Try this cast iron pizza recipe once, and you'll never make pizza any other way! Thanks to the hot skillet, the crust is perfectly golden brown and crisp.
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I may not be excited about summer winding down, but I am excited that it’s finally cool enough to crank up the oven and make cast iron skillet pizza! Jack and I have made regular homemade pizza for years, but this spring, this cast iron pizza recipe took our pizza game to a whole new level. It’s the closest you’ll ever come to making restaurant-style pizza without a fancy oven or pizza stone. Thanks to the hot skillet, the crust becomes crisp and browned on the outside, while the thick edges stay nice and chewy in the middle.
We made this cast iron pizza recipe like crazy in the spring, and I can’t wait to return to it this fall. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with a bold combination of late summer toppings: pesto, roasted red peppers and tomatoes, fresh basil, red onion, briny artichokes, and spicy plant-based sausage. I highly recommend giving it a try, but feel free to swap in your favorite pizza toppings if you prefer. Here, the crisp, golden brown crust is really the star of the show.
How to Make Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
Good news! This cast iron pizza recipe is super simple to make. Here’s how it goes:
Start with the dough, sauce, and/or cheese. Before you assemble and cook your skillet pizza, get the components ready to go. Whip up a batch of homemade pizza dough, or use fresh dough from the store. Grate the cheese, or blend up cashew cream if you’re making a vegan pizza.
Then, prep the toppings.I top my cast iron pizza with plant-based sausage, roasted red peppers, and roasted tomatoes, so I always cook these components in advance. I sear the sausage in a small cast iron skillet, char the peppers on a grill pan, and roast the tomatoes until they’re shriveled around the edges. Once I’ve prepped these toppings, I chop the red onion and artichoke hearts. Last but not least, I whir together basil pesto to dollop on top.
Next, cook the crust. Press the pizza dough into the bottom of a dry, 10-inch cast iron pan. Make sure to press a thick border of dough around the sides of the pan to create the pizza crust’s chewy edges. Once the dough’s stretched, prick it all over with a fork. Then, heat the skillet on the stove for 2 minutes over medium heat to get the bottom of the crust nice and crispy.
Finally, assemble. Brush the pre-cooked dough with olive oil, and top it with cashew cream or grated mozzarella. Pile on the plant-based sausage, peppers, tomatoes, onion, and artichokes, and place the cast iron skillet in the oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes at 450°, until the crust is lightly golden brown and cooked through.
Enjoy!Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, and top the pizza with dollops of pesto, red pepper flakes, and fresh basil leaves. Slice, and dig in!
Cast Iron Pizza Recipe Tips
- Adjust the crust.I make this cast iron pizza recipe in a 10-inch skillet. For this size skillet, I use 14 ounces of pizza dough. If you start with 16 ounces of dough (store bought or homemade), simply tear off a few ounces to save for another use. Alternatively, make this recipe in a 12-inch skillet with a full pound of dough.
- Make it vegan, or not.I love to use cashew cream and vegan pesto to make this recipe vegan, but it works well with mozzarella cheese and regular pesto too. If you prefer, change up the toppings entirely! Add a layer of regular pizza sauce, and pile it with whatever pizza toppings you like best.
- Serve it with a salad. Like any pizza recipe, this one is fantastic with salad. To make a simple side salad, toss your favorite greens with homemade Italian dressing, Greek salad dressing, lemon vinaigrette, green goddess dressing, or vegan ranch. Alternatively, pair your cast iron pizza with any of these salad recipes:
- Classic Caprese Salad
- Greek Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Shaved Zucchini Salad
More Favorite Pizza Recipes
If you love this cast iron pizza recipe, try one of these tasty pizzas next:
- Best Vegan Pizza
- Margherita Pizza
- Summer Blackberry Basil Pizza
- Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza
- Spinach Artichoke Flatbread Pizza
Cast Iron Pizza
Prep Time: 30 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Serves 2
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Once you try this cast iron pizza recipe, you'll never make pizza any other way! Use the toppings suggested here, or customize this recipe with your favorite pizza toppings.
Ingredients
- 1 3 to 4 ounce plant-based Italian sausage link*,
- 14 ounces
from 1 recipe Homemade Pizza Dough**
, see note - Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing and drizzling
Scoops of Cashew Cream
, or 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese- 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- ½ 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained, and quartered
- ⅓ cup
roasted red peppers and/or roasted tomatoes
- Dollops of pesto
- Basil leaves
- Red pepper flakes
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Cut the plant-based sausage into small pieces. In a small cast-iron skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage pieces until browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
Press the pizza dough into a dry 10-inch cast iron skillet, pressing a thicker rim of dough around the edge to shape the pizza crust. Prick the stretched dough all over with a fork. Heat the skillet on the stove for 2 minutes over medium heat. This helps the bottom of the crust become crispy.
Remove from the heat and assemble the pizza. Brush the crust with olive oil. Spread a thin layer of cashew cream onto the dough as a base for the toppings, or sprinkle on the grated mozzarella cheese. Top with the red onion, artichokes, red peppers and/or tomatoes, and the sausage pieces. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown and cooked through.
Top with dollops of pesto, a drizzle of olive oil, fresh basil, and red pepper flakes.
Notes
*We used Lightlife Plant-Based Italian Sausage
**Note: our Homemade Pizza Dough recipe makes 16 ounces of dough; however, we found that 14 ounces works best in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. I suggest making the full recipe and tearing off a small piece of dough for another (mini-pizza) use. Alternatively, you could use a 12-inch skillet with the full dough recipe.
