16 Different Types of Pizza Dough

What differs between the various styles of pizzas is the cooking method, which yields thinner, thicker, or more crunchy crusts.

For example, the Sicilian and New York Pizza use the same dough, but the results are very different, as one is cooked at different temperatures for varying durations.

I’ve listed below all the delicious crust types, where they are prominent, and how they’re made for you. But first, let’s look at the two types of pizza dough.

Differences Between Flatbread and Yeast Dough Pizza

Flatbread and pizza are technically distinct because of the type of dough they are made with. The flourless or yeast-free dough is required for making flatbread. Yeast is used for creating pizza dough, which is then allowed to rise for a predetermined amount of time.

Many big restaurants and even tiny local Italian establishments use the same dough for flatbreads as well as pizzas, which is absurd because there should be a distinction between the two.

Pizza Dough: What is It?

Pizza crust can have a variety of textures due to the type of preparation. Olive oil, yeast, and salt are the most common ingredients in pizza crust recipes. The unleavened dough can also be used to make pizza, but not as frequently as yeasted dough.

Many people in the United States consider New York-style pizza to be the classic pizza, yet in Italy, Neapolitan-style pizza reigns supreme.

Traditional Yeast Dough Pizza is divided into three distinct categories:

1. New York-style Dough

Most people in the United States associate pizza with New York-style pizza. The thin crust is a hallmark of this cooking style. It is possible to bend the middle of a pizza slice slightly, but the edges should remain straight beneath the crust’s support.

All-purpose or bread flour, sugar, salt, quick yeast, olive oil, and water are the main ingredients in New York-style pizza dough. New York pizza’s particular flavor and texture are mostly due to the use of oil and sugar.

Additionally, the sugar aids in the even browning of the crust at a lower temperature. Food processors and stand mixers are both good options for making the dough. Gas or coal-fired ovens are used to bake most New York-style crusts.

2. Naples or Neapolitan-style Dough

Despite its simplicity, a Neapolitan-style pizza is among the most difficult to make. The intense cooking temperature of the dough recipe offers no space for error, even if there’s a limited number of ingredients in the recipe.

Neapolitan pizza dough should be easily stretched out, resulting in it rising impressively and a charred crust. The Neapolitan dough has its unique composition and can soak up more water than other forms of dough without becoming soupy, thanks to its high protein content as well as extra-fine ground flour.

Water, quick yeast, salt, bread flour, or all-purpose are the only things needed to make a Neapolitan-style pizza. Find an Italian-style flour brand that is finely milled. A no-knead technique of mixing and a cold ferment for as many as five days are also recommended.

Using a variety of methods, you could make a delicious dough in a short amount of time. To begin preparing your pizza, let the dough rest for the proper amount of time before covering it and allowing it to cold ferment.

3. Sicilian-inspired Dough

Making pizza in the Sicilian way is a snap. You won’t need to roll or stretch the dough because you can make it in a stand mixer bowl with an oiled sheet tray. Using this method, you can avoid having to wipe up a sloppy counter.

If you eat Sicilian-style pizza, the thickness and chewiness will differ based on where you consume it. New York City’s pizza dough is an inch and a half thick, with layers of tomato sauce that are enriched with minced garlic and a generous amount of mozzarella.

In contrast, when Sicilian-style pizza is made in a square form, the crust is a little thinner and a little chewier. The Sicilian-style pizza’s standard dough recipe is the same no matter how you make it. Flour of any kind, no matter how cheap or easily accessible, will do.

When making the dough, a stand mixer is best. No-knead methods take a long time to rise, and a food processor is out of the question.

The secret to a successful Sicilian-style dough is a thin layer of olive oil on the baking sheet bottom. To make the crust more crispy and tasty, the oil is fried.

Focaccia/Flatbread

Flatbread pizzas, which have a cracker-like crust and lighter toppings than yeasted crusts, are frequently served as an appetizer. Crispy, lengthy rectangles of cracker crust are baked on a baking pan. Pizza with a flatbread crust and Provel cheese, such as St. Louis pizza, is a variety of flatbread pizzas.

Pizzerias serving small-bite menus often provide flatbreads as well as focaccia bread pizzas for clients. Some documents indicate that the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ate flatbread pizza.

Flatbread pizza with a focaccia-style crust emphasizes the airiness of the bread along with garlic flavor. The light, airy nature of a focaccia-style crust makes it ideal for use as breadsticks after you’ve finished eating a piece.

Vegan “Dough”

Traditional pizza dough components can be used to make a vegan-friendly crust. However, the gluten-free dough is more difficult to make. Because it does not include any animal byproducts, Neapolitan pizza dough is already vegan.

However, because cheese is a dairy commodity, the crust normally has to shoulder more of the burden of flavor to supply substitutions for it.

The Different Pizza Styles

1. Gluten-free-style pizza

A gluten-free pizza crust can be made with gluten-free flour. The gluten-free crust can be made thinner or thicker by rolling the dough differently each time you make it.

Make sure to use plenty of flour while rolling out the dough because it will be a little crumblier than traditional gluten-free pizza dough.

2. Chicago-style Pizza

A yeasted crust is the first step in making this deep-dish pizza. In a high-sided pan, the crust bakes while still providing enough room for the toppings. The pan also contributes to the crispy, buttery exterior of the pizza.

There are several reasons why a Chicago-style pie crust is so special, but one of them is because it’s so important to the whole flavor.

3. Deep-dish Pizza

A deep-dish pizza is any pizza that is baked in a pan that lets the dough puff up. Along with Sicilian-style pizza, deep dish pizzas from Chicago and Detroit are examples. Cast-iron pans or a baking sheet with a high rim are ideal for baking these crusts.

4. Detroit-style Pizza

Chefs use a rectangular, high-sided baking pan to cook a Detroit-style pizza, which is then cut into squares to be served. This deep-dish, thick-crust pizza from Sicily is topped with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

5. Neapolitan-style Pizza

Neapolitan crust, which has its roots in the city of Naples, Italy, is a common ingredient in Italian cooking. Margherita pizza, made with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil, is the most traditional style of Neapolitan pizza.

This thin-crust pizza is baked in a wood-fired oven and boasts a crispy crust with just a hint of crunch.

6. Stuffed Crust-style Pizza

To prepare a stuffed-crust pizza, start with yeasted pizza dough and add cheese, sauce, or any other filling of your choice. They’re popular at chain pizza restaurants as well. Stuffed-crust pizzas are typically spherical and cooked on a pizza stone or in a pizza pan.

7. Thin Crust-style

When it comes to thin-crust pizza, the “flop factor” is frequently mentioned (i.e. the tendency for a crust to flop and then retain its shape).

The de-facto standard for pizza is a thin crust, which is often regarded as the first crust to become widely popular across the globe. The variety of textures and flavors in a thin crust ensures that there is something for everyone to appreciate.

8. New Haven-style Pizza

This is one of the list’s more unusual entries. Known locally as “apizza,” the New Haven pizza is quite different from the traditional floppy east coast pizza. The extremely thin dough is carefully stretched out before being baked in a hot coal-fired oven, which results in the irregular shape of the dough.

The thinnest and crunchiest crust on this list, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s fragile; the quick cooking time at high-temperature results in a delightful char without drying up the dough.

9. St. Louis-style Pizza

A lot is happening in the world of St. Louis-style pizza right now. Many people are drawn to the “proven blend,” which consists of white cheddar, swiss, and provolone cheeses in a unique concoction. People will also notice the unleavened crust more strongly (i.e. devoid of yeast).

This results in a crust that is hard and not malleable, with some describing it as cracker-like in texture. A St. Louis-style pizza is frequently sliced “tavern-style” because of this (i.e. into rectangles).

10. New York-style Pizza

New York slices are known for their enormous size and the delicious flop factor that makes it possible to fold the crust in half. A New York-style crust is thicker and baked longer than a Neapolitan-style crust, which is typically baked for about 15 to 20 minutes.

New York-style dough incorporates oil and sugar in addition to the traditional pizza dough ingredients including wheat, water, yeast, and salt. The sugar and oil aid in browning as the dough is baked at lower temperatures, and even browning is another feature that distinguishes this type from a Neapolitan.

11. Flatbread-style Pizza

There are a variety of different sauces that can be used on flatbreads. These include traditional tomato sauce as well as Alfredo, balsamic glaze, olive oil, and even barbecue sauce! Goat’s cheese and blue cheese, which are uncommon on pizza, are regularly used in flatbreads instead of mozzarella or Romano.

Flatbreads can be made in a wide range of forms and sizes. It is common for flatbreads to be rectangular or oval-shaped. Flatbreads can be served as an appetizer or as a substitute for a larger and cheesier pizza for many clients.

12. Thick Crust-style Pizza

Thick crusts are often rectangular, but this is not always the case. Thick crusts are known for their ability to support a large number of delicious toppings. Even though the pizza integrity of each of the following crusts would give them an “A+,” their exceptional flavors and textures should not be overlooked.

It’s no secret that thick crust pizzas are becoming increasingly popular in the United States, from the buttery crust of Chicago deep-dish pizza to the crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside dough found in Detroit and Sicilian varieties.

13. Stuffed Dough-style Pizza

The double-dough type is used by many take-and-bake eateries and is growing more popular on the West Coast in addition to being Duane “The Rock” Johnson’s go-to pizza on cheat days. Two layers of dough, one on top of the other, are the basic concept behind a double dough crust.

You’ll get an extra-thick crust but not as dense because the dough was divided into two separate balls rather than produced from one single ball.

The stuffed crust style is one of several variations on this theme. Sandwiching the topping between two layers of dough and then sprinkling cheese on top is one way to do this, but a more well-known method involves putting cheese into the crust’s outer edge and then forming a top layer of dough to sit just on top of it.

To get the maximum flavor out of this pizza, start with the crust!

14. The Sicilian or Detroit-style Pizza

The Sicilian pizza dough was utilized in Detroit, but a different pan was used to bake the crust as well as less oil and more dough hydration in it.

Detroit-style pizza is said to have been created in a blue-steel pan meant for auto parts manufacturing. Cast iron-like in its ability to quickly heat to a sizzling point, this is a large pan with a deep bottom. Doughs baked in these pans have a crispy bottom and a light, fluffy interior as a result.

15. Chicago Deep Dish-style Pizza

 

For many, the two most prominent features of a Chicago deep-dish pizza are the large amounts of mozzarella cheese and the unorthodox spread of tomato sauce on top.

There are several reasons why a Chicago-style pie crust is so special, but one of them is because it’s so important to the whole flavor.

Deep-dish dishes might take up to 45 minutes to cook. The crust does not burn because it absorbs the fats from the toppings and cheese that are baked on top of it during the lengthy baking process. This gives the crust its delicious golden color.

16. Vegan-style Pizza

As a result, vegan-friendly crusts will employ more flavoring oils and herbs. The positive is that the finished slice’s back end of the crust will be exceptionally delectable!

Consider swapping nutritional yeast for parmesan cheese if you’re a vegan looking to experiment with the cauliflower-based gluten-free crust.