2/24

St. Louis Style Pizza

Food, Hot, Meal Ideas, Pizza, Savory
By Laura Gummerman

Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe) I consider myself something of a pizza aficionado. I’ve eaten pizza in Chicago, New York, Italy (I ate a lot of pizza in Italy), but until I came to live out here in Missouri, I didn’t know there was also a St. Louis style as well. I love thin crust pizza (and pan, and deep dish, and hand-tossed), so I was excited to try a new variety when I found out about it, and believe me, I did not feel disappointed. The keys to a St. Louis style pizza are threefold: a thin, cracker-like crust, a special blend of cheese called Provel, and a slightly sweet tomato sauce. The crispiness of the yeast-free crust with the buttery gooeyness of the Provel are a delicious combination, and the sweeter sauce adds another twist to the classic pizza. Provel cheese is a mixture of swiss, cheddar, and provolone cheese that may be more difficult to find the further you get away from St. Louis, but don’t worry! You can also make your own blend as well if they don’t carry it in the deli section of your grocery store. Let’s make some pizza!

Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)St. Louis Style Pizza

1 thin yeast-free pizza crust (recipe here)
1/4 pound of shredded Provel cheese (or a combination of swiss, cheddar, and provolone)
8 oz tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
toppings of your choice

To make the sauce, whisk the tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.

Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)Shred your Provel cheese, or mix together 2 parts provolone cheese, one part cheddar cheese, one part swiss cheese, and a drop or two of liquid smoke if you have it.

Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)Prepare your yeast-free thin crust and pre-bake the crust in a 425° oven until the edges just start to turn brown. Mine usually takes about 15 minutes to do so. Add your sauce and generously sprinkle your cheese and toppings on top. Give the pizza a final sprinkle of some oregano or homemade pizza seasoning and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so until the cheese starts to look golden brown. Cut the pizza into squares instead of triangles (it’s the St. Louis way!) and enjoy!

Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)Yum! St. Louis Style Pizza (click through for recipe)Mmm, thin + crispy, melty + gooey, sweet + salty…perfection. Plus, there’s something about pizza cut into squares that I really love—it feels a little rebellious. Anyway, if you’ve never tried a St. Louis style pizza before, I highly recommend it. And remember, I have an honorary PhD. in Pizza Studies from Youwannapizzame University, so you can totally trust me… xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.

Print

St. Louis Style Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 thin yeast-free pizza crust check our site for a recipe
  • 1/4 pound of shredded Provel cheese or a combination of swiss, cheddar, and provolone
  • 8 oz tomato sauce
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons basil
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • toppings of your choice

Instructions

  1. To make the sauce, whisk the tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.
  2. Shred your Provel cheese, or mix together 2 parts provolone cheese, one part cheddar cheese, one part swiss cheese, and a drop or two of liquid smoke if you have it.
  3. Prepare your yeast-free thin crust and pre-bake the crust in a 425° oven until the edges just start to turn brown. Mine usually takes about 15 minutes to do so. Add your sauce and generously sprinkle your cheese and toppings on top. Give the pizza a final sprinkle of some oregano or homemade pizza seasoning and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so until the cheese starts to look golden brown. Cut the pizza into squares instead of triangles (it's the St. Louis way!) and enjoy!

55 Comments

  • I had no idea that St. Louis had their very own type of pizza. Looks pretty good though, so I may have to try it someday. Thanks for teaching us something new. 🙂

    Reply

  • There is no pizza like a St.Louis pizza! Growing up in the Lou, there is no other pizza than the thin crust goodness!

    Reply

  • I found myself being hypnotized while reading this post. Kept hearing the phrase “You are getting hungry….very HUNGRY….” hahah. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  • I am Italian and I will for sure give it a try to this one!

    Congrats on your blog! It looks so pretty.

    I hope you will enjoy mine as well

    mantenuta.blogspot.com

    Reply

  • I’ve lived in STL for 12 years now, and do not get the appeal of St. Louis style pizza at all. The cheese is absolutely disgusting!!! That said, I’m curious to discover if my STL born daughter will grow up loving the stuff because everyone I know that grew up here sure does!

    Reply

  • I had no idea there was such a thing as St Louis styled pizza. Being an absolute lover of thin crust pizza this looks incredibly delicious! 🙂

    EmmasBeginning

    Reply

  • OH MY GOSH! I am soon excited about this post. I am from St Louis but live in Oregon now. I miss my favorite pizza and now you have informed me on how to make it at home. I am so excited to try this!! I am going to eat this ALL the TIME!!

    Reply

  • I’ve thought that exact same thing! I moved to STL about 8.5 years ago and still can’t get on board with this style of pizza. Perhaps a homemade version (with perhaps a different cheese) will make me change my mind.

    Reply

  • I’ve lived in St. Louis my entire life and have never been a fan of straight provel cheese on a pizza. I love all kinds of pizza. Cracker thin St. Louis to super deep pan. I just can’t do 100% provel on a pizza. Mix it 50% provel with 50% mozzarella and it’s not bad. Thanks for sharing our pizza style with your readers, though.

    Reply

  • I thought I read “so you can totally Crust me” at the end of the post, which could absolutely be a Laura pun, so I don’t feel that bad I laughed before I realised what you actually wrote! But still, this looks delicious and easy to make!

    Reply

  • We absolutely love pizza in my house! I defiantly gotta pin this to my foods to try board! Thanks for the new recipe! If it ever stops icing and snowing here I might make it to the store to buy the ingredients!..lol!

    Reply

  • Yep this looks like the closest thing to Emo’s I’ve seen in awhile. Sooo yummy! St Louis style rocks!

    Reply

  • Yeah, I think I’ll just go to Imo’s. Or maybe save it as a special treat for when I actually go to St. Louis.

    Reply

  • Same here. It will be 6 years in April, and I still don’t get Provel. I have no problems with thin crust or the square shape of the slices or even the sweetness of the sauce. But Provel? Ugh. I tried it once. It doesn’t melt like regular cheese. It was designed not to be stringy/stretchy when it melts, so it just turns to goo. And after you eat it, your teeth feel like they are coated in plastic. Honestly, I’m not convinced the Provel is actually a food.

    I could try St. Louis Style pizza with real cheese, but I’ll never eat Provel again if I can help it.

    As a side note–what’s up with the potted cheddar cheese spread on burgers? Anytime I get a burger with “cheddar” I have to ask if it’s sliced cheddar or potted, since restaurants call both of them “cheddar.”

    Reply

  • Loooooove the cracker-thin crust. LOVE. The pizza place Pi in STL exemplifies it for me.

    Ever try Ohio pizza? It’s popular here to have pizza with a thin, crispy crust with a layer of loose cornmeal underneath, and TONS of edge-to-edge, curled-up crispy pepperoni slices. The Columbus chain Massey’s (http://masseyspizza.com/) is the best (and most delicious) example of this kind.

    Reply

  • Love this post! I recently moved from St. Louis to Chicago and talk about a change up (paper thin crust to deep dish). I’ve become a high fan of the deep dish but still miss my St. Louis thing crust every once in a while:)

    Reply

  • I just love the new design of your website:)( kinda off topic but I had to say it )

    Reply

  • Who knew? All of us who live in Missouri knew. And it’s not Missouri’s own style, it’s St. Louis’ own style. Pizza in K.C. is different.

    If you live anywhere near an Imo’s Pizza, you can get an idea of StL style.

    Reply

  • Growing up outside of St. Louis (Edwardsville, IL) I know all about this pizza! Imo’s is all over and we hit it every time we come back home. Your recipe looks delish and we eat pizza at least once a week here…making our own of course!
    charity
    lifeafterbaseball.net

    Reply

  • I am with you both. I have lived in StL since moving here from NYC in 1966. I loathe Imo’s pizza. And I consider provel to be plastic.

    Reply

  • Love this post but Chicago pizza is superior 🙂 Not that I am biased or anything haha

    xo — also the pics are beautiful and making me realllllly hungry.

    ——————————————————————-
    Best,
    Mary
    whispersweetsomethings.com

    Reply

  • Agreed! I live here as well, and LOVE the thin crust, but Imo’s and Provel cheese in general is AWFUL! It’s very plasticy and tastes sour to me.

    However, love that ABM is mentioning St. Louis!!!

    Reply

  • The only thing to make it better is to do like Imo’s and put your toppings UNDER the cheese. Provel is always on top, followed by a pinch of ground pepper!

    Reply

  • Yeah, I definitely think it’s something with being born/raised in St. Louis that makes a person like Imo’s (or STL style pizza in general). I was feeling very anxious for the non-natives who might check this recipe out haha although the cheese blend might be safer than provel 😉

    Reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.