Best Chicago Deep Dish Style Pizza Recipe

Chicago is a beautiful place known for its talented people and deep-dish pizzas. I’m going to share with you one of the best Chicago deep-dish pizza recipes that you can easily make at home.

Chicago deep-dish pizza is extremely easy to make. I have not made this pizza more than once before(because you need to have a lot of hungry people to finish this), so I can tell you that this recipe is beginner-friendly.

This pizza tastes so good. I think it will be perfect to make on Thanksgiving or even Christmas Eve, as it has that warm, cozy comfort food vibe.

I’m sure everyone in your family is going to enjoy this recipe.

I made this at home, and it was over within minutes,that is how good it tastes, and if you have never made it, then definitely give it a try.

Deep Dish Pizza, in general, is more of a pie than a normal pizza(which is also called a pie, but this visually looks like one).

There are some other great pizza recipes from Chicago, and one of my favorites is the Chicago tavern-style pizza or bar pizza, which hits the spot every single time and requires a relatively lesser cook time.

You can also check out the tavern-style pizza, as it is more of a games day food, while this one is for family gatherings or to enjoy this wonderful pie with your family.

Chicago-style or Deep-dish pizza is a concoction of sauce, cheese, and toppings labeled as ‘fillings’. Those are the basic ingredients of a pizza, if you think about it.

Deep-dish pizza is a thick layer of the mentioned ingredients baked in a pan with at least an inch of crust lightly fried while baking.

At first glance, you are most likely to associate it with pie instead of flatbread.

Its unusually thick and deep crust distinguishes Chicago-style pizza from other kinds.

You also have Chicago thin-crust pizza, and you can check out their pizza dough recipe here.

It may look like a pie, but the truth is, the crust is still pretty standard in making pizza. Pizzas have thin to medium-thick crusts, which are just shaped differently to accommodate the other ingredients.

So here are the best Chicago-style Pizza Recipes that you can cook if you are into a lot of toppings while keeping the crust crispy.

History of Deep Dish Pizza

Deep-dish pizza is a commonly known pizza that originated in Chicago. It was introduced during the 1940s by a well-known Pizzeria called Pizzeria Uno.

Then, it spread like wildfire, and more and more pizzerias have patterned their pizzas after Pizzeria Uno’s. The Original Gino’s Pizza, which is now closed, also participated in making deep-dish pizzas.

Deep-dish pizza has the basic essential components of a pizza: The dough, Sauce, Cheese, and, of course, the baking and cooking process.

The crust is relatively thicker than most pizzas, but it is made that way so it can handle the overstuffed ingredients arranged in an unorthodox pattern.

This kind of pizza is baked in a round, deep (as the name suggests) pan, with the crust spread throughout, including the sides instead of only the bottom.

How does deep-dish differ from stuffed pizza?

Both of these amazing pizzas originated in Chicago. They both have thick crusts and are cooked in a deep pan, but they have components that differ from each other.

The deep-dish pizza is a single pizza with a lot of sauce, cheese, and stuffing put into one layer of crust.

The stuffed pizza is basically a concoction of all the layered ingredients. It is a combination of sauce, cheese, and toppings stuffed between multiple crusts.

The stuffed Chicago pizza is known as the thickest pizza in the world. It started in the mid-1970s and is still popular today.

Since both of these pizzas are a lot thicker than the ones we are used to, they are cooked for longer in the oven to attain the crust’s crispiness and for the toppings to cook correctly.

Deep-Dish Pizza Dough

When it comes to the crust of your pizza, you want it to be crispier instead of soggy.

Now, since deep-dish pizzas contain a lot of sauce, cheese, and fillings, you will need a thick crust to prevent leaks, and doing so might cost you the crispiness.

I have shared the deep-dish pizza dough recipe in another post so that it doesn’t become too long and confusing in one post!

However, I urge you to make this Chicago deep-dish pizza dough recipe first before proceeding with the deep-dish pizza because it does not use your regular pizza dough.

Usually, deep-dish pizza dough is made from all-purpose flour and cornmeal. The pan used is cast iron and coated with butter or corn oil, which gives the crust a yellowish color (the cornmeal also contributes to the yellow color).

Deep Dish Pizza Sauce

I have used my homemade pizza sauce recipe for deep-dish pizza sauce. It is quite easy and quick to make. There are so many deep-dish pizza sauce recipes out there, and I might post one soon on this blog(I need to click images for them).

But the homemade pizza sauce recipe makes a good choice for this recipe. I like using fresh tomatoes for the sauce, as they give a fresh flavor compared to canned tomatoes.

However, if you like the flavour of canned tomatoes, you can use them instead.

Tips on Making the Deep Dish Pizza Right (VERY IMPORTANT)

So, I have made a few mistakes while making deep-dish pizza, and I will share all of my mistakes so you do not make them and get an even better pizza.

1. Do not make the dough too thick. The dough here is thicker than other pizzas, but it is just as thick as it would be on a medium-crust pizza. Please don’t make it thick, like a thick-crust pizza, because we use semolina in the dough, which is strong enough to hold the toppings.

You can use a thicker base than the edges, but do not go overboard with a thick crust, as it can make the pizza doughy.

2. Do not overfill the pizza with raw veggies. I made this mistake with my deep-dish pizza: I stacked raw water-based veggies like green bell peppers without sauteeing them before(if you use a little, it is fine, but since it was a filling, I did end up using a lot).

Next time, I would saute the bell peppers and onions for 5 minutes on high heat and then add them to the filling. If you are using meat, cook it too so it won’t get all greasy inside the pizza.

3. Do not overfill to the top. I also made this mistake and didn’t know how many toppings I stuffed in my pizza. But now I see that you need at least half an inch of space between the top of the crust edge and the sauce surface for a better look. You can stuff it to the top, too, but it gives a better look when you leave a few cm of gap.

4. Preheat the oven. This is a common yet very serious mistake people can make while baking. Preheat the oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes before you start baking this pizza.

5. I place the pizza on the rack and do not use any elevation to place it closer to the heating rods; make sure you do not put it very close to the top rod, which will cause fast crust browning without cooking the pizza throughout.

6. Many pizzerias use cornmeal in their dough, which is why you see the browning of the sides of the crust, or it is slightly yellow in the images. I have used semolina in the dough, which gives the same texture as the cornmeal but no color. Another reason for the browning of the sides is using a cast iron

7. Wait a few minutes before you slice into the pizza and serve. The reason is that when you slice into a steaming hot pizza, all the cheese oozes out and can get messy. Now, I don’t mind it when I’m eating with my family, but if you are serving up for guests, wait a few minutes so the cheese solidifies and you get a cleaner cut when you cut into the pizza.