Homemade Detroit-Style Pizza

Unless you're from the Midwest, chances are you've never tried Detroit-style pizza. You're definitely missing out! Focaccia-style dough is topped with two types of cheeses, streaks of sauce, and the whole thing is baked, creating a delicious pan pizza with a cheesy crust on every slice.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. Read our full affiliate disclosure here.

Detroit-style pizza was invented in 1964 by Gus Guerra, the owner of Buddy's Rendezvous, a chain that still exists today. The key to Detroit-style pizza is the pan - rectangular with slightly sloped sides, it helps to give the pizza its signature cheese crust.

We like to make ours with vodka sauce, pepperoni, and hot honey. It's a flavor combination that's always a hit with our friends and family.

Jump to:

• Homemade Detroit-style Pizza Ingredients
• How to Make this Homemade Detroit-Style Pizza Recipe
• Substitutions and Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Tips and FAQ
• Top tip
• More recipes to try
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

Homemade Detroit-style Pizza Ingredients

For the dough

• Bread flour: This dough uses bread flour, which creates a more open and chewy crust when compared to a crust made with all-purpose flour.
• Yeast: be sure to use instant yeast.
• Kosher salt: to season the dough.
• Water: use room temperature water, there's no need to heat it up.

Toppings

• Pepperoni: Be sure to use pepperoni that has a natural casing to ensure that it cups and then chars.
• Vodka sauce: If you haven't tried vodka sauce on a pizza, you really should - it's a little creamier and more flavorful than a traditional marinara. You can of course use a regular pizza sauce. To save on time, we just used a store-bought sauce.
• Cheeses: Detroit-style pizza is traditionally made with Wisconsin brick cheese, which can be difficult to find nationwide. We instead used a 50/50 blend of cubed Butterkäse (Roth Cheese sells this and you can likely find it in grocery stores) and shredded whole milk mozzarella.
• Hot honey: The sweetness of the honey does a lot to cut through the heaviness of the cheese. It also adds a touch of pleasant heat.
• Red pepper flakes: These are totally optional, but they add another hint of heat.

How to Make this Homemade Detroit-Style Pizza Recipe

STEP 1: Make your dough. We made ours in a food processor, borrowing from Serious Eats. This is way easier than kneading or using a stand mixer. Just combine flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl, pulse to combine, and then slowly pour in your water. Let your food processor run until it forms a ball, which should take 30 seconds, and then let it go another 30 seconds.

Oil a bowl well, and transfer your dough into it. Just note, the dough will be super sticky. Pour a little oil over the top of the dough, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and let the dough cold ferment in the fridge for at least overnight, but ideally for 3 days.

STEP 2: Oil your pan, and then transfer your dough into it. Oil your fingers, and pat/stretch the dough to its final shape in the pan. This will likely take 2-3 instances of patting and stretching. When you get it as far as you can, let it rest for 30 minutes, and then repeat. Make sure to stretch from the middle to ensure that the dough has an even thickness.

STEP 3: Add your cheese. Place cubed cheese evenly on the dough, being sure to place pieces around the edge. Sprinkle the mozzarella around the cubed cheese, making sure to go all the way to the edges. The cheese will brown against the edge of the pan, creating the pizza's signature cheese "crown".

STEP 4: Add sauce on top of the cheese in 3 lines, then top with pepperoni. I know this sounds weird, but the sauce goes on top of the cheese on a Detroit-style pizza!

STEP 5: Bake at 475˚F for 15-20 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven, until cheese is starting to brown and the pepperoni is starting to char.

Substitutions and Variations

• Flour - We think bread flour creates a better crust, but you can use all-purpose flour in a pinch.
• Cheese - Try to use a 50/50 blend of shredded mozzarella (we used larger shreds, like Tillamook), and a rich cheese like Butterkäse, brick cheese, provolone, or muenster.
• Sauce - We really like the taste of of vodka sauce, but you can use a regular pizza sauce as well.
• Pepperoni - Feel free to use pepperoni, sausage, or whatever other toppings you enjoy!

Equipment

Detroit-style pizza pan: This is a key piece of equipment, and you can't really make a Detroit style without one. The pan gives the pizza its signature shape, and it also helps to create that perfect cheese "crown" on the sides of the pizza.

We used a food processor to make the dough. This process is so much easier than hand kneading or using a stand mixer.

Storage

• Refrigerator: Store covered in the fridge for 3-5 days.
• Freezer: This pizza freezes really well. Be sure to place in an airtight container and enjoy within 3 months.

Tips and FAQ

More tips

• Oil, wet, or flour your fingers whenever you need to touch the dough. It's very sticky.
• Let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight at a minimum, for 3 days ideally, and for 5 days maximum.
• It will likely take 2-3 sessions of patting and stretching to get the dough to fill the pan. Be sure to stretch and pat from the middle, so the sides don't end up being thinner than the middle of the pizza.
• Use a pepperoni that's advertised as a "cupping" or "cup" pepperoni. You can also slice your own pepperoni. As long as it's in a natural casing, it will cup. We also like to keep the pepperoni away from the sides of the pan, as it tends to burn when it's close to the edge.
• Be sure to spread the cheese all the way to the edge of the pizza - this isn't like ordinary pizza where the cheese stops before the crust. You actually want a lot of cheese along the sides, where it will crisp up.
• For an authentic Detroit-style pizza, spoon the sauce on top of the cheese.

More recipes to try

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Print

📖 Recipe