This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
This Gino’s Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza Copycat is so incredibly good. It’s loaded with melty cheese on bottom, then topped with meat and marinara sauce.
Gino’s Deep Dish Pizza Copycat
Years ago I watched a big special about Gino’s East on Travel Channel and couldn’t wait to try it on my upcoming trip to Chicago. I had a few things on my Chicago to do list, but going to Gino’s East (along with seeing the giant bean and taking an architecture tour by boat). Gino’s East was everything I had imagined it would be and MORE. Believe the hype. It’s THAT good!
You’ve Just Gotta Try It…
I am happy to report our version is VERY close to the original. Don’t take my word for it though, read all those comments below from our readers who have made it. I LOOVVVE this pizza! It’s so fun that the cheese is on the bottom and the sauce is on the top. Probably some of the best home-made pizza I have ever had. YUM! Try it and let me know what you think!
Tips for Making Gino’s East Pizza At Home
- First, you are going to need a deep dish pan. HERE is a link to the one that I have.
- Use San Marzano tomatoes in the sauce. The flavor is so rich and it really makes it taste like the sauce at Gino’s East
- Don’t have a deep dish pan? Use a couple of cake pans instead. The pizzas will be smaller but it will still be delicious!
How to Make Gino’s East Deep Dish Pizza (Copycat)
Our Version of Gino’s East Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 c. water
- 1 pkg yeast
- 1/3 c. corn oil
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 lbs Bread Flour
Pizza Sauce:
- 28 oz plum roma tomatoes (or San Marzano (my favorite) tomatos – less ¼ c of the sauce before you mush it)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- a pinch of basil
- a pinch of oregano
- fresh ground black pepper
- Toppings:
- 16 oz. mozzarella about 4 c. Low-moisture part skim (NOT low fat. It won't turn out good if you use low fat)
- Pepperoni
- Italian sausage uncooked, pinched into little pieces
Instructions
Crust:
- In a bowl, put water (luke warm), then yeast, oil, cream of tartar, and sugar. Mix with hand until yeast dissolves.
- Pour in bread flour a little at a time. Mix with your hand. Just curve your hand like a dough hook and hold the bowl and mix. Then, knead it until it gets firm. Add more flour if needed.
- The secret is the kneading. Knead it for about 10 minutes straight. Then, roll it into a ball, and put it in a bowl with oil brushed in the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let sit overnight unrefrigerated. Only let it rise once. Portion and use.
Pizza Sauce:
- Take the tomatoes and sauce and place into a bowl. Using a potato masher or just your hands, mash the tomatoes up so that there are no chunks bigger around than a quarter.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Do not use too much basil or oregano.
Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Prepare your deep dish pizza pan (or a round cake pan with straight sides) by coating the inside of it with a very healthy coating of melted butter or oil.
- Roll the dough out to about 3 inches larger than the bottom of the pan, then place inside the pan and pinch the dough up along the sides.
- Now put the cheese in (right on the crust). Then add the pepperoni and sausage pieces, and finally the sauce (Don't worry, the sausage will cook through completely in the oven).
- Bake in the oven until the crust is starting to brown and cheese is starting to bubble up through the sauce. The little edges of the pepperoni should also be starting to crisp and the sausage should be cooked through (about 45 minutes).
Notes
Nutrition Information
Did you try this recipe?
Share It on Instagram!
Mention @favoritefamilyrecipes or tag #favoritefamilyrecipes!
I actually just made a frozen Gino’s East pizza for dinner tonight. I was looking at the ingredient label and noticed that the flour they use in the crust has both wheat and barley flour. I’ve seen the barley flour in the ingredients for other major pizza places, too (like Uno’s).
My first experience with Gino’s East was over 40 years ago at their Superior St. location in Chicago. It’s been my favorite pizza ever since. Unfortunately, the one that opened close to us didn’t stay open. However, we do have a Giordano’s, a Lou Malnati’s, and a Pizzeria Uno all within about 5-6 miles from my house. The frozen Gino’s East pizza our grocery carries is decent, but I really have been wanting to make my own. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
The sauce in this recipe was near perfect, almost exactly how I remember it at Gino’s East. The crust was way off, nothing like Gino’s. Overall the pizza was good but we won’t make it like this again. The best Gino’s East copycat crust recipe I’ve seen had cornmeal in the mix. The crust from this recipe was tangy and flaky, like a pan pizza.
The secret to the sauce is CORNMEAL!
This recipe is off. You actually need a combination of cornmeal or semolina flour to mix in with your all purpose flour. In addition, you need a combination of EVOO and Corn oil. Yes, corn oil is roughly 95% of it, however, it will make a difference. Try the following that we found years ago and have been perfecting for the last 15 years.
6 cups all purpose flour (5 cups All Purpose / 1 cup semolina or yellow corn mean)
2 cups cold water
2 teaspoons dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup oil (95% corn oil/ 5% EVOO)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
This is the spot on recipe. Compare the two and let me know. Enjoy.
Thank you for these recommendations! We are going to update this recipe soon and will test out your recipe and compare. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m excited to try this!
do you have the full recipe and instructions for your version?
along with sauce recipe?
One full package is way too much yeast. There’s no semolina or corn meal in Gino’s East dough formulation. You are missing some yellow food coloring (eggshade) to get the yellow color Gino’s crust has. The oil blend should be corn oil and extra virgin olive oil in that 8:1 ratio.
100% AP Flour
48% Water
16% Corn Oil
2% EVOO
2% Sugar
1% Cream of Tartar
.5% Yellow Food Coloring
.5% IDY
TF = .14 oz per square inch (don’t forget the sides). A 12″ pizza dough ball should weigh about 640g.
That’s the recipe.
Gino’s East crust has cornmeal in it. Yours does not. Yours may be good, but its not Gino’s.
I’m so excited to try this recipe. We made the dough last night and are preparing the pizza for dinner tonight. We are using a 15″ cast iron skillet. Any last minute suggestions on cooking time? From reading the comments I see 45 minutes at 350 degrees up to 75 minutes. Thanks in advance!
I’m about to try this – can’t wait – but I have a key question.
The info at top says Refrigeration 12 hours.
The instructions say cover with plastic wrap and towel and let it sit overnight UNrefrigerated.
Can you please clarify?
Also, you said it’s okay to begin the process in the morning – meaning 8-12 hours before cooking? And rising during that time at room temperature?
Thank you!
Oh, I apologize, the dough should sit at room temperature, not refrigerated. And yes you can start in the morning!
No salt in the dough? interesting
Why cream of tartar ?
It gives the crust more of a smooth taste and consistency. Hope this helps!
This pizza recipe is so good and so easy and really hits the spot for us missing Chicago style pizza. I followed the directions except used a 9×12 cake pan because I didn’t have a pizza pan. It worked well. We are vegetarian so left the meat out and added spinach, garlic and pineapple and it was fabulous! So glad I found this recipe! Thanks!!
Yay! I am so glad you liked it and were able to tweak it to be what you needed. Thanks for the 5-star rating!