My husband’s three favorite words: Home.Made.Pizza.
My three favorite words: Cast.Iron.Skillet. (I fell in love this past summer.)
What do you get when you put them together? Homemade Cast Iron Skillet Pizza.
Oh. My. Goodness.
You. Know. You. Want. This.
Because we want you to have a love affair with pizza too (um, hello?! It’s a MERE FRACTION of take out!), we’ve shared our secrets on creating the perfect New York style pizza crust and the easiest homemade pizza sauce in the whole wide world.
We also showed you how to make pizza on the grill and Mr. Crumbs’ college favorite buffalo chicken pizza (which you MUST try if you haven’t already. seriously).
One day this past summer, after he found out about my love affair, Mr. Crumbs gave my cast iron skillet a second glance and did the unthinkable.
He made pizza in it.
While my mouth dropped in shock, my taste buds were in awe.
Y’all. It’s like Chicago pizza in California. Not quite full-fledged deep-dish (to the point where you need a knife and fork), but definitely thicker than East Coast.
It’s sorta kinda Sicilian, but not quite as thick all around. You could compare it to Pizza Hut (minus the processed ingredients part), but with a slightly softer crust.
And absolutely DELISH!
Homemade Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
So… yeah… we were a little confused as to how to actually interpret the result, but it’s doesn’t really matter because this pizza is SLAMMIN.
So here’s the trick to making an easy and perfect homemade cast iron skillet pizza.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and make the best pizza dough ever. (<– totally not bias)
Make the best pizza sauce ever. (<– seriously!) and after the dough has completed it’s rise, split it in half.
If you want a Pizza Hut / Round Table type pizza, lightly coat the cast iron skillet with olive oil and DON’T pre-heat.
Press the dough out into a rough circle the size of your skillet (ours is 12″ in diameter) and lay it in the pan. Continue to press the dough out so that you get a little “lip” around the edge for your crust.
If you opted to preheat the skillet, please be VERY CAREFUL as the skillet will be incredibly hot.
If you’re looking for a nice change of pace, consider carrot top pesto or homemade ranch dressing instead of traditional pizza sauce.
Then top appropriately. Pepperoni, diced chicken, leftover veggies from dinners this past week (<–great way to use up leftovers!).
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.
Drool. Then eat.
- 1 prepared batch of homemade pizza dough
- 1 prepared batch of homemade pizza sauce (or carrot top pesto)
- 8 oz mozzarella (fresh is best)
- toppings, as desired
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- If you want a Pizza Hut / Round Table style pizza, lightly coat the cast iron skillet with olive oil. Otherwise, place the cast iron skillet in the oven for 30 minutes to preheat.
- Meanwhile, divide the pizza dough into two. Pound one piece of the dough into a circle about the size of your cast iron skillet.
- Very carefully place the dough into the cast iron skillet and press the dough out so that you get a lip around the edge for the crust. Please work carefully as a preheated cast iron skillet will be hot!
- Smear about ¼ - ½ cup of sauce on the bottom of the pizza.
- Top with the appropriate toppings and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubble and the crust is golden.
- Repeat with the second round of dough.
- Enjoy your homemade cast iron skillet pizza!
Additional Recipe Notes
If you want your cast iron skillet pizza to have a a crust with a little more crunch, baste the crust with a little bit of olive oil before putting in the oven.
When the pizza is done, slide it out onto a cutting board and let it sit for a few minutes before cutting. If you’ve seasoned your cast iron skillet the right way, this shouldn’t be a problem. We like to use this pizza cutter because it doesn’t make the cheese slide all over the place.
Ok I just made this tonight. SO GOOD!! Thanks for helping me find yet another reason to love my cast-iron skillet 🙂
You’re most welcome Blythe! Pizza rocks!
Do you mean use a whole batch of dough (that normally makes 2 pizzas)?
We take half of one batch of dough and use it for the skillet. I’ll fix the recipe!!
Just made a pizza!!!! So so good!
So glad you like it!
Do you preheat and cook at 450 or 550? (Both temps are mentioned int the post.)
450 Susan – sorry for the confusion!
Thanks! Going to try it out tonight. 🙂
I made this pizza using the preheat method, and it came out wonderfully!! Thank you for the great recipes for both the crust and pizza! I’m just wondering how it is different when you oil the pan and don’t preheat. What do you mean by Pizza Hut/Round Table style? Is it crispier or softer?
You’re most welcome Jennifer! Pizza Hut style would be a thicker, softer crust – almost doughy and pillowy and less crispy, if that makes sense. Both are great pizzas, it’s just a matter of crust preference. 🙂
Can you use a store bought crust like pilsbury if you want to cut down on time. 😊
LOL – I’m sure you can!
Tiffany, have you been able to find affordable pepperoni without nitrates/nitrites? If so, where? I’ve been looking at several stores around me, but haven’t had any luck. Thanks!
AnnaKathryn – so far I’ve found nitrate-free pepperoni at Kroger (just recently though). I’m not sure if it’s “affordable” long term, as I only bought enough for one pizza night for a taste-test. A neighbor bought us a stick of locally made pepperoni, but that too had nitrates. 🙁
Any ideas on making this only on the stovetop or for camping with a fire pit?
Hi Lynne! We haven’t tested either of those methods yet, but there are two things to consider: 1) pre-cooking the crust. If you don’t, it will be soggy and your topping will burn. 2) Lower heat for the toppings (possibly while covered), to avoid burning AND to actually get the cheese to melt. In an oven, the closed environment is what melts the cheese nicely. So my suggestion would be to get the skillet super hot, put in the dough and cook it up until its just about done. Remove the skillet from the heat and turn the heat down. Then top, cover with a lid, and then back on the lower heat until the cheese melts. That should get the firm crust with melt-y cheese!
I posted a comment on how I do it…before I saw yours.
HI Tiffany,
Where can you buy the cute little pans showing in the picture with the pesto sauce?
I’m not sure Stacy. They were given to me as a gift!
They are cute… can you share what brand they are?
Hi, how would I make this without a cast iron skillet?
I love cooking this on my stovetop!! We are on solar so I don’t use my oven much but LOVE pizza so I just make this in my cast iron and put a lid on and cook it. I also cook the crust a bit to make sure it all cooks even.