Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
This Cast Iron Skillet Pizza is sweet, smoky, cheesy, spicy and a Memphis favorite! It’s the perfect at-home pizza night solution when you want something out of the ordinary yet easy, delicious and something everyone will love!
Cast iron skillets were just made for making pizza!! And this Barbecue Chicken Pizza, a Memphis favorite, was made for a cast iron skillet.
Nothing is better for family pizza night than a hot, sizzling freshly baked pizza from your oven on a crust you made yourself because it comes from the heart. It’s difficult to say that about a pizza that was picked up, delivered or came out of a box!
Although we sometimes “cheat” and use naan or flatbread for a quick at-home pizza meal, there’s nothing like a homemade pizza crust, especially in a cast iron skillet.
Although I don’t bake a lot, I do enjoy making pizza dough. There’s something therapeutic about getting flour on my hands, mixing, measuring, pouring, and—above all—kneading. Rapid-rise yeast makes this crust easy and quick!
Origin of Barbecue Chicken Pizza:
Barbecue Chicken Pizza was actually “invented” by a pizza chain in California and caught on very quickly around the country. However, Memphis is famous for barbecue, so Barbecue Chicken Pizza is now a regional favorite that Memphis claims as its own. In fact, most of the restaurants in Memphis that serve it claim they invented it!
How to Make Cast Iron Skillet Pizza:
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and place a large, dry, unoiled cast-iron skillet on the lowest rack to also preheat.
- Start by combining dry ingredients in a bowl:
- Start with 1 cup of flour. Never start with the full amount of flour called for in a yeast recipe. You can always add more as needed, but if you add too much, your dough will be stiff and dry.
- Add 1 envelope rapid rise yeast, sugar and salt and stir to combine per the recipe below.
- Add 2/3 cup very warm (between 120º F and 130º F) water and 3 tablespoons oil.
- After adding the liquids, your dough will look like the first photo below.
- After adding additional flour as needed and kneading for approximately 4 minutes, your dough will look like the second photo below.
- After allowing the dough to rest/rise for 10 minutes, your dough will look like the third photo.
- Have all the other pizza ingredients ready to go:
- Barbecue sauce (we use a good, locally-made barbecue sauce but just use your favorite)
- Pepper Jack and Mozzarella cheese
- Cooked and diced chicken
- Red onion slices
- Pickled jalapeno slices
- Roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle.
- Remove the preheated skillet from the oven.
- >>> CHEF SAFETY TIP: After removing a hot pan from the oven, it’s easy to forget that the handle remains EXTREMELY HOT. Therefore, after setting the pan down, immediately wrap the handle with a thick kitchen towel. If using an oven mitt, place the opening of the oven mitt over the handle.
- Brush the skillet with oil that has a high smoke point).
- Place the dough in the preheated skillet and carefully press the dough up the sides with a 1-cup measuring cup because THE SKILLET IS EXTREMELY HOT!
- Add the toppings…
- Place the skillet pizza back in the oven and bake!
Lovely, beautiful, sizzling homemade cast iron skillet pizza! For more great Memphis area eats, head on over to Exploring 6 Unique Things to do in Memphis, TN at Redfin!
Tips for working with yeast:
- Be sure to check the expiration date on the package of yeast. Expired yeast is often the reason a dough doesn’t rise.
- The water needs to be VERY WARM, preferably between 120º F and 130º F for the highest degree of success. If it’s too cold, the yeast won’t activate. The water shouldn’t be extremely hot or steaming either as that will kill the yeast. It’s always best to check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer if you have one.
Tips for kneading dough:
- Add just enough flour to the dough each time to keep the dough from sticking.
- Flatten the dough and fold it toward you.
- Using the heel of your hands, push the dough away in a rolling motion.
- Rotate the dough a quarter turn each time, add flour as needed, and repeat the fold, push, and turn steps.
- Continue kneading the dough, adding small amounts of flour to each ball until it is smooth and elastic.
- The properly kneaded dough should spring back from the touch.
More pizza recipes you’ll love!
- Chipotle Chicken Flatbread Pizzas With Avocado Sour Cream
- Flatbread Potato Pizza with Pesto and Smoked Mozzarella
- Italian Sausage and Bell Pepper Polenta Bake
Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
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Ingredients
Crust
- 2/3 cup very warm water - 120-130 degrees F
- 1 envelope rapid rise yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil - or vegetable or olive oil, plus more for the bowl and skillet
- 1 3/4 to 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour - as needed
Toppings
- 3/4 cup barbecue sauce - your favorite, divided
- 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese - divided
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese - divided
- 1 (8-ounce) chicken breast - cooked and diced
- Thinly sliced red onion rings
- Pickled jalapeno slices
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place a dry, unoiled 12-inch cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Combine water, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Add 3 tablespoons oil and 1 cup flour. Stir until combined.
- Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. (Dough should form a ragged ball at this point and be slightly sticky.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding additional flour as necessary until smooth and elastic, approximately 4-5 minutes. The dough should spring back to the touch.
- Drizzle a small amount of oil around the sides of the bowl you used to mix the dough.
- Place dough into the oiled bowl, flip so the dough is covered with corn oil.
- Let rest/rise for 10 minutes.
- Place dough on a floured surface and roll to a 12-inch circle.
- Remove the preheated skillet from the oven. Lightly brush the skillet with corn oil.
- Keeping in mind the SKILLET IS HOT, carefully place the circle of dough in the skillet and press dough up the edges.
Toppings
- Spread 2/3 cup barbecue sauce over the crust.
- Top with 3/4 cup Pepper Jack cheese and 3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese.
- Toss diced chicken with remaining barbecue sauce and scatter over the cheese.
- Top with the desired amount of red onion rings and pickled jalapeno slices.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.
Recipe Notes
-
- Be sure to check the expiration date on the yeast package. Expired yeast is often the reason a dough doesn’t rise.
- The water needs to be VERY WARM, preferably between 120º F and 130º F for the highest degree of success. If it’s too cold, the yeast won’t activate. The water shouldn’t be extremely hot or steaming either as that will kill the yeast. It’s always best to check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer if you have one.
- Add just enough flour to the dough each time to keep the dough from sticking.
- Using the heel of your hands, push the dough away in a rolling motion.
- Rotate the dough a quarter turn each time, add flour as needed, and repeat the fold, push, and turn steps.
- Continue kneading the dough, adding small amounts of flour to each ball until it is smooth and elastic.
- The properly kneaded dough should spring back from the touch.
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.