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Detroit Style (ish) Tomato Herb Pepperoni Pizza. Thick crust pizza dough topped with pepperoni, tomato sauce, sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, garlic, tons of melted cheese, and more pepperoni. The key to a good Detroit-style pizza is crispy cheesy edges. As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven top it with fresh basil, slice, eat, and enjoy. Trust me, every last bite of this pizza is delicious and will leave you wanting more.
I love pizza day. I’m talking about an old-school-style pizza day. They were my favorite when I was in school! Pizza day was always more chill for some reason. I don’t know if the teachers planned it that way or what, but pizza day was the best.
My school served up the classic cheese and pepperoni pizzas…with the best chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It was always a day to look forward to. Anytime I’m making pizza, it’s a good memory.
But Detroit-style pizza is extra special. I’m from Cleveland, which means Detroit was not far away. We heard about Detroit pizza all the time. Unfortunately, we never tried it. But I’ve always been curious about it so I wanted to recreate it.
Detroit-style pizza is rectangular with a thicker crust It’s usually made with sauce, pepperoni, and tons of cheese that goes all the way out to the edges. Often the pepperonis are pressed into the dough. And it’s baked in a metal rectangular pan. Yes, it even has its own pan that’s specific to just this pizza!
Back when the pizza was first introduced in 1946, at a former speakeasy called Buddy’s Rendevous, automotive drip trays were used. There just weren’t any pans high enough to accommodate this thick-crusted pizza. These specially sized pan helps to create the classic crispy cheesy crust.
If you don’t have a Detroit-style pizza pan, as I do, a metal rectangle cake pan works great too.
Details
Either make your own pizza dough or use store-bought. Either way, make sure the dough is at room temp. Add olive oil to your pizza pan, then push the dough into the bottom of the pan.
Cover the pan and let it sit for a bit. The dough will rise slightly.
Make sure to preheat the oven to the highest setting possible. Cooking the pizza in the bottom half of the oven at a super high temperature creates that crispy crust that everyone loves so much.
Meanwhile, I mix some garlic, fresh basil, oregano, and chili flakes. This blend is really going to season the pizza and make the flavor delicious.
When the dough is ready, layer on the toppings! The traditional layering process is pepperoni, then vertical lines of pizza sauce, then cubes of cheese.
We love our pepperonis to be crispy, so I did a slightly different order.
Start with pepperoncini, a sprinkling of the herb mix from above, then smooth on the sauce, and add the cheese. It’s traditional to use cubed brick cheese, which is similar to a dry whole milk mozzarella. Many places will also add cheddar to the mix.
I do cubes of mozzarella, provolone, and cheddar. The cubes melt wonderfully over the dough. Make sure to arrange the cheese all the way out to the edge of the dough. What happens is the cheese melts down along the sides of the pan and creates the crispy cheese crust that’s essential to this pizza.
After the cheese, I add a handful of fresh in-season cherry tomatoes, more herbs, and then lots of very thinly sliced pepperonis.
Bake the pizza in the bottom half of the oven until the cheese is bubbling and becomes crispy around the edges.
As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven, use a spatula to lift it out onto a cutting board. Slice it, top with basil, and eat. This one is meant to be eaten hot, so enjoy every last bite!
Family and friends will LOVE this pizza with its crispy cheesy crust, tomatoes, pepperonis, and herbs. The cheese in the middle is super melty too! Oh, and don’t skip out on the honey on top (it’s mine and Asher’s favorite). It makes every bite real good!
Looking for other pizzas? Here are a few of my go-to’s.
Cauliflower “Pepperoni” Cheese Pizza
Pull Apart Roasted Garlic Pizza Dip Sliders
Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Peach Burrata Pizza with Honey Balsamic
Lastly, if you make this Detroit Style Tomato Herb Pepperoni Pizza, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Detroit Style Tomato Herb Pepperoni Pizza
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 585 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound pizza dough, homemade or store-bought
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano, chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
- chili flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons pepperoncini, chopped
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups cubed brick cheese or whole milk mozzarella
- 1/2 cup cubed provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese
- 8 ounces pepperoni, sliced
- honey, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Position an oven rack in the bottom half of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500° F.2. Drizzle the olive oil in 9×13 metal cake pan (or a Detroit-style pizza pan). Put the pizza dough in the pan and gently stretch it out to fit so the dough almost reaches the corners. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 30 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the garlic, basil, oregano, fennel, and a pinch each of chili flakes, salt, and pepper.5. To assemble. Gently press the dough until it covers the entire pan. Layer on half of the pepperoni slices, then the pepperoncini. Spoon on the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over half of the herbs. Top with cheese, then tomatoes, then the remaining herbs, and more pepperoni.6. Bake until bubbly and a crispy cheese crust has formed, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a spatula, loosen the edges and slide on to a cutting board. Slice into squares and serve with fresh basil and honey.
Our pizza is in the oven now. Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for so many amazing recipes. You are so talented and have changed dinnertime at our house. xx
Hi Nikki,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for trying it out and sharing your review! xxT
Looks amazing! Working on dough now to make this for dinner. I’m serving a few vegetarians, so plan to make half of it veggie. Would you recommend subbing maybe some mushrooms and peppers for the pepperoni on the veggie half of the pizza? Or would that change the texture too much?
Thanks!
Hey Natalie,
The great thing about pizza is that you can really put whatever you like on it:) I think any veggies you want to use here would be great!! Mushrooms would be delicious! I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
So freaking good! Great recipe! Loved it 100%
Hi Susan,
Awesome!! I love that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it!! Have the best Friday!! xx
Just pulled it out of the oven and can’t wait for a bite ?. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi Melissa,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled that this recipe was a hit, thanks a bunch for trying it out! ☀️xxT
These gatekeepers… I’m from Detroit and this pizza was bomb af! The fresh herbs just made this so delicious and refreshing! This was my first time make a pizza from scratch and honestly you could undercook or overcook it and still be amazing. So earthy it almost made pizza seem healthy!
Hey Jordan,
Happy Wednesday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a bunch for giving it a try! Thanks for your feedback:) xx
I’ve tried to make pizza at home a gazillion times and I’ve never loved it (probably because I live in Detroit and I can grab good pizza anywhere). This recipe was great though! Thank you for sharing, I love all your recipes! Also, what pizza sauce do you use? I’m trying to find one I really like.
Hey Amy,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe and sharing your review, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! I love Rao’s! ?Tieghan
So making this for dinner tonight! Teighan, do you have a go to pizza dough recipe or mostly use premade dough?
Hey Pam,
Yes, my favorite dough recipe is in the HBH Super Simple cookbook! If you are pressed for time, Whole Foods has a great option as well! xx
Made this tonight! We really enjoyed it! The pizza came out great. It did stick just a tiny bit at the edge. Any ideas about how to keep it from sticking? It was well coated with olive oil. We really enjoyed it!
Hey Sarah,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! A tiny bit of sticking is normal:) Have a great week! xTieghan
Made this recipe last night. DELICIOUS!
Hey Dionna,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have a great week! xTieghan
We made this last night for dinners and man was this good. We make a lot of pizza in our house and am always looking for different kinds that taste amazing. Adding this to our pizza rotation!!!!
Hey Patricia,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! Have a great weekend:) xx
Meh This is pho all over again… As a Detroiter, this is not authentic. Why didn’t you just steal an authentic Detroit Pizza recipe like you did with that Easter Dessert?
What an embarrassment. Learn to take criticism. Your privledge is showing.
Hey! Hmm, embarrassment huh? Not sure about that, I love this pizza and am by no means embarrassed by it. What I would say is embarrassing is this comment you took the time to leave. Maybe you should look at how you are spending your time on the internet? The negativity you are spreading. It doesn’t seem like you enjoy my content or recipes, but you sure have a lot to say about them. Seems like you follow them daily too! Maybe you should use your time to follow someone you do enjoy? That might be a more useful way to spend your hours. Have a wonderful weekend!
Grum sounds Glum. Also *privilege, not privledge.
As always, love your recipes and looking forward to making this pizza tonight!
I just started following you recently and I have loved every single thing I have cooked so far. I haven’t commented, but, I feel inclined to do so in response to such a rude comment.
I’m from Chicago, so I know how people feel about their pizza. But, you did say Detroit-ISH. So, yeah. Nobody is saying that you’ll roll into D-Town and open up a a pizza restaurant with this recipe. I’m making this tonight and trust that it will be as incredible as everything else.
Thanks for everything! And your photos are beautiful. The only thing I love more than pictures of beautiful food is cooking and eating it!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for your kind message:) I hope you love this recipe, let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
Not Authentic. I am from Detroit and I have never once seen honey on Detroit-style pizza. Maybe you should call this Cleveland-style Pizza?
Hi Sue!
I never said this was authentic. The recipe is titled, Detroit style pizza because it is a classic Detroit crust. I understand honey is not traditional. It’s an optional addition at the very end. Hoping this helps clear things up for you! And as always, if you are not enjoying the recipes I share, no need to follow along. Have a wonderful weekend! xTieghan
Fantastic recipe!
I have never had, or made this style of pizza before but because it’s a Tieghan recipe we were confident it would be great! I made the no knead bread & pizza dough recipe from HBH’s the Super Simple cookbook and it turned out great! It was easy to prep, it rose for an hour, then I pressed it into a 9×13 metal cake pan coated with olive oil, let it sit for 30 minutes then proceeded to make the pizza recipe. I decided to omit the tomatoes as we’re not really fans of cooked tomatoes but we made everything else exactly as written. It took longer than 15 min to cook, about 25 but so worth it to wait as the crust was incredible. Crispy & cheesy as described and it rose quite a bit for a soft airy inner crust. We loved this pizza and the recommendation of the honey was a good call, not sweet but just enhanced the flavors.
Thanks so much for such an incredible recipe & for all your hard work that goes into creating all of your amazing recipes!!
Hey Lori,
Wow!! So glad you tried the pizza dough from the cookbook for this recipe. I appreciate you sharing your feedback and what worked well for you! Thanks for making the recipes:) xxT
Our family loves pizza and this was differently from what I typically make. We loved it! The thick pan crust is delicious!
Hi Tyra,
Thanks for your feedback! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it:) Have the best week! xxT
I thought I would make some pizza and saw this recipe. I knew it would be good, it’s pizza right? OMG this is the best pizza I have had in a very long time. Better than pizza out! It is so delicious, the drizzle of honey perfects it! And it is easy. I used Trader Joes pizza dough which made the process simple, quick, and full proof. YUM I cannot recommend this recipe enough! And to think, until tonight, this Arizona girl had no idea what Detroit pizza even was!
Hey Jennifer,
LOL Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I’m using Trader Joe’s dough tonight. I’m having a hard time with it. I can’t get it to spread to the sides of the pan. Fingers crossed, though. I’m hopeful!