The short answer to what is grandma pizza is a thin, rectangular pie baked in a sheet pan, topped with tomato sauce and cheese. It comes from Long Island, New York, and it is usually compared with Sicilian pizza.
The biggest difference from Sicilian pizza is the dough. Grandma dough gets less time to rise, so the crust ends up thinner and denser.
What Is Grandma Pizza and Where It Came From
Grandma pizza started on Long Island, New York, where it was made mostly in home kitchens before pizzerias began to offer it.
According to Wikipedia’s entry on the style, immigrants from southern Italy developed it in the early 20th century, baking it at home with standard kitchen equipment. Food writer David Rosengarten says Long Island pizza makers possibly began making the thin, rectangular pie in the 1970s. The style stayed little known outside Long Island until about 1994.
Accounts differ on who first sold it. Wikipedia says King Umberto’s in Elmont is often credited with the first menu listing, and that around 1994 Umberto Corteo introduced a version called Sicilian Grandma pizza at his Long Island pizzerias. A separate account credits Umberto’s Pizzeria in New Hyde Park, where the pie was first made for employees who urged him to add it to the menu.
The name points back to home cooking. It refers to the home-style pizza that grandmothers made. By the late 2000s and early 2010s, many pizzerias were offering it, and you can compare it with a New Haven style pizza, another regional American pie.
How Grandma Pizza Is Made
Grandma pizza is made by stretching dough over a rectangular pan lined with olive oil, adding sauce and cheese, and baking it until the crust browns.
The method is simple enough for a home cook. According to The Takeout’s explainer, it comes down to four moves:
- Line a square or rectangular pan with olive oil.
- Stretch the dough over the pan.
- Add tomato sauce, then cheese.
- Finish with more olive oil, then bake.
The pan does more than hold the dough. The Takeout says the pie is usually baked in a heavy-duty steel pan, which browns the dough more evenly. Wikipedia adds that the dough is baked after a short rest in the pan.
The order of toppings is not fixed. Wikipedia describes cheese going on before the sauce as typical, while The Takeout’s method lists sauce first. Either way, the pie is built from sauce, cheese and oil, and it is cut into small squares once it leaves the oven.
How Grandma Pizza Differs from Sicilian Pizza
Grandma pizza looks like Sicilian pizza but has a thinner, denser crust, because its dough gets less time to rise before baking.
The two styles share a rectangular or square shape and a baking pan, which is why people mix them up. The real difference is the dough. Sicilian dough rises for longer and bakes into a thicker, bread-like crust, while grandma pizza gets less proofing and turns out denser and thinner.
| Feature | Grandma pizza | Sicilian pizza |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Rectangular, cut into small squares | Square slices |
| Dough rise | Less proofing time | Longer rise |
| Crust | Thinner, crisper, denser | Thicker, airy, bread-like |
| Bite | Chewy, snaps when you bite | Airy, bread-like |
Grandma pizza is thinner than Sicilian but not as thin as Neapolitan, as Wikipedia notes. If you want to compare the pan-baked style in full, read our simple guide to Sicilian pizza. Compared with a classic New York slice, which is thin, extra-cheesy and foldable, grandma pizza is firmer. The Takeout says classic New York slices fold with little flaking or crunch, while grandma pizza has a snappable crust that stays chewy. For the folding style, see our guide to New York style pizza.
Why the Dough Decides the Texture
The dough sets most of the texture of grandma pizza, because it gets less proofing than Sicilian dough and is baked after a short rest in the pan.
Less proofing leaves the dough denser, which is why the crust feels chewy rather than airy. Some Italian-American pizza makers in New York go a step further. Wikipedia reports that they refrigerate the dough for about 24 hours to give it more structure.
The timing varies a lot from one recipe to the next. A grandma pizza dough published by Ooni, a maker of pizza ovens, blends all-purpose and “00” flour, refrigerates the dough for 48 to 72 hours, and then lets it rest at room temperature for one hour before it goes into the pan. That is a much longer cold rest than the 24 hours Wikipedia mentions, so the cold step is best read as a range rather than a fixed number.
That cold step is a practice, not a rule. The sources describe it as one option among several, not a requirement for the style. Home cooks can skip it if the schedule does not fit their day.
The trade-off is clear. You give up the light, open crumb of a long-rise Sicilian in exchange for a sturdier, chewier base that feels very different from an airy crust.
Making Grandma Pizza in a Home Oven
You can make grandma pizza in a regular home oven, since the style does not need a wood fire and the steel pan and oil do most of the work.
The Takeout notes that a regular pizza oven works and that a wood-fired oven is not required. That makes the style practical for a home kitchen without a masonry oven. If you are new to baking pizza, start with our beginner guide to making pizza at home.
The Ooni recipe is written for a 12 by 18 inch pan and notes that a 16 by 16 inch pan also works. Its conventional oven setting is 287°C (about 549°F), with a bake time of 16 minutes, which is one recipe’s setting rather than a rule for every oven. You can read the full method on Ooni’s classic New York grandma dough recipe.
Choose the pan with care. The Takeout points to a heavy-duty steel pan because it browns the dough more evenly, so a sturdy pan suits this style better than a thin, flimsy tray.
Do not skip the oil. The method uses it in two places, lining the pan first and finishing the pie on top.
Watch the crust, not only the clock. The Ooni setting is a starting point, and home ovens run hotter or cooler than their dials say. Check the edges and bottom as the pie bakes, and take it out when the crust reaches the color you want. The Takeout and Wikipedia do not give a baking time, so the recipe figure is the only one used here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is grandma pizza the same as Sicilian pizza?
Not quite. Both are rectangular or square pies made in a pan, but grandma pizza gets less proofing time. That makes its crust thinner and denser than the thicker, airy base of a Sicilian pizza.
Where was grandma pizza invented?
Most accounts place it on Long Island, New York, where southern Italian immigrants made it at home. Wikipedia credits Umberto Corteo with a 1990s version called Sicilian Grandma pizza, but accounts differ on who first put it on a menu.
Does grandma pizza need a wood-fired oven?
No. The Takeout reports that a regular pizza oven works and that a wood-fired oven is not required. The main equipment is a sturdy pan and olive oil.
Why is it called grandma pizza?
The name refers to the home-style pizza that grandmothers made. The style stayed mostly a home and local Long Island dish until the mid-1990s, which is one reason the name stuck.
Does it need a special pan?
A heavy-duty steel pan is the best-supported choice, because The Takeout says it browns the dough more evenly. Check that the pan is sturdy before you start.
Does the cheese go on before or after the sauce?
Wikipedia describes cheese going on first as typical, but the order is not fixed. The Takeout’s method lists sauce first, so home cooks can choose the order that suits their pan.
If you want to know what is grandma pizza in practice, picture a dense, chewy, rectangular crust with oil in the pan and sauce and cheese on top. It suits anyone who wants a sturdier base than Sicilian pizza. Before you bake, decide whether that bolder crust fits your oven and your time.