Detroit-Style Pizza (Guide, Recipe, and Where to Find)

Growing up, I was NEVER a fan of deep-dish pizza.

It wasn’t until a year ago that I discovered Detroit-style pizza…

…and now I’m obsessed 😎 🍕

As a native Michigander, I’ve tried all the original Detroit-style places around Detroit–but I also make it at home (almost weekly).

Keep reading for…

• My adapted (easy) recipe
• The history and details of Detroit-style
• The absolute BEST places to find Detroit-style

Let’s pizza 👇🍕

What is Detroit-Style Pizza?

Detroit-style is a square deep-dish pizza.

Here’s a breakdown of the characteristics:

Shape	Square or rectangle
Size	Usually cooked in 10×14 (or slightly larger) pans. The pizza is usually 1.5-3″ thick
Dough	Bread-like, similar to focaccia. It’s usually softer in the middle of the pizza, and crispier toward the edges
Cheese	Traditionally uses Wisconsin Brick cheese (which is similar to cheddar, but with a higher fat content). Mozzarella (or a mix or mozzarella and Colby Jack) can work as well.
Toppings	Varies. Pepperoni only is the most popular, but you can find/put lots of toppings on Detroit-style
Sauce	Very minimal sauce, usually put on top of cheese and toppings (and dripped onto the pizza in 2-3 stripes)
Pan	Square or rectangular steel pans. Detroit-style pans are usually taller than normal baking pans, and have slanted edges that are wider at the top.
History	Originated in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan (see more below). The square pans were originally reused drip pans from automobile factories!

Truthfully, it’s more like bread topped with cheese & toppings, and a bit less like traditional pizza.

How Is Detroit-Style Pizza Different From Other Types of Pizza?

Most pizzas are circular, thinner, and have cheese & toppings on top of the sauce.

Detroit-style pizza is square, thicker, and has a light stripe of sauce on top of the toppings and cheese!

• Neapolitan: Small (12-14″) pie, thin but with a bubbly crunchy crust, fresh mozzarella cheese, Tipo 00 flour cooked in 850F degree oven
• NY Style: Thinner, circle, TONS of different toppings styles, all-purpose, read, or Tipo 00 flour
• Chicago: Circular and deep-dish (very deep), with toppings mixed with the cheese in the middle, and a thick layer of sauce on top
• Detroit-style: Square, medium-thick, with Wisconsin brick cheese & toppings on top of the dough, light layer of sauce on top

Also, Detroit-style pizza MAY have come from Sicilian pizza, another deep-dish (ish) square pizza!

Where Did Detroit-Style Pizza Come From?

Detroit-style pizza was invented by Gus Guerra and Connie Piccinato in 1946. Gus ran a bar and pizzeria called “Buddy’s Rendezvous” in East Detroit, and it’s believed that Connie (who was Italian), put the first Detroit-style pizza in the oven!

It’s likely that the Detroit-style dough & pans used come from traditional Sicilian pizza.

The earliest pizzas were made in repurposed steel drip pans from the local automotive factories (they supposedly cleaned off the silicon coating). The pans were made in the 1930s and 1940s to hold spare parts, scrap metal, etc, and some are still in use for Detroit-style pizza today (apparently. It’s hard to nail down where, exactly).

Gus would eventually sell Buddy’s and start another pizzeria with his wife, Anna, called Cloverleaf, but more and more local Detroit places started making the thick, gooey pizza.

Where to Find Great Detroit-Style Pizza:

Although the original restaurants are obviously near Detroit, Michigan, USA, you can find Detroit-style pizza all over now!

Detroit Area:

These links will open in Google maps!

• Buddy’s Pizza: It’s still there, and more famous than ever! There are a number of locations now.
• Cloverleaf Pizza: This local chain has several locations, all around the Detroit area
• Loui’s Pizza: Most people consider Loui’s to be the best Detroit-style pizza (at least according to the reviews, it’s my favorite, too!)

Outside Detroit:

• Jet’s Pizza (chain): Jet’s can be found all over now–and the pizza is…just ok.
• Pizza Hut (and Dominos): You can sometimes find Detroit-style at the big chain pizza places, though it’s not a permanent part of their menu. Check your local chain place!
• Detroit-Style Pizza Co (online orders): They’re based near Detroit, but will (sometimes) ship nationwide! At the time of this writing, they’re not accepting new online orders, but they usually do.
• Your hometown! Do a quick Google Maps search in your area! New York, Denver, L.A., and several other cities have Detroit-style pizza places popping up.

There’s even a new shop in London!

How to Make Detroit-Style Pizza at Home:

First, you can find our full Detroit-style pizza recipe here!

The instructions are a lot more detailed there, but here’s a quick overview:

Detroit-style recipe:

To make the dough:

• Bread flour
• Salt
• Yeast (I prefer Active Dried Yeast because it’s cheap and easy to find, but you can also use Instant Dried Yeast or fresh yeast. You will have to slightly alter the recipe!)
• Water (from the tap is fine, though filtered is probably better)
• Olive oil (I recommend extra virgin)

Toppings & Cheese:

• Cheese: Wisconsin Brick cheese is best for Detroit-style, but it’s hard to find. A mix of mozzarella and Colby Jack works great! (and just mozzarella works as well. Buy it in blocks and shred it yourself)
• Toppings: Whatever you want! I recommend buying pepperoni in sticks at the grocery store and slicing it yourself
• Sauce: You can pick up a jar of pizza sauce at the store–but I actually use a can of San Marzano tomatoes mixed with oil, salt, and basil (this is the preferred sauce for Neapolitan pizza, and I like it for Detroit-style as well)

Two more things that are quite handy:

• Pan: A Detroit-style pan is obviously preferred, as it’s going to give you the perfect texture crust! However, a standard square baking pan can work as well (8×8″, 10×10″, etc).
• Pizza stone or baking steel: This is a must! Detroit-style pizza is characterized by a crunchy crust, and the best way to get that is by transferring the heat as fast as possible. You’ll want a pizza stone/steel to bake the pizza on.

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Detroit-Style Instructions:

Here’s how to make Detroit-style pizza

1 – Warm up the water in a microwave (or boil some water and mix it with cold water) to get water around 80-100F degrees. Then add the yeast and oil to the water and stir.

Optional: Wait 5-10 minutes to see if the mixture bubbles (meaning the yeast is active and working). If your yeast is old, you might check this!

2 – Mix a bit of flour into the bowl, then the salt, then stir until the salt is dissolved! I use a large spoon, but you can also use your fingers. Then, gradually add the rest of the flour, stirring as you go.

3 – Next, you’ll want to get your hands wet (so the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers as much), and then gently fold the dough into itself for about a minute. (This is the 1st kneading session). Press the mixture together, then fold it in half, then press again, etc. I do this IN the bowl, not on a countertop!

4 – Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or a warm damp towel. Covering while proofing is important, as this keeps air out (and moisture in). Leave for 30 minutes, then come back and knead the dough again for 2-3 minutes.

5 – After kneading a second time, cover the dough again and let rise for another 2 hours or so.

6 – Oil the baking pan (the bottom and the sides) with olive oil. You almost can’t use too much! Then, place the dough inside the oiled pan and gently press/stretch it toward the edges of the pan.

NOTE: the dough won’t stretch all the way to the sides and stay there yet. That’s ok! You’ll be repeating this process over the next 1-2 hours.

7 – Cover the dough in the baking pan and let rise for another 30 minutes.

8 – Repeat this dough stretching & rising process as many times as you need to, until the dough has risen/stretched roughly to the sides of the pan. I usually do this 2 times (stretch + 30 mins, stretch + 30 mins).

9 – Add a layer of cheese on top of the dough (all the way to the edges!) and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes. (Hopefully, the rising dough will trap some of the cheese to the sides of the pan. This is a good thing).

10 – Place your pizza stone (or steel) in the oven and preheat to 525F degrees (550F if you don’t have a pizza stone)

11 – Add more cheese and any toppings you want, and then lay down 2 stripes of pizza sauce!

12 – Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until you see the edges starting to brown and blacken.

Voila!