Detroit Style Pizza is the hottest pizza recipe of 2021. Pizza Hut recently announced a limited time version of Detroit style pizza, and we had to dig deep and find a Detroit style copycat pizza recipe that would taste authentic and have the look of the Buddy’s historic deep dish pie. We found it at King Arthur’s Flour. This King Arthur Detroit pizza copycat recipe is much better than the Pizza Huts version!
Table of contents
- Watch How We Made This Pizza Hut Copycat Recipe For Detroit Pizza
- What Is Detroit Pizza
- One Key To Make Detroit Pizza
- Detroit Pizza vs Chicago Pizza
- Detroit Pizza Dough Recipe
- No Knead Detroit Pizza Dough
- Detroit Pizza Cheese
- 2 Lines Of Pizza Sauce
- Recipe For Pizza Hut Pizza Sauce
- Simmer The Sauce Until Thickened, About 15 Minutes
- Detroit Pizza Oven Temperature and Cooking Instructions
- Pizza Hut Copycat Detroit Pizza Recipe
- Throwdown Kitchen
- Related Recipes
In the traditional Throwdown Kitchen manner, we took a few liberties along the way, so we hope you enjoy our copycat version of Pizza Huts Detroit Style Pizza. Thanks to King Arthur.
Watch How We Made This Pizza Hut Copycat Recipe For Detroit Pizza
What Is Detroit Pizza
In a way, Detroit pizza resembles a Sicilian pizza pie. Sicilian pies are also cooked in rectangular square pans and cut into squares. But the similarities end there. Detroit pie dough more closely resembles a lighter focaccia than its Italian cousin.
In addition, the Detroit pizza ingredients are layered starting with Wisconsin brick cheese, then the toppings and finishing with 3 rows of thick tomato sauce. The defining feature of a Detroit pizza is the easy melting Brick cheese caramelizing in the corners and the sides of the pan. Perhaps the best part of the pizza!
One Key To Make Detroit Pizza
One of the keys to creating a Detroit style pizza is the pizza pan itself. It is important to have a square or rectangle pan when making a Detroit pizza. I use a high temperature 13 inches by 9 inch baking pan because its pretty much impossible to find an old automotive machine parts steel pan that they used in the early Detroit assembly line days.
In a pinch you can use a cast iron pan. It will taste almost the same but not have that signature square look of a Detroit pizza crust.
Detroit Pizza vs Chicago Pizza
What is the difference between Detroit style pizza and Chicago pizza? Aside from the fact that Chicago Illinois is 280 miles away from Detroit Michigan, both are deep dish pizzas. But that ends it. The Chicago pizza features a round crust that is pushed up the sides to create a deep dish round pie, while the Detroit pizza has a thick crust, baked light and fluffy in a deep square pan.
Another major difference between the two pies is the type of cheese that is used. Iconic Detroit pizzas always use a Brick cheese that is produced in Wisconsin, while Chicago uses deli slices of mozzarella on the bottom of the pie and finishes with grated Parmesan on the top.
Detroit Pizza Dough Recipe
For the Detroit pizza dough you will need King Arthur bread flour, yeast, water and salt.
The star of this pizza show is the dough. Detroit pizza dough is a highly hydrated dough (76% water to flour ratio). What that means is that the dough is wet and sticky. It is going to need some gentle rising in the pan several times before being baked. This dough cannot be rolled out like a traditional pie dough and tossed in the air. It would even be difficult to lay out and press by hand due to the high water content.
If you decide to use a traditional method to knead the dough, it’s ok to use just enough flour on your workbench to keep the dough from sticking, but don’t overdo the flour. We want to maintain a high hydration level with our dough.
But, we have settled on a no knead approach to Detroit pizza dough and have had great success. The no knead method for Detroit pizza dough involves a little more planning on your part and time. Use a no knead method and let the dough sit for 24 hours before proceeding to make and bake the pie.
No Knead Detroit Pizza Dough
For this, Detroit style pizza recipe, start by mixing the flour (298 grams), instant yeast (1 1/2 tsp) and salt (1tsp) and then add the water (228 grams)mixture to the flour mixture. Stir this together until a good shaggy dough develops and there is no flour visible. Put the dough into an olive oiled (1 tbsp) bowl and cover this dough tightly and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, remove the plastic wrap. Wet your hands and then remove the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll and fold the dough into a ball, put the dough ball back into the bowl, cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, lightly spray a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil. Then, brush the pan with olive oil (1tbsp) Making sure to get all the sides and corners.
Put the dough ball into the center of the pan and press the dough ball out to flatten as much as possible. You can expect the dough to shrink back. Cover the pan and let rest for 30 minutes.
Remove the cover and press the dough out again all the way to the corners. The dough should at this point fill the entire pan without shrinking from the corners. If the dough shrinks back again, cover and rest for another 20 minutes. Repeat this step if necessary one more time.
Let the dough rise for 2 hours until at least doubled in size.
Detroit Pizza Cheese
Brick cheese from Wisconsin is a mild and nutty cheese. Look for a color that ranges from white to pale yellow. Its cousin is White American cheddar, but you could also use Monterey Jack cheese or a combination of mozzarella and cheddar as a substitute if you have trouble finding Wisconsin Brick cheese. Wisconsin Brick cheese melts effortlessly and has a buttery flavor with a bit of tang. Look for a young cheese for a milder flavor.
The King Arthur Detroit pizza recipe skips over the hunt for Wisconsin Brick and uses a mixture of white cheddar and mozzarella. In some ways, I can’t blame them. The results are outstanding and possible even a little more palatable to pizza fans.
2 Lines Of Pizza Sauce
The King Arthur Detroit pizza has an almost classic homemade pizza sauce on top. But get ready to have your mind blown because the pizza sauce is added on top of the pizza after it comes out of the oven. Pure genius! The sauce won’t weigh down the dough or make the dough top soggy as it rises in the oven.
Recipe For Pizza Hut Pizza Sauce
To make this simple recipe for Pizza Hut pizza sauce, sauce combine crushed tomatoes (24 ounces), garlic powder (1 tsp), oregano (1tsp), onion powder (1tsp) and basil (1tsp). A pinch of sugar to bring out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes will go a long way in recreating the Detroit style pizza recipe sauce. But just a pinch because we do not want an overly sweet tomato sauce. We want the tomatoes to shine though and taste like tomatoes.
Simmer The Sauce Until Thickened, About 15 Minutes
Some recipes call for this to be an uncooked sauce, but the King Arthur Detroit Pizza recipe cooks the sauce down to a little more than 3 cups. Keep the thick sauce warm on the stove while the pizza cooks in the oven. Remember, we’ll add the sauce after the top of the pizza comes out of the oven.
Detroit Pizza Oven Temperature and Cooking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Lightly poke down the risen dough with your fingers to remove any large air bubbles.
Layer the top of the dough with Wisconsin cubed brick cheese (12 ounces), making sure that the cheese is at the edges and corners of the pan. The reason we’ll cube the cheese, instead of shredding is that we need to give the dough a little extra time to cook through while the cheese is melting on top.
If you are using a cheddar (6 ounces) and mozzarella (6 ounces) combination from the King Arthur recipe, then buy small bricks of cheese and dice them into ½ cubes. This will help them melt slowly and evenly while the pizza is in the oven for 15 minutes. If you use shredded cheese, the cheese may burn up before the pizza dough has finished baking completely.
Top the pizza with whatever condiments you like. For this pizza, we are using pepperoni slices (3 ounces) on only half the pie. The other half of the pizza is going to be plain cheese. The best part of this Detroit style pizza recipe is the cheesy crusty edges and corners!
Cook the pizza on the low rack of a 500-degree oven for 15 minutes.
Bring the pizza out of the oven. Let the pizza cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the pan to make sure that the cheese and crust is not stuck to the pan. Slide the pan onto a cutting board and immediately sauce the top of the pizza making two evenly divided lines of sauce. Cut it into 8 square pieces. The lines of sauce should help you cut the slices evenly! Enjoy.
Pizza Hut Copycat Detroit Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- 13 x 9 inch high heat (500 degrees) baking pan.
Ingredients
Detroit Pizza Dough
- 300 grams Bread Flour King Arthur
- 230 grams Water Lukewarm
- 1 1/2 tsp Instant yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
Detroit Style Pizza Sauce
- 28 ounces Crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Basil
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- To taste Salt and pepper
Pizza Toppings
- 6 ounces Cheddar cubed
- 6 ounces Mozzarella cubed
- 3 ounces Pepperoni sliced
- To taste Parmesan
Instructions
- Mix the flour (300 grams), instant dry yeast (1 1/2 tsp) and salt (1tsp) and then add the lukewarm (230 grams) to the flour mixture. Stir this together until a good shaggy dough develops and there is no flour visible. Cover this dough tightly and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Lightly spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with vegetable oil. Then, brush the pan with olive oil (1 tbsp) Making sure to get all the sides and corners.
- Put the dough into the center of the pan and press the dough out to flatten as much as possible. You can expect the dough to shrink back. Cover the pan and let rest for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and press the dough out again all the way to the corners. The dough should at this point fill the entire pan without shrinking from the corners. If the dough shrinks back again, cover and rest for another 20 minutes. Repeat this step if necessary one more time. Cover with plastic warp and let the dough rise for 2 hours until at least doubled in size.
- Make the pizza sauce by combining crushed tomatoes (28 ounces), garlic powder (1 tsp), oregano (1 tsp), onion powder (1 tsp) and basil (1 tsp). Cook the sauce over medium heat until the sauce is reduced. Keep the sauce warm.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Top the pizza dough with cubes of mozzarella (6 ounces) and cubes of cheddar (6 ounces). Make sure that the cubes are spread evenly and are close to the edges of the pan. It is ok for the cheese to touch the edges and corners of the pan.Top the pizza with pepperoni slices (3 ounces) about 30 slices. Do not sauce the pizza until it comes out of the oven.
- Bake the pizza for 15 minutes at 500 degrees on the lower rack of the oven
- Remove the pizza from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the pizza from the pan. Slide the pizza onto a cutting board and top the pizza with two rows of pizza sauce. Cut into 8 pieces and serve immediately. Garnish with Parmesan (to taste) if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Pizza Hut has done a great job with their version of a Detroit style pizza. Many of the Internets top reviewers are genuinely pleased with the effort made by Pizza Hut. We made one tweak to the King Arthur’s recipe, to make it a good Pizza Hut Detroit copycat. We added a sprinkle of Parmesan at the end of baking the pie. Parmesan gave a nice salty flavor to the pizza pie that seemed to be missing from the King Arthur’s recipe.
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Have you tried our copycat version of this Pizza Hut Copycat Detroit Style Pizza recipe? Feel free to leave a 5-star rating, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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Amazing! Bought the P.H. Version until no longer available – then searched for a copycat recipe – it was not difficult and the taste was awesome! Thanks!