Get ready to fall in love with Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza! Enjoy a thick, crispy crust, flavorful sauce, three kinds of meat, and a whole lot of cheese. Make this homemade pizza all in one skillet for minimal cleanup and maximum flavor!
Why You’ll Love This Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
This Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza is loaded to the max! It has three meats, pasta sauce, and two types of ooey gooey cheese all wrapped up in a nice thick crust. Plus, it’s cooked in a cast iron skillet to make it crispy! I must say, this is the perfect pizza!
I saw Meg from With Salt and Wit make pizza in a cast iron skillet and was inspired to try one of my own. Turns out, it really isn’t very hard! I made homemade pizza dough, but it’s very quick and the stand mixer does the work for you. On the other hand, I used storebought marinara sauce, but next time I might use my homemade pizza sauce.
As a family that is obsessed with pizza and enjoys homemade three cheese pizza on regular rotation, we can confidently vouch for using a cast iron skillet to make your pizza. This recipe will teach you how to use the skillet and then you’ll be off to the races making all different kinds of pies. Enjoy!
Ingredients
This ingredient recipe can be as simple or involved as you want it to be, meaning you can get store-bought dough and pizza sauce, or make them both homemade. I’m going to give you all the ingredients for the homemade version, but keep in mind that this is chef’s choice!
Pizza Dough Ingredients
- Milk – very warm
- Olive oil
- Sugar
- Salt
- Bread flour – or all-purpose
- Dry active yeast
Homemade Pizza Toppings
- Lean ground beef
- Italian sausage
- Pepperoni slices
- Marinara sauce
- Cheese – smoked provolone and shredded mozzarella
Pizza Recipe Variations
Think of this recipe as a sketch drawing for you to color in with the ingredients of your choice, because you can make a million different variations of this recipe! Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Mushroom and onion
- Just cheese, cheese, and lots of cheese
- Classic cheese and pepperoni
- The ever-controversial Hawaiian pizza!
- Full-on veggie packed
- Dessert pizza (s’more’s anyone?)
How to Make Homemade Deep Dish Pizza
Step 1: Make the Pizza Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the pizza dough ingredients and stir just until combined with the paddle attachment.
- Switch to the dough hook and “knead” the dough for 5-7 minutes. If your dough seems to sticky, add in a little more flour. If your dough is too hard and doesn’t feel a little tacky when touched, add in a little more milk (like 1/2-1 tablespoon at a time) while kneading.
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Preheat and Prep
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and lightly oil a 12″ cast iron skillet with olive oil. Set aside.
Step 3: Brown the Meat
Brown the ground beef and sausage in a skillet over medium heat until it’s cooked through, which should take about 5-10 minutes.
Note: You could brown your meat in the cast iron skillet just be sure to clean out any meat bits or they may burn on the bottom of your crust.
Step 4: Assemble Pizza
- Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it out to an approximately 12-13″ circle.
- Place it in the cast iron skillet an fold over the dough around the edges to form a lip to hold in the toppings.
- With a fork, pierce the dough several times. This is to prevent any air bubbles forming on the bottom.
- Top the dough with sauce, 3/4 of the ground beef and sausage, and lay slices of provolone over meat. Then top with shredded mozzarella and the remaining meat.
Step 5: Cook
Place the pan on the stovetop and cook on high for 3 minutes. This will not change the pizza, just gets the pan nice and preheated so the crust will be crispy. Place it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is lightly browned.
FAQs
The key to this is prepping the skillet with a light wash of oil. That’s all you need and you’re good to go!
You don’t have to, but I recommend it and it’s written into the recipe to do so. If you don’t preheat it, you’ll just have to keep a closer eye on the pizza to get the timing right because the skillet will take longer to warm up and start cooking from underneath.
You’ll usually know by sight! When the crust is golden brown and the top is nice and bubbly you’ll know it’s ready.
Once it cools you can portion it out and store it in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat it in the microwave or the oven.
More Pizza Recipes You’ll Love
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
- Pepperoni Pizza Sliders
- French Bread Pizza
- Easy Zucchini Pizza Bites
- Pepperoni Pizza Pockets
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Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients
- [u]Pizza Dough
- [/u]3/4 cup very warm milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour can use all purpose
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- Toppings
- 1/4 pound lean ground beef
- 1/4 pound Italian sausage
- 1/2 cup pepperoni slices
- 1 cup jarred marinara sauce
- 5 slices non smoked provolone cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine all pizza dough ingredients and stir just until combined with the paddle attachment. Switch to the dough hook and “knead” for 5-7 minutes. If your dough seems to sticky add in a little more flour or if your dough is too hard and doesn’t feel a little tacky when touched add in a little more milk (like 1/2-1 tablespoon at a time) while kneading. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a 12″ cast iron skillet with olive oil. Set aside.
- Brown ground beef and sausage in a skillet over medium heat until cooked through. About 5-10 minutes. (You could brown your meat in the cast iron skillet just be sure to clean out any meat bits or they may burn on the bottom of your crust.)
- Take dough out of mixer bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to approximately 12-13″ circle. Place in cast iron skillet. Fold over dough around edges to form lip to hold in the toppings (See picture below recipe) With a fork pierce dough several times. This is prevent any air bubbles forming on the bottom. (See picture below recipe) Top dough with sauce. 3/4 of the ground beef and sausage. Lay slice provolone over meat then top with shredded mozzarella. Top with remaining meat.
- Place pan on stove top and cook on high for 3 minutes. This will not change the pizza, just gets the pan nice and preheated so the crust will be crispy. Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is lightly browned.
Notes
