our house because at least 60% of our fridge is random containers of ingredients we barely used and saved because we felt bad wasting it.

Giada: Exactly! And not only that, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to do everything in your power to buy locally grown or organic groceries. Even if that means eating less, then eat less! Quality over quantity is definitely a top-level focus of mine.

Foodbeast: Does that go hand-in-hand with how you work to make your recipes accessible to those of us who might be newer to the kitchen and a little intimidated trying new recipes?

Giada: Absolutely! Look, we all had to start somewhere in the kitchen. Nobody wakes up one morning and knows what they’re doing. It takes time, it takes patience, and most of all it takes the courage to try something new in the first place.

Foodbeast: With everything you’ve accomplished, what’s something from your life that you feel most proud of achieving?

Giada: My daughter. No questions asked. She is the reason I keep working for the next generation’s health and utility. If you ask it strictly from a working perspective, I would have to say my longevity in the culinary world. In all honesty, being a woman in this industry, we are looked at differently. We are constantly held under scrutiny and asked to reinvent ourselves all the time.

Foodbeast: Especially for women, it feels like the world wants one of two things from you: try to reinvent yourself and let us critique you on how “un-Giada” it is OR stick with what you know and let us critique you on how “Giada’s already done this…yawn!”

Giada: YES. YES. YES. And at the end of the day, I can honestly say I am proud of the fact that after decades in this industry, I am still here. I am still standing. And I am better than ever.

Her relevance and innovative spirit are still thriving in 2025 as she – and Peroni – bring the flavors of Italy to life with pop-ups in Pebble Beach, Los Angeles, and New York City scheduled through the rest of the year. Next weekend, the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival will be offering an Apertivo Hour with Giada as they debut new recipes and new content. Don’t forget to follow along on their journey here and watch as one of the most influential female chefs of our time brings traditional Italian flavors into the modern age, one sexy dough at a time.