Having lived in Chicago for over 35 years, I’ve eaten my fair share of some local favorites. On my first visit, my boyfriend at the time (now husband) introduced me to my first Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich at Portillo’s and his favorite thin crust sausage pizza at local tavern.

And while we didn’t eat them at the same meal, the sausage thin crust pizza wowed me maybe because it was the complete opposite of the thick crust pizza made in a sheet pan my grandma made.

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What is tavern style pizza?

Tavern style pizza is more of a snacking or party pizza. Cut into small little squares (it’s a vibe as my kids would say), Chicago thin crust is super crisp, holds the toppings (classically sausage) and is never soggy, especially in the middle.

But —it’s not always easy to make at home.

I am happy to say I’ve cracked the tavern style thin crust pizza code and got big thumbs up from my hometown hubby and kiddos. They’re tough critics and I’m sharing allllll my secrets.

Basic tavern style pizza components

I mentioned I deciphered the thin crust pizza puzzle and essentially it boils down to a few things:

The crust.

I wish I could tell you that you can use any kind of store-bought pizza dough, roll it out extra thin and cook it on a higher heat. Unfortunately, in the world of Chicago-style thin crust pizza, that’s not how it works.

A 50% hydrated thin crust pizza dough is what’s needed to get that uber-crispy crust throughout the whole pie.

The sauce.

Personally made just for thin crust pizza, I love how easy this super rich and thick tomato paste pizza sauce is. Best of all? It takes all of 2 minutes to mix up and is the perfect consistency to keep a thin crust pizza crisp and loaded with big flavor.

Traditional tavern pizza toppings.

Spicy Italian bulk sausage. Period. The end. But the cool thing is you don’t have to cook it ahead.

Oh —and a couple of kinds of cheese. Fontina for creaminess and mozzarella for pull.

How to make Chicago thin crust ‘za

Follow along closely, my friend, as I walk you through the simple steps to the best Chicago tavern pizza with sausage. The steps are easy and you can be happily snacking on a crispy sausage pizza in about 20 minutes.

Final thoughts…

Keep some semolina flour or cornmeal on hand when making thin crust pizza. It creates a surface between the crust and the baking stone for the dough to slide on especially as you’re transferring the pizza to the hot oven.

Be sure to shimmy the crust periodically while on the pizza peel to make sure it slides easily. As you add toppings and depending on the weather, the crust can soften up and stick to the peel. A quick lift of the crust and sprinkle of flour/cornmeal will get things moving easily.

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5 from 1 vote

Chicago Tavern Style Pizza with Italian Sausage

Make your very own extra thin pizza just like the neighborhood Chicago tavern. A handcrafted thin crust dough makes a super crispy, cracker-like crust to hold classic Italian sausage. Bonus? No need to cook the sausage ahead either. Save some coin and make the best Chicago-style thin crust pizza straight from your home oven!

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Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:10 minutes mins

if using homemade thin crust dough:1 day d

Total Time:1 day d 20 minutes mins

Servings 2 14″ pizzas

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Equipment

• ▢
  pizza stone
• ▢
  food scale

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 recipe thin crust pizza dough, ingredients and recipe below

Pizza toppings – quantities for 2 pizzas

• ▢ 1 ⅓ cup pizza sauce or your favorite jarred version
• ▢ ½ lb uncooked bulk Italian sausage, out of the casing; mild or hot
• ▢ ½ lb mozzarella cheese, grated
• ▢ 1 cup fontina cheese, grated
• ▢ ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Thin crust pizza dough recipe -enough for 2 pizzas

• ▢ 473 g bread flour
• ▢ .3 g instant yeast, I use Saf-T
• ▢ 236 g water
• ▢ 12 g salt
• ▢ 47 g olive oil
• ▢ semolina flour, for rolling and baking

Instructions

For the dough

• To a large mixing bowl (I use my stand mixer with the paddle attachment but you can also mix by hand), add the flour. Stir in the yeast followed by the water then add in the salt. Run mixer and add in oil until completely mixed and the ball of dough softens incorporating the oil.
  473 g bread flour, .3 g instant yeast, 236 g water, 12 g salt, 47 g olive oil
• Let the dough rest and hydrate in the bowl for 10 minutes. Remove the paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook. Knead in mixer for 5 minutes or so then let it rest again for another 10 minutes.
• Use a pastry cutter to divide the dough into 2 balls. Place each in an oiled small container or resealable bag in the fridge overnight to ferment.
• The next day, remove the container of dough to sit out at room temperature and allow to sit out for about 6-8 hours. Time this so that it works around your planned dining time.

For the toppings

• Grate the cheeses and set aside.
  ½ lb mozzarella cheese, 1 cup fontina cheese, ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

To roll and bake

• Remove the dough from the container and shape the dough into as perfect of a round ball as you can.
• Add some semolina flour to a clean pizza peel or cutting board. Start to roll upwards with a rolling pin and then rotate a bit, roll upwards and rotate. Repeat this until you can eventually roll at 1:00, 10:00 and 6 (picture the pizza crust as a clock) until you get to 14”. Be patient —this might take a bit.
  semolina flour
• Preheat the oven to 500°. After the oven has reached temperature, place a baking stone or steel in the oven for at least 20 minutes to heat.

Assemble the pizza

• Spread pizza sauce on the crust to within ½" of the edge.
  1 ⅓ cup pizza sauce or your favorite jarred version
• Sprinkle over mozzarella and then top with fontina.
• Pull off pieces of sausage and place around the dough, spacing evenly. Sprinkle over some parmesan cheese.
  ½ lb uncooked bulk Italian sausage
• Place the front edge of the pizza at an angle at the back edge of the pizza stone in the oven. Gently shake the peel back and forth, slide the pizza to the preheated stone in the oven.
• Bake for about 8-10 minutes at 500° until crispy and the top is golden and melted.
• Cut in squares with a long pizza cutter.

Notes

There is no need to pre-cook the sausage as the high heat will cook the sausage as the pizza cooks —just like the Chicago pizza pros do it!

Rolling tips

• To shape the dough into a round ball, hold the dough in both hands and tuck the sides underneath, creating a domed round ball.
• Keep making sure there’s a healthy amount of semolina flour under the crust as you roll. This will keep the crust really crispy and also not stick to the pizza peel.
• My thin crust pizza dough makes the best crispy crust  – give it a go! Just allow yourself time to make it the day before.

Course: Main Course, Pizza

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Lori Murphy

Like this? Leave a commentI love hearing from you and I want to hear how it went with this recipe! Leave a comment and rating below, then share on social media @josieandnina and #josieandnina!

About Lori Murphy

Lori has over 30 years in the food industry as a marketing strategist, culinary instructor and chef for three kids with discerning palates. As the chief content creator at Josie + Nina, Lori is dedicated to helping home cooks create food memories through fresh ingredients and Italian flavors.

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