Chicago stuffed pizza is built in a deep pan with dough on the bottom, a serious amount of mozzarella and toppings on top of that, then a second thin sheet of dough laid over everything and sealed to the rim, with tomato sauce spread across the top. That second sheet of dough is the whole definition. It is what makes it stuffed, and it is what separates it from deep dish.
It is a two-layered architectural wonder, and it defines the Chicago skyline about as much as the Sears Tower does. It is also one of more than thirty styles you can eat in this city.
The second sheet of dough is the entire answer
People mix stuffed up with deep dish constantly, and it is an easy mistake to make. Both are thick. Both come out of a deep pan. Both need a fork.
But look at one before the sauce goes on. If you can see cheese, it is deep dish. If you see a smooth blanket of dough sealed to the edges, it is stuffed. Everything else follows from that one difference: the extra layer traps the cheese underneath, which is why a stuffed pie stands taller, eats denser, and delivers a cheese pull that deep dish cannot match.
Please do not call Giordano's stuffed crust
This is a real pet peeve, so let me settle it.
Giordano's is stuffed pizza. It is the king of the style and the name most people outside Chicago know. Stuffed crust is a totally different animal: an ordinary pizza with a ring of melted mozzarella tucked inside the outer edge of the dough, made famous by Pizza Hut in 1995. The stuffing is in the rim. The pizza in the middle is just a pizza.
One is a Chicago institution. The other is a 1990s television campaign. They are not related, and the words are not interchangeable.
Stuffed, deep dish, and stuffed crust, settled
| Where the dough is | Where the sauce is | The tell | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stuffed | Bottom crust plus a second sheet over the filling | On top of the upper sheet | You cannot see the cheese before the sauce |
| Deep dish | One crust, tall walls | On top of the cheese | You can see the cheese |
| Stuffed crust | Ordinary base, cheese rolled into the rim | Normal, under the cheese | The stuffing is only in the edge |
What to notice when you eat it
Start with the crusts, plural. You want a buttery, flaky density in both sheets, not bread. The top sheet should be thin enough to disappear into the bite rather than announce itself.
Then the cheese pull. That is the point of the style. It comes from a genuinely massive amount of high quality mozzarella, held in place by that upper layer. If a stuffed pie does not pull, something has gone wrong.
And bring patience. Two layers of dough and that much cheese take roughly 45 minutes to bake through. Call ahead and order before you get there.
Where to eat stuffed pizza in Chicago
- Giordano's, multiple locations
- The Art of Pizza, Lakeview on Ashland
- Nancy's Pizza, West Loop and various locations
- Bacino's, Lincoln Park on Lincoln
If you would rather taste stuffed against deep dish back to back, in the same afternoon, with someone explaining what you are looking at, that is exactly what the Original Chicago Pizza Tour is for. Six styles, four neighborhoods.
Keep reading
- Deep Dish vs. Tavern Style: The Great Chicago Pizza Debate
- Detroit Style Pizza, and Where to Eat It in Chicago
- How to Reheat Chicago Pizza the Right Way
Common questions
Stuffed pizza is built in a deep pan with a layer of dough on the bottom, a very large amount of mozzarella and toppings on top of it, then a second thin sheet of dough laid over the whole thing and sealed to the edges, with tomato sauce spread across the top. The second sheet of dough is what makes it stuffed.
The second layer of dough. Deep dish has one crust holding everything in a tall pan, with sauce on top of the cheese. Stuffed adds a thin sheet of dough over the filling before the sauce goes on, which traps the cheese and makes the pie taller and denser. If you can see cheese when you look down at it before the sauce, it is deep dish.
No, and this is the one that gets Jonathan going. Giordano's is stuffed pizza, and it is the best known name in the style. Stuffed crust is a completely different thing: a normal pizza with cheese hidden inside the outer rim of the dough, popularized by Pizza Hut in 1995.
Stuffed crust is a standard pizza with a ring of mozzarella rolled into the outer edge of the dough, so the end of the slice has cheese in it. The pizza itself is otherwise ordinary. The stuffing is only in the rim, not through the middle of the pie.
Giordano's has locations across the city and is the best known. Beyond it, try The Art of Pizza on Ashland in Lakeview, Nancy's Pizza in the West Loop and elsewhere, and Bacino's on Lincoln in Lincoln Park.
Expect to wait. A stuffed pie is thick and has two layers of dough to cook through, so most Chicago pizzerias need around 45 minutes. Call ahead and order it before you arrive if you are in a hurry.
