Pizza, that simple combination of dough, sauce, and cheese (well, not always cheese; read on), comes in all shapes and sizes. And flavors and textures can vary too. Depending on what region the pizza is from, crusts can be thick or thin, sauces can be smooth or chunky, and cheeses can be all sorts of varieties. However you build it, though, pizza is pretty much always one of the most delicious foods out there.
Recipe Spotlight
One of These Regional Pizzas Could Be Your New Favorite
We’ve traveled around the country, finding our favorite pizzas and bringing them home to you.
By Published Dec. 19, 2022.
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Here’s a guide to some regional pizzas that you can find around the country (note that this is not a complete list).
Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza
Where it’s from: Chicago, Illinois
What it is: It’s a tall (or deep) round pizza with a bready crust that goes up the sides of the pan and thick layers of sauce and cheese.
Recipe coming soon to the April/May 2023 issue of Cook’s Country!
Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza
Where it’s from: Chicago, Illinois (specifically the South Side)
What it is: It’s deep-dish pizza’s thin, crisp alternative, with a lightly sweet sauce and spotty-brown cheese. And it’s really all about those crispy edges.
Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza
Detroit-Style Pizza
Where it’s from: Detroit, Michigan
What it is: It’s a crispy, buttery pizza made in a rectangular pan. It gets layered with cheese and then three strips of sauce.
Detroit-Style Pizza
Grandma Pizza
Where it’s from: Long Island, New York
What it is: It’s a thin-crust, rectangular pizza that’s topped in reverse order. First comes the cheese and then chunks of tomato.
Grandma Pizza
New England Bar Pizza
Where it’s from: Massachusetts (specifically the South Shore, a stretch between Boston and Cape Cod)
What it is: It’s a pan pizza with a fresh sauce, lots of browned bubbly cheese, and a tender crust that’s crispy on the bottom. It’s known for the lacy edges where the cheese sinks between the dough and the pan and caramelizes.
New England Bar Pizza
Philly Tomato Pie
Where it’s from: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
What it is: It’s a pie with a chewy-soft crust and a sweet tomato sauce . . . and no cheese!
St. Louis–Style Pizza
Where it’s from: St. Louis, Missouri
What it is: It’s an unyeasted pizza with a wafer-thin cracker-like crust, sweet tomato sauce, and gooey Provel cheese (a local secret).
St. Louis–Style Pizza
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