Cast Iron Pizza
Updated Nov 13, 2025
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This cast iron pizza recipe is my oven-baked workaround to making perfect pizza at home. We’re talking crispy bottom crust, melty cheese, tangy tomato sauce, and minimal fuss. You’ll heat the skillet until it’s scorching hot, slide in the dough, give it a quick head start, then top and finish it in the oven so you get the chewy texture without the soggy middle.
In this recipe, you’ll learn how to create a golden-crusted, deep-flavored pizza right in your oven using a simple cast-iron skillet. I walk you through how pre-baking the dough gives you a crisp bottom while the toppings stay gooey and bubbly, no soggy. You’ll also get topping ideas, serving tips, and how to make it work even when you’re short on time.
When you are craving great pizza but want to skip the take-out, there’s nothing like the crackle of a hot cast-iron pan and bubbling cheese coming out of the oven.
All you really need for a complete meal is a simple salad and maybe some garlic bread.
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What's In This Post?
Ingredients
- Cornmeal – Prevents the dough from sticking and adds a nice crunch to the bottom crust.
- Pizza dough – You can definitely make your own pizza dough, but store-bought will also be delicious and low-effort.
- Tomato Sauce – You can always use Homemade Marinara Sauce or store-bought tomato sauce.
- Fresh mozzarella – Don’t buy one that has been sitting in water, because it will have too much liquid and make your pizza soggy.
- Olive oil – For brushing the crust.
- Dried oregano – For a delicious, earthy, and Italian flavor.
- Red pepper flakes – For a subtle kick.
- Kosher salt
- Fresh basil leaves – For a bit of freshness and aromatic flavors.
Kitchen Smarts
Adding fresh basil to a hot pizza not only looks and tastes wonderful, but the smell of the basil as it hits the warm cheese makes the house smell phenomenal.
Cast Iron Pan Pizza Toppings
- Sautéed or roasted peppers
- Thinly sliced onions
- Halved olives
- Tiny cooked broccoli florets
- Spinach
- Cooked sausage
- Salami (cut into thin slices in quarters)
- Pepperoni
- Sautéed mushrooms
- Artichoke hearts
- ….Or, if you are that kind of person, ham and pineapple (sorry, I don’t get it).
Add the toppings when you add the cheese (also think about using different cheeses, such as provolone or feta), whatever you like.
Another nice thing to do is to drape the cooked pizza with thin slices of prosciutto.
What Temperature to Bake Cast-Iron Pizza
It took a bit of trial and error to get to this cast-iron skillet pizza, but worth it, it was. I landed on this kind of cool approach where the pizza dough is partially baked in a super-hot pan before the toppings get added, which gives the bottom crust an amazing texture and ensures that the top doesn’t get soggy.
You are going to crank that oven high, to 450 F. You want to heat the pan to HOT in the oven before putting the dough into the pan, so make sure the oven gets to that high temperature. The high heat makes the dough puff up and develop that lovely chewy crust.
How to Make Cast Iron Pan Pizza
- Prepare the dough: Let the pizza dough come to room temperature. Sprinkle the cornmeal and pat the dough into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Let it sit for another 20 to 30 minutes, then stretch it into a 12-inch circle.
- Prepare the cast iron: Meanwhile, place the cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F.
- Parcook the dough: Remove the preheated skillet from the oven and press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Place it back in the oven and bake until the dough is slightly puffy.
- Add the sauce: Remove the skillet and brush the tomato sauce over the surface, deflating the dough somewhat.
- Brush with olive oil: Along the border, brush with the olive oil.
- Add toppings: Distribute the cheese over top, and sprinkle with the oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and any desired toppings. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the cheese is melty and the edges are golden brown.
- Finish and serve: Remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle with fresh basil, if desired, and serve hot.
Tips for Making Pizza in a Cast Iron Pan
- A regular cast-iron skillet is all you need — you certainly could invest in a cast-iron pizza pan, like this Lodge pizza pan, which might be a little easier to handle being flatter, but it’s really not necessary.
- Stretching the dough first over a light dusting of cornmeal also does wonders for the bottom of the crust in the texture department.
- After the dough gets that 3 minutes in the oven, you’ll take it out to top it with sauce, cheese, and whatever else you like. The reason to give the dough a head start before topping it? So the top of the pizza dough firms up a bit, and you don’t get that wet, slightly uncooked layer of dough atop the pizza, covered with sauce and cheese. Some people definitely skip this step—I think it gives the whole shebang a lot more chewy texture.
- Before you sauce it up, use the back of a spoon or spatula to gently press the puffed dough back down into the bottom of the pan. The un-topped dough will have puffed up either a little or a lot, depending on your dough. Then add your sauce and cheese. Mozzarella is the traditional cheese, but you can mix others in if you like.
Storage
You can store this leftover pizza in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days. Reheat in an oven at 450 F or in a toaster oven.
What to Serve With Cast Iron Pizza
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Cast Iron Pan Pizza
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal (optional)
- 1 ball pizza dough (12 ounces; see Note)
- ½ cup tomato sauce or store-bought (homemade or store-bought; see Note)
- ¾ cup slivered fresh mozzarella (approximately)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon teaspoon dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- kosher salt
- 8 to 10 fresh basil leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Let the pizza dough come to room temperature. Sprinkle the cornmeal, if using, on a cutting board or clean surface and pat the dough into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Let it sit for another 20 to 30 minutes, then stretch it into a 12-inch circle.
- Meanwhile, place a 12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F. Let the skillet get screaming hot.
- Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and place it on a heat-tolerant surface. Gently transfer the dough to the skillet, pressing it out carefully so that it covers the bottom of the pan (this is NOT something the kids can help with). Avoid touching the skillet — obviously. Place it back in the oven and bake until the dough is slightly puffy, about 3 minutes.
- Remove the skillet again. Use a brush to brush the tomato sauce over the surface, deflating the dough somewhat, and leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Brush that border with the olive oil. Distribute the cheese over the tomato portion (see above for other topping possibilities), and sprinkle with the oregano and the red pepper flakes, if using. Sprinkle salt to taste over the whole pizza, including the edges. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the cheese is melty and the edges are golden-brown, another 8 to 10 minutes or so.
- Remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle with fresh basil, if desired, and serve hot. You can serve it out of the pan, warning everyone to steer clear of the hot pan, or slide it onto a cutting board.
This was so easy and so good.
I am going to make this and have a question. All the videos I have watched, they season the cast iron skillet with olive oil, cornmeal, pepper, oregano and salt. Do I need to season the skillet and if so at what point (before I preheat the pan or after?)
Thanks
you absolutely can— but you don’t have to! I would say after you heat the pan, I think, so those ingredeints don’t burn – but obviously be careful of the hot pan!