Deep Dish Skillet Pizza
This Deep Dish Skillet Pizza is made in a cast iron skillet, and it features layers of stringy mozzarella cheese topped with your favorite pizza toppings. It’s the perfect weekend dinner!
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It’s pretty dangerous to be a dog treat around our house. Seriously. If you’re a dog treat, then you’re taking your life in your hands to walk into our house. We have two 4-legged, furry children who pretty much rule the roost around here. And their favorite thing in the world? You guessed it! Treats. (I mean what dog doesn’t love treats?)
Our little one is an 8-pound chihuahua mutt with a 50-pound attitude. Her new game is to bark at us when we sit down to watch tv at night. Usually a bark means she needs to go outside. And outside is often followed by a treat.
So for a while I dutifully got up and took her out to do her business. Then I realized she was faking it. She just wanted a treat. Seriously? So I tried to put myself in her shoes paws and draw a comparison to my life. What would cause me to go that crazy and be that creative? Is there anything…oh wait…pizza!
Pizza is probably the #1 weekend meal in our house. I’ve posted all sorts of pizza recipes here on the blog, including Homemade Pizza Dough, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Homemade Calzones, Pretzel Crust Pizza and even these Cheese-Stuffed Breadsticks (made out of our go-to pizza dough). So the other weekend, I got to thinking about how to mix up our pizza night.
I came up with all sorts of fun topping combinations…but then it hit me. I’d never made a deep dish pizza. But I didn’t have a deep dish pizza pan. My big cast iron skillet happened to be sitting on the stove-top, and then it hit me. Make a deep dish pizza in the cast iron skillet! Problem solved!
Several weeks ago, I stumbled on a great pizza tip: sliced cheese. No, not those individually-wrapped slices of American cheese. Real sliced cheese. Instead of using shredded mozzarella, use sliced mozzarella instead. I was intrigued, and I figured a deep-dish pizza would be the perfect opportunity to try this new trick. So after pressing the dough into the cast iron skillet, I layered slices of fresh mozzarella all across the crust. It worked like a charm!
The cheese melted beautifully, and there was this absolutely amazing layer of stringy cheese covering the bottom of the pizza. Add in the sauce and my favorite pizza toppings, and I was in heaven. That must be what dog treats are like for dogs. Now I can completely understand why our little Ethel goes bonkers to get ahold of a treat. Now if they only made deep dish dog treats…
Deep Dish Skillet Pizza
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 6 cups bread flour
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp instant dry yeast
- 1 ¾ cups water
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
For the Pizza
- 8 ounces mozzarella sliced
- 1 ½ ounces pepperoni sliced
- ¼ cup onions sliced
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained and all liquid pressed out
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
For the Dough:
- In a countertop mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and yeast) and mix well. Add the water and mix on low speed for 3 minutes, or until the dough begins to come together.
- Add ¼ cup of olive oil and mix on low for another 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 3-4 minutes. (Tip: If the dough doesn’t want to form a ball after adding the olive oil, just add 1-2 Tbsp of additional flour to the bowl.)
- Transfer dough to a large, oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm (85°F) location for 75 minutes.
- Flip dough out onto a well floured countertop and gently fold it several times. Transfer dough back into the oiled bowl, cover, and place in a warm location for another 75 minutes.
- Brush the bottom and sides of a 12” cast iron skillet with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Gently stretch or roll dough into a large circle and then press into the bottom and up the sides of skillet.
- For the Pizza
Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Layer sliced mozzarella evenly across the top of the dough.
- Spread the sliced pepperoni and onions evenly on top of mozzarella.
- Spread the pizza sauce evenly on top. Scatter chopped tomatoes on top of the sauce.
- Top pizza with grated Parmesan, and brush top edge of the dough with remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
- Bake at 450°F for 20-22 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Allow pizza to cool for 5 minutes before slicing.
Looking for some tasty wines to pair with this Deep Dish Skillet Pizza? Check out the link below! Cheers!
Haha – love your analogy of how pizza is to you what dog treats are to your chihuahua! You weren’t kidding when you said yall were gonna have pizza all week! I love the pizza in a skillet idea, David – takes “deep-dish” to a whole other level!
Hehe…some weeks just require lots of pizza, right? I was truthfully a little surprised at how awesome a cast iron pan is for deep-dish pizza, too! Is it wrong for me to want a slice of pizza at 10am? I mean, the dogs get their treats in the morning…why not me, too?? 🙂
This is my idea of the perfect pizza, my boys would think I was the coolest dad ever if I made this for them. Happy Halloween! #wolfpackeats
Haha! The only problem is you’d have to get them to delay trick or treating for a few minutes to actually eat it. Happy Halloween! 🙂
Dude, that is one smart freaking dog! And I’ve yet to try making a pizza in a skillet, but this looks pretty legit… think I need to try it very very soon. #wolfpackeats
Yes, you totally need to try skillet pizza soon! Plus, it’s another excuse to pull out your cast iron skillet. Happy Halloween, Squatting Troll…or is it Sitting Troll? Either way, I hope you get a lot of candy!
Great minds think alike! I made skillet pizza last weekend and it’s seriously the best thing going right now. Yours looks super delicious. 🙂
Man, we are seriously channeling the delicious vibe lately, huh, Tina? And, yes, skillet pizzas are pretty much the best thing ever. Well, not better than Halloween candy. So maybe they’re like the 2nd best thing ever! Happy Halloween!
I started using slices of fresh mozz instead of shredded recently as well; it makes a HUGE difference — and not only in how much more attractive it is to photograph! 🙂 But now I need to try something DEEP DISH as well!
I actually haven’t tried the slices on mozz on a ‘regular’ (non-deep dish) pizza yet. It sounds like I need to give that a shot soon! Thanks for the tip! Mmmm…pizza….
Using sliced cheese as opposed to shredded does work wonders- and I swear there’s more cheese too 😉
I think pizza needs to occur more often in my neck of the woods. Sadly, it’s often a take out box which cuts the class. I also need to check out all your other pizza recipes!
Well, more cheese is always a good thing, right?? I need to try the sliced version on my regular pizzas now…I’ve always used shredded on those.
Oh, there is a TON of pizza in cardboard boxes up here in the States, too. Most of it is a sad excuse for pizza…but there are a couple of places that make legitimately good pizzas-in-a-box. I swear there is a pizza shop on almost every corner in our city…I have no idea how they all stay in business! We occasionally grab a pizza to go, but we almost always decide that we would rather just make it ourselves at home. Now I want a pizza night tonight! 🙂
My hubby was nicknamed ‘Pizza Man’ in college for very legitimate reasons! So THIS will be a very welcomed addition to his pizza repertoire, and mine! Looks fantastic!!
Wow…what a nickname, Annie! I’m pretty sure I would LOVE to have the nickname “Pizza Man.” Haha! Pizza is such a fun thing to make at home…and there are so many awesome versions to play around with, too. 🙂
I love that tip about the sliced cheese on pizza! Definitely trying that next time. This pizza looks amazing. My husband is obsessed with deep dish – I have to make this for him!
Thanks so much, Cate! Slices are totally the way to go for deep-dish pizza. I haven’t tried slices for ‘regular’ pizza yet, but I definitely need to put it on my list for next time! I hope you enjoy the pizza! 🙂
Come to Mama you beautiful pizza. This looks PURRRRFECT!
Deep Dish Pizza: “I’m coming home, Mama…don’t start dinner without me!!” But Ethel and Max say this looks WOOFtastic. Haha!
Never been a fan of the deep dish, but this intrigues me! Got my cast iron skillet well seasoned and ready. Thanks Ethel for inspiring your dad.
Haha…Ethel was most certainly the inspiration for this pizza! At least she thinks she was. She also thought that she deserved a slice of it for being so smart. She got a bone instead. 🙂
This pizza is awesome. 3 meals in a row and still delicious.
I hope one of those meals was breakfast. 🙂
Deep dish pizza is one of the reasons why I love Chicago (such a great city btw!) and this one is so perfect it looks like it’s fresh out of Lou Malnati’s!
You have inspired me man, I want to try making a cauli crust version of this pizza…
#wolfpackpeats
No way, Mike! No way my pizza could be compared to Lou Malnati’s! He is a legend in the pizza world. Like the Godfather of pizza. I would totally kiss his pizza ring if I ever met him. Oooo…a cauli crust deep dish pizza would be fun to see. Go to it, Alpha!
So this look 1000x better than any deep dish pizza we had in Chicago. Someone will probably virtual scream at me for saying that but, seriously, I want that slice you are dipping immediately. You are the master of all things pizza. Strong words. But well earned 🙂
I’m going to virtually yell at you for lying, Lindsey! There is no way this pizza beats the real deal Holyfield deep dish pizzas in Chicago. It’s a pretty tasty pizza…but Chicago? No way! I might have nibbled on that slice that I’m pulling out…is that ok??
That’s a serious deep dish pizza, David. Great recipe.
Thanks, Sean! Deep dish pizza is one of my favorite comfort foods…especially on a cold winter weekend!
Bratton tested and approved.
My first time making dough. It was a challenge but definitely worth it. Awesome recipe.
Congrats on making dough for the first time, Isaac! That’s what happened to me…I made it once, and I was like this is awesome. Now bread and pizza dough is one of my favorite things to make. Next up: regular (not deep dish) pizza dough and then Italian bread loaves. Cheers, buddy!
3rd meal in a row and still delicious.