How to Make Homemade Detroit-Style Pizza

If you love pan pizza with an irresistible cheese frico crust, you will love this Detroit-style pizza recipe. The base is very similar to focaccia, light and airy, and thanks to a parbake, it’s sturdy enough to sustain a blanket of cheese, sauce, pickled jalapeños, and cup-and-char pepperoni. Below you will find step-by-step instructions for how to make excellent Detroit-style pizza at home and the secret to creating a tall and lacy cheese frico crust.

My introduction to Detroit-style pizza came not by way of Detroit’s legendary Buddy’s Pizza, but rather from Matt and Emily Hyland, the couple behind Pizza Loves Emily, whose New Haven-style pizzas are near and dear to my heart, and whose Emmy Squared slices now follow close behind. 

It began at the height of the lockdown. Longing to eat something from beyond my 5-mile radius, I splurged on a trio of pizzas from Emmy Squared via GoldBelly. The small rectangular pies topped variously with everything from pickled jalapeños and banana peppers to Calabrian chilies and smoked gouda transported us to what felt like a faraway land. It was a blast. 

After this at-home Emmy Squared dinner, I found myself determined to learn how to make this style of pizza for two reasons: one because it was delicious, but two because it seemed easy: I loved the idea of making one large pizza in one vessel, presenting it to the family, and then: turning the oven off! (I’ve gotten used to never sitting on pizza night.) 

Friends, guess what? Having Detroit-style pizza in the dinner rotation is as dreamy as imagined. Making one and only one pizza that feeds my entire family is life-changing. (Turns out: I like sitting!)

But can I tell you my favorite part about making this style of pizza? You can complete so much of the prep — from mixing the dough to parbaking it — days in advance.

The recipe below includes both a yeast-leavened and a sourdough-leavened Detroit-style pizza dough with two topping options: one with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, the other with the addition of pickled jalapeños and honey, inspired by “The Colony” served at Emmy Squared.

Of course, you can top your pizzas as you wish. The key to finding success with Detroit-style pizza at home, as with so many things, is balance. For me, finding the right balance meant topping the pizzas a little more minimally than many of the recipes I found on the web. And finding ultimate success with this style of pizza came down to borrowing techniques from various sources, most notably from Matt and Emily Hyland (both from their book and a virtual cooking class I attended) and Wes Pikula of Buddy’s in Detroit (from this Pizza City USA podcast episode).

PS: How to Make Homemade Sicilian-Style Pizza

This is a long post, jump ahead if you wish:

• What is Detroit Style Pizza?
• The Dough
• The Secret to a Light and Airy Dough?
• The Cheese
• The Sauce
• The Pan
• How to Create A Cheese Frico Crust
• Why Parbake Your Detroit-Style Pizza
• Detroit-Inspired Pizza
• My Ideal Detroit-Style Pizza
• How to Make Yeast-Leavened Detroit-style pizza
• How to Make Sourdough Detroit-Style pizza

What is Detroit-style pizza? 

Detroit-style pizza is often described as “pan pizza” and it is not unlike a cheesed- and sauced-focaccia. But there are some defining characteristics of true Detroit-style pizza. Let’s explore: 

The Dough

• The dough of Detroit-style pizza should be high hydration (typically this means over 65%), and the baked dough should be light and airy, similar, as noted, to focaccia.
• In the picture below of the crumb shot, you’ll see lots of nice air pockets — this is partially thanks to the 83% hydration dough.

The Secret to a Light and Airy Dough?

As with focaccia, a long, cold proof will make for a lighter, airier dough. Matt and Emily Hyland bulk ferment their Detroit pizza dough in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours; then proof their dough in the pan in the fridge for 2 to 36 hours before using.

Detroit’s Buddy’s Pizza also employs a cold proof. After the dough’s first rise, it gets pressed into the pan, topped with both cheese and pepperoni, and transferred to the fridge to proof again.

I get the best results when I bulk ferment at room temperature for 10 to 12 hours; then transfer it to the fridge for 48 hours. From here I’ll fit the dough into the pan, then either return it to the fridge (for 24 hours or more) or let it proof at room temperature for 3 to 5 hours depending on the time of year.

As noted above, this is great for convenience — it’s so nice having a nearly assembled pizza waiting in the fridge — but it’s also beneficial for the dough: the longer dough ferments, the more gas bubbles are produced, and when those gas bubbles hit the hot oven, they expand, creating a light, porous crust.

The Cheese 

• Wisconsin Brick Cheese, which is derived from white American cheddar, but has a higher fat content, is traditional.
• In Detroit-style pizzas, cheese goes on the dough before the sauce and is spread all the way to the edge of the pan. This method allows the cheese’s fat to pool at the pan’s edges and fry the dough, creating a cheese frico crust (see below).
• Note: In Upstate New York, brick cheese is hard to find. During my experiments, I ordered lots of Wisconsin Brick Cheese (and it truly is a great pizza cheese: very melty and tasty), but for ease, I now use a combination of Cheddar or Monterey Jack and low-moisture, whole milk mozzarella:

I like to cube or shred the above cheeses, but when I’m feeling lazy, these two bags work great:

The Sauce

• Detroit-style pizzas use a cooked tomato sauce (as opposed to an uncooked sauce, which is what Neapolitan-style pizzas and others traditionally call for.)
• The sauce is applied last (over the cheese and pepperoni) in dollops or in two or three “racing” stripes. Detroit-style pizza is not super saucy. Here are two sauce recipes (one made from canned tomatoes, one from fresh) that I love for pizza.

The Pan

• The story of Detroit’s Buddy’s Pizza, the “original” Detroit-style pizza, is that the owner used his mom’s Sicilian pizza recipe, but placed the dough in rectangular blue steel pans — these were “scrap” pans from the nearby auto plants.
• Lloyd Pans is a company that makes, among many things, Detroit-style pizzas pans — they arrive already seasoned, and they truly make a beautiful crust. I have two. I also recommend baking the pizzas on a Baking Steel for optimal crispness.
• A tip from Emily Hyland: grease the pan with butter because the milk solids in the butter encourage a deeper browning in the crust than oil. I like to use both butter and oil.

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Cheese Frico Crust

If you have spent any time on Instagram or TikTok, you may have come across some striking images of Detroit-style pizza. My favorite are those from Apollonia’s Pizzeria in Los Angeles. Justin De Leon, the owner, will be first to say, however, his pizza is not true Detroit-style, but rather what he calls “Los Angeles” style.

Though I have never been to Detroit, from what I gather, the frico crust of a true Detroit-style pizza is less wild than the images filling our social media feeds, but caramelized and pronounced nonetheless, something more like this:

But the dramatic cheese frico crusts are fun, right? So how do we create these magical crusts? …

… with a parbake and pre-grated cheese. Read on for the details. I have two pizza makers I met through Instagram, Christy Alia of Real Clever Food and Jimmy Hank of Jimmy Hank Pizza, to thank for sharing their wisdom on this matter.

Why Parbake Your Detroit-Style Pizza?

For two reasons:

Most important: If you have struggled to get your bottom crust to cook completely before your toppings burn, a parbake is the solution. I have found 8 minutes at 500ºF to be perfect. After the 8 minutes, I let the dough cool, then I top it and return it to the oven for 10 minutes at 475ºF.

Second: if you’re looking to create a dramatic cheese frico crust, the parbake is essential. During the parbake, the dough will shrink from the sides of the pan ever so slightly, creating a space for cheese to wedge itself into and ultimately build into a tall, lacy cheese crust.

Another essential piece — unfortunately — is to use pre-shredded cheese, the starches in which prevent the cheese from clumping and melting too quickly. These cheeses do not taste nearly as good as block cheese you grate yourself, and one solution, smartly suggested by Christy Alia is to use pre-shredded cheese along the perimeter and the good stuff in the interior. These are the two pre-shredded cheeses I have been using for the perimeter of DSP:

Detroit-Inspired Pizza

The recipe below is inspired by the Detroit canon: the dough is high hydration, like a focaccia, and it’s cheesier and greasier (hey pepperoni!) than the pizzas I’ve grown to love over the years. That said, compared to many Detroit pizza recipes out there, some of which call for 24 ounces of cheese and 12 ounces of pepperoni, this one is not quite so excessive. 

If you want more of deep dive into true Detroit-style pizza this episode of Pizza City USA is great. 

My Ideal Detroit-Style Pizza

• At least 75% dough hydration.
• Butter + olive oil in the pan. As noted above, the milk solids in butter help better brown the bottom of the pizza. I grease the pan with 1 tablespoon of butter; then pour 1 teaspoon of olive oil into the center of the pan for the dough.
• Fermentation: Two Options:
  • Long cold ferment: There are several ways to do this: You can mix the dough and stick it in the fridge for 48 hours. Or you can mix the dough, let it rise at room temperature, pan it, then stick the pan in the fridge for 48 to 72 hours.
  • Long room-temperature proof works well, too: Recently (2/10/2023) I’ve been mixing the dough in the evening using cold water and 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast, letting it rise overnight, then following the initial rise with a room-temperature proof in the pan.
• Parbake: To allow the dough to cook and prevent the toppings from burning.
• Sauce on top, but not last. In true Detroit-style pizza, the sauce goes on last. I tried this a few times, and it’s not my preferred way of assembly because when the sauce goes on top, the toppings can’t brown/crisp/char as nicely. I like to proof the dough with the cheese spread across it, spoon sauce over the cheese once it comes out of the fridge; then top the pizza with any other toppings I am using.
• 12 to 14 ounces of cheese total.  As noted above, I use a mix of whole milk, low-moisture mozzarella and Cheddar. Monterey Jack works nicely, too.
• 1/2 cup of sauce — it won’t feel like enough, but it is. I love a vodka sauce on pizza. This is the simple vodka sauce recipe I’ve been making most often.
• 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños: Matt and Emily Hyland include pickled jalapeños on one of their pizzas, The Colony, which has become one of my favorites to make at home. It’s finished with a honey drizzle out of the oven, and the spicy-sweet combination is irresistible.
• 3 to 4 ounces of pepperoni. I love this Vermont Smoke and Cure:

Detroit-Style Pizza, Yeast Leavened, Pepperoni

Gather your ingredients: bread flour, salt, cold water, and instant yeast, SAF is my preference.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and instant yeast:

Add cold water.

And stir to form a sticky dough ball. Cover the dough with a teaspoon of olive oil. Cover with an airtight lid or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight or for 10 to 12 hours.

The following morning, remove the lid.

Deflate the dough. I like to use a flexible dough scraper for this. At this point you can transfer the dough to the fridge and let it rest for as long as week. I find 2-3 days to be the sweet spot.

Or you can proceed: place it in your prepared pan: a buttered Detroit-style pizza pan with 1 teaspoon of oil in the center:

Let the dough rise for 3 to 4 hours.

Then dimple and stretch the dough to the edges.

Let it rise for another hour, then parbake it for 8 minutes at 500ºF:

Remove the parbaked crust from the pan and let it cool upside down on the rack — this is another tip from Christy Alia, which she learned from her grandfather.

Return the dough to the pan and begin by adding your cheese, using pre-shredded cheese on the perimeter (if you’re going for that dramatic, tall frico crust) and hand-grated cheese on the interior. Note: Here I am using all hand-grated cheese, which I prefer for its flavor. You will see at the end that the crust is not tall and dramatic, but it sure is tasty.

Next, add sauce and toppings for choice.

Return to the oven at 475ºF for 10 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a board to cut and serve.

This a frico crust made with hand-grated cheese:

Undercarriage:

Crumb:

This is a frico crust made with pre-shredded cheese:

Detroit-Style Pizza, Sourdough Edition, Pepperoni + Pickled Jalapeños

Combine 100 grams of active, bubbly starter with 185 grams water.

Add 6 grams of salt:

Stir to combine.

Add 255 grams flour.

Stir to form a sticky dough ball.

Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Then perform a set of stretches and folds or slap and folds (see video for guidance). Do two sets of these stretches and folds total at 30-minute intervals.

The dough will feel smooth and elastic after the second set. Transfer to a straight-sided vessel and let rise until doubled in volume.

When the dough has doubled or nearly doubled, you can transfer it to the fridge for 48 hours or proceed with the recipe.

From here, the process is the same as outlined above with the yeast-leavened dough. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape it into a ball. Transfer to a prepared pan (see yeast-leavened process photos above). UPDATE 2/10/2023: I now add a parbake. I have not updated the sourdough step-by-step photos yet, but will do so soon. Stay tuned!

Out of the oven, drizzle lightly with honey.

In closing, this is a nice tool to add to your arsenal of pizza-making gear: a mezzaluna. I love this one:

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