Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza
Sink your teeth into this authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza! Made with a flaky, buttery crust, melty cheese, and chunky homemade tomato sauce, this deep-dish pizza is the ultimate at-home pizza!
Deep dish pizza, also referred to as Chicago-style pizza, was invented in Chicago with various pizza parlors staking claim to the pie at early as 1926.
High-edged pizza crust topped with melty cheese, pepperoni or Italian sausage, and a chunky tomato sauce, this is truly a one-of-a-kind pizza pie.
Traditional Pan Pizza vs. Deep-Dish
Often confused with thick crust pizza, there are a few notable differences between a traditional pan pizza and a Chicago-style deep-dish.
- Pan: Traditional pizza cooks up on a pizza stone or a flat pan while deep-dish climbs to towering heights in a high-edge pan such as a cake pan or cast-iron skillet.
- Dough: Unlike traditional pizza dough, deep-dish features a laminated dough (similar to croissants) with butter folded in for a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth finish.
- Assembly: Traditional pizza pies follow the assembly of crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza follows the assembly of crust, cheese, toppings, and sauce.
How to Make It!
Let’s break down how to make this cheesy deep-dish pizza into the main parts; the flaky pizza dough, the chunky tomato sauce, and assembling the ultimate deep-dish pizza.
Make the Dough
For the most part, you are looking at basic dough ingredients to make this deep dish crust. A few notable ingredients include the cornmeal and additional butter.
- Dry ingredients: Flour, salt, yeast, and sugar are part of the base of the dough which is similar to most pizza doughs.
- Cornmeal: A unique addition to pizza dough, the cornmeal gives the dough a deeper yellow color as well as makes it a little crispier.
- Wet ingredients: Water, melted butter, and olive oil help bind the dough together.
- Butter: Additional butter is used in the lamination process making the dough buttery, flaky, and delicious.
To make the dough:
- Mix dry ingredients: Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl.
- Add water and melted butter. Mix on low speed, using a dough hook, until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally.
- Knead the dough: Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Move to bowl: Coat a large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Using a greased spatula, transfer the dough to the bowl, turning to coat the dough in oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Rise: Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.
Laminating the Dough
The secret of this pizza dough is a process known as laminating the dough, which is similar to how you make croissants (although not nearly as involved or time-consuming). This creates a wonderfully flaky texture which is one of the key components to a great deep-dish pizza.
- Roll into rectangle: Turn the dough out onto a dry work surface and roll into a 15×12-inch rectangle.
- Spread butter on top: Using an offset spatula, spread the butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the edges.
- Roll up the dough: Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder.
- Roll into rectangle: With seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18×4-inch rectangle.
- Cut the rectangle in half, crosswise.
- Form into a ball: Working with one half, fold the dough into thirds like a business letter. Then pinch the seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough.
- Rise: Return the balls into the oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes.
Homemade Pizza Sauce
While the dough rises, make the pizza sauce. You will need:
- Butter: Used to cook the onion and garlic and helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Crushed tomato: Allows the sauce to be just a little chunky.
- Aromatics: Onion and garlic add a depth of flavor to the sauce.
- Seasonings: Salt, pepper, oregano, and sugar all add a little flavor to the tomatoes.
- Basil + Olive oil: Adds a fresh finish to the sauce.
- Melt butter: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
- Cook onion and seasoning: Once melted, add the onion, oregano, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally until liquid has evaporated and the onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes and simmer: Stir in tomatoes and sugar and increase the heat to high. Bring to a simmer.
- Cook to reduce: Once simmering, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Stir in basil and olive oil: Remove from the heat and stir in basil and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Assemble the Pizza
Before assembling these deep dish pizzas, gather up the toppings you plan yo use for the pie. I typically pull these toppings to make Chicago-style pizza:
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- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella is my go-to but you can also use fresh mozzarella, provolone, fontina, etc.
- Pepperoni: Optional, but a family favorite in our house!
- Sauce: You can use the homemade sauce described above or if you want to skip the homemade you can also use a store-bought pizza sauce.
- Parmesan: For topping at the end, optional but highly encouraged.
Directions
- Prepare for baking: Adjust the oven rack to the lower position and preheat the oven to 425°F. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.
- Roll out the dough: Transfer 1 dough ball to a dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch circle.
- Transfer the dough to the pan by rolling it loosely around a rolling pin and unrolling it into the pan.
- Press into the pan: Lightly press the dough into the pan, working the corners and 1 inch up the sides. If the dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough ball.
- Add cheese: Sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella cheese evenly over each pizza dough.
- Sprinkle on toppings: If you are using any meat or veggie toppings, add them now, on top of the cheese.
- Top with sauce: Spread 1¼ cups tomato sauce over the cheese (or toppings) and sprinkle 2 tablespoons parmesan over the sauce.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Rest the pizza: Remove pizza from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
More Delicious Toppings to Try
While the most popular topping for pizza in the U.S. is pepperoni, Chicago’s most popular pizza topping is Italian sausage. Some other great toppings to add to your deep-dish pizza include:
- Meats: Sausage, bacon, meatballs, or chicken.
- Vegetables: Bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and artichokes.
- After baking toppings: Olives, fresh arugula, basil, and red pepper flakes.
Serving Suggestions
One of the most important things you need to do before serving this deep-dish pie, is allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. This prevents your cheese and toppings from spilling out onto your plate when you serve.
Looking to make this deep-dish Chicago-style pizza a full meal? Here are some delicious sides to dish out with your slices:
- Italian pasta salad
- Caesar salad
- Garlic bread
- Shaved Brussels sprouts salad
Deep Dish Pizza FAQs
The reason for the sauce on top has to do with the longer bake time. Most Chicago-style deep dish pizzas take anywhere from 20-40 minutes to bake. If the cheese and toppings were on top, they would potentially burn and not be the melty, gooey deliciousness you expect from a fresh slice of pizza.
Yes, you can use a cast-iron skillet to bake a deep-dish pizza. For this recipe, I would suggest using a 10-inch pre-seasoned cast-iron skillet and add butter to the pan to coat it (can’t go wrong with a little extra butter here). Follow the same instructions for assembly and bake for 20-30 minutes at 425°F.
No, you do not need to preheat the cast-iron skillet to bake the pizza.
One of the best ways to test and see if the pizza has cooked all the way through is to test the temperature. Using an instant-read thermometer check the temperature in the middle of the pizza. Make sure you stick it all the way through to the base of the crust. You are looking for a temperature of 190°F.
Perfect Pizzas to Make Next
Ditch over-priced deep-dish pizza from the restaurant and make this authentic Chicago-style deep-dish pizza instead! Perfectly flaky crust topped with gooey mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and homemade chunky tomato sauce take this deep-dish pizza to the next level!
Watch the Recipe Video Below:
If you make this recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating - it helps others find the recipe! ❤️️
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 3¼ cups (406.25 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (79.5 g) yellow cornmeal
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons (2.25 teaspoons) instant yeast
- 1¼ cups (312.5 ml) water, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon + 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (40 g) grated onion
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 28 ounces (793.79 g) canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) sugar
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
For the Toppings:
- 1 pound (453.59 g) mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
- Pepperoni
- ¼ cup (25 g) grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed, using a dough hook, until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. (You can easily make this by hand, mixing in the water and butter with a spatula and then kneading by hand.)
- Coat a large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Using greased spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat the dough in oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Make the Sauce: While dough rises, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to about 2½ cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
- Laminate the Dough: Turn the dough out onto dry work surface and roll into a 15×12-inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border along the edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18×4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Working with one half, fold into thirds like a business letter; pinch seams together to form ball. Repeat with remaining half. Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower position and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bake the Pizzas: Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch circle. Transfer dough to the pan by rolling the dough loosely around a rolling pin and unrolling into pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough ball.
- For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. (If you're using any meat or veggie toppings, add them now, on top of the cheese.) Spread 1¼ cups tomato sauce over the cheese (or toppings) and sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce. Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Equipment: Two 9-inch round cake pans (or 10-inch cast-iron skillets)
- Topping Options: See post above for topping substitutes or additions.
- Serving suggestions: Stretch the meal for guests by adding one of the following: Italian pasta salad / Caesar salad / Garlic bread / Shaved Brussels sprouts salad
- Freezing the Dough: You can freeze the dough during step #4. After shaping the dough into balls, instead of allowing them to rise, wrap in plastic wrap, place in a freezer-safe bag, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then rise at room temperature before proceeding with step #5.
- Leftovers: Store any leftover pizza in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Pizza can be reheated in the microwave, toaster oven, on a griddle, or in a skillet on the stove.
- Recipe from Cook's Illustrated
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Photography by Lauren Grant.
I think in Chicago pizzerias they par cook them before freezing. Not sure how long but I’d guess about half the normal cooking time.
SO good. Haven’c had chicago style since I lived there years ago. This was uh-maz-ing. Enough so that I have plans to make it again next week!
The recipe made a very yummy pie.
There is no–and never has been any–cornmeal in authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. The yellow color comes from food dye.
Same with butter–no butter.
Chicago deep dish depends on two factors: a very short knead and lots of oil (usually corn oil). Mix for 1 minutes and knead for 2–this is how the biscuit-like crust is created (you can still laminate, though, if you like, although the pizzerias don’t do this). Use the formula of 2 1/2-3 Tablespoons oil per cup of all-purpose flour.
Use a premium brand of ground tomatoes (like 6-in-1) and do not cook.
Made this yesterday & it turned out awesome! The crust takes a little more effort, but boy is it worth it. I love that I made them in cake pans. Do you think you could freeze a whole pizza before it is cooked?
Hi Barb, Although I haven’t done it, but I think it would be worth a try!
Hi Made this for the super bowl and everyone lived it. Made one sausage and peppers and one pepperoni/bacon/ham. This was the easiest pizza dough I ever made, has anyone tried it with a regular flat pizza? I usually do mine in a rimmed half sheet pan, but it is always a pain.
This is the best pizza I have ever made!!! We make frequent trips to Chicago and this pizza is even better than the stuff we pay alot of money for! Thank you very much for the recipe. My whole family LOVED it and that is quite a challenge!!!!
My dough wasn’t crisp and flaky – the top of the edge got crispy, but the rest of the dough was still soft and chewy. Do I need to leave it in the oven longer, or was it my preparation? I froze the dough and thawed it in the refrigerator the day I baked it.
Hi Tasha, The bottom should also be crispy… it could be due to freezing and thawing it, depending on the temperature when it went into the pan.
Just made this pizza. What a great recipe it was delicious. I made just one pizza today which is enough or two people. The great news is I have more dough to make another tomorrow. Ive been to Chicago and I’ve their deep dish pizzas and I’m so happy I have recipe to make at home now. Thank you
This recipe is taken directly from America’s Test Kitchen. It is really, really tasty. Also, try their Pan Pizza – tastes better than Pizza Hut’s Pan pizza with the same flaky, soft texture.
I cannot wait to make this pizza… My husband has never had a REAL deep dish pizza… Unfortunately he has visions of chain-pizza yuckiness when it comes to “deep dish”. I am hoping to make a believer out of him and this recipe looks awesome ( he loves butter)!
Ummm one word. Giordanos.
HI, I’m going to make your pizza later today, but i was curious about the butter in the laminating process. in this other recipe it said that you don’t want the butter to be TO soft or else it will get greasy, and thats bad.
Is that statement applicable here, or does it not matter?
Hi Alexis, You want the butter to be soft enough to spread, but not so soft that it’s almost melting, or you’ll have a mess on your hands.
I live in Chicago, and deep dish pizza wows me every time. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Looks great!
I normally dread the word “laminated” (croissants scare me!), but I reeeeally wanted this pizza and wouldn’t dream of skimping on the crust. It. Was. So. Easy. Pizza is in the oven right now, and I have no doubt it will be amazing! Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m vegetarian but omg- I need this exact pizza RIGHT NOW or people may get hurt. You’re amazing!:)
I wonder how the crust would turn out using a cast iron skillet?
Hi Tiffany, I have done one in there as a “test” and it’s great – gets nice and crispy!
I haven’t had Chicago-style deep dish pizza enough to develop a specific favourite way to top it, but I love white pizza with pineapple and black olives. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I’ve had a lot of people try it reluctantly while giving me weird looks and then love it.
I’ve made this twice and it hasnt come out quite right either time. pretty sure the first time was cause i didnt chill the dough (oops) and second time it didnt chill long enough. It may have also been my pans as i didnt have a 9in cake pan so I used my springform pan. (can’t find decent cake pans around here (Italy) unless you want to pay 3x the price in the US)
Trying this again tonight, the second round was better than the 1st and bought a good pan to try it in (found a nice one at the farmer’s market). Also giving it the time it needs in the fridge! Wish me luck.
I made this last night and it was incredible! I was surprised at how easy it was. I usually make my own dough, and this was as easy (possibly easier) and sooo tasty! It will now be in our rotation, for sure!
I’m going to try this today. But I’m going to use my own homemade sauce that I can every year. Can you give me an idea of how much sauce to use per pizza?
Hi Patricia, Per the recipe above, you use 1 and 1/4 cups of sauce for each pizza, so a total of 2.5 cups of sauce.
i made this tonight and it was absolutely amazing! thank you so much for a great recipe!
Thank you!! I never see recipes for deep dish pizza. My boyfriend and I went on our first vacation together last year, and we had a great deep dish pizza. I can’t wait to make this for him, it will be a great reminder of our trip.
I cold really go for a slice of that for breakfast right now!
I made this tonight and it was perfect. I made sausage (graziano) and mushroom, and sausage, mushroom, and pepperoni. I also added extra cheese (6 cups between the two pizzas instead of 4). The crust was fantastic, not too “cornmeal-y”. My husband is from Chicago and he introduced me to deep dish. This is a recipe I’ll make again and again when we can’t get back to get our favorite deep dish. We are freezing some of the extra baked pizza. I’m hoping the cheese won’t get too strange from freezing – but I’ll never know unless I try! Thanks so much for this tasty recipe.
YUMMO I just pulled it out of the oven right now…I hope it tastes as great as it looks….patiently trying to wait 10 min before cutting!!!
One quick note to mention when I made it…it not only came out great but I used my favorite quick rising pizza dough recipe and it was stellar…I used canned sauce and it was a bit too thin so I would change that for the 2nd time around!!
http://myadventuresincookingandbaking.blogspot.com/2010/02/quick-pizza-dough.html
if you changed the dough and the sauce, you did not make this recipe…
Question: Could I make this up until the form-the-ball part, then put the dough in the fridge, tightly wrapped until the next day? That’s how I usually do it, but this is a slightly different kind of dough than my traditional crust.
Hi Nichole, I think that would be okay, since it needs to be refrigerated anyway. It might raise a little bit, and if it does, just gently push it down before rolling it out. Let me know how it turns out!
Thank you so much for your fast reply! I’m going to make the dough tonight, like I usually do, so I’ll let you know tomorrow or so how it turns out :) Can’t wait! Bought my yellow corn meal yesterday. Seems like something I should have had on hand in the first place, lol. I’m excited to try a new dough.
hummmmm, I wonder how this does compare to actually Chicago pizza, being from Chicago and loving my Lou Malnati’s…I may have to try this. They say the secret to the Chicago style pizza is Lake Michigan water. I’ve had “chicago” style pizza in other parts of the country….doesn’t even come close to the original.
Oh…this is so “in the que” to make around here. Quick question about the crust…I know this recipe is for two pizzas but I want to make a deep dish pie with a double crust…where the top crust has sauce on top. (like Geno’s in Chicago) Do you know how I could modify to accomodate this? Would I just layer up the bottom crust the add the top crust like a pie and bake per your instructions?
Thanks for your wonderful blog…it’s a gem!
Hi Kathy, I’ve never heard of this. I guess you could try it the way you described. Let me know how it turns out – I’m intrigued!
The plot thickens….after much research online and finally, in a cookbook we purchased in Chicago about deep dish I found out more about this “double crusted pizza”. We used your recipe as inspiration but went in a totally different direction. The pizza is referred to as “stuffed crust” and if you go to Giordanos.com you can see a video of Jenny McCarthy making one of these fantastic pizzas. Basically, bottom crust-sausage-pepperoni-cheese-top crust and THEN sauce ON TOP of the crust and baked. The cookbook I used for reference is by Pasquale Bruno, Jr. and it turned out amazingly well…just in case you decide to do a Chicago pizza part II! Thanks again for the inspiration!
That sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!
That pizza looks so good, I wanna marry it. *swoon* This HAS to go on my must make list because 1) pizza is my all-time favorite food evah and 2) deep dish pizza takes it to a whole new level of awesomeness. I never would have thought about it using a laminated dough, but that makes sense, given the texture. Aw, man. Now I want pizza for lunch. Thank you for the recipe!!