Homemade buttery, thick and chewy pizza dough that is baked in a cast iron skillet for the best cast iron pizza. This is the best crispy and crunchy pizza crust for this skillet pizza.
My mom made homemade pizza dough on our farm nearly every week. It’s a great way to use up ingredients in your fridge, all while making a homemade meal.
Keep in mind, homemade pizza dough is made with simple ingredients and is freezer friendly!
Why this recipe works
- Homemade pizza is just better than delivery or store-bought!
- Easy to make pizza dough that is also freezer friendly.
- Made with simple ingredients and whatever toppings you have on hand.
We were fortunate enough to have a small pizza oven in the sugar house kitchen. But, she also used a pizza stone in her oven. That’s what I use in our kitchen for my Italian style pizza recipe! Cast iron helps make this pizza recipe have a crispy crust because of the high heat distribution throughout the pan.
Ingredients Needed
- Pizza dough: I recommend this Greek style pizza dough (recipe below) but you can also use store-bought or homemade pizza dough.
- Cheese: The best cheese for pizza is shredded mozzarella or a pizza blend cheese. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese or Asiago. It melts nicely and gives you a little browning.
- Marinara sauce: Use your favorite pasta sauce or make your own marinara sauce. Spread a thin layer of sauce across the bottom of the dough.
- Toppings: Italian sausage links, cut into pieces, sweet sausage, hamburger, and various sliced vegetables such as onions and peppers.
- Sprinkle the top of the pizza before it’s cooked with some Italian seasoning for additional flavor.
I love using my Lodge 17-inch cast iron skillet or the 13-inch skillet for this recipe. Make your pizza dough as thick or as thin as you prefer.
For more great recipes made in cast iron skillets be sure and try Cast Iron Cinnamon Rolls, Homemade Apple Pie, Apple Hand Pies, Skillet Blueberry Pie, and Homemade Apple Crisp.
How to make Cast Iron Pizza
Step 1: Make homemade pizza dough or use store-bought dough. (Directions and pizza dough recipe below)
Step 2: Grease the skillet– Spray your cast iron skillet with cooking spray or use a clean paper towel to lightly coat the pan with vegetable or olive oil.
Step 3: Divide the pizza dough– Once the dough has risen in your mixing bowl, divide the pizza dough into rounds.
Step 4: Gently roll out a one piece of dough using a rolling pin into a sphere slightly larger than the bottom of your skillet. Try and keep the edges of the dough slightly thicker than the center. Place the rolled out dough into the cast-iron skillet. Use your fingers to gently gather the edges and form a crust edge.
Step 5: Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
Use ingredients you have in the fridge for your toppings. I used homemade marinara sauce, sweet sausage, caramelized onions and pizza-blend cheese.
Step 6: Once your dough has risen in the cast-iron skillet, spoon on marinara sauce, sprinkle with cheese and any other toppings you might want. Gently brush the edges of the crust with an egg wash before baking.
Cook in a preheated 500 degree F oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese bubbly.
No, you do not. But, generally, I preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and let the dough rise in the cast iron skillet on top of the warm oven. This warms the entire pan.
For more great Cast Iron Recipes be sure and check out Cast Iron Pork Tenderloin, Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas, Skillet Pork Chops, Cast Iron Skillet Chicken, and Cast Iron Peach Pie.
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Cast Iron Pizza
Ingredients
Cast Iron Pizza Dough
- 1 cup warm milk
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 to 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cast Iron Pizza Dough
- In either a saucepan or in the microwave, warm the milk. Just slightly warmer than lukewarm.
- Pour the warmed milk into a large mixing bowl of a stand-mixer. Add the lukewarm water, yeast and honey and stir with a spoon or whisk. Let sit for 3 or 4 minutes. Then add the eggs and olive oil and stir.
- Add the flour and salt, mix using the beater attachment. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula or rubber table scraper. Beat on medium to high speed for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough gently for 5 minutes or so. Shape the dough into a round. Spray the mixer bowl with cooking spray or coat with a touch of olive oil. Place the dough back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm kitchen for 1 hour or until doubled. Punch down and let rise again, another hour.
Cast Iron Pizza
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into 4 even pieces. Shaped into rounds and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.
- Gently roll out a one piece of dough using a rolling pin into a sphere slightly larger than the bottom of your skillet. Try and keep the edges of the dough slightly thicker than the center.
- Grease a 10 or 12-inch cast-iron skillet with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Place the rolled out dough into the cast-iron skillet. Use your fingers to gently gather the edges and form a crust edge. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
- Gently brush the edges of the crust with an egg wash before baking.
- Spoon sauce in the center and spread out towards the crust edges with the back of a tablespoon. Sprinkle with cheese and any toppings you desire. Bake in a preheated 500 degree F oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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Mindy T says
I am baking crust now, I have two extra in the fridge in bags with a little olive oil. Do you let it rise for an hour still in skillet? After it’s been refrigerated?
Jessica Robinson says
I would roll out the pizza dough and shape it into the skillet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let come to room temperature. Probably about 30 minutes or so…
Please let me know if you need anything else.
Joyce says
I used to use shredded mozzarella cheese but now I use overlapping slices for better cheese coverage. I won’t be going back to shredded.
Jessica Robinson says
Yes, you are welcome to do sliced cheese instead of shredded.
Adriana says
Thank you for sharing your great recipe, my family loved it. I didn’t have time to rise the dough the 3rd time and it came out great! I used 5 cups of flour total and added Italian seasoning to my flour and doubled the salt. I was able to make 5 10″ inch pizzas.
Jessica Robinson says
Adriana,
So happy to hear you loved the pizza recipe!! Italian seasoning to your flour (or even fresh chopped herbs) is a great addition!
Jim says
It looks like you could halve this recipe? There are only 2 of us….what do you think?
Jessica Robinson says
You can definitely halve the recipe. But pizza dough is also freezer friendly!
SARAH TRAVIS says
How do you unfreeze the pizza dough
Jessica Robinson says
Sarah,
Just place the pizza dough into the fridge and thaw overnight. It may get a little gas in the bag from the expansion of yeast, so you’ll just need to open up the bag to release it a bit.