Made this Serious Eats Cast Iron Skillet Pizza last night and it’s the best homemade pizza I’ve ever made!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe forever and finally did it yesterday. Holy smokes it delivered big time. The dough is simple but develops amazing flavor with that long slow rise. The cast iron gives you that perfect crispy, golden bottom while the top gets bubbly and cheesy. It’s basically New York-style pan pizza at home.
I made two 10-inch pizzas and we devoured them. The crust was chewy, airy, and crisp all at once. Way better than any delivery.
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<p dir="auto" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Ingredients (makes two 10-inch pizzas):</p>
- Dough:
400g bread flour (about 2½ cups), plus more for dusting
10g kosher salt (about 2 tsp)
4g instant yeast (about 1 tsp)
275g water (about 1 cup + 3 Tbsp)
8g extra-virgin olive oil (about 2 tsp), plus more for coating pans and drizzling
- Toppings:
1½ cups pizza sauce (I used a simple New York-style sauce)
12 oz grated full fat low moisture mozzarella
Toppings of choice (pepperoni, sausage, veggies, etc.)
Small handful torn fresh basil (optional)
2 oz grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano (optional)
Extra olive oil for drizzling
Salt for seasoning
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, salt, instant yeast, water, and olive oil. Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. The bowl should be big (at least 4–6x the dough volume).
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at cool room temperature (ideally ≤75°F) for 8–24 hours. The dough should rise dramatically.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour and turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Divide into 2 equal pieces and shape each into a tight ball.
- Pour 1–2 Tbsp olive oil into each of two 10-inch cast iron skillets (or round cake pans). Place a dough ball in each and turn to coat with oil. Press the dough out with your palm to flatten slightly and spread the oil. Cover tightly and let rise for 2 hours. (Preheat oven to 550°F after the first hour.)
- After 2 hours, use your fingertips to press the dough all the way to the edges, popping any big bubbles. Lift edges to release trapped air underneath until the dough is evenly spread.
- Top each pizza with about ¾ cup sauce, spreading it all the way to the edge. Cover generously with mozzarella (go all the way to the edges for those crispy cheese bits!). Season with salt, add your toppings, drizzle with olive oil, and scatter basil if using.
- Bake at 550°F for 12–15 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly and the bottom is crisp and golden. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan right when it comes out. If the bottom needs more crisp, finish it on a medium burner for 1–3 minutes.
- The long room-temperature rise is key for flavor. Mine went 14 hours and was perfect.
- 550°F is hot! Make sure your oven can handle it. I used two cast iron skillets and they worked amazingly.
- Low-moisture mozzarella is important fresh mozzarella will make it soggy.
- Don’t be shy with the cheese on the edges. Those crispy frico bits are the best part.
- The dough is very forgiving. Even though it’s high hydration, it’s easy to work with after the rise.
- Next time I’m doing one classic pepperoni and one with hot honey or something fancy.
This recipe is a keeper. If you have cast iron, you need to try this. It’s restaurant-level at home.