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!
Related: Detroit Style Pizza, 60 Easy Dinner Recipes, and Deep Dish Pizza Recipe.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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Ingredients
- 1 thin yeast-free pizza crust (check our site for a recipe)
- ¼ pound 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
- To make the sauce, whisk the tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and sugar together in a bowl. Set aside.
- 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.
- 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!
This is amazing, I would love to join the group!
This looks amazing!! I love a thin base on a pizza so will definitely have to try this one!!
http://eliphi.blogspot.co.uk/
I’m so happy to see St. Louis style pizza being represented! One of my favorites – and my friends just don’t get it.
http://tisfortwentysomething.blogspot.com/
This looks incredible! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Oh my gosh. I haven’t even heard of this style pizza. I have been missing out. I LOVE super thin pizza. Need.
doitfortheirony.blogspot.com
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 😉
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!
Imo’s is good, Cicero’s on The Loop in St. Louis is great 😉
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!!!
sounds interesting!!
xx nikki
www.dream-in-neon.com
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.
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Best,
Mary
whispersweetsomethings.com
mmmmmmm dribble dribble….
MissyRed.co.uk
You did not even say “Youwannapizzame”…
BAHAHAHAHA
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.
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
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.
I just love the new design of your website:)( kinda off topic but I had to say it )
is it strange that I want this now for breakfast?
Loos delicious 🙂 yumyum
I hope I can try this pizza soon
The cracker like crust of the St. Louis pizza will make this my favorite style easily. Happy Wednesday 🙂
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:)