9 Regional Pizza Styles Worth Making at Home

From classic Italian pies to distinctive American styles, these regional pizzas offer a delicious tour of the traditions that make each place's pizza unique. If you're anything like us, your affinity for pizza runs deeper than the pan the iconic Chicago pie is baked in. Naturally, for one of the world's most beloved foods, regional pizza styles abound, starting in pizza's Italian birthplace and spanning as far-flung as Tokyo, Buenos Aires, and cities across the United States. While we may each have a particular style we hold near and dear, exploring the pizza traditions of other locales keeps the old favorite fresh — especially when you can re-create them in your own kitchen. Whether you're a pizza-making newbie or bona fide pizzaiolo, this collection offers recipes that are perfectly achievable at home, from New York's ultra-easy Grandma Pie Pizza to Wolfgang Puck's inventive salmon-topped California pizza and Naples' quintessential pizza Margherita. Never Lose a Recipe Again! Love these recipes? Join MyRecipes — your personal home for recipes — to easily save and organize your favorites, plus thousands more, in one convenient place. 01 of 09 Margherita Pizza Perhaps no regional pizza style is more regimented than Neapolitan pizza. In Italy, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana enforces strict rules about ingredients, fermentation, and shaping, ultimately to protect its core distinction as a pie with a soft, thin center and thick, airy outer crust, known as the cornicione. The Margherita is arguably the purest expression, featuring a simple, chunky sauce of San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella (like buffalo mozzarella or fior di latte), basil leaves, and a drizzle of quality olive oil. Get the Recipe 02 of 09 Grandma Pie Pizza Though not as famous as the city's floppy slices found on every street corner, this chewy-crusted, old-school New York pie has roots in the Sicilian-style pan pizzas brought by Italian immigrants. Designed specifically for the home cook, it requires not much more than a conventional oven and a sturdy half-sheet pan, coated generously with olive oil to yield an exceedingly crisp underside. Here, we keep things classic with rich tomato sauce and low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, which browns beautifully as it bakes. Get the Recipe 03 of 09 Chicago Tavern-Style Pizza Deep-dish might be the public-facing representative of Chicago pies, but anyone from the Windy City will tell you that it's the little squares of tavern-style pizza they're reaching for on the regular. Known for its thin, crisp crust and edge-to-edge toppings, often including Italian sausage, it's easy to eat out of hand, simply rested on a napkin. Whether one's preference is for a perimeter piece with a little lip of golden crust or the cheesier ratio of an inside slice, that's a different story. Get the Recipe 04 of 09 Deep-Dish Pizza There is nothing casual about this extra-thick pizza. A knife and fork are not optional; there's no grabbing a slice for the road; and prep is not a breezy affair, either. But when you're craving a hearty pizza that you can really sink your teeth into, the iconic Chicago deep-dish pie is where it's at. Baked in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, our recipe is loaded with more than a pound of cheese, which turns molten after the 30-minute-plus bake. Definitely let the pizza rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and divvying, and don't burn your mouth! Get the Recipe 05 of 09 Detroit-Style Pizza To the eye alone, Detroit-style pies may appear indistinguishable from grandma pizza; after all, both are rectangular and have substantial crusts. However, the Motor City original's crust is at once thicker and lighter, thanks to a wet dough that proofs in the pan, giving way to an airy rise. It's the perfect foundation for the buttery-soft pull of Wisconsin brick cheese, which caramelizes deliciously at the pan's edges for pure frico delight. Pepperoni is a classic topping choice. Get the Recipe 06 of 09 Pizza with Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraîche, and Caviar An outgrowth of the farm-to-table movement, California pizza eschews the expected, relying instead on local, seasonal, artisanal, and all-around unique ingredients as preferred toppings. The style was popularized in Los Angeles by Wolfgang Puck in the 1980s — as evidenced by his signature pie here — you'll find crusts crowned with everything from Thai chicken to nettles and pâté. "While part of California pizza is its anything-goes mentality, it's also more than that," Gowri Chandra writes, adding that ultimately, "the plurality of styles is its style." Get the Recipe 07 of 09 Grilled Clam Pizza Rhode Island is known for its grilled pizza, and seafood naturally finds its way onto many local pies. This recipe brings the two together, pairing a crispy, chewy grilled crust with littleneck clams steamed on the grill in white wine and aromatics. It's a pizza adaptation of 1988 F&W Best New Chef Johanne Killeen's signature Clams al Forno, finished with Pecorino Romano, parsley, scallions, and a spoonful of the reserved clam juice. Get the Recipe 08 of 09 Potato Pizza with Crème Fraîche and Bacon Called tarte flambée in France and flammekueche in the Alsatian dialect, this regional flatbread reflects the French and Germanic influences of Alsace. Traditional versions contain little more than a sauce of fromage blanc and crème fraîche, strewn with onion and smoky lardons. Here, we give this combination the full pizza treatment, smearing straight crème fraîche on classic dough, caramelizing the onions, and topping with bacon crumbles; soft garlic confit, thinly sliced potatoes, baby kale, and snipped chives give the pie a fresh edge. Get the Recipe 09 of 09 Roman Pizza Roman pizza comes in three major styles; this one takes its cues from al taglio, meaning a rectangular, focaccia-like pie that's cut to order and sold by weight in Rome. Traditionally served as a quick lunch or snack, al taglio is baked in large trays and cut with scissors into pieces of whatever size you like. Our version has an airy crust that bakes up crisp and golden, topped simply with garlicky tomato sauce and creamy stracciatella, then finished with fresh basil. Get the Recipe Celebrate 20 years of 1990 F&W Best New Chef Nancy Silverton's Pizzeria Mozza at the 2026 F&W Classic in Charleston, November 13-15. Get Tickets Read the original article on Food & Wine