Discover Detroit-Style Pizza
Detroit style pizza is a square, deep dish pizza that is known for its racing stripes sauce on top, cheese crust crown and light crust. Whether you call them red tops or square pizza, Detroit-style pizza is a unique pizza style that hast become one of the hottest pizza styles and one of the most popular pizzas in the U.S.Pizza Today has amassed a library of resources on Detroit pizza. In this guide, you’ll learn about Detroit style pizza’s characteristics, history, dough, recipes, best Detroit pizza and more.
Detroit Pizza Guide Table of Contents
- What is Detroit Style Pizza?
- What Makes Detroit-Style Pizza Different?
- The dough
- The proofing process
- The pans
- Toppings and cheeses
- Deck oven baking
- What makes a Detroit Pizza a Detroit Pizza?
- Detroit Style Pizza Dough
- Detroit Style Pizza Pan
- The Detroit Cheese Crown Pizza
- What is Brick Cheese on Detroit pizza?
- Why is it called a Detroit Red Top?
- Detroit Style Pizza Recipe
- 3 Detroit Pizza and Detroit Pizza Dough Recipes
- Best Detroit Style Pizza
- Best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit
- Detroit-Style Pizza went national
- Detroit Pizza vs Chicago
- What is the difference between Detroit-Style and Chicago-Style Pizza?
- What is the difference between Detroit and New York Pizza?
- How To Reheat Detroit Style Pizza
- Detroit Style Pizza gets a National Food Holiday
What is Detroit Style Pizza?
Detroit-style pizza has gone national and international. Until a decade ago, Motor City visitors would ask, “what is a Detroit style pizza?” Detroit natives just called it pizza. The Detroit style deep dish pizza is unique and unlike any other pizza style. Today, Detroit-style pizza can be found across the United State and around the world.
Detroit-style pizza originated at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit, Michigan, in 1946.
The square pie can be traced back to who created Detroit style pizza. Buddy’s Rendevous Pizzeria. According to Buddy’s Pizza’s own history on its website, “The Detroit-style Pizza legacy began at Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizzeria on Six Mile and Conant Street on Detroit’s East Side when in 1946 Gus Guerra and team made their first square-shaped pizza. Baked in forged-steel pans borrowed from local automotive plants, they were able to produce a very light and crispy crust which is now known as Detroit-Style Pizza. This was the first known square pizza in the U.S.”
Listen to Buddy’s Pizza CBO Wes Pikula on The Hot Slice Podcast. Detroit-style pizza is trending across the country. This week, we talk to Chief Branding Officer Wes Pikula of Buddy’s Pizza, the original Detroit style. Discover more about Buddy’s, the development of the Detroit pizza and how the legendary pizza company is in full growth mode.
It wasn’t until a pizza maker Shawn Randazzo, who owned Detroit Pizza Company, won Pizza Maker of the Year and placed first in the Pan Division with a Detroit pizza at the 2012 International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. This was the first time a Detroit pizza took the top honor at the international pizza competition.
What Makes Detroit-Style Pizza Different?
There are several characteristics of the Detroit style pizza that separates it from any other style. The late Shawn Randazzo, who owned Detroit-Style Pizza Company in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, helped take the style national when he consulted with pizzerias across the country teaching the Detroit style. He said in “Do it Detroit style” kitchen feature: “One of the most unique aspects of Detroit-style pizza is its square shape due to the fact that it is prepared in square steel pans. Detroit was experiencing a boom in automotive manufacturing in the 1940s, and the pans used to bake the first Detroit-style pizzas were also used as small parts trays at auto plants. Square steel pans are still used to prepare authentic Detroit-style pizza today.”
Detroit pizza is distinctively unique down to how its dough is proofed, the baking process, ingredients used and how to apply toppings.
A brief look at what makes Detroit pizza different from Shawn Randazzo’s Do It Detroit Style feature:
• The dough.
Detroit-style pizza features a medium-thick crust that’s light and airy on the inside, yet crispy on the outside, a signature of authenticity that’s achieved by a high moisture content (between a 68- and 72-percent hydration level) and the proofing process. Preparing your Detroit-style pizza dough takes care and attention to detail.
• The proofing process.
There are two ways to proof Detroit-style pizza dough. For the first method, you refrigerate the dough for a 24-hour cold fermentation period, which can enhance taste and texture. After 24 hours, you can press the dough out into the pans, making sure it is consistently even throughout the entire pan. Once fully pressed out, let it rise to a thickness of between one inch and one and one-quarter inch. At this point, the dough is ready to bake.
• The pans.
As mentioned, Detroit-style pizza is baked in square steel pans. We season our pans through a multi-step process that protects the pans and makes pizza more flavorful with each bake. Over time, the oils from the pizzas you bake will lend a natural seasoning to your pans. Like an old friend once said, “Like fine wine, Detroit-style pizza pans improve with time.”
• Toppings & cheeses.
Traditionally, a layer of pepperoni lines Detroit-style pizza crust. Next, cheese is spread evenly across the entire pizza, edge to edge, covering the pepperoni. Brick and mozzarella cheese blends are the most authentic, and brick cheese can be blended with other cheeses as well. However, there are substitutes that can be used in areas where brick cheese is difficult to obtain or extremely pricey. After the cheese is applied, any additional toppings can be placed on top.
• The sauce.
Ladling red sauce on last is one of the signatures of Detroit-style pizza, which is why it has earned the nicknames “red top pizza” and “upside down pizza.” You can craft your own red sauce recipe, but it’s best to begin with ground tomatoes as the base. The sauce is simmered until it’s ready to use, and it’s traditionally applied to Detroit-style pizza after baking. Some pizzerias apply it before baking, which does not jeopardize authenticity — but it can affect the bake due to high moisture content.
• Deck oven baking.
Detroit-style pizza is baked in deck ovens, which admittedly take some time to master. Training your kitchen staff to properly use deck ovens is critical to consistent baking. Natural gas-fired deck ovens with stone or steel decks are fired from the bottom so they don’t dehydrate vegetables and other toppings like forced air conveyor pizza ovens tend to do.
Now’s let’s go deeper in Detroit Pizza characteristics.
A Detroit pizza being made at the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.
So, what makes a Detroit Pizza a Detroit Pizza?
According to Buddy’s site: “The style flips traditional pizza on its head by beginning with double proofed dough perfectly fit to a square pan – a process that allows the dough to rise and be stretched twice – followed by the backwards layering of toppings.”
There are several factors that makes a Detroit pizza a Detroit pizza, including its dough process, how the dough is proofed, oven baking and how ingredients are staged.
Detroit Style Pizza Dough
Dough Expert Laura Meyer has covered Detroit style pizza dough extensively. In her Knew to Know article, she explained, “In terms of dough process, I managed to speak with someone within the Buddy’s company; but unfortunately, I am not privy to specific proprietary information. What I could gather is that they, like a lot of pizzerias in Detroit, are doing it the same way they always have or as close to the same as possible. They are using fresh yeast, a mid- to low-range protein flour, and there is no browning agent and no fat or very little fat in the dough. For water I suspect a lower hydration not exceeding 60 percent. The dough is made same day and is proofed in the pan for a number of hours before being cooked. The representative from Buddy’s explained to me that it “should be light and crunchy”. During my eating tour of Detroit, I noticed the height of each pizza was only about one to 1.5 inches and had a crumb structure that was tighter with many small bubbles. There was a crunch on the bottom, but it was never super distinct. It was the type of crunch that you get from contact with the pan and length of cook time, but not the thicker and more sturdy crunch you get from higher hydration.”
Get a Detroit-style Pizza Dough Formula Recipe, including detailed dough process from Dough Expert Laura Meyer in Knead to Know: The Tenets of Detroit-style Pizza, Part II.
Detroit Style Pizza Pan
An example of the Detroit Style Pizza pan
Originally Detroit pizzas were made to readily available auto manufacturing’s small parts trays because they were available and found in abundance in the Motor City.. Those auto parts pans are hard to come by today. But pizza pan manufacturers have stepped in to provide pans that meet the expectations for operators to bake a Detroit-style pizza. LloydPans is featured in our Product Showcase with 8″×10″, and 10″×14″ inch Detroit-Style Pans. See more on LloydPans’ Detroit Style Pizza Pans.
The Detroit Cheese Crown Pizza
Cheese crown at Hunny’s Pizza, Saline, Michigan
It’s unclear whether the cheese crusted crown edging a Detroit pizza is an original trait. But today, it is a signature that pizzerias across the country have strived to outdo each other on the Instagramability of cheese crown on a Detroit-style pizza. Follow hashtags like #cheesecrown on Instagram.
To create the cheese crown, pile extra cheese along the edge of the well-seasoned and oiled pan. After the bake, use a metal spatula to carefully extract the pizza, keeping the crispy crown intact.
What is Brick Cheese on Detroit pizza?
A signature component that makes a Detroit pizza a Detroit pizza is Brick Cheese. What is Brick Cheese? Brick cheese is a Wisconsin semi-hard, cow’s milk cheese that gets its name from the bricks used to press out the moisture in the cheese. It’s a mild and buttery flavored cheese but can get more pungent and tangy as it ages. Pizza makers are experimenting with various ages of brick cheese on Detroit pizza. Brick cheese is often blended with mozzarella. In past, brick cheese was hard to find. Today, many main line distributors carry Brick cheese.
Why is it called a Detroit Red Top?
The reason why you hear Detroit pizzas being called Detroit Red Top is due to the red sauce that is applied to the top of the pizza.
In Motor City Pizza, Jeff Smokevitch says, “The sauce is usually applied before the final bake for par-baked pies. Although gaining recent popularity is the technique of applying pizza sauce after the final bake (raw bake or par bake). Most of the older operators in Detroit will apply their pizza sauce before a raw bake. If applying after the final bake, make sure your pizza sauce is in a hot holding container of 135 F or above. Sauce is a heavy ingredient for the pie. When you apply the sauce, it should be based on the strength of the dough.”
Detroit Style Pizza Recipe
How to make a Detroit style pizza by following one our recipes built by pizza masters and pizza dough experts. The Detroit Style Pizza Dough Recipe As many pizzeria recipe ingredients are proprietary, we have enlisted the best pizza makers in the U.S. to create Detroit Style Pizza Recipes for you to try in your kitchen. Our recipes provide detailed how to make and bake a Detroit style pizza.
Before we get into specific Detroit style pizza and dough recipes, watch as World Pizza Champion Jeff Smokevitch shares how to make detroit style pizza at home in this how-to video:
Detroit Style Pizza Recipes: Try 3 Detroit Pizza and Detroit Pizza Dough Recipes
Jeff Smokevitch instructs on how to make a Detroit style pizza during his demo at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.
- Smoke’s Detroit-Style Dough Recipe. Jeff Smokevitch is a World Pizza Champion who brought Detroit Style Pizza to Colorado — first to Telluride at Brown Dog Pizza, then to Denver and beyond with Blue Pan Pizza. Follow this Detroit pizza recipe. Jeff Smokevitch leads a demonstration at Pizza Expo to teach how to make a Detroit-style pizza. You can also watch him as he created a Detroit pizza in his home kitchen.
- Detroit-Style Pizza Dough by John Arena. Co-owner of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, John Arena is a go-to pizza dough expert. He shares his Detroit pizza recipe that includes a Poolish for Detroit-Style Pizza Dough. His recipe walks you through the dough process, dough fermentation and room temperature proof.
- Tony’s Trending Recipe: Detroit Pizza. Tony Gemignani is a world-famous pizza master and restaurateur with over 30 restaurants, most notably Tony’s Pizza Napolentana in San Francisco. His recipe pays tribute to Shawn Randazzo. He says, “I remember having Shawn Randazzo in one of my seminars several years ago and telling the audience that this guy may win it all the next day … and he did. The following year Jeff Smokevitch won with his Detroit pizza. It was a style that was relatively new to the competition circuit, and it was a beginning of a renaissance. Here is a recipe of one of the most popular Detroit pizzas at my restaurants. I call it The Motorhead.”
>> Explore Pizza Dough Recipes for Top Trending Pizza Styles including Detroit, New York, Grandma, Sicilian, Chicago Thin and Deep Dish. <<
Best Detroit Style Pizza
Since Detroit style pizza went mainstream more than a decade ago. Pizzerias across the country are trying the match the Motor City pizzerias who made the style famous. Buddy’s Pizza, Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant and Loui’s.
Detroit Red Top Pizza at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco
As Detroit style pizza grow across the country, pizzerias outside of the Motor City became famous for their Detroit pizza. Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride and Denver, Colorado-based Blue Pan have made national best pizza lists for their Detroit-style pizzas. Austin, Texas-based Via 313 was named Pizza Today’s Pizzeria of the Year in 2020 and received investment to take the Detroit style brand to more states.
There are a host of pizzerias throughout the country who are serving up “Detroit inspired” pizza and gaining national and international attention. One of the best rated Detroit-style pizza places actually reside in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Toni’s Detroit Pizza according to Yelp’s Top Pizza Spots.
At the International Pizza Challenge 2024 during Pizza Expo in Las Vegas Charlie Webb, (50.59) Hudson & Packard, Poughkeepsie, New York, placed Second in the over Pan Division and won the Shawn Randazzo Memorial Award with the top scoring Detroit style pizza. See how well Detroit style pizzas performed at the International Pizza Challenge.
Best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit
Buddy’s Pizza
Who has the best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit? Buddy’s Pizza has long held the title of starting the pizza style. The legendary pizzeria has also been named best pizza on national and international pizza lists. Other Detroit pizza places have also garnered attention for their Detroit Style Pizza including Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant in Eastpoint was founded by Gus Guerra after selling Buddy’s. Detroit Style Pizza Company was founded by World Pizza Champion Shawn Randazzo who went on to help take Detroit Style pizza national before his passing in 2020. Shield’s Other hot pizzerias that have garnered a reputation for having some of the best Detroit style pizza in Detroit include Green Lantern Pizza, Loui’s Pizza, Amar Pizza, Palazzo Di Pizza, Como’s Restaurant, Amico’s Pizza and others.
Plenty of articles have come out ranking the best Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit. Some of the more prominent rankings include:
16 Places Dishing Up Detroit-Style Pizza — Eater Detroit
The Absolute Best Pizza In Detroit, Ranked — Tasting Table
The Essential Places to Eat Pizza in Detroit — Food&Wine
Jet’s Pizza was one of the first Pizza Chains to introduce a Detroit pizza. The pizza company celebrates National Detroit Style Pizza Day with specials each year.
Detroit-Style Pizza went national
One indicator that a regional style has reached national status is when America’s largest pizza chains start offering the pizza style. Detroit-style pizza landed on the menu of the biggest pizza companies in the U.S. Sterling Heights, Michigan-based Jet’s Pizza is a growing national pizza chain may have been the first franchise to take Detroit style pizza national. Jet’s has been serving Detroit style pizza for over 40 years. Today, Jet’s Pizza has more than 400 locations in 21 states. Pizza Hut introduced a Detroit Style Pan Pizza limited time offer in 2021. Though founded in Detroit in 1959, Little Caesars debuted its Detroit-Style Deep Dish Pizza in 2022.
Listen to Jet’s Pizza Owners on The Hot Slice Podcast. This episode is dedicated to one of the COVID-19 Pizzeria Impact Stories that we’re featuring all month. Jet’s Pizza is one of America’s largest pizza companies with hundreds of locations in 19 states, helping move Detroit-style pizza mainstream. Listen to an engaging roundtable discussion with Jet’s Pizza leadership, including Jimmy Galloway, Vice President of Franchise Sales; John Jetts, President; and Jeff Galloway, Vice President of Store Operations. Learn what the pizza company experienced during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Frozen pizza brands are also getting in on the action. Costco has a Motor City Pizza frozen pizza line, now also available at Kroger and Target. Another frozen pizza brands offering a Detroit style is Digiorno.
Detroit Pizza vs Chicago
Detroit pizza is very different from it Great Lakes neighbor Chicago. Both have long histories of introducing their own regional pizza styles. Chicago deep dish went national long before Detroit. Both are considered deep dish pan pizzas but they look and taste very different.
What is the difference between Detroit-Style and Chicago-Style Pizza?
While both are deep dish pan pizzas, the similarities between Detroit pizza and Chicago deep dish end there. Let’s look at what Chicago Deep Dish style pizza is. In Going Deep, Katie Ayoub outlines, “This unique pie stands out with a crisp, biscuit-like crust that comes up the sides of a three- inch pan. It’s thick with cheese and other ingredients, and then topped with a chunky tomato sauce and baked for 30 to 45 minutes.”
The crust is a lot different. In Deep Dish Pizza, Dough Doctor Tom Lehmann says “the thickness of the crust and the overall heft separate deep-dish from, say, thin-crust pizza. Another difference is that deep-dish pizza is formed and baked in a deep-sided (usually 2 inches high) pizza pan that has been seasoned to the point that it is black. Also, the size and amount of dough require that the pizza be baked longer that a thin-crust pizza (while some shortcuts involving parbaking the crust have been tried, this doesn’t work in favor of a well-made deep-dish pie). The fact is that the longer oven time tremendously enhances the flavor.”
Detroit has a much taller crust with crunch. Detroit Pizza crust is often describe as “looks like a brick, tastes like a feather”. In Tenets of Detroit Style Pizza, Laura Meyer notes, “I noticed the height of each pizza was only about one to 1.5 inches and had a crumb structure that was tighter with many small bubbles. There was a crunch on the bottom, but it was never super distinct. It was the type of crunch that you get from contact with the pan and length of cook time, but not the thicker and more sturdy crunch you get from higher hydration.”
What is the difference between Detroit and New York Pizza?
Short answer: everything! There could not be any two pizza crusts that any more different than New York Style Pizza and Detroit style pizza. Detroit is a thick, pan pizza while New York thin crust is applied directly to deck ovens. In a Q&A with John Arena, pizza champion Derek Sanchez says, “Our target is light, full of air, crispy yet tender, great structure, foldable and fermented to just the right flavor profile.”
The crust height is a huge difference. New York style pizza crust should be about 1/8-inch thick through the middle with a raised edge. Detroit can up up to 1.5 inches high with toppings and cheese to the edge.
Get a detail description and a New York Pizza Dough recipe in New York New York.
How To Reheat Detroit Style Pizza
Send customers home with pizza reheating instructions. Find out how to reheat Detroit Style Pizza now. The skillet seems to be the preferred method of reheating. We suggest if you have cast iron, it will give it that added crunch. Heat the pan to medium, add pizza and cover. Heat for 5 minutes.
Others good ways to reheat Detroit pizza is by using a toaster over or conventional oven. You can also reheat pizza in an air fryer.
Detroit Style Pizza gets a National Food Holiday
National Detroit Style Pizza Day is held annually on June 23. The origin of National Detroit Style Pizza Day can be traced back to the Motor City. Detroit May proclaimed June 23 Buddy’s Pizza Day in 2011. In honor of Buddy’s Pizza’s 75th Anniversary, the date was also made into the National Detroit Style Pizza Day in 2021. Check out the other nine Can’t Miss Pizza Holidays.
Detroit is a one of the hottest pizza trends in America
Each year, Pizza Today surveys pizzeria operators in U.S. to get a gauge on the hottest pizza trends in the U.S. Detroit Style Pizza was the biggest pizza trends in 2023. Learn more about how Detroit ranked in our 2024 Pizza Industry Trends Report. In a short decade, Detroit-style pizza has risen to the 7th in pizzas offered in American pizzerias. When we asked what style pizzeria operators intend to add in the next year, Detroit pizza was No. 1. We also sought to find out what the biggest trend was in the pizza industry today and Detroit was a top answer.
