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Kansas City Style Pizza

Kansas City Style Pizza Recipe

Todd Mitchell
A recipe that celebrates the amazing food of Kansas City. And go Chiefs!
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Sourdough proofing time. 2 days
Total Time 2 days 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people
Calories 616 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 16" Pizza Pan Or any other pan that will fit your pizza.
  • 1 Cutting board
  • 1 Pizza Rocker Alternatively pizza scissors or pizza cutter.
  • 1 Smoking gun

Ingredients
  

  • 16 ounces Pizza dough We recommend our sourdough bread pizza dough. But you can also use Trader Joe's pizza dough if using pre-made or try our Thin Crust Dough recipe if making yourself.
  • 5 ounces brisket slow-smoked, slow-cooked
  • 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
  • 3 tablespoons sweet corn kernels drained
  • ½ cup KC Masterworks BBQ Sauce
  • 3 ounces Dill pickle slices
  • 3 tablespoons Bacon bits

Instructions
 

Step 1: Prepare the Sourdough "Levain"

  • We're assuming you already have a sourdough starter. If you don't, you can do a decent short-cut using biga or poolish. Read our article on pizza starters here to get ahead of the game!
    Two sourdough starters fermenting
  • Adding 5 tablespoons (2.5 fluid ounces) of water (~70 grams) and 8 tablespoons of bread flour (also ~70 grams) to 2.5 ounces of sourdough starter (by weight – again, about 70 grams).
  • This will yield a total of about 7 ounces of levain.
  • Let the levain develop over at least 8, but preferably at least 12 (and no more than 24) hours at room temperature.
    Fermenting Sourdough
  • Tip: If you're going to make the pizza the same day, double the amount of starter (for flavor) and add 1 teaspoon of yeast. Proceed to step 2 after 2 hours instead of 24.

Step 2: Day 2 - Make the Final Dough

  • Add the levain to your stand mixer (or you can mix by hand) and add 0.5 cups of water and start the stand mixer on its slowest setting.
  • Slowly add 1.25 cups of flour.
  • The dough should develop into a ball but it may need a little extra kneading time.
  • You might have to stop the mixer and work the dough a little with your hands to make sure it feels well mixed.
  • You now have a dough ball about 16 ounces, which will make a good, thin 16" pan pizza.
    Right after forming, the dough ball will be dense and compact.
  • Transfer the dough to an air tight container.
  • Use a smoking gun to smoke the dough and seal the container.
    Using a smoking gun to smoke the dough.
  • Let the dough rest in the smoke for 4 hours.

Step 3: Make the Kansas City BBQ Meat

  • You've got options here on what kind of Kansas City BBQ you want to use.
  • Beef brisket is probably the most "Kansas". I suggest you read this article by our friends at A Food Lover's Kitchen for a wonderful recipe.
    Kansas City Style Brisket
  • Pulled pork or pulled chicken are also great options.
    Legends of the Grill have a fantastic smoked pulled pork recipe.
  • Shred the meat so you can easily distribute it over the pizza.

Step 4: The Kansas City BBQ Sauce

  • We've used KC Masterpiece, which is an authentic KC sauce. It's a bit on the sweet side so you should try it for yourself.
    Use a brush to spread the BBQ sauce over the dough.
  • If you want to make your own, we're going to recommend a wonderful smoky BBQ sauce from our friends at at A Food Lover's Kitchen for their Smoky Bourbon BBQ sauce recipe.

Step 5: Assemble the Pizza

  • Preheat your oven to 450°F. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven to heat up.
  • Lightly oil your pizza pan.
    Lightly oil the pizza pan.
  • Place the dough ball onto a floured surface and roll out the sourdough dough into a circle 16" across.
    Place dough on floured surface.
  • Transfer the dough to the pizza pan.
    Transfer the dough to the pizza pan.
  • Use your fingers to gently shape the pizza to fit the pan. If a tear develops, you can pinch it closed.
    Shape the dough on the pan until it fills the pan.
  • Spread a layer of Kansas City-style BBQ sauce over the dough, leaving a small border around the edges.
    Use a brush to spread the BBQ sauce over the dough.
  • Evenly distribute the shredded meat over the sauce.
    Distribute the BBQ meat over the pizza.
  • Add dill pickle slices.
    If not everyone is going to love the pickles, you can add them on top after baking.
    Now add the pickles.
  • Distribute the shredded sharp cheddar cheese over the entire pizza.
    Distribute the cheddar cheese over the pizza.
  • Finally, add the sweet corn kernels.
    Finally add the corn kernals.

Step 6: Bake the Pizza

  • Place the pizza in the preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes.
  • Rotate the pizza in the oven and cook for another 8 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
    Place in the oven for 8 minutes.
  • If you have a pizza stone, I like to finish the pizza on the stone for about 3 minutes with the oven off. This will get a little extra crisp on the bottom.
    If you have a pizza stone, finish the pizza on the stone to get an extra crispy crust.
  • Remove the pizza from the oven and let it cool for 2-3 minutes before slicing.

Step 7: Slice and Serve – Chiefs Style!

  • Cut the pizza after the cheese has set slightly.
    Kansas City Style Pizza
  • And now serve and share with your football-loving friends!
    Go Kansas City Chiefs!

Nutrition

Calories: 616kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 31gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 1541mgPotassium: 239mgFiber: 3gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 636IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 424mgIron: 4mg
Keyword football pizza, Kansas City BBQ Pizza, Kansas City Style Pizza, pizza party, thin crust pizza
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!