Experience the windy city's flavor with Chef Tom's Chicago Thin Crust Tavern Style Pizza! The sweet San Marzano tomato sauce is deliciously balanced with sport peppers and spicy pepperoni, atop a thin cracker-like crust and toppings all the way to the edge. Ready for a slice? Try it today and be swept away to the city of Chicago!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- An overnight dry-out is what makes the crust "cracker-like." Rolling the dough thin and letting it sit uncovered on a rack overnight pulls moisture out before it ever hits the oven, which is what gives tavern-style pizza its signature snap instead of a chewy bite.
- Sauce gets reduced down to concentrate the flavor. Simmering the blended San Marzano tomatoes until reduced to about two cups thickens the sauce and deepens its sweetness, rather than leaving it thin and watery under the toppings.
- Toppings go all the way to the edge, on purpose. Spreading sauce and cheese to the very edge of the dough (not leaving a border) is the defining move of tavern-style pizza and what makes every square-cut piece fully topped.
- A two-stage bake builds a crisp bottom. Starting the pizza on a preheated sheet pan, then transferring it directly onto the oven deck once it releases, lets the crust firm up gradually before it gets full direct heat for the final crisp.
Chicago Thin Crust Tavern Style Pizza
Tom Jackson
Rated 3.6 stars by 82 users
Category
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Servings
8
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Calories
521
Chef Tom returns to the Windy City for inspiration in this Chicago Thin Crust Tavern Style Pizza recipe. It features a sweet sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes balanced with heat from sport peppers and spicy pepperoni. With a thin cracker-like crust and toppings all the way to the edge it will have you reaching for another square.
Ingredients
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250g (1 cup 10 tbsp) all-purpose flour
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12g (1 tbsp) sugar
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7g (1 tsp) Jacobsen Salt Co. Kosher Sea Salt
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5g (1 1/2 tsp) yeast
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36g (1 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
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150g (3/4 cup) warm water, 110ºF
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1 (28 oz) can Ciao San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
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2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
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2 tbsp sugar
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1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
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2 cloves garlic, crushed, peeled
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12-16 oz low moisture mozzarella, grated
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Pepperonis
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Sport peppers
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Fresh oregano leaves
Dough
Sauce
Toppings
Directions
Mix dough
To mix the dough, combine all of the dry ingredients in a food processor. Drizzle the water and oil in while the processor is running. The dough will form quickly and ball up and work its way around the wall of the processor. When this happens, let it go for ten seconds, then turn off the processor.
Knead dough
Dump the dough out onto your work surface. Knead by hand just until the dough looks smooth on top, about 20 seconds. Form into a ball and transfer to an oiled container. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
Roll dough balls and refrigerate
When the dough has risen, turn out onto your work surface and divide into two equal portions. Roll into dough balls. Place each in its own small oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Roll out dough
After the dough has rested, transfer each dough ball to a well flour surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is about 12” in diameter and very thin. Place the thin rolled skins on wire racks and let sit out on the counter overnight, uncovered. This will dry the dough out and help to achieve the cracker-like crust.
Combine sauce ingredients
To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to your Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven and cook until thickened and reduced to about two cups quantity. Transfer to the refrigerator and let cool completely.
Preheat bbq grill
Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 450ºF with the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven attachment installed. Let preheat for 30-45 minutes.
Roll out dough and layer toppings
Transfer your dried pizza dough disc to a lightly floured pizza peel. To build the pizza, first spread the sauce over the dough, reaching all the way to the edges. Next, sprinkle about one tablespoon of oregano leaves over the sauce. Top with the grated low moisture mozzarella, spreading it all the way to the edges. Top the cheese with pepperonis and sport peppers.
Prepare pizza pan and launch pizza
Pour about two tablespoons of olive oil onto a sheet pan. Slide the sheet pan into the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven for 30-60 seconds to preheat. Launch the pizza onto the sheet pan with the peel. Close the lid and let cook for five minutes.
Check and turn pizza
After five minutes, try sliding the peel under the pizza. If it easily releases and is beginning to crisp, then take it off of the sheet pan with the pizza peel. Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Launch the pizza directly onto the deck of the oven. Close the lid and cook another three minutes.
Brown and turn pizza
Spin the pizza and continue cooking until the cheese on top is browned and the bottom of the pizza is crispy but not burnt. This should take roughly 9-12 minutes total, so play close attention and don’t walk away from the grill for long.
Remove pizza from grill and serve
After pulling the pizza from the oven, slice into squares.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why let the rolled-out dough sit uncovered overnight?
Leaving the thin dough discs exposed on a rack draws moisture out over several hours, which is essential for achieving the dry, cracker-like texture tavern-style crust is known for. Skipping this step results in a softer, more standard crust.
Why reduce the sauce down to about two cups?
Simmering the blended tomatoes down concentrates their flavor and thickens the texture, so the sauce doesn't turn the dough soggy once it's spread all the way to the edges.
Why spread the sauce and cheese all the way to the edge of the dough?
This is the defining feature of tavern-style pizza — unlike a pizza with a bare crust border, every square-cut piece here is fully topped from corner to corner.
Why start the pizza on a sheet pan before moving it to the oven deck?
The preheated sheet pan gives the crust a head start on crisping without direct exposure to the hottest part of the oven. Transferring it to the deck once it releases lets the bottom finish getting properly crisp without burning.
How many servings does this recipe actually make?
The recipe yields two full pizzas, cut into squares for 16 total servings — worth keeping in mind since the structured recipe card lists 8 servings, which reflects one pizza rather than the full batch.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — the dough and sauce can be made in any kitchen, but the very hot, fast bake this style needs is easiest to replicate with a pizza oven attachment or a home oven pushed to its maximum temperature with a pizza steel.
Recipe Highlights
The overnight dry-out: Letting the rolled dough sit uncovered pulls moisture out ahead of baking, which is what produces the signature cracker-like snap instead of a chewy crust.
Reducing the sauce before assembly: Cooking the blended tomatoes down to about two cups concentrates flavor and prevents a watery sauce from soaking into the thin crust.
Edge-to-edge topping: Spreading sauce and cheese all the way to the border ensures every square-cut slice gets full coverage, true to tavern-style tradition.
The sheet-pan-to-deck transfer: Starting the bake on a preheated pan before moving directly to the oven deck builds a crisp bottom gradually rather than risking a burn from full heat too soon.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 1 slice of pizza
- per serving
- Calories
- 521
- Fat
- 23 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 10 grams
- Cholesterol
- 57 milligrams
- Sodium
- 1186 milligrams
- Carbs
- 52 grams
- Fiber
- 3 grams
- Sugar
- 8 grams
- Protein
- 23 grams
