Types of Pizza Crust: 9 Different Styles of Pizza

Pizza crust is the base for any type of pizza and serves as a foundation for mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, veggies, oregano, or other toppings. Depending on the type of recipe, pizza crust ranges in texture from doughy and chewy to thin and crispy. Most pizza dough recipes call for bread flour, salt, yeast, and olive oil. Yeasted doughs are the most common for pizza, but unleavened dough works, too. New York-style pizza is what many consider traditional pizza in the United States, but Neapolitan-style pizza reigns supreme in Italy.

Pizzerias all over the world prepare pizzas with various toppings and different kinds of crust. Here are nine different types of pizza crust:

1. 1. Chicago-style pizza: This deep-dish pizza starts with a yeasted crust. It cooks in a high-sided pan, which allows the crust to bake while still leaving plenty of room for toppings. The pan also gives the outside of the pizza a buttery, crispy texture.
2. 2. Deep-dish pizza: Any pizza that bakes in a pan that allows the crust to puff up is a deep-dish pizza. Chicago-style pizza and Detroit-style pizza are examples of deep-dish pizza, as well as Sicilian-style pizza. These crusts cook in a cast-iron pan or on a high-sided baking sheet.
3. 3. Detroit-style pizza: Chefs cook Detroit-style pizza in a rectangular, high-sided baking sheet and serve it in square pizza slices. This type of Sicilian pizza is a deep-dish, thick-crust pizza that features marinara sauce on top of cheese.
4. 4. Flatbread: With a cracker-like crust, flatbread pizzas often serve as an appetizer and have lighter toppings because their structure differs from that of yeasted crusts. The cracker crust is crispy and usually bakes in longer rectangles on a baking sheet. St. Louis pizza is an example of flatbread pizza, featuring a flatbread crust in square slices with Provel cheese.
5. 5. Gluten-free pizza: It’s possible to use gluten-free flour to make a gluten-free pizza crust. A gluten-free crust will be thinner or thicker depending on how you roll out the dough. It’s slightly crumblier than pizza dough recipes that contain gluten, so use plenty of flour when you’re rolling out the dough.
6. 6. Neapolitan pizza: Originating in Naples, Italy, Neapolitan crust is a staple of Italian cuisine. The most classic type of Neapolitan pizza is a Margherita pizza, which uses San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil. This thin-crust pizza cooks in a wood-fired oven and has a crispy crust with just a hint of chew.
7. 7. New York-style pizza: A classic pizza recipe on the East Coast in the US, New York pizza has a chewy, medium-thick crust. It typically cooks in a pizza oven that has a large, flat bottom and uses gas heat, as opposed to cooking in a coal-fired oven or wood oven.
8. 8. Sicilian pizza: Almost like a focaccia bread, Sicilian-style pizza dough is on the thicker side and acts as a sponge for oil as it holds cheese, sausage, and other pizza toppings. This Italian pizza cooks in a high-sided rectangle pan.
9. 9. Stuffed crust: Make a yeasted pizza dough at home and stuff the crust with cheese, sauce, or any other filling to make a stuffed-crust pizza. This style of pizza is popular with pizza chain restaurants, too. Stuffed-crust pizzas are round and usually cook in a round pizza pan or on a pizza stone.

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