No Oven, No Problem. You Can Still Make Amazing Pizza

What if you didn’t have an oven to make pizza at home? Does that narrow your chances of making delicious pizza right in your kitchen?

This tip-filled guide will give you more reason to celebrate with methods how to make pizza without an oven. You’ll be amazed at how creative pizza cooking can get!

Let’s find out!

Can You Make Pizza Without an Oven?

The answer is yes when making homemade pizza without a conventional kitchen oven! You can make amazing homemade pizza without an oven!  

While most of us might immediately jump to mentioning a microwave, that isn’t always an ideal method.

There are other methods you might not have heard of before, for obvious reasons, as some of these cooking methods were more common for your grandparents. 

The most common way to make pizza without an oven is by making the pizza straight on your stovetop using a skillet.

What Do You Need to Make Pizza Without an Oven?

A good quality iron skillet is best for cooking stovetop pizzas, particularly on gas or electric stovetops.  

Much like a Dutch oven, these store heat, so ideally, it acts like an oven from the amount of internal heat it slowly gives off. It’s an intimidating beast when you think about everyday cookware.

But if you want the best results, you’ll need to get your hands on a cast-iron skillet.

What most people are thinking about when it comes to something cooked in a pan is the average frying pan.

But how many of us have ever seen an old-fashioned frying skillet?

These cast-iron black griddles look like an item from the frontier days. You might say that you’re only half right.

A cast-iron skillet is very different from an everyday egg frying pan. The thickness of the iron should be an immediate giveaway!

The kind of cast-iron pan you need will significantly depend on your stove as the heat distribution will be affected.

Gas or Electric Cooktops

We recommend using a gas burner for the best results unless you have an iron skillet coated with porcelain to act as a barrier.

Induction Cooktops

Depending on your cast iron skillet, it might not have a smooth bottom to work well with your induction stovetop.

It works through a connectivity process, and many skillets may not be suitable for this. It can also scratch glass countertops due to the heavier, thicker iron.

If you have an induction cooktop, you’ll need a cast-iron skillet coated with ceramic material. This coat protects the glass top and still has excellent conductivity for heating through the cast iron.

You can choose many brands, but we’ve found a reliable example for induction stoves.

Cast-Iron Pan Lid

You will also need a good lid to cover your skillet. The lid will keep the heat inside while your pizza cooks. Another critical feature is to have a skillet that can fit an average-sized pizza.

A 12-inch skillet is best if you like making a large enough homemade pizza for your family. It should also be deep enough if you like making a deep sigh pizza recipe.

You want a skillet that can include all of these qualities that make a cast-iron skillet universal.

All in one solution

How to Make Pizza at Home Without an Oven

Two different scenarios will end up playing out for cooking skillet pizza. This first is cooking freshly made homemade pizza dough.

How to Make Homemade Pizza Without an Oven

Total Time Needed: 20 minutes

Required Tools:

– A Cast-Iron Pan

Things Needed?

-200g Homemade Pizza Dough
– 3 tbsp Pizza Sauce
– Your Choice of Cheese
– Your Choice of Toppings

Steps to Make Homemade Pizza on Cast-Iron Pan

Step 1: Prepare the Cast-Iron Pan

Add one or two teaspoons of vegetable oil into your skillet and set your heat to medium-high. Ensure the oil is coating the bottom of the skillet with an even gloss inside.

Step 2: Transfer the Pizza Dough to the Pan

Transfer your pizza dough into the skillet, which is made easier if your pizza is sitting on a flat pie tin. If you’ve added some flour or cornmeal under the pizza, it will slide into the skillet easier with little fuss.

The key is adding just the pizza dough before you have your toppings. What you’re doing here is cooking the surface of the dough for one minute.

Step 3: Cook the Pizza Dough on Both Sides

Flip the dough to cook the other side for another minute. After this, you’ll be able to start adding your pizza sauce and toppings. Reduce the heat to medium at this point.

Step 4: Add the Sauce and Toppings to the Dough

Start adding your pizza sauce and toppings. Reduce the heat to medium at this point. Now you can use a couple of tablespoons of pizza sauce and add your cheese and the toppings.

Step 5: Cover the Skillet

Cover your skillet for 4 or 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. Also, check to see if the bottom of the pizza crust is browning or burning.

Step 6: Check Cooking Progress

If your cheese is melting, remove the lid and let the pizza finish cooking. The bottom of your pizza should be golden brown by this point and is ready to serve.

Step 7: Transfer Pizza and Serve

Slide your pizza onto a cutting board and slice it accordingly. It should be served immediately. You can begin on a second or third skillet pizza since your cast iron pan is still nice and hot.

How to Get a Crispy Crust on a Cast-Iron Pan

The key to getting a crispy crust on a cast-iron pan is to use a high-hydration dough or a sticky dough.  Handling a sticky dough can be tricky, but it will all be worth the effort. 

The excess water will evaporate quickly due to the heat on the pan.  For more on dough hydration, check our article, The Scientifically Proven Formula for Pizza Dough Hydration.

How to Make Frozen Pizza on Cast-Iron Skillet

The second version of this is using any standard frozen pizza. Now since this is different than fresh pizza dough, here is what you’ll need to know.

• The first step is to let a frozen pizza thaw to the point that it’s nearly room temperature.
• Coat the bottom of your skillet with two tablespoons of oil and heat it to medium-high.
• When ready, carefully slide your pizza on a cardboard disc into the pan. Let it sit for one minute before you add the lid.
• Now you’ll let your pizza cook for 5-8 minutes, checking it frequently after 4 minutes. Suspending it will prevent it starts to burn on the bottom.
• Now reduce your heat after 5 minutes and take off the lid. This process will allow excess moisture to escape, and the crust can become crispier. The oil should add a nice crunch to your crust, and the residual heat will make the edges of your pizza crust golden brown.
• When it’s ready, you can carefully slide the pizza out of the skillet. Serve as you usually would, and begin cooking a second frozen pizza waiting to be cooked. Now you repeat the same process as before.

Other Alternatives to Cook Pizza Without an Oven

BBQ Grilled Pizza

Your outdoor BBQ grill is a great way to get authentic grilled pizza flavor since it can have that great crispy crust and optional smoky flavor.

You will need a good pizza stone or a pizza baking steel to put your pizza on top so the dough is cooked without grill marks on the bottom.

Thankfully, your outdoor grill can reach temperatures above 700 degrees Fahrenheit, so it cooks faster. Make sure you have a wood or metal peel to remove when it’s cooked.

BBQ Pizza Oven

Another great idea is to use your BBQ as a pizza oven. The BBQ will reach enough temperature to ensure you get the best pizza.

Best Microwave Alternative to Cook Pizza

We know that microwave pizza is a dicey issue for cooking pizza, especially if your microwave isn’t very big. There is a good solution if you decide to cook frozen pizza that is viable.

This involves buying an additional crisper pan. This can help a crust become crispier, but you want to find a brand that fits into your microwave accordingly.

Despite the various cooking times, you’ll deal with; it’s better to have a convection setting to move the air.

Even if you make pizza without an oven or microwave, it will not hurt either. Most of us don’t like that a microwave makes soggy pizza.

It takes a lot of practice to get things crispy in any microwave without air circulation.

Indoor Portable Stovetop Pizza Ovens

Many portable kitchen countertop pizza ovens may be cheaper, but they all have drawbacks. They don’t deliver heat the right way.

If you’re going to use a portable pizza cooker, use one that gives you heating elements that act like a toaster oven.

Another problem is that some pizzas don’t fit into standard 12-inch pizza ovens. You want to give yourself enough room if you’re going to make a good-sized pie, at least 16″ in diameter.

Outdoor Portable Stovetop Pizza Ovens

Topping Ideas

Pizza toppings are often dictated by what the traditional recipe calls for. You wouldn’t put Spam on a Hawaiian pizza even though the island people of Hawaii love Spam; therefore, Canadian bacon is used.

The same thinking applies to Margherita pizza with mozzarella cheese, basil, and San Marzano tomatoes pizza sauce. But for many pizzas these days, you can add any combination that appeals to you.

Usually, the freshest toppings are advised with plenty of variety in between. Deep dish pizza is also notorious for putting everything but the kitchen sink inside them.

If your diet has certain limitations, it doesn’t matter if you break the oath of tradition. Just be creative with toppings you enjoy, and you can’t go wrong.

PRO Tips to Make Pizza Without an Oven

Safety is an issue that not too many cooking websites like to mention. Pizza is often cooked at incredibly high temperatures, so you can get burned quickly.

• You never want to touch a skillet’s handle without using a well-insulated oven mitt. The same applies to pizza stones, portable kitchen ovens, and heating elements. It only takes a second for your skin to burn, but the pain lasts for hours.
• Always be careful working around anything hot since this is simply smart kitchen thinking. Another good point is paying attention to cooking times. Pizza can be acceptable at one point, but it can quickly burn if you aren’t watching the surface and total cooking time.

Burnt pizza isn’t always the tastiest thing in the world unless you like burnt pizza. Some edges that get darkened aren’t so bad, just as long as you don’t go overboard.

The Last Slice

Is there a kitchen appliance in your kitchen that would make a good substitute for making homemade pizza without an oven?

We hope this guide has given you some pleasing pointers for getting creative and cooking pizza without an oven.

If you get inspired by these examples listed here, you’ll no doubt have more adventures making great pizza that tastes just as good.

Enjoy!

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