This Cast Iron Pizza is a game-changer! Baking the pizza in a cast iron skillet creates a deliciously crispy crust and a perfectly baked pie. This method is an amazing way to make pizza and will become your new go-to for pizza night!
You knew it was coming, right? After posting my favorite homemade pizza sauce recipe it was only natural that a homemade pizza recipe was soon to follow. This cast-iron skillet pizza is a new take (for me!) on making pizza and it's quickly becoming my favorite pizza method. Keep reading to find out what makes it so special, and exactly how to do it.
Why I Love This Recipe
We're a once-a-week pizza night kind of family. Usually reserved for the weekends, we use pizza night as a chance to relax and reconnect as a family. And, while it's nice sometimes to kick back and order pizza from one of the local pizzerias in town, we love to make our own. We roll out the dough, add our favorite pizza sauce, and let the kids pile on their own toppings. I love getting the kids involved in the kitchen and letting them help make dinner.
Our favorite new way to make pizza is in a cast-iron skillet. For so many reasons.
- Perfectly crisp crust. I've typically used a pizza stone when making pizza (also great!), but using a cast iron pan has a similar effect. Getting the pan super hot (you can do this by heating it over a burner, or allowing it to heat in the oven while your oven preheats) helps the dough form a crispy edge quickly, while still keeping a chewy crust.
- Perfect for deep-dish pizza. While a pizza stone works great for a thin crust or pan pizza if it's a deep dish you're after, a cast iron pan is your best friend, and will turn out the best pizza. A nice deep pan allows you to make a nice deep pizza. Simple enough, but it's really one of the only tools that works for this type of pizza pie.
- Easy. As far as pizzas go, making one in a cast-iron skillet is as easy as it gets. Simply roll out your dough, place it in the hot skillet, add some sauce, cheese, and toppings, and finish it off in the oven. Simple! (Want more easy pizza recipes? Try my French Bread Pizza In The Air Fryer, this delicious Anchovy Pizza, my spicy Diavola Pizza, or this easy BBQ Chicken Flatbread!)
Key Ingredients
For this recipe, I kept it pretty classic but did add a special touch to the dough at the end. Here are the main players:
- Pizza dough. You can use homemade dough or store-bought pizza dough. If you don't have a favorite pizza dough or simply don't have time to make one, here's a tip. Try your local grocery store. I often buy premade dough which is typically found in the deli section, and it always comes out great. You can also call your local pizzeria - if you ask them, they'll often sell you just the dough for just a few dollars, which can be a total time-saver.
- Cornmeal. This is a must for all the pizzas I make - adding just a sprinkling of cornmeal in the pan helps improve the texture and flavor of the crust, and also helps prevent it from sticking to the pan.
- Pepperoni. Told you it was a classic!
- Mozzarella cheese. I typically use pre-shredded mozzarella cheese since it contains less moisture than fresh, and prevents the top of the pizza from getting soggy.
- Fresh basil.
- Hot honey glaze. Alright, this is where it gets interesting. Adding a bit of crushed red pepper to some honey and then spreading it on the edges of the crust when it comes out of the oven is a total game changer. It creates a sweet and very slightly spicy unexpected kick at the end of each slice!
How To Make Cast Iron Pizza
- Allow the dough to rest. If using fresh dough that's been in the refrigerator, let it sit out for about 20 minutes before rolling it out. This will make it much easier to stretch and roll.
- Preheat the oven. When you're ready to make the pizza, heat the oven up to 450 degrees.
- Roll out the dough. On a large work surface, roll out your pizza dough ball just a bit larger than your cast iron skillet. This will ensure that the dough can easily line the sides of the skillet.
- Get your skillet HOT. Next, heat your cast-iron skillet over a burner until it's nice and hot. Sprinkle a mixture of cornmeal, flour, and sugar over the skillet. This helps to make your crust nice and crispy, and also easier to remove.
- Add the dough to the skillet. Place the pizza dough into the hot pan, making sure to get it into the corners. Be careful - your skillet will be really hot, so use something to help you gently press the dough into the sides. (A rubber spatula is good for this).
- Brush with oil and add the sauce. Brush the top of the dough with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and wait for it to start bubbling (it should be just a few minutes). Quickly spread your sauce onto the pizza dough (here's a recipe for a great sauce!).
- Add your toppings. A tip for adding your cheese and toppings. Start by adding a handful of cheese right on top of the sauce. I've found this helps work as a base for the rest of the toppings so they don't slide around so much. Then add your favorite toppings and finally, the rest of the cheese. We love a simple pepperoni pizza at our house so we simply add pepperoni, fresh basil, and another smattering of cheese before carefully placing the whole thing into the oven. (This is a precarious process since the skillet is heavy and will be HOT! Use some sturdy potholders or towels and be careful here.)
- Bake the pizza. Place the pizza on the middle rack of your oven. Let the pizza bake for about 10 minutes in the hot oven, then check it. If it needs more time, transfer to the top rack to finish it off, another 5 minutes or so, then remove it from the oven. If you find your cheese browning a bit more than you'd like during the baking process, cover the skillet with foil for the remainder of the baking time. (Note that depending on how thick you've made your crust, and if you have added a lot of toppings for a true deep dish pizza, your cooking time may take quite a bit longer. See my note below in the FAQs about how to adjust for deep dish style pizzas.)
- Add the hot honey glaze to the crust. You guys - this may be my favorite part. We do this to almost every pizza we make at home and it makes the crust completely addictive. While your pizza is baking, mix some honey with a few tablespoons of warm water and some red pepper flakes. When the pizza is just out of the oven, brush the honey mixture along the edges of the dough. This creates an amazingly delicious flavor on the edge of the crust. This is a genius trick that I learned from Bon Appetit and one that I employ on pretty much every pizza recipe I make. (Trust me on this one!)
- Cool and serve. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes then slice and serve!
Variations And Substitutions
There are loads of ways to vary up this cast iron pizza recipe. Here are a few ideas.
- Level up your pizza dough. As I said before, you can use a homemade or a store-bought dough. If going the homemade route, you can add fresh garlic or herbs right into the dough ingredients when you're making it for some extra flavor. Or, if using storebought dough, use an infused olive oil to brush atop it for an extra touch.
- Change up the toppings. We love pepperoni but feel free to sub it out for your favorites. Try Italian sausage, a different type of cheese, or veggies to mix it up.
- Change the thickness of the pizza. What's great about a cast-iron pan is that you have those tall sides of the pan to work with. This makes it easy to make a thick crust, deep dish pizza, or a thinner crust, pan-style pizza, depending on your preference.
- Change the sauce. A different sauce can totally transform your pizza. Try a simple marinara/tomato-based red pizza sauce, or a basil pesto sauce, or switch it up completely and do a white pizza with just cheese and olive oil!
Frequently Asked Questions
Cornmeal is commonly used as a duster for the bottom of the pizza dough. It gives it texture, flavor helps make the pizza crisp and helps it to come out of the pan more easily. However, if you're not a fan (some aren't), you can try dusting the bottom of your pizza with semolina flour (a type of flour made from durum wheat) or even all-purpose flour.
I have found that this is essential for making the dough crisp. Iron takes a while to heat up so if you're putting your dough into it cold, you're already at a disadvantage. Getting it hot beforehand, whether you do it on the stovetop, or right in the oven, will help the dough start to cook and crisp immediately.
I like to gently rub the pan with olive or canola oil. Roll out the dough onto a cutting board or work surface sprinkled with cornmeal and then transfer it to the pan. This should help it to slide right off!
If you have a lot of toppings and are making a true deep-dish pizza, you'll want to make a few adjustments. I'd suggest lowering your temperature slightly to about 400 - 425 degrees, and par-baking the crust (with no toppings) for about 5-7 minutes. Then add your toppings and cook the pizza for about 20-30 minutes or so. Check on it every ten minutes to make sure it's not burning, and if the cheese or crust is browning too much, cover the pan with foil for the remainder of the cook time.
This really depends on how thick your crust is. If your crust is thinner, I'd use the middle or top rack. If it's a thick crust, start off on the bottom rack for about 8 minutes, then transfer to the top rack to finish off.
The cast-iron skillet makes this pizza crust incredibly crispy and finishing it the oven delivers a perfectly baked pie every time.
If you make this Cast-Iron Pizza, let me know your thoughts in the comments below! And please tag me on Instagram - I love to see your creations!
More Great Pizza Recipes
- Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese And Everything Bagel Pizza
- Breakfast Pizza
- Fall Harvest Pizza Recipe
- Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce
- Air Fryer French Bread Pizza
- Diavola Pizza
- BBQ Chicken Flatbread
- Anchovy Pizza
Recipe
Cast Iron Pizza
Ingredients
- pizza dough - homemade or store-bought
- 2 tablespoon cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cup pizza sauce
- 1 package pepperoni
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoon honey
- 1 dash crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Prepare your crust. If using store-bought crust, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
- Roll/stretch your dough out into a large round circle (big enough to fit your skillet, with a bit of extra for the sides
- Heat your skillet over the stovetop until it is hot (your skillet should be hot, but not smoking).
- Add a drop of olive oil to the pan and spread evenly across the pan. Evenly spread cornmeal, flour and sugar in the bottom of the skillet.
- Place your prepared dough into the skillet, gently pressing the dough into the sides (I like to use a spatula to help with this - remember that skillet will be HOT!)
- Brush the dough with olive oil and cook for a couple of minutes, until the dough starts to slightly bubble on the stovetop.
- Evenly spread your pizza sauce over the top of the dough.
- Add a thin layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza sauce.
- Add the pepperoni, and half of the basil (or whatever other toppings you're using).
- Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and carefully place in the oven
- Bake pizza for 10 minutes, checking carefully for the last few minutes of baking to ensure the cheese isn't starting to brown too much.
- While the pizza as baking, combine honey, water and crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
- Once pizza is finished baking, carefully remove the skillet from your oven.
- Brush the honey mixture along the edge of the crust and let the pizza sit for about 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- Adjustments for deep dish pizza! If adding extra toppings for a deep dish pizza, adjust your cooking temperature down to 425 degrees. Par-bake the dough for 5-7 minutes, then add your toppings and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, checking in often to make sure the crust and cheese are not becoming too brown on the top. If this happens, just cover the pan with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
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Michael says
That hot honey crust-genius! And delicious!