Our St. Louis-style pizza recipe lives up to tradition. To get it just right, the crust and sauce are made from scratch because nothing at the store can mimic their nuance.
St. Louis-Style Pizza
If we measured pizza on a spectrum, Chicago deep-dish pizza would sit on one end, and St. Louis-style pizza would sit on the other. All other types of pizza would fall somewhere in between. St. Louis-style pizza is the antithesis to deep-dish pizza in every way, and you’ll understand why when you see it. It has a thin, cracker-like crust that’s cut into squares (known as tavern-style) rather than into wedges, which makes the slices easier to hold and supports the weight of the heavy toppings. But its most defining (and controversial) characteristic is the Provel cheese: a nutty, funky mixture of cheddar, Swiss and provolone that melts easily without being stringy.
St. Louis-style pizza is the easiest pizza to make at home, even when every part is made from scratch (like in our recipe). We’ll let you in on all the secrets to making the most authentic pie possible, including a Provel substitute if you can’t get your hands on it.
What is St. Louis-style pizza?
St. Louis-style pizza is a type of regional pizza made famous by the Missouri chain Imo’s Pizza. It has a thin, cracker-like crust that’s topped almost all the way to the edges with sweet pizza sauce and Provel cheese—a type of process cheese made from cheddar, Swiss and provolone. The pie is cut tavern-style (into squares or rectangles instead of wedges), and is the perfect sharing pizza.
Ingredients for St. Louis-Style Pizza
- All-purpose flour: While most pizza crust recipes use bread flour or 00 flour for a chewy and tender crust, St. Louis-style pizza crust is more similar to a cracker. Stick with all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Baking powder: We want the crust to rise just a little bit, so it’s not completely flat and delicate.
- Olive oil: Olive oil prevents gluten from forming, making the crust crispy rather than chewy while adding a bit of richness and fat for flavor.
- Tomatoes: The tomato sauce is made from scratch in this recipe, so gather good-quality tomato paste and crushed tomatoes in puree. I love San Marzano tomatoes for making tomato sauce.
- Sugar: St. Louis-style pizza sauce leans sweet, and is made with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.
- Herbs: Dried oregano and basil add herbaceous notes to the sweet pizza sauce.
- Provel: Provel cheese is a St. Louis-style pizza staple. If you can’t find it at your local grocer, use a mixture of 1-1/2 cups of shredded white cheddar, 1 cup of shredded provolone and 1 cup of shredded Swiss.
- Toppings: Our recommended toppings for St. Louis-style pizza are pepperoni, thinly sliced green peppers and red onions. Since the crust is so thin and delicate, you want the toppings to be lightweight.
Directions
Step 1: Make the pizza dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and stir in the water and olive oil just until combined.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently form it into a ball. Cover the dough with storage wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Roll out the dough
Divide the dough in half. On a piece of parchment paper, roll each half into a 10-inch circle. Leaving the dough on the parchment, transfer each circle to a 12-inch pizza pan.
Step 3: Mix the tomato sauce
Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, dried basil and dried oregano. Spread the tomato sauce over the crusts.
Editor’s Tip: For the most authentic St. Louis-style pizza, spread the tomato sauce within 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the edges. These pizzas have hardly any crust showing.
Step 4: Assemble the pizza
Top the pizzas with the Provel cheese, pepperoni, thinly sliced green peppers and red onions. If desired, sprinkle them with additional dried basil and oregano.
Step 5: Bake the pizza
Bake one pizza at a time on a low oven rack until the bottom of the crust is golden and the cheese is lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove the pizza from the oven and cut it into squares or rectangles as desired. Do the same with the second pizza. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Try other toppings: Since the crust is super thin, we recommend limiting yourself to around three pizza toppings. Replace the ones in this recipe with your favorites. Too many toppings can create a soggy pizza, so you’ll want to avoid this common pizza mistake.
- Switch up the sauce: Not feeling tomato sauce? Try white pizza sauce or pesto as a replacement. It’s not traditional, but it’s your pizza—and that’s all that matters.
How to Store St. Louis-Style Pizza
To store St. Louis-style pizza, wrap your slices individually in aluminum foil in the refrigerator. Pizza typically lasts for about three to four days using this method. Once you’re ready to dig in again, follow our guide on how to reheat pizza (there are tips for the oven, stovetop, microwave and air fryer) so it tastes as good as day one.
Can you freeze St. Louis-style pizza?
Yes, you can freeze leftover St. Louis-style pizza. Allow the pizza to cool completely to room temperature, then wrap individual slices in aluminum foil or place them in a zip-top bag. They can be frozen for up to two months. Thaw slices in the fridge or reheat them from frozen in the oven or in a convection toaster oven.
St. Louis-Style Pizza Tips
What kind of cheese is on St. Louis-style pizza?
The traditional St. Louis-style pizza recipe uses Provel cheese. Provel cheese is a processed blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone that originated in St. Louis. It melts at a low temperature, which means it stays melted long after the pizza is out of the oven and on the dinner table.
What is the best flour for pizza dough?
To get that cracker-thin crust just like Imo’s Pizza, we recommend using all-purpose flour. If you don’t have any all-purpose flour on hand, you can use two cups of self-rising flour instead. Start with just 6 tablespoons of water and add more from there. Pro tip: Roll your dough on parchment paper for an easy transfer to the pizza pan. You don’t want to break that extra-thin dough!
How do you cut St. Louis-style pizza?
To recreate St. Louis-style pizza’s very specific tavern cut, take a sharp chef’s knife or pizza cutter and cut the pizza in half vertically. Then cut those halves in half vertically. Rotate the pizza 90 degrees, then cut the pizza into thirds for rectangular slices or into fourths for square slices.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 to 10 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2/3 cup crushed tomatoes in puree
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 12 ounces Provel cheese, shredded or 1-1/2 cups shredded white cheddar plus 1 cup shredded provolone plus 1 cup shredded Swiss
- 1 package (3-1/2 ounces) sliced pepperoni
- 1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
Directions
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in water and oil until combined. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Gently form into a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half. On parchment, roll each half into a 10-in. circle. Leaving dough on parchment, transfer each circle to a 12-in. pizza pan.
- Preheat oven to 425°. Combine crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, basil and oregano; spread over crusts. Top with cheese, pepperoni, green pepper and onion. If desired, sprinkle with additional dried basil and oregano. Bake on a low oven rack, 1 at a time, until bottom of crust is golden and cheese is lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Cut into squares.
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Provel cheese and a cracker-thin crust are the hallmarks of this St. Louis-style pizza recipe. Don't forget to cut your pizza as they would in Missouri—square pieces only! —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
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