Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza: Two Fantastic Recipes Combined
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Looking for a recipe to make your own Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza at home? Check out how I combined two of the best recipes to make one great tasting pizza. For more recipes like this one see my main dish recipe index page.
Deep dish pizza is my favorite kind of pizza! But unfortunately, where I live, in Charlotte, NC there aren’t any Chicago Style Pizza Restaurants at this time. One night, I happened to see Bobby Flay’s Throwdown Show with Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria on the Food Network. That’s when I saw how easy the deep dish pizza was to make for them and I decided to make my own version of their recipes. Ha, this is by no means was an easy task.
There are so many ways and theories on how to make the dough and the sauce. Certain things are not the “Chicago Way” which aggravates the reviewers/commenters on the Food Network recipe page to no end. I am not here to argue who’s right or who is wrong, I just know what I like. I combined these two separate recipes along with tips from the people who reviewed them and came up with the perfect combination that makes this recipe awesome!
My recipe makes two 12 inch pizzas. I made one with spinach, onions and mushrooms and the other with only pepperoni. If you would like the more authentic Chicago Style ingredients then see the recipe on the Food Network link in the bottom of the recipe below.
This recipe is for the pizzas and the deep dish dough. The Lou Malnati recipe was not clear on all the steps on how exactly to make their dough. Iam guessing to keep some things a secret. Here is my version of these two recipes!

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 ¼ tsp Fleischmann’s active dry yeast, , 1 packet = 2 1/4 tsp
- 1 ¼ cup lukewarm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 ¼ cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup olive oil, plus more for oiling bowl and pan
For the Sauce:
- 1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
- 1 14 oz can tomato sauce
For the Toppings:
- 6 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced, around 3 cups per pizza
Pizza #1
- 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained of all moisture, You can also use fresh spinach
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 red onion, sliced
Pizza #2
- 1 bag pepperoni slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Make the Dough:
- In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water. Add the sugar and 1/4 cup of the flour and stir with a rubber spatula to combine.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1 cup warm water and 3 cups flour, cornmeal, salt, and 3/4 cup olive oil.
- Mix in mixer with bread hook on the lowest setting, level 1, for 1 minute. Then mix on low to med, level 2-4 setting for 2 minutes. (If you do not have a mixer you can mix by hand, see Food Network recipe & reviews).
- Lightly oil a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough and turn to coat on all sides.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place a clean, damp, kitchen towel over the top.
- Set the bowl in a warm spot and let rise until doubled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
- When the dough has doubled in volume, dust flour or cornmeal (we used cornmeal) on a work surface and punch the dough down and knead it for 2 to 3 minutes. Cut dough in half.
Make the Sauce:
- In a bowl, crush the stewed tomatoes with a potato masher and add the can of tomato sauce.
- Add your favorite seasonings. Do not heat the sauce. (I added garlic, basil, Italian seasoning mix, salt, and pepper)
Make the Pizzas:
- Grease the pans with olive oil and real butter. ( I used butter and Olive oil so I would get that heavy moist crust, you can skip the butter if you do not want the extra calories).
- Dust the pans with cornmeal. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of a 14-inch round deep-dish pizza pan. (I used two 12 inch spring form pans). Press the dough until it comes 2 inches up the sides and is even on the bottom and at the corners of the pan. Let the dough rise in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the mozzarella first as the bottom layer. Next layer your toppings, then the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan. To a lot of people this may sound reversed if you have never made this kind of pizza before, but the “Chicago Way” is cheese the bottom and sauce on the top.
- Bake 30-40 minutes. Let it cool and remove the springform side of the pan and serve.
Making the Dough Ahead of Time:
- Make the dough ahead and skip the whole rising part, dust with flour and place in zip lock bag. Freeze up to 1 month. To thaw~ Put in the refrigerator the night before, 10-12 hours. Thaw on the counter for up to 3 hours in an oiled bowl.
NOTES
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
These pizzas both turned out fantastic! They are not as hard to make once you try to make them. It seems like a lot of steps but it was well worth it. You can also make the dough ahead and freeze it. I plan on making these from now on. They were soo good.
LOVE IT? PINI T!
More Main Dish Recipes:
- Wood Fired Pizza on a Kamado Grill
- Hearty Rice & Sausage Skillet Meal
- Turkey Lasagna Soup
- Whole Wheat Pizza Dough by Domestically Creative
Must-Have Pizza Making Resources:
- 18 Piece Pizza Making Kit
- Pizza Stone Cutter & Cooling Rack for Grill
- Ultimate Pizza Making Tools: Peel & Cutter
- Williams Sonoma Pizza Night Recipes
Check out more of our families favorite recipes~
Wood Fired Pizza: Kamado Grill Recipe
OMG, I’m starving and really need to eat pizza after reading this post!
Happy Friday! xx
It looks really good!
Kim this is one of my hubby’s favorite things! Yummy Hugs and thank you for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things :-) P.S. The new giveaway started today!
Oh my lord that is just fabulous! So yummy! Stopping by from Pin Me :)
This looks fantastic. YUM!
This looks so good! I must confess to never having had a Chicago Style pizza but I am very tempted after seeing this! Pinned!
Wow! That looks sooo awesome, definitely want to try this!
I think I can smell it from here it looks so good. :D Thanks for sharing on BeColorful.
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That looks so yummy! I love pizza! Thanks so much for linking up to SHOW-licious Craft Showcase! I hope you check back this weekend for another fun party to link up more crafts!!
HUGS,
Marti
Looks delicious!!
Yum! I am hungry just looking at this! Thanks for sharing.
This looks so good, I love Chicago style pizza. Thanks so much for sharing at Wednesday’s Adorned From Above Blog Hop 36.
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above
Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Nichi @ The Mandatory Mooch
Oh, I miss my Chi-town pizza! I grew up in the suburbs but haven’t been back in almost five years. I am pinning this to give it a try soon!
YES!! We just moved from Chicago to Florida and have yet to find a good pizza place, so you can bet I will be trying this out!! Thanks for sharing!! ~Kelly @ Eyes on the Source