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Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

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This quick and easy Cast Iron Skillet Pizza is a great way to switch up your usual Friday night pizza routine! This deep dish pizza has a thick crust that’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside – it’s so tasty that you can keep the toppings simple with just cheese or pepperoni! Use store-bought or homemade pizza dough for a perfect pizza every single time!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Instructions

  1. Place a 9 inch cast iron skillet inside the oven. Heat oven to 500 degrees with the skillet inside.
  2. CAREFULLY remove the skillet from the oven and spread the oil in a thin layer across the pan.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, work pizza dough into a 9-inch circle.
  4. Gently place crust inside of the cast iron skillet.
  5. Spread sauce in an even layer across the crust. Poke holes all over with a fork.
  6. Sprinkle thyme and garlic powder over the sauce.
  7. Add cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are dark golden brown.
  8. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese starts to get dark golden brown spots.
  9. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Slice and enjoy!

Equipment

Notes

If you prefer to make this pizza crust a bit thinner, just use 1/2 a pound of pizza dough instead of a full pound. This cast-iron skillet pizza recipe makes a very thick, deep-dish crust. You’re using an entire pound of pizza dough for a 9 inch round pizza. If you prefer a thinner crust, just use less pizza dough! You will likely have to decrease the cooking time as well since there isn’t as much to cook, so keep that in mind!

If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, no worries! You’ll get a very similar result with an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Just follow the recipe directions BUT DON’T PREHEAT THE BAKING DISH. Preheating an empty baking dish can be dangerous and cause it to shatter in the oven or after it’s been removed. So, you should seriously consider picking up a cast iron pan in the near future! You can find used ones for pretty cheap at second-hand stores or this is my favorite brand.

Don’t go too crazy with the toppings. Whether you choose just cheese or the addition of sausage or pepperoni – keep it to just 1-2 toppings so that the pizza dough has a chance to cook all the way through. If you pile on the toppings, there’s a chance that the dough might not cook all the way through in the middle.

If you’re intent on making a supreme pizza loaded with all the toppings, try par-baking the crust for 5 minutes. Preheat the cast iron, carefully add the pizza crust to it, and before adding the sauce and toppings – pop it in the oven for about 5 minutes. This will give the crust a head start on baking so you can add a few more toppings without fear of ending up with a soggy pizza!

It’s hard to cut the pizza while it’s in the cast-iron skillet, luckily the bottom of the pizza is super sturdy after baking so it’s easy to use a large spatula, transfer it to a cutting board and slice it using a sharp knife or rocker blade pizza cutter.