Outsiders Pizza Company Chicago Style Pizza (Pepperoni)

I recently noticed Outsiders Pizza Company - whose Detroit-style pizza I enjoyed, though I was dismayed at how unhealthy it was - is now selling a Chicago-style deep dish pizza. 

The two best frozen pizzas I have ever had, the only two that would have garnered five-star ratings if I had such a blog back then, were both Chicago-style. I love a good deep dish pizza. 

Unfortunately, most frozen deep dish pizzas suck. Most of them are just "thick crust," which is different from true deep dish. 

But still, it was worth a try. 

There is a good amount of sauce, as there should be. 

As with Outsider's Detroit-style pizza, the calorie and fat content of this pizza is absurd. I know pizza is bad for you - it's tons of gluten and cheese, there is really no way to make that healthy - but damn, this pizza is unhealthy. 

 It took more than 25 minutes in the oven: a long time for regular frozen pizza, but not for deep dish. (When I make deep dish pizzas with fresh dough, I cook them for 35-40 minutes.)

Good news part 1: It was actually a reasonable facsimile of deep dish pizza, not merely thick crust. There was much more of the toppings than the crust.

Good news part 2: It was very tasty. The cheese and pepperoni, in particular, were wonderfully rich and salty in the best way.

Good news part 3: It was extremely filling. I only ate a little over half. So it wasn't as unhealthy as eating the whole pie.

The only knock? The sauce was much too sweet.  Unpleasantly so. With a great sauce, this could have legitimately been a five-star rating.

Look, there is no way a frozen pizza can ever replicate the glory of a homemade deep dish, or, if you're lucky enough to have one nearby, a pizzeria that specializes in deep dish. If you're from Chicago, this might not rank in the top 500 pizzas you have ever tried.

But for a frozen deep dish pizza, Outsiders has done an outstanding job.

THE RATING: 🍕🍕🍕🍕