A uniquely Scottish indulgence, this chip shop style pizza crunch recipe is undeniably delicious. Serve it with salt and vinegar or salt and sauce, depending on location. Frying Tonight!
“Deep fry your pizza, we’re gonnae deep fry your pizza” sang the tartan army of Scottish football fans in a match vs Italy. It’s funny because it’s true. When it comes to food, we’ll always be happy to take things up a notch. In this case, that means dipping pizza in batter and deep frying it.
You can find deep fried pizza and its battered sibling, ‘pizza crunch,’ on the menu of most chip shops in Scotland.
Ingredients For Pizza Crunch
Surprisingly, chip shops use pizzas for fried pizza and pizza crunch that are actually made to be deep fried. If you’re interested in recreating this dish at home, you can use inexpensive supermarket pizzas to good effect. You don’t need to use gourmet pizza for a chip shop style pizza crunch. Instead, just a basic pizza like the one pictured (typically sold under the supermarket’s ‘value’ range) is perfect. Despite being fried in oil, at the right temperature the result is deliciously crispy batter on the outside and soft, fluffy pizza on the inside.
- Batter Mix: Plain Flour, Cornflour, Bicarbonate of Soda, Sea Salt, Beer or Lager.
- Pizza: Simple ‘value range’ cheese and tomato pizza.
- Oil: Sunflower Oil or Vegetable Oil, for deep frying.
How To Make Chip Shop Style Pizza Crunch
This chippy pizza crunch recipe uses a simple batter combined with inexpensive shop-bought pizza to make a chip shop classic! All that’s required is to mix the batter ingredients together, dunk the pizza halves and deep fry until golden!
Step 1: Batter
In a large bowl, add 80 grams plain flour, 40 grams corn flour, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and generous pinch bicarbonate of soda. Mix briefly. Slowly add 150 ml cold lager or beer, adding more or less as necessary and whisking thoroughly until a smooth batter is formed. The consistency of the batter should be similar to single cream.
Step 2: Fry
Heat oil for deep frying. Cut 1 100g cheese and tomato pizza into two equal pieces. Spread out 2 tablespoons plain flour on a plate. Press pizza cheese side down into flour, then into prepared batter mix, allowing any excess to drip off. Carefully drop coated pizza into hot oil, cheese side down. Fry for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until batter is golden and crispy.
Step 3: Serve
Remove fried pizza crunch from oil with tongs or a slotted spoon. Drain off any excess oil and set aside on a plate. Season with salt and vinegar, or salt and sauce, and serve.
I hope you’ll try this pizza crunch recipe. If you do, let me know in the comments below how it goes!
Pizza Crunch (Chip Shop Style)
Equipment
- 1 Deep Fryer
Ingredients
- 80 grams plain flour
- 40 grams corn flour
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- generous pinch bicarbonate of soda
- 150 ml cold lager or beer (I used 0.0% alcohol peroni)
- oil for deep frying
- 1 100g cheese and tomato pizza
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add 80 grams plain flour, 40 grams corn flour, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and generous pinch bicarbonate of soda. Mix briefly. Slowly add 150 ml cold lager or beer, adding more or less as necessary and whisking thoroughly until a smooth batter is formed. The consistency of the batter should be similar to single cream.
- Heat oil for deep frying. Cut 1 100g cheese and tomato pizza into two equal pieces. Spread out 2 tablespoons plain flour on a plate. Press pizza cheese side down into flour, then into prepared batter mix, allowing any excess to drip off. Carefully drop coated pizza into hot oil, cheese side down. Fry for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until batter is golden and crispy.
- Remove fried pizza crunch from oil with tongs or a slotted spoon. Drain off any excess oil and set aside on a plate. Season with salt and vinegar, or salt and sauce, and serve.
Chippy Style Pizza Crunch Recipe FAQ
What is a Scottish pizza crunch?
Pizza crunch is a battered and deep fried pizza sold in chip shops around Scotland. It’s usually sold in half or full size portions, with or without chips.
What’s the difference between a pizza crunch & and a deep fried pizza?
Batter! In both cases, pizza is deep fried in hot oil. But a pizza crunch is first dipped in a chip-shop style batter, then deep fried until golden and crispy.
Do you like this chip shop style pizza crunch recipe? If so, buying a copy of my book might appeal to you! In The Takeaway Secret you can find a host of restaurant and takeaway style recipes that you can make at home. You’ll learn how to make lamb doner kebab, fried chicken, chicken balls and more! You can buy The Takeaway Secret in paperback or kindle form here.
- McGovern, Kenny (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 320 Pages – 12/14/2017 (Publication Date) – Robinson (Publisher)
