Detroit-Style Pizza: The Complete Recipe Guide

By Julius | InsiderPizza.com

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Affiliate disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself.

Recommended equipment: Lloyd Pans Detroit-style pizza pan | Rectangular pizza pan

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Detroit-style pizza is having its moment, and for good reason. It is one of the most forgiving, crowd-pleasing pizzas you can make at home — and once you eat one, you understand immediately why it has become a national phenomenon.

I discovered Detroit-style pizza about five years ago through a food writer friend who grew up there, and I have been refining my home version ever since. What I love about it: the technique is genuinely accessible. You do not need to stretch dough by hand. You do not need a pizza stone or extreme oven temperatures. You need the right pan, decent dough, and patience with the cheese.

This guide walks through everything: the history, the equipment, the recipe, and the details that separate a great Detroit pie from a mediocre one.

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What Makes Detroit-Style Pizza Different

Detroit-style pizza originated at Buddy’s Rendezvous restaurant in 1946. Owner Gus Guerra adapted a Sicilian-style recipe to fit rectangular automotive steel pans — the kind used to hold small parts on factory assembly lines. Those pans, with their steep sides and thick gauge, created something nobody had planned: a pizza with an exceptionally crispy, almost fried bottom crust, thick and airy interior, and cheese that melted all the way to the edges and caramelized against the pan.

That caramelized cheese edge — called the frico in Italian — is the defining characteristic of an authentic Detroit pie. It is not a mistake. It is the point.

The other signature: sauce on top of the cheese, not under it. This counterintuitive arrangement keeps the sauce from making the crust soggy and means the tomato flavor stays bright and concentrated rather than baking into the cheese.

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The Equipment: Why the Pan Matters

You cannot make Detroit-style pizza in a regular baking sheet. The shape is wrong, the sides are too shallow, and the metal is too thin.

Detroit pizza requires a rectangular pan with 2-inch sides, made from thick blue steel or anodized aluminum. These pans heat unevenly compared to modern bakeware — and that is the feature. The heavy gauge holds heat and conducts it into the bottom of the pizza, creating that fried-bottom texture. The sides allow the cheese to climb up, melt against the edge, and caramelize.

Lloyd Pans makes the standard — they are a Michigan company that has been making these pans for decades and supplies many professional pizzerias. The most common home size is 10×14 inches. Other rectangular pizza pans can work if they have similar depth and weight, but a dedicated Detroit pan makes a real difference.

Season your pan with a thin coat of oil before first use and never wash it with soap. It builds a natural nonstick surface over time, just like cast iron.

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The Dough

Detroit-style pizza uses a high-hydration dough — typically 70-75% — that creates an open, focaccia-like crumb. The high water content is manageable here because you are not stretching the dough by hand; you press it into the oiled pan.

Ingredients (one 10×14 pan)

• 400g bread flour
• 290g water (72% hydration)
• 8g salt
• 4g instant yeast
• 15g olive oil

Method

Day before: Mix flour, water, salt, and yeast until just combined — a shaggy dough is fine. Add olive oil and mix until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate 18-72 hours. Longer ferments develop better flavor and a more open crumb.

Day of: Remove dough from fridge 2 hours before baking. Oil your pan generously — coat the bottom and sides thoroughly. Transfer the dough to the pan and begin pressing it out from the center. The cold dough will resist; press it to about half the pan’s size, then let it rest 15 minutes. It will relax. Press again. Repeat until the dough fills the pan edge to edge. It may not reach fully on the first attempt — let it rest and come back.

Cover loosely and let proof at room temperature for 1-2 hours until the dough is puffy and has developed some bubbles.

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The Cheese

Authentic Detroit pizza uses Wisconsin brick cheese — a mild, high-fat, semi-soft cheese with excellent melting properties. It is genuinely hard to find outside the Midwest, and it is worth seeking out if you can.

The best home substitution is a blend of low-moisture mozzarella and mild white cheddar (roughly 70/30). This combination replicates brick cheese’s mild flavor and high fat content reasonably well. The key is applying the cheese all the way to the edges of the pan so it contacts the sides, melts down against the metal, and caramelizes.

Do not shred the cheese. Cube it or tear it into rough pieces about an inch across. Larger pieces create uneven melt zones — some areas bubbly and browned, some areas still glossy — which is exactly the texture you want.

Cover the entire dough surface with cheese all the way to the pan edges. Do not be shy. Detroit pizza is not light on cheese.

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The Sauce

Detroit sauce goes on after the cheese and after the bake — or at least after the final few minutes of baking. This is non-negotiable.

A traditional Detroit sauce is simple: crushed San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt. No cooking required. The brightness of the raw tomato against the rich cheese is part of the flavor profile.

After the pizza comes out of the oven, add two thick strips of sauce running lengthwise — the classic presentation. If you prefer, add the sauce in the last 5 minutes of baking so it warms through without fully cooking down.

Simple Detroit Sauce

• 1 can (28oz) crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients. No cooking needed. This sauce keeps refrigerated for a week.

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The Bake

Preheat your oven to its maximum temperature — ideally 500-550 degrees. A conventional oven at full blast works well for Detroit because the thick pan does the work of creating a fried bottom without needing the extreme temperatures required for Neapolitan.

Place the pan on the lowest rack position. Bake 15-20 minutes until the edges are deeply browned and caramelized and the top is golden. The frico (caramelized cheese edge) should be visibly dark — not burnt, but a deep amber brown.

Let the pizza rest in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then use a spatula to release it and transfer to a cutting board. Add your sauce strips if you have not already.

Slice into rectangular pieces.

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Topping Ideas

Detroit pizza supports almost any topping. A few combinations that work especially well with the rich crust and caramelized cheese:

Classic: Pepperoni cups (cupped pepperoni chars beautifully against the cheese), sauce, finished with fresh basil

White Detroit: No sauce — instead, garlic butter brushed on the dough before pressing, fontina and mozzarella, topped with arugula and lemon after baking

Sausage and pepper: Italian sausage crumbled directly on the dough before proofing, bell peppers, mozzarella

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Common Mistakes

Under-oiling the pan. This is the most common mistake. Use more oil than you think you need. The bottom of a Detroit pizza should essentially fry in the oil coating the pan.

Wrong cheese placement. The cheese must touch the sides of the pan. If there is a gap between the cheese and the pan edge, you will not get the frico, and the pizza will seem like a thick regular pizza rather than a Detroit.

Underbaking. The edges should be very dark. If you pull the pizza when it looks done by regular pizza standards, it is not done yet for Detroit. You want that deep brown caramelization.

Sauce before bake. Do not put the sauce under the cheese in advance. It will steam the crust and create a soft bottom instead of the crispy, almost fried texture that defines the style.

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Detroit-style pizza rewards patience and the right equipment. Get the pan, oil it generously, use plenty of cheese all the way to the edges, and bake it dark. Once you nail it, this will be in regular rotation.

For more pizza technique, check out my pizza dough hydration guide and cheese selection guide.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.