Detroit-Style Pizza Recipe

Like hot dogs and chili, pizza styles can vary dramatically region to region, and they're all delicious in their own right. Whether it's Neopolitan, Chicago deep dish, or New York style pizza, who can resist that saucy, cheesy goodness?

Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD brings us this recipe for Detroit-style pizza, which is uniquely different from other types of pies. Detroit-style has a rectangular, thick, crust, and it's perfectly chewy and crispy. It's the ultimate crowd-pleasing dish, really. It's a great meal to make on a Saturday night at home with family or for your next football game viewing party. The homemade dough requires 4 hours of total rise time (gasp!), but the resulting airy interior and crispy edges are completely worth the hassle. While it is rather involved, we can assure you that the results are absolutely worth it. Pair the pizza with a homemade salad or some ranch for dipping, and you've got yourself a winning spread.

To make this Detroit-style pizza, you can start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need water, active dry yeast, bread flour, salt, crushed tomatoes, brick cheese, and pepperoni slices. If you are unable to find the Wisconsin-famous brick cheese, feel free to substitute equal parts muenster and low moisture mozzarella cheese.

Detroit-style pizza is known for its focaccia-style dough, voluminous with the crispy edges. A thin crust is not what we are going for here. To make this dough, combine the water with the active dry yeast. Stir these ingredients and allow them to sit for at least 5 minutes. This will give the yeast a chance to activate.

Then, combine the yeast mixture with the flour and the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl into the stand mixer and mix using the dough hook. This will not only combine the ingredients into a dough-like consistency, but this will also knead the dough. You can stop the stand mixer when the dough is combined and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out into a large bowl that has been greased with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and set in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.

Using your hands, stretch the dough into a 9x13-inch metal baking dish. This type of pan is key in order to create those extra crispy edges of the pie. Cover the dough once more with a dish towel and return it to the warm spot. Allow this to rise for 2 hours. Make sure that you are placing the dough in a warm area of your home. This is what allows the dough to rise. If you find that your dough is not rising, place the baking dish in an unheated oven to rise.

Once the time is up, you should notice that your dough has doubled in size. Now, it's time to get baking. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Then, spoon the crushed tomatoes over the risen dough. Be sure to spread it all the way to the edges. Next, add the pepperoni slices. Finally, top the pizza with cubed cheese. Lastly, place the baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges of the pizza are crispy. With every bite, you'll notice the irresistibly chewy and subtly crunchy texture of this pizza crust — good luck having just one slice!