This Detroit Style Pizza recipe has a perfect, chewy crust, pizza sauce, melty cheese galore, and an abundance of pepperoni cups. You’ll love this classic, deep-pan pizza that you can fully customize to your stomach’s content with endless toppings. No fancy tools or wood-fired oven needed to whip up this irresistible pizza at home!

Detroit style pizza on parchment paper with basil leaves and red pepper on the side

Friends, this recipe has been a longtime coming and I’m so hype to finally share it with you! I’ve been slowly chipping away at dialing in the bones of this iconic pizza. Have you ever had Detroit-style pizza before? Gahhh, there is nothing like it, baby! I don’t develop pizza recipes that often but you just cannot resist this specific version, yummo! It’s been popularized for a reason, let’s discuss!

Detroit Style Pizza!!! 🍕

What is Detroit style pizza exactly? First, this pizza gets its name due to a method or style of pizza affiliated with Detroit. Spots like Buddy’s, Jet’s, and other delicious pizzerias across the city that serve as the origination. Interestingly enough, this is just called pizza in Detroit (haha), but the term serves as a way to identify this pizza in other parts of the world.

⇢ & For all intense purposes, this is a deep-pan pizza to put it plainly.

Many cities around the nation have put their spin on this famed pizza, too. You’ll find versions in New York City, Austin, DC, and even California. It’s important to note that Detroit style pizza is a variation of the Sicilian pizza. It has distinctive characteristics in that it’s rectangular/square-shaped pizza, has a thick crust, and tons of melted cheese that extend to the pizza crusts’ edges.

⇢ Other recipes you might enjoy: red beans and rice, one-pan sausage kale pasta, easy weeknight dinners like baked ziti, my fave skillet lasagna, and this lemon herb butter ravioli…and don’t miss this loaded olive cheese bread, too!

close up of Detroit style pizza on parchment paper with basil leaves on the side

What You’ll Need To Make This Pizza

(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)

  • FOR THE PIZZA CRUST: I use bread flour. Bread flour contains a higher protein content than traditional all-purpose flour and a higher protein content helps to create more gluten in the crust. More gluten yields a chewier texture in the pizza crust. In addition, you’ll also need yeast, salt, garlic powder, granulated sugar, warm water, and olive oil (lotsss).
  • FOR THE PIZZA ASSEMBLY: Just a few ingredients such as pizza sauce, mozzarella + fontina cheese, and sliced pepperoni. Finish this beauty with some freshly chopped basil, red pepper flakes, and/or hot honey, if desired.

This Detroit style pizza recipe is not one to sweat over, peeps. You’ll love how the entire thing comes together with a quickness. It’ll have you feelin’ like you just ordered in; it has that pizza restaurant-quality, beyonddd damn good!

⇢ Fun fact: Wisconsin brick cheese is typically used on authentic Detroit style pizzas. This is a type of cheese that is high in fat (with a buttery flavor) giving amazing melting properties. Unfortunately, it’s also a cheese that can be hard to come by since it’s not widely available. Nevertheless, in comes mozzarella and fontina cheese which are excellent alternatives that melt like a dream!

Equipment Needed For Deep-Pan Pizza

What I love about this recipe is that it’s no fuss involved and you really do not need special equipment. The pizza dough can come together inside of your stand mixer or you can knead by hand in a large bowl. Boom.

To bake the pizza, you’ll need a 9×13-inch baking pan, the darker the better. In addition, make sure the pan is cast aluminum. These types of pans do a great job at conducting heat (hello ultra crispy af crust!) for baking amazing pizzas.

I have an authentic, Detroit style pizza pan (this is the one I own) and I truly love it…we use it for making focaccia and other things as well. If you make a lot of pizzas at home, it’s a great piece to invest in, but not entirely needed!

black hand oiling baking pan
coat the pan well with olive oil
black hand pressing pizza dough into pan
place the dough into the pan & rest
black hands stretching pizza dough inside of pan
continue dimpling dough in intervals
black hands pressing pizza dough into baking pan
final round of dimpling, dough has fully relaxed

How to Make Detroit Style Pizza: Part I

(Note: please see the recipe card directly below for the complete written instructions.)

  1. Prep the pizza dough. Bring the dough together in a stand mixer or using a large bowl. Then knead the dough until it becomes a cohesive mass.
  2. Dimple & rest the dough. Place the dough into your generously-oiled pan. We’re going to dimple and rest the dough in 20 minute intervals. After a few rounds of going back to the pan to do this, the dough will have relaxed enough to cover the entire bottom pan.

⇢ The key is to do this in intervals because when you first put the dough in the pan, it will not stretch the surface of the pan. At this stage, the pizza dough is still rising/proofing and slowly doing this ensures that the dough does not rip!

ingredients for Detroit style pizza on top of wooden surface

How to Make Detroit Style Pizza: Part II

Listen, after you’ve got the pizza dough resting in the pan, the rest of this recipe is an absolute breeze. The most time consuming part is over, rejoice! 🙌🏾

  1. Preheat the oven. Move an oven rack to the lowest position it can reach, near the oven floor. This helps to achieve a deep, crispy pizza bottom, swoon. Then crank the oven up to 500°F.
  2. Gather your pizza ingredients. Set up a mise en place station by having the pizza sauce, cheeses, and pepperoni slices ready to go.
  3. Build the pizza. Top the dough with sauce, follow it up by adding the cheese, and then the sliced pepperoni. Switch the order of the 3 if you’d like!
  4. Bake away. Place the pizza in the oven to bake (and wait patiently, ugh).
  5. Cool & serve. Let the pizza cool a bit, take out of pan, and slice/serve.

⇢ Top your Detroit style pizza with some freshly chopped basil, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, and/or a drizzle of hot honey…so delicious, y’all!

pizza dough resting inside of Bakin pan on wooden surface
rest dough while oven is preheating
black hands spreading pizza sauce on top of pizza dough in baking pan
spread pizza sauce over dough
cubed cheese on top of unbaked pizza dough
add cubed cheese pieces
black hands placing pepperoni slices on top of Detroit style pizza
cover with sliced pepperoni

Let’s Talk About Pizza Toppings

The most popular order of Detroit style pizza is cheese and pepperoni. It’s a classic and honestly one that will always be my personal favorite as well. However, you can surely spin the block if you want to try something different. Here are some flavor combinations to inspire you ♡:

  • Supreme-style: pizza sauce, low-moisture mozzarella, pepperoni, cooked Italian sausage, green bell peppers, onions, and black olives/mushrooms.
  • Meat lover’s-style: pizza sauce, low-moisture mozzarella, pepperoni, cooked Italian sausage, ham, and bacon.
  • All things veggie–style: pizza sauce, low-moisture mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, green bell peppers, and black olives.
  • The grown up-style: burrata, low-moisture mozzarella, sliced prosciutto (placed on after baking), arugula (topped after baking), and parmesan cheese, to garnish…a drizzle of balsamic glaze would also be epic here!

⇢ For all my pepperoni fans, let’s gather together for a moment. The roni cups are of critical importance, yes? I love me some cup-and-char pepperonis, these are ones used at many pizzerias across the world. You know them, they have that unique “pop/curl” that get extra crispy and hold in all the juices, drool.

While I like them, I’ve also used sliced pepperoni from Hormel, too!

Detroit style pizza

Detroit Style Pizza: The Cheesy Details

As I mentioned earlier, Wisconsin brick (or just brick) cheese has the closest association to Detroit style pizza. While it is not readily available at most markets, there are many other perfect substitutions. Cheese is often a matter of personal preference and you should feel free to swap if you’d like.

I really dig the low-moisture mozzarella + fontina cheese combo listed in the recipe card. Both are great pizza cheeses with excellent melting capabilities. Obviously, if you choose to deviate, just be sure that the cheeses you use are great at melting with a flavor profile to match your pizza toppings.

*The best cheeses for pizza: Mozzarella (fresh or low-moisture), Fontina, Gouda, Muenster, Provolone, Cheddar, Gruyère, and Jack.

⇢ Why cube the cheese? Really great question! Cutting the cheese into small cubes is all about the pizza cooking at an even rate. Cubed cheese will take a little longer to melt as opposed to shredded/grated cheese. Since we’re working with a deep-pan pizza, the delayed melting of the cubed cheese gives time for the pizza dough to bake without a burnt cheese situation occurring.

black hand reaching for Detroit style pizza slice

Tips + Tricks, FAQs, & More For The Best Detroit Style Pizza You Will Ever Have 😛

  • Use fresh yeast! Double check that expiration date!
  • Can I use all-purpose flour? Yes! I prefer bread flour, but ap flour is fine, too.
  • Dimpling the dough? This means to gently press the dough using your fingertips to massage/stretch the dough, filling the pan.
  • Be patient: Panning the dough will take some time. This is the resting period for the dough to prevent it from shrinking/being overworked, and gives the dough time to relax; 20-minute intervals of dimpling, perfection.
  • Reheating pizza leftovers: Leftovers of this Detroit style pizza? Hard to imagine, but okay lol. I am an avid believer in reheating pizza in the oven (about 10 minutes at 350°F) or on the stove in a cast iron pan over medium-low heat until warmed through. Both methods help retain pizza crispiness!

What To Serve With Detroit Style Pizza?

We love serving this pizza right alongside Caesar salad (whew!), but any side salad will be great. Also, peep my loaded olive cheese bread and these lemon pepper chicken wings for extra indulgence if you must, you won’t regret it.

Detroit style pizza slices on parchment paper with basil leaves on the side

Don’t sleep on this Detroit Style Pizza recipe, y’all. This one right here will for sure be a crowd favorite, it’s so good! Be sure to tag @butterbeready in your BBR recipe creations, I sure love to see it when you do. Until next time! 🤟🏾

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Detroit style pizza on parchment paper with basil leaves and red pepper on the side

Detroit Style Pizza

★★★★★ 5 from 5 reviews
  • Author: Quin Liburd
  • Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Main Dishes
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

This Detroit Style Pizza recipe has a perfect, chewy crust, pizza sauce, melty cheese galore, and an abundance of pepperoni cups. You’ll love this classic, deep-pan pizza that you can fully customize to your stomach’s content with endless toppings. No fancy tools or wood-fired oven needed to whip up this irresistible pizza at home!

Ingredients

Scale

For the pizza dough:

  • 2 1/4 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
  • 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 cup warm water, about 115–120°F
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the pan & as needed

For the pizza toppings/assembly:

  • 3/4 cup pizza sauce (we love using Rao’s!)
  • 8-ounce brick, low-moisture mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
  • 4-ounce brick, fontina cheese, cut into cubes
  • 5 ounces sliced pepperoni
  • freshly chopped basil, for garnish- optional
  • crushed red pepper and/or hot honey, for serving- optional

Instructions

For the pizza dough:

  1. Generously oil a dark, aluminum 9×13-inch baking pan. Be sure to coat the entire bottom and a bit up the sides of the pan as well. Then set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, garlic powder, salt, and sugar and whisk together. Then add the warm water and olive oil. Mix on the lowest speed for 30 seconds or stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the mixture resembles a coarse, shaggy dough.
  3. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another 30-60 seconds until the dough is a smooth, cohesive mass and slightly sticky to the touch. Alternatively, if making the dough by hand, mix and knead until the dough is smooth and supple.
  4. Add the dough into the greased pan, coat your fingers with oil if dough is sticky, and gently dimple the dough using your fingers. The dough will not stretch the entire surface of the pan just yet, don’t force it or it will cause the dough to rip. Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest + rise in a warm environment. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
  5. Working in 20-minute intervals, go back to the pan and remove the towel/plastic wrap. Dimple the dough (as illustrated in the images) again, gently spreading it closer to the pan’s edges. Cover the dough and rest for another 20 minutes. Afterwards, remove the towel/plastic wrap and dimple the dough once more. At this stage, the dough should have relaxed enough to cover the whole pan surface and reach the edges. Cover the pan once more and continue resting the dough while the oven is preheating, about 45 minutes.

For the pizza assembly & baking:

  1. Move an oven rack to the lowest position you can get it near the oven floor and then preheat the oven to 500°F. 
  2. Return to the dough and evenly spread the pizza sauce onto the dough to cover the entire surface. Top the sauce with the cubed pieces of cheese, covering the surface and up to the edges. Then followed by a covering of the sliced pepperoni, overlapping, if needed- it may seem like a lot of pepperonis but they will shrink and shrivel up. 
  3. Place the pan into the oven and bake the pizza for 15 minutes- rotating the pan at the halfway mark, until the cheese is super bubbly with golden brown edges, and the pepperoni slices are slightly charred and crispy.
  4. Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes. Then carefully maneuver the pizza out of the pan onto a large cutting board. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice. Garnish and top the pizza with fresh chopped basil, crushed red pepper, and/or a drizzle of hot honey, if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. For best recipe success, please read the blog post & notes in its entirety with video tutorial before beginning.

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