Detroit Style Pizza

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Quick Bite

Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular pan pizza with a thick, airy crust, crispy cheese edges, and tomato sauce spooned on top. It is Motor City comfort food: square, sturdy, cheesy, and built with engineering-level confidence.

History

Detroit-style pizza was born at Buddy’s Rendezvous in Detroit in 1946. Gus Guerra is widely credited with making the first square pizza there, using a thick dough and baking it in forged-steel pans connected to Detroit’s automotive world.

Those pans helped create the style’s signature texture. The dough bakes up airy inside and crisp outside, while cheese is pushed all the way to the edges so it caramelizes against the metal pan. That dark, crunchy cheese border is one of the main reasons people fall for it.

The pizza has Sicilian roots, but Detroit made it its own. Instead of a round pie with sauce underneath, Detroit-style pizza is rectangular, often topped with Wisconsin brick cheese, and finished with stripes or spoonfuls of tomato sauce over the cheese.

For decades, it was a beloved local style. In recent years, it has exploded nationally, showing up in pizza shops far beyond Michigan. Still, the original Detroit versions have a gritty, generous, neighborhood feel that is hard to fake.

Fun Facts

• Detroit-style pizza is traditionally baked in rectangular steel pans.
• The cheese goes all the way to the edge to create crispy, caramelized corners.
• The sauce often goes on top of the cheese, not underneath it.

Where to Try

Buddy’s Pizza Detroit and other Michigan locations
The origin name for Detroit-style pizza, tracing the style back to Buddy’s Rendezvous in 1946.

Loui’s Pizza Hazel Park, Michigan
An old-school Detroit-style favorite known for deep square pies, lots of cheese, and classic red-sauce atmosphere.

Detroit Style Pizza Co. St. Clair Shores, Michigan
Founded by Shawn Randazzo, who helped bring Detroit-style pizza wider national attention and championed the style beyond Michigan.

About the Game

This recipe is part of Van Life Challenge, a travel-themed board game from Gray Dog Games where players explore the United States, discover regional foods, and collect memorable experiences along the way.

Each featured food celebrates a real place, a local flavor, and the kind of delicious roadside discovery that makes every trip feel like an adventure.

Recipe

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Home-Cook-Friendly Detroit Style Pizza Makes: One 9x13-inch pizza Prep: 25 minutes, plus rising Cook: 15–20 minutes Difficulty: Medium Style: Michigan / Detroit Pan Pizza

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 ½ cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the pizza

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, for the pan
• 12 ounces Wisconsin brick cheese or low-moisture mozzarella, cubed or shredded
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• ½ pound pepperoni, optional
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• Grated Parmesan, optional

Instructions

1. Make the dough: Mix flour, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil until a sticky dough forms.
2. Knead: Knead for 5 minutes, or mix until smooth and elastic.
3. First rise: Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
4. Oil the pan: Oil a dark 9x13-inch metal pan generously.
5. Stretch the dough: Press the dough into the pan. Let it rest 15 minutes, then stretch it again into the corners.
6. Second rise: Let the dough rise in the pan for 30 to 45 minutes.
7. Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 500°F.
8. Add toppings: Add pepperoni if using. Spread cheese all the way to the edges of the pan.
9. Add sauce: Spoon sauce in two or three stripes over the top.
10. Bake: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are dark, crisp, and bubbling.
11. Rest and cut: Let rest for 5 minutes, then loosen the edges and cut into squares.

Traditional note: To make it more traditional, use brick cheese, a well-oiled rectangular steel pan, and sauce on top. Make sure the cheese touches the pan edges so the corners get crisp and caramelized.

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