RECIPE: Schmitter Pizza is a Crazy Tasty Tribute to the Legendary Philadelphia Sandwich

McNally’s Tavern in Chestnut Hill, PA is famous for its Schmitter Sandwich that I found so delicious I wanted to turn it into a pizza!  Stopping at McNally’s has become a bit of a tradition for my friends and I when traveling down Interstate I-476 to attend Philadelphia Phillies games.

I first learned about the Schmitter sandwich well over a decade ago when a friend and I were at Citizens Bank Park attending a Phillies game looking for some eats when we overheard two enthusiastic gentlemen challenging each other to eat an increasingly large amount of Schmitters.  They said the name “Schmitter” so many times during the debate that it became embedded in our minds and we simply had to try it!  I’m not sure how many sandwiches those guys ended up gobbling down, but I’m glad we overheard that spirited debate, because it lead to experiencing unique local cuisine that we would have never heard about before!

A look inside the Schmitter Sandwich at McNally’s in Chestnut Hill, PA

Schmitter Sandwich Ingredients

According to McNally’s menu, the Schmitter sandwich includes: sliced beef with extra cheese, fried onions, tomatoes, grilled salami, and Schmitter sauce on a kaiser roll.  For those who have not tried it, Schmitter sauce is very similar to thousand island dressing to my taste buds.

For some, including myself at first, this combination of ingredients may sound gross, but after my first bite I understood why it has such legendary status!  The flavors and textures are unreal.  The grilled kaiser bun, sweet fried onions, salty salami, juicy ripe tomatoes, and Schmitter sauce all contrast one another to create a wonderful adventure of a sandwich.

Schmitter Pizza

As I returned home from McNally’s, I couldn’t help but to be inspired and wonder how this fantastic sandwich would be if I made a pizza out of it!  So I stopped by the store and picked up the following ingredients:

  • Sliced beef
  • Tomatoes
  • Onions
  • Hard Salami
  • Thousand Island Dressing
  • American Cheese

From there I made a simple pizza dough recipe out of Tony Gemignani’s Pizza Bible.  You can use your favorite dough recipe, or even use store bought dough or premade pizza crust.

Prepare the Ingredients

To prep the ingredients prior to assembling the pizza, I did the following

  • Pressed dough into a pan and parbaked in preheated 450f degree oven for 4 minutes, then removed from oven to cool.
  • Sliced then fried the onions slowly in a frying pan with just a little oil and salt.
  • Cooked the beef in a frying pan.
  • Fried the salami and cut into smaller pieces.
  • Sliced the tomatoes.

Grabbing a slice of the homemade Schmitter Pizza!

Making the Pizza

After the prep work it was all about putting the pizza together to and hopefully represent the legendary sandwich well!  I first laid down some American Cheese slices and drizzled with some light thousand island dressing.  Then I layered on the salami, steak, tomatoes, and fried onions.  I added some additional cheddar cheese (not required) as a binder to hold everything together.

I baked the pizza in the oven for approximately 6 minutes until the crust was crispy and all of the cheese was melted.  I removed the pizza from the oven and set on a rack to cool.  I finished with a final drizzle of thousand island dressing, and this recipe was complete!

To see the process of how I make a Schmitter, please check out the video below!

A Close up of the many toppings on the Schmitter Pizza!