Italian Beef Pizza

Oct 13, 2023 • Tom Jackson

It’s a match-made duo as Chef Tom unites the Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich with a New York Style thin crust pizza. Pair it with beef au jus for a savory union of two Italian favorites. It’s everything you love about Italian Beef Sandwiches from the Giardiniera, juicy roast beef and melty provolone married to pizza crust with mozzarella and a marinara beef-infused sauce.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE

Two Italian classics on one crust. This takes the roast beef, jus, and giardiniera of a Chicago Italian beef sandwich and rebuilds it as a wood-fired pizza instead of a sandwich.
The jus does double duty. Mixing au jus right into the pizza sauce and dipping the sliced beef in hot jus before it hits the pie means every bite carries that same savory beef flavor, not just the toppings.
Roasted low, finished hot. Roasting the eye of round low next to the fire (not directly in it) protects the meat while it cooks, then a quick 500ºF blast finishes the pizza itself in minutes.
Built for dipping. Extra jus gets served warm on the side, so both the beef slices and the pizza crust get the same sandwich-style dip.

Italian Beef Pizza

Tom Jackson

Rated 5.0 stars by 3 users

Cuisine

Italian

Servings

8

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

2 hours 5 minutes

Calories

1128

Chef Tom transforms the Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwich into a pizza using the versatility of the epic YS1500s Outlander with the YS Wood Fired Oven attachment installed. This allows for a seamless transition between smoking and roasting. Serve with a side of beef au jus for dipping. The result is a savory fusion of two Italian favorites in one single recipe.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Beef Roast & Jus:

4 cups yellow onion, large dice
2 cups carrots, large dice
2 cups celery, large dice
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary
2 tbsp Jacobsen Salt Co. Tellicherry Black Peppercorns, whole
1/4 cup Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
1/4 cup Yoder Smokers Beef Rub
1 cup dry red wine
5 lb Creekstone Farms Eye of Round Roast
2 tbsp Bear & Burton’s The W Sauce (Worcestershire)
1 1/2 quarts beef stock

For the Pizza

Pizza dough recipe
6 tbsp Urban Slicer Pizza sauce
2 tbsp au jus (from Italian beef recipe above)
2 cups low moisture Mozzarella
12 oz thin sliced Italian beef (from recipe above)
9 thin slices Provovlone
1 cup Chicago Giardiniera (Hot Peppers)

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Directions

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS1500s Outlander Pellet Grill to 425ºF with the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven installed. Make sure the damper door is pulled open to allow the flame to enter the wood fired oven.
Combine one-quarter cup each of Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning and Yoder Smokers Beef Rub and mix well. Then Combine your onion, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, herbs and peppercorns in a Lodge Cast Iron Casserole Dish and add three tablespoons of the seasoning mixture. Mix well to coat the veggies in the tomato paste.
Transfer the casserole dish to the Yoder Smokers Wood Fired Oven. Cook until the veggies are softened and browning, about 30 minutes, spinning the dish halfway through to brown evenly. Add the wine to the dish and scrape the bottom of the dish with a wooden spoon. Let the wine cook down briefly until almost gone. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer to grill grate to the side of the oven. Close the damper door.
Slather the eye of round roast with The W Sauce. Season with the remaining seasoning mixture. Nestle the roast into the pan full of roasted veggies. Fill the pan full with beef stock. Roast on the side shelf (not inside the wood fired oven, but on the shelf to the side) for about 45 minutes. Flip the roast over and refill the pan with beef stock. Roast to an internal temperature of 120ºF. Remove the pan from the grill.
Remove the roast from the pan and transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
Strain the liquid from the remaining solids. Discard the solids. Save the jus for dipping your beef slices and pizza slices.
Make your pizza dough (full instructions in links). This will yield two large pizzas. While the dough rises, slice the beef very thin (preferably on a deli meat slicer).
Increase the grill temperature to 500 and open the damper door once again.
Roll out a dough ball. Mix three parts pizza sauce with one part au jus. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce mixture. Sprinkle once cup mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Dip your thin sliced beef into the hot jus. And place on top of the cheese. Top the beef with tor slices of provolone. Spoon giardiniera on top.
Bake the pizza in the wood fired oven, turning occasionally to brown evenly, until the bottom is crispy and the top is browning, about 3-4 minutes. Repeat with the second
Slice the pizza and serve with warm beef jus for dipping.

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

Why roast the beef separately instead of just topping the pizza raw?
Roasting the eye of round low and slow next to the fire lets it develop flavor and pull to a rare finish before it's thin-sliced, so it heats through gently on the pizza instead of overcooking under high heat.

Can I use a different cut of beef?
Yes — any lean roasting cut that slices thin well works, though eye of round is a classic Chicago Italian beef choice for its leanness and slicing texture.

What's the giardiniera for?
It's the same hot pepper relish used on a classic Chicago Italian beef sandwich — it adds the vinegary heat that cuts through the richness of the beef, jus, and cheese.

Can I make the beef and jus ahead of time?
Yes — the roast and strained jus both hold well in the refrigerator for a day or two, which actually makes slicing the chilled roast thin easier.

Do I need a wood-fired oven attachment to make this?
A wood-fired oven gets you the quick, high-heat bake and characteristic char, but a very hot home oven with a pizza stone or steel can get you close, just with a longer bake time.

How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — works indoors with adjustments. The roast and jus are easy stovetop/oven tasks, but the quick, high-heat wood-fired bake on the pizza itself is hard to fully replicate indoors.

Recipe Highlights

Vegetables roasted right in the wood-fired oven: Direction Step 3 has the mirepoix and tomato paste browning directly in the wood-fired oven before the wine deglaze — that browning step is what gives the jus its deep color and flavor.
Roast beef cooked beside the fire, not in it: Step 4 places the eye of round on the side shelf next to the wood-fired oven rather than inside it, basting in beef stock and pulling at a rare 120ºF — indirect heat keeps this lean cut from drying out.
Beef sliced deli-thin, then dipped in hot jus: Steps 7 and 9 call for thin-slicing the chilled roast, then dipping each slice in hot jus right before it goes on the pizza — that dip step is what keeps the beef from tasting dry once it's baked again.
Fast, high-heat finish: Step 10 bakes the assembled pizza at 500ºF for just 3–4 minutes, which is long enough to melt the cheese and crisp the crust without drying out beef that's already been cooked twice.