New York Pizza vs. Chicago Pizza - What's The Difference?

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We all have to admit; there is nothing like enjoying a good slice of pizza fresh out of the oven. Whether you make it at home, buy one from your local pizza shop, or get it frozen from the grocery store, it makes little difference because Pizza is Pizza. And no matter what type, we love them all.

According to a survey, U.S. Pizza restaurant sales amount to $45.59 billion, U.S. frozen pizza sales to $6.O6 billion, and the quick-serve pizza to $203 million. Frozen pizza is one the most popular type of pizza, with more than 50% of the U.S. population consuming them. Another survey estimated that the total amount spent in quick-serve pizza restaurants in 2020 was around $38.2 billion.

Now that’s a lot of money spent on a food commodity. But with so much revenue in the market, people started making a=various kinds of pizza, and today different cities have their personalized pizza. Two of the most popular types are New York Pizza and Chicago Pizza. In this article, we will discuss their differences so you can understand them better!

Table of Contents

Chicago Pizza

You might have heard that Chicagoans eat their pizza with a fork and knife while seated; this will make sense once you understand how it is made. The Chicago pizza is almost the opposite of a traditional New York Pizza; It is fully loaded, thick, and deep. It’s not the kind of pizza that you can grab and eat on the go. Rather, you wanted to be seated in a comfortable position so you could eat this deep-dish pizza with your fork and knife.

This kind of pizza has unknown origins, but many believe it was created in Pizzeria Uno in 1943, and the person behind this magnificent creation is Ike Sewell. Chicago Pizza is made with a high crust, which helps hold all the sauce and cheese (there is a lot of sauce and cheese) in place.

Toppings

Whenever you buy a Chicago-style Pizza, you must be ready for many toppings. As it is a deep dish Pizza, there is a lot of space to cover; whatever topping you choose, there will be a lot of it. Most Chicagoans prefer to have pepperoni on their pizza, while their favorite type of cheese is mozzarella, which is used in abundance to make up for all the extra toppings used.

Sauce

Pizza sauce is one of the different ingredients in Chicago and New York Pizza. You might be thinking Pizza sauce is the same whether you use it in Chicago pizza or New York pizza, but that’s not the case. The sauce used on Chicago Pizza is usually chunkier and thicker; it is also less seasoned than the typical New York Pizza sauce (we are not exactly sure of the reason behind this, the most probable reason is that Chicagoans just like it blander).

Crust

With all the extra toppings, cheese and sauce, it can get difficult to keep all of it in place and make the pizza look good at the same time. So, to combat this problem, the crust on the Chicago Pizza is kept high and made thick. It is kept high, so all the toppings stay on top of the pizza instead of running out, and the thickness ensures that the toppings don’t seep out of it. The edges of Chicago pizza resemble the edges of a pie.

Now York Pizza

Now that we have discussed the Chicago Pizza in detail let’s move on to the New York Pizza. New York Pizza is made with the classic hand-tossed dough, which is rolled and then tossed in the air to give it a stretch and to increase its diameter. This tossing method is used instead of rolling not to become too flat and doesn’t break.

The crust is usually quite thin but large. It is so large that a single slice of New York Pizza is enough to satisfy an adult person’s hunger. This might sound like an exaggeration for those who don’t know much about New York Pizza, but generally, the pizza is sold by the slice. The crust of a typical New York Pizza is thin, with the edges being thicker than the rest of the crust; most people like to fold their slice in half and enjoy it like a taco.

Toppings

In contrast to Chicago Pizza, New York Pizza has minimum toppings. Initially, the only topping used was cheese, but people have started selling it with different toppings like vegetables and meat over the years. The most commonly used type of cheese is mozzarella cheese which has the elasticity and gooeyness necessary for a typical New York Pizza.

Sauce

New York Pizza has the simplest sauce used in moderation, usually a single layer, which is then topped with mozzarella cheese. Generally, a tomato sauce is used, but Pizza sauce is another option many restaurants have started using in recent years. The sauce is not too spicy or overly seasoned, but just a simple tomato sauce.

As the New York Pizza comes with a thin crust, you can’t use too much sauce; otherwise, it would overwhelm the pizza and disturb the crush to sauce ration. It should also be kept in mind that most people like to fold the pizza while eating, so putting too much sauce can become a problem.

Crust

The crust is perhaps the most notable and distinctive difference between these two kinds of pizza. New York Pizza usually has a hand-tossed thin crust, but the edges are kept thicker than the rest of the crust so that you can hold it comfortably and that the toppings don’t just fall off the crust.