I love a spicy Italian $5 footlong, but I also love a pizza. Oh, hold on, I have an ideeeeaaaa!!!!! How about I use all the filler inside my spicy Italian sub as topping for the best pizza ever made?!?!?!? What is the name of this impeccable pizza? Why this is the spicy Italian sub chipotle pizza recipe.
I used to love going to a particular sandwich spot that sold for $5 footlongs. I won’t say their name until they run me a check, but you may or may not have an idea of what place I am talking about.
Furthermore, I enjoyed getting real creative and putting whatever I want on my $5 footlong.
In fact, I used to play this game to see how crazy I can make my sandwich. When I tell you about the look on the person making the sandwich face, priceless!
Eventually, I made the sandwich that triumphs all sandwiches ever known to man, with the help of the foundation being a spicy Italian sub.
By the way, this sandwich I made was inspired by every pizza restaurant I have been to, which later inspired me to make the spicy Italian sub chipotle pizza recipe.
Ironically enough, everybody who has tasted this sandwich says it tastes exactly like a pizza
How I Make This $5 Footlong Taste Like A Pizza
What I would do to make this sandwich is of course order the $5 footlong spicy Italian sub. What goes on a spicy Italian sub? The answer is pepperoni and salami.
I was never too picky with the bread, but I usually go with the Italian herbs and cheese.
Once I have my bread and the meat is on the sandwich, I add my cheese and all my veggies. That’s green bell peppers, onions, baby spinach, black olives, banana peppers, jalapeños, and iceberg lettuce.
I’m not picky with the cheese, but if I really want the sandwich to taste like a pizza, I would go with the mozzarella.
After that, I toast the sandwich up, then I put marinara, sweet onion, and chipotle sauce on my sandwich.
You want to put the marinara, sweet onion, and chipotle sauce on after you toast the sandwich so that the bread doesn’t get soggy.
Finishing The Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza Recipe Inspiration
Now I know what you are thinking. “Why would you make a pizza sandwich and throw the sweet onion and chipotle sauce on it?”
The only explanation I have is that I am random when it comes to food and I love to experiment.
Now, granted, I have done some experiments in the kitchen that didn’t come out so great, but this wasn’t one of them.
The chipotle sauce and the sweet onion sauce blend together perfectly with all the other ingredients.
From time to time, I’ll add grated Parmesan cheese, oil, and black pepper to the sandwich. Other than that, the sandwich is ready to go.
Is The Spicy Italian Healthy?
Some sub joints are known for being a place to assist with weight loss.
Does that mean the $5 footlong spicy Italian sub is healthy? Nope.
Some people will say that any sandwich is healthy as long as you prepare it right, but to be frank, if I’m trying to be healthy I’m probably not going to go to a sub sandwich place in the first place.
What’s Good On A Spicy Italian Sub?
Aside from the things that I put on my $5 footlong spicy Italian sub, I would say anything that you would put on a pizza or eat with Italian food would go great with the sandwich.
My History With Pizza
I love pizza from the bottom of my heart. I love pizza so much that it would make sense for me to open up a pizza restaurant.
Back when I was going to community college, I used to always try to find pizza restaurants near me.
Unfortunately, options for pizza were pretty limited when you are living in a small town.
Later down the line, I went on to graduate and moved to the city.
At that point, not only did I graduated from school, but my taste of pizza graduated as well. I went to your average pizza joints a lot less and started indulging in local spots that served brick oven pizzas a lot more.
I’m here to tell you, once you go brick oven, it is hard to be impressed by any other pizza.
As much as I enjoyed brick oven pizza, my wallet was not experiencing the same joy, so I had to slow down on eating out at pizza restaurants.
I still wanted to eat some amazing pizza, so I started making them myself.
Unfortunately, I do not have a brick oven pizza, but do you think that will stop me? Nope.
Spicy Italian Turned Pizza
Since I was told, by multiple people that my $5 footlong spicy Italian sub, that I came up with, tastes like a pizza I figured why not make a pizza using those ingredients.
I didn’t use the sweet onion sauce when I created this recipe, but it wasn’t needed as the spicy Italian sub chipotle pizza recipe came out fantastic!
The best thing about this pizza is the creativity behind it. I knew that no pizza restaurant near me had anything like this.
Making The Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza Recipe
Serving Size: 8
- Pizza Dough
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (Use The Exact Amount)
- 3/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp Light Olive Oil (In Dough Mixture)
- 1/4 tsp Light Olive Oil (During Kneading Process)
- 1/4 tsp Light Olive Oil (After Letting Dough Rise)
- 1 tsp White Sugar
- 3/4 cups Water, Room Temperature
- Pizza Sauce
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 oz Onions, diced
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tbsp White sugar
- 1/2 tsp Basil leaves
- 1/4 tsp oregano leaves
- 1/8 tsp Black pepper
- 1 tbsp Light Olive oil
- 2 Tbsp Chipotle Aioli
- Toppings
- Salami (Use As Much Salami As You Want)
- Regular Or Turkey Pepperonis (Use As Much Pepperoni As You Want)
- ½ Cup Baby Spinach Or Spinach Leaves
- 1 Cup Iceberg Lettuce
- 1/4 Whole Oz Onions
- 1/4 Whole Green Bell Pepper
- 2 Oz Pickled Jalapeno Slices
- 1 ½ Oz Pepperoncini
- 2 Oz Black Olives
- 3 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
- Equipment
- Oven
- Parchment Paper
- Pizza Peel
- Mixing Bowl With Lid
- 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet
- Pot
- Stand Mixer (Optional)
- Bread Maker (Optional)
- Cookie Sheet (Optional)
- Rolling Pin (Optional)
- Pizza Cutter (Optional)
Prepare The Dough
- Initial Ingredients For Dough:
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 cups All-Purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp Light Olive Oil
- 1 tsp White sugar
- 3/4 cups Water, Room Temperature
- Knead the dough until it’s smooth. If you have a stand mixer, then you can use that to knead the dough.
- Knead the dough into a nice round ball and rub 1/4 tbsp of oil on the dough.
- Place dough in a sealed container and let rest for 1 hour.
- After an hour, knead the dough into a round ball again, rub the dough with the rest of the oil, then place the pizza dough in a sealed container for another hour.
- During this resting period, preheat the oven with an iron grid inside on the highest oven temperature (550 degrees) for 3o minutes, then put the oven on high broil for 30 mins. After that, the oven will be ready to use, but keep it on high broil because that will be the setting to cook the pizza.
- Flatten the pizza dough into a round 10 – 12 inch pizza by using your fingertips.
Using A Bread Maker For The Dough (Optional)
The first thing you would want to do is to put the wet ingredients into the bread maker.
Next, add the dry ingredients and turn the bread maker on the dough cycle.
The bread maker will do its thing and a timer will show up letting you know when the dough is ready.
If you are good at making the dough by hand, then the bread maker is not needed.
When the dough is ready, sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and place the dough on the area with the flour. The flour will help prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
Use the rolling pin to flatten the dough out into a pizza shape. After that, place the dough on the parchment paper and cookie sheet.
Keep in mind, when you are using a rolling pin, you are pushing the air out of the dough.
I recommend using a rolling pin if you are making a thin crust pizza. For everything else, use your fingertips.
Making The Pizza Sauce
- Sauté onion in oil until light brown.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
Adding The Toppings
First, add the sauce, then add your meat, cheese, and veggies.
Putting The Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza In The Oven
As mentioned before, preheat the oven with an iron grid inside on the highest oven temperature for 30 minutes, then put the oven on high broil for 30 mins.
Flatten the pizza on parchment paper and add your sauce, cheese, and toppings. Then, with the parchment paper still under the dough, put the pizza in the oven on top of the cast-iron skillet for 4-5 minutes.
Make sure to use the pizza peel so that you don’t burn yourself. Remember, the oven will stay on high broil until the pizza is ready.
If You Are Using A Cookie Sheet Instead Of A Cast Iron Skillet (Optional)
Disclaimer: The pizza will not come out the same using the cookie sheet method, but the pizza will be delicious all the same.
The oven will preheat at 450 degrees. When the oven is hot enough, put the pizza inside and let it cook for 10-12 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
Once the pizza cools down, start cutting it into slices and enjoy.
Think Outside The Pizza Box With This Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza Recipe.
The first time I had this pizza, I said that I don’t need to go to a pizza restaurant near me ever again. That is somewhat of a lie because I don’t be feeling like cooking all the time and delivery is convenient.
But whether you are ordering delivery, cooking your pizza, or eating a $5 footlong, just remember that the best foods are the ones that use creativity.

Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza Recipe
Supplies and Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Stand Mixer Optional
- Bread Maker Optional
- Cookie Sheet Optional
- Marble Rolling Pin Optional
Ingredients
Pizza Sauce
- 1 Cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 Oz Onions Diced
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Tbsp White Sugar
- 1/2 Tsp Basil Leaves
- 1/4 Tsp Oregano leaves
- 1/8 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil Light
Pizza Dough
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cup All-Purpose flour Use The Exact Amount
- 3/4 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil Light
- 1 Tsp White Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Water Room Temperature
Toppings
- 32 Whole Pepperoni (You Can Use As Much Pepperoni As You Want; Turkey Pepperoni Can Be Used)
- 12 Whole Salami (Use As Much Salami As You Want)
- 1/2 Cup Baby Spinach Regular Spinach Leaves Can Be Used
- 1 Cup Iceberg Lettuce
- 1/4 Whole Onion
- 1/4 Whole Green Bell Pepper
- 2 Oz Jalapeno Pickled Slices
- 1 1/2 Oz Pepperoncini
- 2 Oz Black Olives
- 3 Cup Mozzarella Shredded
Instructions
Preparing The Dough
- Mix all the ingredients for the dough, but only use 1 1/2 tbsp of light olive oil.
- Knead the dough until it's smooth. Knead dough into a nice round ball and rub 1/4 tbsp of oil on the dough. If you have a stand mixer, then you can use that to knead the dough.
- Place dough in a sealed container and let rest for 1 hour. After an hour, knead the dough into a round ball again, rub the dough with the rest of the oil, then place the pizza dough in a sealed container for another hour.
- Preheat the oven with an iron grid inside on the highest oven temperature for 30 minutes.
- Put the oven on high broil for 30 mins. Keep the oven on high broil for the pizza.
Using A Bread Maker For The Dough (Optional)
- The first thing you would want to do is to put the wet ingredients into the bread maker. Next, add the dry ingredients and turn the bread maker on the dough cycle.
- The mixture will be in the bread maker until the timer goes off.
Making The Pizza Sauce
- Sauté onion in oil until light brown.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
Add Toppings To Pizza
- Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface with parchment paper covering that surface and place the dough on the area with the flour. The flour will help prevent the dough from sticking to the surface.
- Flatten the pizza dough into a round 10 - 12 inch pizza by using your fingertips. Make sure to flatten the pizza dough on parchment paper
- I recommend using a rolling pin if you are creating a thin crust pizza. This is optional. The pizza will come out different from the pictures shown for this recipe.
- Add the tomato sauce, then add your cheese, meat, and vegetables to the prepared pizza dough.
Putting The Spicy Italian Sub Chipotle Pizza In The Oven
- With the parchment paper still under the pizza, put the pizza in the oven on top of the cast-iron skillet for 4-5 minutes. The oven will stay on high broil until the pizza is ready. Also, make sure to use the pizza peel so that you do not burn yourself.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and cut the pizza.
If You Are Using A Cookie Sheet Instead Of A Cast Iron Skillet (Optional)
- Disclaimer: The pizza will not come out the same using the cookie sheet method, but the pizza will be delicious all the same.
- The oven will preheat at 450 degrees. After preheating, put the pizza inside and let it cook for 10 minutes.