Deep Dish Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

When you hear of a cast iron skillet, you think of camping. Did you know that you could actually make pizza in it? Yep!

This deep dish pizza is loaded with flavor and the crust is one of the best parts.

Do you fry the pizza or bake it?

I'm going to answer this right now because my husband asked the same thing the other night that I made this pizza.

It's baked, and at 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Can You use a store bought pizza crust?

Yes, you can use a store bought pizza crust to save time, but it won't taste nearly as good as homemade!

Do you have to spray the cast iron skillet with cooking spray first?

While you could use a cooking spray like Pam, I would recommend brushing the inside of the pan with melted butter and a pastry brush. The flavor of butter is just a whole lot better on the pizza crust.

How do you get the pizza out of the cast iron skillet?

The best way to remove this pizza is with two heat-resistant silicone spatulas. Simultaneously lift it out of the pan an onto a serving dish or pizza pan. 

Then, cut and serve!

Ingredients Needed to make this skillet pizza

Here's what you need to make the dough:

• 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon melted butter (for pan and brushing on crust)
• 1 tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on crust after butter)

Here's what you need for the toppings, but you can interchange them as you see fit:

• ½ cup pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
• 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup sliced black olives
• ⅓ cup pepperoni
• 1 cup cooked hamburger

How to make this deep dish skillet pizza

To start, add in your 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the warm water and whisk this together for about 1 minute. Then, let it stand for 10 minutes. This gives it a chance for the yeast to activate and start getting frothy.

When your yeast mixture looks frothy, add in your olive oil (1 ½ tbsp) and flour (2 ½ cups). Then, put your dough hook on and mix!

When you have added all of the flour into the dough, it should come together in a ball. Roll the ball of dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes. You want it just enough so that the dough is no longer sticky.

Place the kneaded pizza dough in an oiled bowl, and cover. Let it rise in a warm location for about 45 minutes. The dough will have risen quite a bit.

Then you will ⅔ of the dough and place it once again onto the floured surface. Roll it out to the size of your cast iron skillet. 

Meanwhile, lightly brush melted butter all over the cast-iron skillet with a pastry brush. Then place the pizza dough into the pan.

With the remaining dough, roll it out into long thin cylinders. Place these around the edge of the pizza to give it a nice crust and will hold your pizza toppings!

From you you will then start to assemble your pizza. At this time, I will start to pre-heat my oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, evenly spoon on the pizza sauce. Follow this with the black olives.

Then, add half of the mozzarella cheese, and hamburger. Next lay out about half of the pepperonis. Repeat again until all of your toppings and cheese have been added.

Lightly brush the pizza crust with some melted butter and sprinkle the finely grated parmesan cheese where you put the butter.

Then, bake the pizza for 16-18 minutes. About half-way through cooking, rotate the skillet, and brush the remaining butter onto the crust once more.

Then, enjoy!