Chicago Style Pizza Recipe


This Chicago style pizza recipe was inspired by Emeril and is simple and delicious. Try this deep dish pizza recipe for yourself. It's awesome!


This Chicago style pizza speaks to my heart. I love lots of dough and tomato-y goodness, and this recipe has both. Chicago style is known for its deep dish dough and lots of cheese, meat and tomato to fill it up and make it a savory piece of heaven.

This is a Chicago-style recipe I adapted from Emeril Lagasse. It's quite delicious. I will put his ingredients below and also show you how I altered it a bit (I'm quite sure his version would be even better). The ingredient list may seem long, but it's all simple stuff that you most likely have in your pantry. Enjoy!

Start this recipe off with a Chicago deep dish pizza crust. At this point hopefully your sauce (see below) has cooled and you've browned your Italian sausage so you're ready to fill the pie.

Filling For Your Chicago Style Pizza Recipe

Slice up a ball of fresh mozzarella and place on dough (yes, we are starting with the cheese!).

Place your Italian sausage, peppers, onion and pepperoni on top of the mozzarella. Or, try some of these fillings:

          * Italian sausage
          * fresh mozzarella
          * sliced mushrooms
          * sliced pepperoni
          * green peppers
          * thinly sliced yellow onion

Pour your sauce over the meat and veggies and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Because my pan was a little on the small size (too small really), my pie was pretty full. I placed it on a broiler pan (or you can use your pizza stone) to prevent the sauce from spilling over into the oven.

Bake for about 15-25 minutes or until the crust is nice and golden brown. The first time I made this I took the pie out after 10 minutes because the crust was golden, but it was a tad underdone.



This Chicago style pizza recipe actually past the test with my husband who is a pretty picky pizza eater. It tastes similar to what you would find at Old Chicago Pizza.

Chicago Deep Dish Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 gloves (or 1 tablespoon) minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil (I used 1 tsp dry basil)
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano (I only had dried oregano on hand - used about 1 tsp)
  • 1/4 fennel seeds (I didn't use - but Emeril recommends)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili or red pepper flakes
  • 1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes (Emeril used plum tomatoes, I used canned crushed roma)
  • 1 tablespoon dry red wine
  • 1 teaspoon sugar

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan and add garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seasonings, salt, pepper and cook for 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes, wine and sugar and bring to a boil (*note: I didn't use the wine, but I did add a tablespoon of vinegar and it was quite good).

Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely before pouring into dough.

Enjoy this Chicago style pizza recipe!


Return from Chicago Style Pizza Recipe to Homemade Pizza Recipe