Detroit-Style Pizza (Light and Fluffy)

With its fluffy inside and crispy edges, Detroit-Style Pizza is a thing of beauty. The dough requires no kneading, making it easier than some other styles of pizza and most definitely doable for a home cook – no fancy pizza oven required!

Recipe Ingredients

All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.

• Flour. I use bread flour for my Detroit pizza dough, as I do for most of my other pizza recipes. Bread flour has a higher protein content and is better for bread and pizza making, and is specifically important for higher hydration doughs like Detroit pizza dough. I don’t recommend deviating and using different flours for this recipe since the dough will likely be stickier and more difficult to work with if using an all-purpose or other flour.
• Yeast. I am using instant yeast as I do for all my pizza and bread recipes – it’s easier to work with and can be added directly to the dry ingredients. You can use active dry yeast, but you’ll need to add it to 110°F water until it bubbles.
• Cheese. Wisconsin brick cheese is typically used for Detroit pizza, but that can be hard to source. I’m using a combination of mozzarella and white cheddar, though you can use Monterey Jack in place of the cheddar, or you can use all mozzarella. The cheese is placed on top of the pizza, but also along the sides, providing the crispy, cheesy edge, or frico, that is characteristic of Detroit pizza.
• Tomatoes. I’m using 1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes that I drain. You’ll need the strained tomatoes, plus some of the tomato water that’s left after draining for this recipe.
• Oil. I use olive oil for the dough, and corn oil for oiling the bottom of the pan as it helps provide a crispy brown bottom. You can use olive oil for the pan too if you don’t want to use corn oil.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to make Detroit pizza

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the dough, adding a little water at a time, mixing thoroughly to form a dry rough mass.
2. Pour the olive oil over the dough and mix again to scrape off residue then cover with plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

3. Remove the plastic and bowl-fold the dough. Dip your hands in a bowl of water and stretch the dough up.
4. Pull the dough back down towards the middle of the dough.
5. Rotate the bowl 90° and perform another fold, dipping your hands in the water between each stretch and fold.
6. Keep rotating the bowl, stretching, and folding until the dough no longer stretches (about 6 stretches).

7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes before doing another series of bowl folds. After two series of bowl folds, use a bowl scraper or wet hands to place the seam side of the dough down in the bowl, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. You can also make the pizza the same day by placing the dough somewhere warm and allowing it to double in size, though I do recommend allowing the dough to cold ferment overnight.
8. Remove the dough from the fridge 2 hours before using, preheat the oven to 500°F, and set the rack on the lowest level and another rack on the middle level. Oil a 10×14-inch Detroit pizza pan, then place the dough ball into the pan and press it as best you can to the edges of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap for 30 minutes, then press again until the edges fully cover the pan. Cover again with plastic for another hour or until the dough rises significantly. Placing the pan in a warm spot or proofing mat set to 78°F will speed up the process.
9. Strain the tomatoes for 3-5 minutes to remove excess water. Add 2 tablespoons of the crushed tomatoes to the tomato water, then season the tomatoes with oregano and salt.
10. Remove the plastic from the pan and lightly brush a thin layer of the tomato water on top of the dough.

11. Bake the dough for 12 minutes on the bottom rack, then remove the pan from the oven and use a spatula to gently lift the bottom. If the bottom is completely blond, you’ll need to bake the pizza on the bottom rack for the full amount of time in the next steps. If the dough is golden to golden brown, finish the pizza on the middle or upper level of the oven in the next steps.
12. Slide the sliced mozzarella between the dough and pan along the entire perimeter.
13. Evenly distribute the shredded cheese on top of the pizza and spread the sauce in 2 or 3 thick vertical lines, or 5 diagonal lines as shown below.

14. Return the pizza to the oven (see info in step 11 above to determine oven placement) and bake for another 14-18 minutes or until the center of the dough reaches at least 195°F internally when checked with an instant-read thermometer. Remove the pizza from the pan using an offset spatula, slice it into 9 large pieces, and serve.

More pizza recipes

If you are looking for more pizza recipes, you’ve come to the right place. In addition to the pizza styles referenced at the top of this article, here are a few more of our reader favorites.

• New York Sicilian pizza
• Bar pizza
• New York white pizza