Pan Pizza, Inspired by Pizza Hut
Inspired by Pizza Hut's Pan Pizza, not an official recipe: a thick, no-knead dough that rises in an oiled cast-iron skillet and bakes with a golden, almost fried bottom and cheese right to the edge.
Inspired by Pizza Hut. This is not an official Pizza Hut recipe, and nothing here claims to reproduce it. Pizza Hut says it opened on May 31, 1958, in Wichita, Kansas, started by two brothers with $600 borrowed from their mother (Pizza Hut 50th-anniversary release, 2008). Wichita State University, home of the Pizza Hut Museum, names them as Dan and Frank Carney, students at the time, at the corner of Bluff and Kellogg. Pizza Hut introduced its Pan Pizza in 1980 (same release; Pizza Hut International, 2020). J. Kenji López-Alt wrote his foolproof pan pizza to recreate the pan pizza "you might remember Pizza Hut having when you were a kid".
🇺🇸 This one is American
Inspired by Pizza Hut's Pan Pizza, not an official recipe: a thick, no-knead dough that rises in an oiled cast-iron skillet and bakes with a golden, almost fried bottom and cheese right to the edge.
🇮🇹 The original
In Naples, pizza is a soft, thin-centered disc with a puffy, blistered rim, topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil and baked in about 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven. See the Pizza Napoletana Margherita recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Time instead of kneading
A long, slow rise develops the gluten on its own, so a wet dough with no kneading still bakes up tall and open.
Oil in a heavy pan
The oil fries the bottom of the dough as it bakes, which gives the crisp, golden, slightly greasy base that defines a pan pizza.
Step by step
- Step 1
Stir the flour, salt, yeast, water and 2 tsp oil in a large bowl until no dry flour remains. Cover tightly and leave at cool room temperature (no warmer than 75°F) 8 to 24 hours. No kneading.
- Step 2
Turn the dough onto a floured counter, divide it in half and shape each half into a ball.
- Step 3
Pour 2 tbsp oil into each of two 10-inch cast-iron skillets (or round cake pans). Set a ball in each, turn it to coat, then press it flat toward the edges. Cover and let rise 2 hours, until it fills the pan. Press it to the edges again if it shrinks back.
- Step 4
About 30 minutes before baking, set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 550°F (or its highest setting).
- Step 5
Spread 3/4 cup sauce over each dough right to the edge, then 6 oz mozzarella, also to the edge. Drizzle with a little oil.
- Step 6
Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned at the edges and the bottom is golden when you lift it with a spatula. For a crisper base, set each skillet over a medium burner 1 to 3 minutes after baking.
- Step 7
Slide the pizzas onto a board, add basil and Parmesan if you like, and cut each into 6 slices.
Pan Pizza, Inspired by Pizza Hut
Serves 4 (3 slices each) · 2 pizzas, 10 inches each, 6 slices each · 10 hr 30 min total
Dough
- 3 1/3 cups (400 g) bread flour
- 1 3/4 tsp (10 g) table salt
- 1 1/4 tsp (4 g) instant yeast
- 1 cup plus 3 tbsp (275 g) water
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
For the pans and topping
- 4 tbsp olive oil (2 tbsp per pan), plus a drizzle
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
- 12 oz low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded (3 cups)
- Optional: fresh basil, grated Parmesan
Method
- Stir the flour, salt, yeast, water and 2 tsp oil in a large bowl until no dry flour remains. Cover tightly and leave at cool room temperature (no warmer than 75°F) 8 to 24 hours. No kneading.
- Turn the dough onto a floured counter, divide it in half and shape each half into a ball.
- Pour 2 tbsp oil into each of two 10-inch cast-iron skillets (or round cake pans). Set a ball in each, turn it to coat, then press it flat toward the edges. Cover and let rise 2 hours, until it fills the pan. Press it to the edges again if it shrinks back.
- About 30 minutes before baking, set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 550°F (or its highest setting).
- Spread 3/4 cup sauce over each dough right to the edge, then 6 oz mozzarella, also to the edge. Drizzle with a little oil.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned at the edges and the bottom is golden when you lift it with a spatula. For a crisper base, set each skillet over a medium burner 1 to 3 minutes after baking.
- Slide the pizzas onto a board, add basil and Parmesan if you like, and cut each into 6 slices.
Adapted from Serious Eats, "Foolproof Pan Pizza" by J. Kenji López-Alt (2013, two 10-inch pizzas, serves 4). Gram amounts follow the source; the US conversions are ours. The pizza sauce can be store-bought or Kenji's New York-style sauce (our New York-Style Pizza recipe). Serious Eats. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (4)
Tips
- Don't skimp on the pan oil. It is what makes the crust fry instead of bake.
- Cheese right to the edge melts down the side of the pan and crisps into a lacy rim.
- Check the bottom with a thin spatula before you take it out of the oven; you want deep golden.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Pizza Hut's Pan Pizza dates from 1980. Documented (Pizza Hut releases, 2008 and 2020).
- Cast iron is required. Folklore: Kenji says a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a 10-inch round cake pan both work.
Every other pizza
Pizza Napoletana Margherita
The Naples original: a soft, hand-stretched dough with a puffy, charred rim, topped with hand-crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil, and nothing else.
Pizza Marinara
Naples' other classic, and the older idea: tomato, sliced garlic, oregano and olive oil on a soft, charred crust. No cheese, and no seafood either.
Sfincione (Palermo-Style Sicilian Pizza)
Palermo's tall, spongy pan pizza: cheese and anchovies pressed into the dough, a sweet onion and tomato sauce on top, and a crunchy blanket of oregano and toasted breadcrumbs.
Roman Pizza al Taglio with Potato and Rosemary
Rome's sheet-pan pizza by the slice: a very wet dough, cold-risen for a day, baked airy and crisp, topped with paper-thin potatoes, rosemary and olive oil, and cut into rectangles with scissors.
New York-Style Pizza
The big, thin, foldable slice: a cold-fermented bread-flour dough with a little sugar and oil, a smooth cooked tomato sauce and grated low-moisture mozzarella, baked hot and long until the cheese spots brown.
Grandma Pizza
Long Island's thin square pan pie: an oiled sheet-pan crust, mozzarella first, then raw tomatoes tossed with garlic, olive oil and oregano spooned on top.
New Haven White Clam Pizza
New Haven's famous "apizza": a thin, charred crust with olive oil, garlic, oregano, grated Pecorino Romano and fresh littleneck clams, and no mozzarella.
Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza
A tall, flaky, buttery crust baked in a round pan, filled with a thick layer of mozzarella and topped with a chunky tomato sauce and Parmesan. Eat it with a knife and fork.
Chicago Tavern-Style Thin-Crust Pizza
Chicago's everyday pizza: a cracker-thin crust, a sweet herby sauce to the very edge, fennel-flecked sausage and mozzarella to the rim, cut into little squares.
Detroit-Style Pizza
A thick, airy rectangle baked in a well-oiled steel pan, with pepperoni under Wisconsin brick cheese spread to the very edge so it fries into a dark, crispy crown, and sauce spooned on top in stripes.
St. Louis-Style Pizza
A cracker-thin crust rolled out with a pin, a sweet oregano sauce, toppings to the edge and gooey, smoky Provel cheese, cut into squares.
California-Style BBQ Chicken Pizza
The pizza that told America anything goes: barbecue sauce instead of tomato, smoky gouda and mozzarella, roasted chicken, red onion and fresh cilantro.
Weeknight Skillet Pizza
Store-bought dough crisped in a skillet on the stove, then finished under the broiler: a crackly-bottomed cheese pizza in about 35 minutes, no stone and no preheating.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.