Chicago deep dish pizza is a fork-and-knife classic that turns pizza into a layered, hearty meal built for slow, satisfying bites.
Photo by William Jones
Copycat Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza
Chicago deep dish pizza features a thick, buttery crust filled with layers of cheese, toppings, and rich tomato sauce. It’s baked in a deep pan and served as a substantial, sit-down style pizza.
This recipe is about structure and patience. Letting the crust set properly and layering ingredients in the right order is what gives deep dish its signature texture and balance.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Weekend cooking, family dinners, special occasions
- Flavor Profile: Savory, cheesy, tomato-forward
- Skill Level: Intermediate
- What Makes It Like the Original: A deep, buttery crust with cheese under the sauce
Chicago-Style Pizza
Chicago deep dish pizza became famous through neighborhood pizzerias that treated pizza as a full meal rather than a quick slice. These restaurants focused on generous portions, long bake times, and a dining experience that encouraged guests to sit and stay.
Unlike thin-crust pizza, deep dish required commitment from both the kitchen and the customer. That slower approach helped define Chicago’s pizza identity and turned deep dish into a destination food tied closely to the city’s dining culture.
While this Recipe does not come from a specific restaurant, Deep Dish Pizza is a Traditional Chicago Favorite and will be instantly familiar to you from Pizzas you have enjoyed at Chicago’s Best Pizza Parlors.
Pizza Built to Be a Meal
Deep dish pizza is distinct from other regional styles because of its construction. Cheese goes directly on the crust, followed by toppings, with sauce added last to protect the cheese during the long bake.
The result is a dense, layered slice that eats more like a casserole than a flat pizza. This style reflects Midwestern comfort cooking, prioritizing richness, structure, and satisfaction over speed or portability.
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Make our Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Recipe at home tonight for your family. With our Secret Restaurant Recipe your Deep-Dish Pizza will taste just like it came from one of the traditional Chicago Pizza Joints.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons (8 1/8 ounces) All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup (1 3/8 ounces) Yellow Cornmeal
- 3/4 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- 1 1/8 teaspoon Instant Yeast
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) Water, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted Butter melted
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
For the Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 tablespoons grated Onion
- Pinch of dried Oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 clove Garlic minced or pressed
- 1 14 1/2 ounces can Crushed Tomatoes
- Pinch of Sugar
- 2 tablespoon fresh Basil Leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
For Assembling and Topping
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 8 ounces Mozzarella (about 2 cups) shredded
- 1/4 ounces Parmesan Cheese (about 2 tablespoons) grated
Instructions
To Make the Dough
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook on low speed.
- Mix until blended, about 1 minute.
- Add the water and melted butter. Continue mixing on low speed until fully incorporated, 1 - 2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.
- Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is glossy and smooth, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4 - 5 minutes.
- Using your hands, coat a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil.
- Transfer dough to the bowl, turning once to coat with oil.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled, about 45 - 60 minutes.
While the dough is rising, Prepare the Sauce.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion, oregano and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic. Cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomatoes and sugar. Increase the heat to medium-high.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, about 25 minutes.
- Turn off heat.
- Stir in the basil and oil.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Back to the Dough
- To laminate the dough, turn the dough out onto a dry work surface and roll into a 8- by 6-inch rectangle.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges.
- Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder.
- With the seam side down, flatten the cylinder into a 9- by 2 inch rectangle.
- Fold into thirds like a business letter. Pinch the seams to form a ball.
- Return to the oiled bowl.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Let rise in the refrigerator until nearly doubled in size, 40 - 50 minutes.
Assemble the Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Transfer the dough ball to a dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch disk about 1/4-inch thick.
- Transfer dough to the pan.
- Lightly press the dough into the pan, working into the corners and 1 inch up the sides. If the dough resists stretching, let rest 5 minutes before trying again.
- Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the surface of the dough.
- Spread tomato sauce over the cheese.
- Top with Parmesan.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown, 20 - 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Related Copycat Recipes
- Chicago-Style Italian Sausage and Pepper Deep Dish Pizza – Thick, buttery deep-dish pizza loaded with savory sausage, peppers, and rich tomato sauce
- The Classic Chicago Hot Dog – All-beef hot dog loaded with mustard, neon relish, sport peppers, and attitude
- Nomi Restaurant Honey Do Cocktail – Smooth, lightly sweet cocktail blending honeyed notes with modern hotel-bar elegance
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Questions People Ask
Is Chicago deep dish the same as stuffed pizza? No. Stuffed pizza has an additional dough layer on top, while deep dish does not.
Why does the sauce go on top? It prevents the cheese from burning during the longer bake time.
Does deep dish take longer to bake? Yes. It typically bakes much longer than thin-crust pizza.
Can this be made without a deep dish pan? A cast iron skillet can work as an alternative.
Is deep dish meant to be eaten by hand? It’s usually eaten with a knife and fork.
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Photo of Deep Dish Pizza is by William Jones and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) License. Thank you, William. Great Picture. Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, January-February 2010 and is is our adaption of that recipe and several other recipes formally widely-circulated on the internet – courtesy of the Wayback Machine. Portions of the information about Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and additional information come from Wikipedia and is used by permission. Additional Information is from original research done by Secret Copycat Restaurant Recipes and/or courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.
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