This Detroit-style pizza is a delicious, easy to make deep dish pan pizza with an airy thick crust with crispy cheese edges, that’s great for pizza night! Traditionally, recipes call for using just pepperoni, but this rendition uses ground sausage and bacon to jazz it up, making it a meat lover’s pizza with a twist. Using store-bought dough and a few easy tips, you can achieve the best results hands down!
We have pizza night at least once a week, so I have had time to perfect this recipe for my family making it super easy to make any day of the week, and still have all of the authentic flavors. (This is a sponsored post).
WHAT IS DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA?
Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular deep – dish pan pizza. It’s known for its thick chewy crust and caramelized cheesy edges – the legendary Frico crust and stripes of tomato sauce. It originated in 1946 at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit, baked in repurposed automotive steel pans.
SCIENCE BEHIND FRICO CRUST
The high fat content in Wisconsin Brick Cheese helps it to caramelize against the hot greased pan creating those crispy edges known as Frico Crust. Spreading a good amount of the cheese on the dough and up against the pan helps the cheese to brown on the dough as it cooks to create this crust.
Pan Size To Dough Ratio Options – If you have a different size pan or your amount is of dough on hand is different, here are a few pan to dough ratio options to help get the best results:
Pan Size Dough Weight
8×8 8 ounces
9×9 10 ounces
9×13 14 ounces
8×10 10 ounces
10×14 16 ounces
THE INGREDIENTS
Premade Pizza Dough – You can purchase this at pretty much any grocery store or from your local pizzeria. I usually find it in the bakery aisle of my local grocery stores.
Cheese – If you can’t find the Wisconsin Brick Cheese, you can use mozzarella for the entire recipe. Using low moisture cheese is essential because it prevents the dough from becoming watery. Cutting the cheese into cubes helps to get those popular crispy cheesy edges. I added mozzarella as an additional cheese ingredient/topping to make it extra cheesy. You don’t have to add this extra cheese based on your preferences regarding how much cheese you want and to keep prep easy.
Pepperoni – I like to use the sandwich style pepperoni and cut them in triangles because I like the presentation. But you can use the traditional smaller pepperoni you usually find in the pizza aisle if that’s easier for you.
Whole Peeled Tomatoes – Tomato sauce or pizza sauce is the more popular choice when traditionally adding the stripes of sauce. But crushing whole peeled tomatoes doesn’t overpower all of the flavors, especially if you are one that likes light sauce. We’re partnering with Tuttorosso tomatoes to upgrade this dish using their San Marzano Style Whole Peeled Pear Tomatoes with Basil and Sea Salt because of their delicious flavor with no artificial flavors, preservatives, and colors.
Tomato Sauce – I added tomato sauce as an ingredient for this recipe if you choose to have tomato sauce placed traditionally on the dough before adding toppings or if you want to keep the classic spooned sauce garnish. The recipe card below has the cooking steps for this option.
Italian Seasoning – This earthy flavor herb mixture is great for Italian dishes to bring the flavors together.
Pro Tip – If you want deep dish results, do not use ready-made crust like the ones you find in the plastic bag that’s already cooked. You want a ready to cook dough that rises to give you that thick crust.
TIPS FOR USING PREMADE DOUGH
Most recipes call for making dough from scratch and waiting 24-48 hours. But, you don’t need to make homemade dough to enjoy this recipe. This version skips this step, saves you some time and is still good. These tips guarantee the store bought dough rises, crisp and bubbles up beautifully.
Quality Premade Dough – The use of a high hydration dough in the hot pan is the key to the airy interior. You know you have a good quality high hydration pre made dough if it’s soft and pliable when stretching, and doesn’t break when stretching.
Let It Rest – It needs to rest at room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes to relax and become stretchable as well as allow the dough time to rise for airy dough results.
Oil The Pan – Greasing the pan with olive oil helps the bottom crisp up while giving that buttery bite.
Press And Don’t Roll – Gently press the dough into the corners with your fingertips to make sure the dough gets all the way to the edge of the pan to help the edges get crispy.
Don’t Use Too Many Toppings – Too much sauce or cheese might make the dough soggy.
ASSEMBLE AND BAKE
Here’s guidance on how to make it. There’s also detailed instructions with preparation photos in the recipe card below for you.
Prep the Dough – Follow the package instruction to thaw the dough if you’re using a frozen version. Grease the pan well with olive oil, making sure to coat the entire bottom and sides of the pan. Next, place the dough in the pan, stretch the dough evenly covering the pan, and dimple it by pressing your fingers gently into the dough. If needed, let the dough rest for about 10-20 minutes to help the dough stretch better.
Add Toppings – Gently press the cubed cheese into the dough. Make sure to press the cheese around edges of the dough to get the crispy cheesy crust we’ve been talking about. Now sprinkle the pepperoni, ground sausage, bacon, and the Italian seasoning on top of the cheese and around the cheese, leaving some of the cheese visible for aesthetic purposes.
Spoon on the sauce – If you want the classic racing stripes of tomato sauce, now spoon the sauce on in two thick stripes.
Bake and Serve – Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the prepared pan of pizza on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Cook for 8 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and cook for another 7-9 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and melted with a nice light golden brown color. Let the pizza cool for about 3 minutes or so then transfer to a cutting board to slice. Serve immediately.
Detroit Style Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces store bought pizza dough
- 2 slices bacon (chopped)
- 4 ounces ground sausage
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 16 ounces mozzarella (cut in cubes)
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce (see directions for this tomato option)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 7 slices sandwich style pepperonis (cut into triangles)
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 cup San Marzano style whole peeled pear tomatoes (see directions for this tomato option)
- fresh chopped basil (optional for garnish)
- crush red pepper (optional for garnish)
- dried oregano (optional for garnish)
Instructions
- Follow the package instruction to thaw store bought frozen dough if using.
- Prep any store-bought dough according to package directions. This usually requires placing dough in a large bowl, drizzling the dough with about one tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil (this helps prevent the dough from sticking to the sides of the bowl), covering the bowl with plastic wrap to let the dough rise and come to room temperature in a warm place such as your kitchen counter top for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
- While the dough rests, Brown the bacon in a medium size pan on the stove using medium high heat for about two minutes or until the bacon lightly browns. Make sure not to overcook the bacon because it will continue to brown and cook in the oven. Place the cooked bacon on a plate lined with paper towels to drain away the grease.
- Next, add the ground sausage to the same pan you cooked the bacon in. Cook the sausage on medium high heat for about four to five minutes or until the sausage has cooked through. Place the cooked sausage on the plate lined with paper towels to drain away the grease.
- Grease the pans well covering the whole pan with the two tablespoons of olive oil and place the dough in the pan.
- Stretch the dough and dimple the dough with your fingers, making sure the dough reaches the edge of the pan. If needed, to help the dough reach the edge of the pan, let the dough rest for about 10 to 20 minutes after your first stretch of the dough, because this will help the dough relax and stretch better.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Gently press the cubed cheese evenly into the top of the dough. Make sure to press plenty of cheese around the edges of the dough. This helps get the crispy cheesy edges.
- At this time if you would rather have tomato sauce traditionally layered under the toppings, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce evenly on the dough around the cheese.
- Now sprinkle the pepperoni, ground sausage, bacon, and Italian seasoning on top of the cheese and around the cheese in some areas. (This helps to make sure some of the cheese is still visible.)
- Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese in the exposed areas around the meats. Then, add your stripes of tomato sauce if want this on your pizza. You can let them rise for about 20 minutes at this time. Cover them with plastic wrap while they rise.
- Place the pans on the middle oven rack in the preheated oven. Cook them uncovered for 8 minutes. Rotate the pans 180 degrees and cook for additional 7 to 9 minutes or until the cheese has melted and has lightly browned.
- Remove the pans from the oven using an oven mitt. Let the pizza cool for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Using a large spatula, transfer the pizzas to a cutting board. Top with the crushed tomatoes (if this is how you would like your tomatoes on the top of the pizza) and add optional basil, crushed red pepper, and oregano garnish. Cut and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Please note that I am not a nutritionist, and the nutritional information is an estimate only. It varies based on the products and brands used.
VARIATIONS
Chicken or Turkey Sausage– Use ground chicken or turkey sausage if you don’t want to use pork products. There’s a lot of great alternatives for sausage products now a days in most grocery stores.
Turkey Pepperoni – If you don’t eat pork, use turkey pepperoni instead of pork pepperoni. They should be easy to find. I have seen them in major retail supermarkets.
Vegan Options– Good news! You can turn this into a meatless pizza and use vegetables like peppers, onions and mushrooms and even plant based meats.
Homemade Dough– If you want a homemade dough recipe instead of store bought, Tuttorosso has a good recipe here.
STORAGE & REHEATING
Storing Leftovers – After the pizza cools completely, wrap the slices individually in foil or food plastic wrap. Then place the wrapped pieces in an airtight container. This allows you to store them in the fridge for up to 3 days while preserving freshness. When you’re ready to eat the leftovers, remove the wrapping from the pieces and heat in an air fryer at 375 degrees for about 3 -5 minutes or heat in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Freezing Leftovers – Ensure the cooked pizza has come to room temperature then wrap the slices individually in foil or plastic wrap. Then place the wrapped pieces in a freezer friendly airtight container or freezer safe storage bag. You can freeze it for 1 to 2 months. When ready to reheat, cook in the oven or air fryer at 375 – 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 15 minutes.
Freezing Prepared Pizzas – If you’re meal planning, you can make this as one of your freezer meals! Wrap the prepared pizzas in plastic wrap, then wrap them with foil, and then place each one in a plastic food storage bag or an freezer friendly airtight container for up to two months. Place them in the freezer making sure they lay flat. When ready to cook, remove them from the storage bags and remove the plastic and foil, then cook the frozen pizza using the cooking directions in the recipe card.
FAQs
Yes absolutely! But try to let it rest and rise longer for a better crumb. If you use this type of dough, it may be softer, and par-baking can help with this.
Yes, this can be made in a cast iron skillet! Stephanie at the Plain Chicken has really good tips on how to cook this in your iron skillet.
If you want to add an extra kick, top it with some hot honey after baking, or add a layer of pepper jack cheese with a few pinches of red pepper flakes before baking for a sweet or spicey finish. Using spicy pepperonis is also another good way to make it spicier.
MORE ITALIAN RECIPES
Spicy Italian Sausage Marinara Pasta
A great go to if you want a quick and spicy marinara dish made with Italian sausage.
Creamy Havarti Cheese Pasta Sauce
If you want a white sauce with a twist try this creamy sauce made Havarti cheese giving it a more robust flavor.
These are moist and tender and full of garlic flavor.
Marinara Sauce Infused with Wine
This is another quick and easy red sauce made with wine and tons of garlic.
Made this recipe?
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This recipe was slightly adapted and inspired by this recipe.
Thanks for stopping by! Welcome to the Savory Spicerack! In my kitchen, there is no such thing as a bland meal. Each of my creations are just the way food should be – packed with flavor and created with love.
Great recipe. I actually had a pan I bought on line from a Detroit pizzeria that went out of business. I made the pizza dough in my bread machine and followed your recipe exactly. Everyone raved. Thank you for posting that.
This looks amazing. Definitely on my to do list to try.
This Is Amazing Just Like From Back Home!
I tried the recipe and it was so delicious, and so easy to make. I’ll be making this again!!
Any tips on how to make the bottom crisper? Mine come out very doughy.