Ask most pizza fans to name a thick square pizza and they’ll say Sicilian. Ask them about grandma pizza and you might get a blank stare. That’s a shame — because grandma pizza is arguably the more approachable, more interesting, and more delicious of the two, and it’s one of the best things you can make in a regular home kitchen with no special equipment whatsoever.

The style comes from Long Island, New York, where Italian-American home cooks — and yes, often literal grandmothers — baked pizza in well-oiled rectangular pans on the stovetop or in a standard oven. If you’ve already tried our Sicilian pizza at home guide, think of grandma pizza as its more laid-back, faster, equally delicious cousin. No pizza stone. No blistering heat. Just a good pan, a simple dough, plenty of olive oil, and a lot of love. The result? A pizza with a golden, almost fried crust on the bottom, a soft and airy crumb, and a sauce-forward top that somehow manages to be crispy and tender at the same time.

According to Serious Eats’ landmark deep-dive on grandma pizza, this style flew under the radar for decades because it never left the home kitchen — it was cooked at home, eaten at home, and passed down through families rather than commercialized like New York or Sicilian pies. That’s changing fast. And once you’ve made one, you’ll understand exactly why the buzz is growing.

What Exactly Is Grandma Pizza?

Grandma pizza is a square, pan-baked pizza cooked in a well-oiled rectangular baking pan — traditionally a standard 9×13″ or half-sheet pan you’d already have in your kitchen. The dough is pressed directly into the oiled pan, given a relatively short rest, topped with sauce and cheese, and baked at high heat until the bottom is deeply golden and slightly fried-tasting from the oil.

The defining characteristics:

• Square or rectangular shape, cut into square slices
• Sauce goes on first (or simultaneously with cheese, depending on tradition), giving it a distinctly sauce-forward bite
• Cheese on top of the sauce — the opposite of Sicilian’s typical order
• A moderately thick crust — thicker than New York, thinner and denser than a full Sicilian
• A genuinely crispy, almost pan-fried bottom from olive oil in the pan
• Baked in a home oven — no pizza stone, no commercial deck oven required

It’s worth noting that the Eater history of grandma pizza traces the style specifically to Long Island pizzerias that began commercializing what had always been a home-kitchen tradition — shops like King Umberto in Elmont, which has been credited with popularizing the term “grandma pie” on a menu. The style has roots in Sicilian-American immigrant cooking but evolved distinctly in New York’s outer boroughs and suburbs.

Grandma vs. Sicilian: Settling the Debate

This is the question that comes up every single time grandma pizza is mentioned online, and honestly — it’s a fair one. Both are thick. Both are square. Both use olive oil in the pan. So what’s actually different? Quite a bit, as it turns out. And understanding the differences will help you decide which one to make (spoiler: make both, eventually).

The short version: grandma pizza has a denser, chewier crumb than Sicilian (which is airier and more bread-like), and its sauce goes on before the cheese instead of after. It’s also more forgiving on timing — you don’t need an overnight ferment to get a great result, though it certainly helps. If you’re making your first thick-crust pizza ever, grandma is the one to start with. For a full comparison of the thick pan styles, our thin crust vs. thick crust guide breaks down what actually separates these categories.

Why Home Cooks Are Tailor-Made for This Style

Here’s something you don’t hear often: a home kitchen is better for grandma pizza than most restaurant setups. This is genuinely a style that was designed to be made at home, on home equipment, with no special tools. A standard residential oven, a regular baking pan, all-purpose flour — that’s your starting lineup. Nothing exotic required.

Compare that to Neapolitan pizza, which technically needs 900°F+ heat that no home oven can reach. Or New York-style, which benefits from professional deck ovens and years of dough-handling practice. Grandma pizza sidesteps all of that. The best pizza styles for beginners all share one thing in common: they’re forgiving, and grandma pizza might be the most forgiving of all the “serious” styles.

The Dough: Simpler Than You Think

Grandma pizza dough runs at a relatively approachable 58–62% hydration — meaningfully lower than Sicilian’s 70–75%. What that means in practice: the dough is easier to handle, less sticky, and more predictable. You can knead it by hand without it coating every surface in your kitchen. It’s the sweet spot between “too dry and cracker-like” and “too wet to work with.”

The Flour

All-purpose flour works perfectly here. Unlike Neapolitan, which benefits hugely from 00 flour, or Sicilian, which shines with bread flour, grandma pizza is genuinely happy with whatever flour you’ve already got. That said, bread flour adds extra chew that some bakers love in this style — it’s worth experimenting with once you’ve made the base recipe a couple of times.

A Touch of Oil in the Dough

Grandma dough is slightly enriched with olive oil — typically a tablespoon or two per 500g of flour. King Arthur Baking’s research on olive oil in dough confirms what grandmothers already knew: the fat tenderizes the crumb and extends the keeping quality of the finished pizza. It also contributes to that characteristic chew — soft without being bready, with a slight richness you don’t get from a lean dough.

Rise Time

An hour at room temperature is the minimum. Two hours is better. An overnight cold ferment in the fridge — as with any pizza — produces a noticeably more complex, slightly tangy flavor. But unlike cold fermentation for Sicilian or Neapolitan, it’s genuinely optional here rather than near-mandatory. Grandma pizza is the style you make when you decide at 4pm that you want pizza for dinner. That’s not a bug — it’s the whole point.

The Pan Is Everything

If there’s one thing that separates a great grandma pizza from a good one, it’s what happens at the bottom — and that comes down to the pan and how you oil it. A well-oiled aluminum rectangular pan is the classic choice, and the goal is for the olive oil to essentially shallow-fry the base of the pizza as it bakes, creating that signature crunch.

According to Serious Eats’ breakdown of pizza pan science, aluminum conducts heat more evenly than steel for pan pizzas, making it the practical choice for grandma-style baking. Don’t use non-stick — the coating degrades at high heat and, crucially, non-stick pans don’t get the base hot enough for a true fry. And don’t be shy with the oil — 2–3 tablespoons coating the entire base and sides is not excessive. It’s necessary.

Unlike Detroit-style pizza, which really benefits from its specific blue steel pan to get those caramelized cheese edges, grandma pizza is genuinely pan-agnostic. Use what you have. Our pizza stone vs. baking steel comparison also covers how placing your pan on a preheated surface can give you an extra crispy bottom boost if you want to go the extra mile.

Sauce First, Cheese on Top — and Why It Matters

Here’s the layering detail that defines grandma pizza and sets it apart from Sicilian: sauce goes directly on the dough, then cheese on top of the sauce. This means the cheese browns and bubbles beautifully during baking, giving you those golden, slightly crispy cheese edges and a visually gorgeous top. It also means the sauce stays vibrant and a little tangy underneath, rather than cooking into the dough.

The Sauce

Grandma pizza sauce is typically a crushed tomato sauce — bright, relatively loose, and barely cooked. You’re not looking for a thick, slow-simmered ragu here. Crushed San Marzano tomatoes with a pinch of salt, dried oregano, a crushed garlic clove, and a glug of good olive oil is all you need. The oven does the rest of the cooking. Some Long Island–style grandma pies use a very light sauce, almost a smear — enough to flavor the top without weighing it down. Our homemade pizza sauce recipe is the perfect base to start from.

The Cheese

Low-moisture mozzarella, shredded. Full stop. This is not the place for fresh buffalo mozzarella — its water content will steam the pizza from the inside and give you a soggy mess. Block mozzarella, shredded by hand, melts evenly and browns magnificently. Food Network’s guide to pizza cheese confirms: the pre-shredded bags contain cellulose anti-caking agents that interfere with proper melt. Buy the block, shred it yourself — it takes three minutes and makes a visible difference. Our full rundown on the best cheese for homemade pizza covers every option in detail.

The Toppings

Grandma pizza is traditionally fairly minimal on top — the sauce and cheese are the stars, not a mountain of toppings. A classic finish: dried oregano, fresh basil added after baking, and a drizzle of good olive oil. If you’re adding pepperoni, keep it sparse and let it cup and crisp. Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino over the top right out of the oven is non-negotiable in my house. For inspiration on what works well on this style, our 9 best pizza topping combinations has you covered.

Common Grandma Pizza Mistakes (And the Easy Fixes)

Even an easy pizza style has a few ways to go wrong. Here’s what trips people up most often, and how to avoid it:

• Under-oiling the pan: This is far and away mistake number one. You need a visible coat of oil in that pan — we’re talking 2–3 tablespoons minimum. Thin oil = pale, soft base. Generous oil = the golden, crispy bottom you’re after.
• Over-saucing: Grandma pizza is a relatively thin layer of sauce — not piled on like a Chicago deep dish. Keep it to a tight smear that you can still see the dough through at the edges.
• Using fresh mozzarella: I’ll keep saying this until it sticks. Fresh mozz is too wet. It releases water as it melts and steams the dough rather than crisping it. Low-moisture block mozzarella only.
• Not letting the oven fully preheat: A half-preheated oven is one of the most common causes of pale, soft pizza bases. Give your oven a full 30 minutes at 500°F before the pizza goes in. More on this in our oven preheating guide.
• Pulling it out too early: Trust the process. If you’re nervous the cheese is going too dark, move the rack down — don’t cut the time. The base needs every one of those minutes. Lift a corner and check the colour before you take it out.

For a comprehensive rundown of general homemade pizza pitfalls across all styles, our 10 homemade pizza mistakes guide covers everything in one place. And if you’re brand new to homemade pizza altogether, the ultimate beginner’s pizza starter guide is the place to start.