The Best Pizza in Chicago

Our recipe for the best... flaky, buttery pizza crust, an exclusive sausage blend, vine ripened plum tomatoes from California, and Wisconsin cheese. Hungry yet?

Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the heartiest of the pizza varieties and typically eaten with a knife and fork. The dough is patted out by hand and raised up high on the sides of a seasoned deep dish pizza pan. True Chicago-style pizza actually has a rather thin crust that compliments the delicious toppings.

The order the ingredients are placed on a Chicago style-pizza is “backwards” from a thin crust pizza.

1. Chicago style-pizza is made with slices of mozzarella cheese that are placed directly on the dough.
2. Then additional ingredients like mushrooms, onions and sausage are spread on top of the cheese.
3. The pizza is then topped with a fresh tomato sauce made with whole chunks of pear and plum tomatoes and topped off with a sprinkling of cheese and spices. 

So, What's So Special About Lou Malnati's Deep-Dish Pizza?

Lou Malnati's Pizzerias have stayed true to the original Chicago-style deep dish pizza recipe that Grandpa Malnati helped create in 1943 at Chicago's first deep dish pizzeria. We use only the freshest and finest ingredients available and our commitment to quality and consistency is what sets up apart.  Our secret recipes for the flaky, buttery crust and exclusive sausage blend are unmatched in flavor and taste. The tomato sauce is so crucial to the making of a great Lou Malnati's pizza that each year a team from Malnati’s goes to California and meets personally with the tomato growers. The finest vine ripened plum tomatoes are then blended and canned exclusively for Lou Malnati's use. Our cheese has continued to come from the same small dairy in Wisconsin for over 40 years.

Ingredients That Make You Salivate

Tomato - crucial to the Lou Malnati's pizza recipe.

Each year a team from Malnati’s goes to California and meets personally with the tomato growers. The finest vine ripened plum tomatoes are then blended and canned exclusively for Lou Malnati's use. The trip is well worth the effort when the result is continuing our tradition as the best deep dish pizzeria in Chicago!

Cheese - quality & flavor is essential.

We strive to maintain long term relationships with our vendors, which is why we have used the same Wisconsin dairy farm for over 40 years as our source for mozzarella cheese. The unique flavor and texture of their cheese is vital to the Lou Malnati's pizza recipe.

Dough - flaky, buttery, delicious.

Our dough is patted out by hand and raised up high on the sides of a seasoned deep dish pizza pan. True Chicago-style pizza crust is actually rather thin but sturdy enough to hold the delicious toppings. The secret recipe for the flakey, buttery crust has been passed down for generations and is unmatched in flavor and taste.