Pizza recipe· 4 ingredientsno ratings yet

Cast Iron Pan Pizza

The Kenji recipe. No-knead, hard to mess up, and frankly the easiest serious pizza.

by@joemaci

⏱ Total

12–24 hours

✋ Active

10 min

◆ Difficulty

Easy

◆ DoughCast Iron Pan Dough (Kenji-Style) ↗

◆ SauceClassic Cooked Pizza Sauce ↗

◆ CheeseBlock Mozzarella Prep ↗

Intro

A wet, no-knead dough rests overnight, develops gluten passively, and gets pressed into an oiled cast iron pan. The high heat plus the oil-slicked pan creates a fried, crackly bottom that's somewhere between Sicilian and Detroit. Cheese-first layering keeps the dough from going soggy. Sauce on top, just like Detroit.

◆ How many × 10-inch pizzas?

× 10-inch pizzas

◆ What tools do you have?

↳ Max ~550°F

Ingredients

For 2 × 10-INCH PIZZAS

Cast iron pan dough (~340g per pan)1 pan

note · See the linked Cast Iron Pan Dough.

Olive oil (per pan)15 g

note · Don't skip — the bottom needs to fry.

Low-moisture mozzarella, grated175 g

note · See the linked Block Mozzarella Prep. Right to the edges so it fries on the pan.

Pizza sauce125 g

note · Dolloped on top of the cheese.

The process

1
Preheat
Preheat oven to 550°F.
⏱ Preheat30:00
2
Cheese first
Top each pizza with grated low-moisture mozzarella FIRST, right to the edges so it fries on the pan.
3
Sauce dollops
Sauce in dollops over the cheese. The cheese protects the dough.
✶ Pizzaiolo tip
Sauce on top of cheese is the move here, just like Detroit.
4
Bake
Bake 12–15 minutes until the cheese edge is dark and the bottom is deeply browned. Lift with a spatula to check.
⏱ Bake14:00
5
Slide out
Slide onto a cutting board immediately so it doesn't steam.
✶ Pizzaiolo tip
Works with a dark non-stick or cake pan if you don't have cast iron, but cast iron is best.