Most herbs on pizza don’t have one right moment. What changes the answer is how hot and how long the bake is, and whether you want the herb to taste cooked or fresh.
Fresh basil: before or after?
Before is the tradition. The EU specification for Pizza Napoletana puts several fresh basil leaves on the pizza before its 60 to 90 second bake, and describes the finished basil as darker green from cooking, with an intense aroma and no sign of burning.
After is common too. Ken Forkish notes that Franco Pepe, at Pepe in Grani, puts fresh basil on his margherita after it’s baked, as do other pizzaioli Forkish admires. Forkish’s own verdict: “I like it both ways.”
In a home oven, the bake is longer: 6 to 10 minutes at 500–550°F (260–288°C) for a Neapolitan-style pizza on a steel or stone. Forkish’s recipes show three ways to handle it:
- On from the start. On several of his home-oven pizzas, whole basil leaves go on top before the bake, with a drizzle of olive oil, and stay on through the broiler finish.
- Partway through. His margherita adds the basil with the mozzarella, about 4 minutes into the bake, for the last couple of minutes.
- After the bake. On others he snips basil over the hot pizza with scissors and finishes with olive oil, or adds whole leaves just before serving.
If your basil comes out black and brittle, it had too much direct heat. Add it later, or use Forkish’s general fix for heat-sensitive toppings and tuck it under the cheese.
Dried oregano: before, on the sauce
Dried oregano works the other way round from basil: it goes on before the bake. In Neapolitan pizzerias, Forkish writes, oregano is sprinkled on top of the sauce, and olive oil goes on after the sauce and cheese. On a pizza marinara, tomato, garlic and oregano bake together. Forkish uses about 3/4 teaspoon on a 12-inch marinara.
It also goes into sauce: Forkish’s smooth red sauce blends dried oregano with olive oil, garlic, salt and chile flakes. And it works at the table. Several of his New York and pan pizzas are served with dried oregano and chile flakes on the side.
Quality matters too. Forkish’s advice is to buy the best dried oregano you can find, and Calabrian oregano if you can get it.
Other herbs and greens
| Herb | When | How |
|---|---|---|
| Arugula | After the bake | Toss with a little olive oil and salt and pile it on as the pizza comes out (Forkish) |
| Parsley | After the bake | Scatter chopped leaves over the finished pizza, as Forkish does on his tarte flambée |
| Mint | Either | On Forkish’s zucchini-blossom pizza, half is baked into the ricotta filling and half is sprinkled on after |
| Thyme | Either | Forkish roasts mushrooms with whole sprigs, then sprinkles fresh leaves on the finished pizza |
| Sage | Before, cooked first | Forkish fries the leaves crisp in bacon fat, then crumbles them onto the pizza before it bakes |
The pattern: tender, leafy herbs are at their best added after, while sturdier herbs can take the oven, especially if they’re cooked or coated in fat first.
Garlic and chile flakes
Garlic sits on the pizza with the herbs, and it burns more easily than they do. Forkish slices it thin and coats each slice in olive oil before it goes on, which keeps it from scorching. His marinara bakes for 5 or 6 minutes with no broiler finish, because the broiler tends to scorch the garlic. Tucking garlic under the cheese protects it too.
If you make garlic oil to drizzle after baking, treat it as a fresh food. Garlic in oil kept at room temperature is at risk of botulism. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says to make garlic-in-oil fresh, keep it in the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or colder for no more than four days, or freeze it for longer storage (checked October 14, 2026). The simplest approach is to make it fresh on pizza night. More on oils is in finishing oils and flaky salt and when to add olive oil to pizza.
Chile flakes work at any stage. Forkish blends them into sauce, tosses them with toppings before the bake, and passes them at the table.
Sources
- Ken Forkish, The Elements of Pizza (2016), chapter 4 (oregano and olive oil in Neapolitan pizzerias) and chapter 7 (the FWSY sauce, pizza marinara, pizza margherita and other recipes: herb amounts and timing).
- European Commission, Regulation (EU) No 97/2010, annex: the Pizza Napoletana specification (ingredients, assembly and the finished pizza).
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Freezing Garlic-In-Oil” (checked October 14, 2026): botulism risk at room temperature, the four-day refrigerated limit and freezing.
- Bake temperatures and times are the site’s Planner values for a Neapolitan-style pizza in a home oven.