Chicago style pizza is beloved by many people worldwide. It was developed in the Chicago suburbs decades ago and can be found in restaurants and bakeries throughout the country.
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What Is Chicago Style Pizza?
The standard features of an Chicago-style pizza includes a deep-dish crust filled with delicious toppings. It is much more substantial than other types of pizza.
Because of the thickness of it, some people like to joke around and say that it is a type of lasagna!
It takes some effort to make an authentic, delicious Chicago style pizza and it often takes a lot of work in a busy kitchen to produce a large batch of them. In order to save time in the kitchen, many bakers and restaurants make the dough ahead of time and freeze it to use later. Sometimes, they also might prebake the dough.
There are some differences of opinion among chefs and bakers about what exactly comprises an authentic Chicago style pizza. According to most Chicago pizzerias, the pie has to be deep dish, and the tomato sauce should be sweet and thick. It also has to have cheese on top and it is usually baked in a deck oven.
The dough for a Chicago-style pizza should be soft, thick, and made with olive oil instead of butter. It tastes best when baked in a deck oven or in a deep-dish pan. The dough should be rolled to approximately 1⁄2 inch thick and then placed in a pan and baked in a deck oven or on a deck pan in a convection oven with the bottom rack approximately 6 inches from the top of the heating element.
The crust should be cooked until it has a golden brown color, but it should not burn. The hand-tossed or rolled bottom and sides of the crust should also be cooked and not soggy so that they become caramelized. Topped with a tomato sauce and gooey cheese, the Chicago-style pizza also makes a perfect pie for a party!
Because of all this, Chicago is well known for pizza!
Where Does Chicago Style Pizza Rank in the Nation Vs Other Pizza Styles?
According to a lot of places we checked online, Chicago pizza is ranked number 4 out of the different pizza styles in the country. But it’s so hard to compare the different styles of pizza across the United States because there are so many different parts of the country and regions that have different foods to offer.
Also, the styles of pizza tend to vary from state to state because of the different foods that people eat there and the ways of cooking them that they use. Many restaurants and food trucks offer unique specialties, Chicago pizza boxes, and recipes that are hard to find in other states.
Many people, including Italians, love to try these types of foods out when they travel to another state on vacation and they travel from state-to-state searching for the best foods to eat.
What Makes Chicago Style Pizza Unique?
Chicago pizza is unique because of the thickness of the pie. It is considered to be one of the thick crust pizzas that actually contain meat such as pepperoni, sausage, and bacon instead of the standard cheese toppings like pepperoni or sausage that you would find on other pizzas.
The toppings are sometimes also folded into the pizza and cooked along with the cheese.
If you haven’t experienced one, I would recommend it! Put this beside a Sicilian pizza vs a Chicago pizza and I will pick Chicago every time – even if it has high carbs!
Is Chicago Style Pizza Actually Pizza?
Believe it or not, some people actually believe that Chicago pizza is not really pizza. Some people even like to call it lasagna because it is about the same thickness. I disagree, but I understand why people might think it is taste like lasagna because it does contain sauce and cheese as the core ingredients like the lasagna dish.
But it wouldn’t be fair to compare it to lasagna because even lasagna varies in taste and form depending on the region or country it is from and the ingredients that they use to make it.
I would even argue that although Chicago style pizza is more like a lasagna than a traditional pizza, but they do have certain differences that set it apart from other types of pizzas. It has a very unique form of pizza that is fun to eat and different from the typical pizzas that you’ll find in other regions.
Is There A Difference Between Chicago Style And Deep Dish Pizza?
Chicago and deep dish pizza are basically the same thing. I think it just depends on who you talk to. Some people just call it deep dish, while others call it Chicago style. All the same to me!
Final Words
Chicago style pizza tastes good, is unique and fun to eat and if you love to eat it as much as I do (in moderation because it is high in carbs!), then I’m sure you’ll love it! In my personal opinion, I think that Chicago style pizza is very tasty and there are so many different topping options that you can experiment with it to make it special for you.
I wish I could get Chicago style pizza everyday and not have to eat traditional pizza anymore! That’s how much I love it! However, if you are not a big fan of the thick and heavy style of pizza, then perhaps you wouldn’t like this as much as me.
Either way, I highly recommend trying it whenever you get a chance.