Cast Iron Pan Pizza You Can Start This Afternoon

No pizza stone. No pizza oven. Just a cast iron skillet, a few hours of patience, and a dough that requires about 10 minutes of actual hands-on work. This recipe produces a thick, Detroit-style pizza with a cheesy crust and sauce on top, and it is designed for people who have never made pizza at home before.

The Dough

Mix the wet and dry ingredients listed on screen and knead for a few minutes. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes to build up gluten. Then do three rounds of stretch and folds, with 30 minutes of rest between each round. Pull the dough as far as it will go without tearing, then fold it over itself.

After the third round, let the dough rise for an hour and a half. The total active time across all of this is roughly 10 minutes. The rest is just waiting.

Into the Pan

The final rise happens inside the cast iron pan, coated with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil. A useful trick: rest the pan in the oven with just the oven light turned on. The warmth from the bulb creates a mild proofing environment.

Sauce and Toppings

Make a simple sauce with crushed tomatoes, dried herbs, and salt. Grate low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella. Because the dough is thick, par-bake it for 15 minutes before adding toppings. Then load the edges with cheese and put the sauce on top. This is the Detroit-style move: cheese to the edges, sauce over everything.

The Bake

The topped pizza goes back in for another 10 minutes, then finishes under the broiler for a few minutes to char the cheese and crisp the top. Scrape the cheesy crust off the edge of the pan and slide the whole pizza out.

Key Takeaways

• Three rounds of stretch-and-fold with 30-minute rests build the gluten structure
• Par-bake the thick dough for 15 minutes before adding toppings
• Cheese goes to the edges, sauce goes on top (Detroit style)
• Finish under the broiler for a charred, crispy crust

Resources

• @rafifronz website -- Full detailed recipe linked in TikTok bio