Three Cheese Pan Pizza
ShareHomemade pan pizza featuring an easy and flavorful thin crust, plus three varieties of cheese!
Have I told you how much I love pizza and thus pizza night? If not… I do. And I hope you do too because there’s tons of pizza to love around here.
From thin crust to thick, deep dish, saucy, gourmet and classic.
There’s something for everyone. I love them all almost equally. Because we’re all allowed our favorites, but usually I swear the newest is always a favorite. It’s true.
My youngest is pretty hard to please food wise somedays and since his birthday was this week, I had to come up with something for dinner I was positive he’d enjoy. Pizza. Clearly.
The kid loves pizza. Who could blame him?
Enjoying pizza and ice cream cake, I almost wished we could have birthday celebrations every night. I’m sure eventually it’d get old, but at the moment it sounded like a brilliant idea in my head.
Pizza forever. There are so many varieties and options, how could you possibly ever get bored with pizza? It seems impossible.
I switched up my standard pizza making to include a round cake pan this time, creating an ultimate homemade pan pizza. Kick the oven temp up a bit. Change up the cheese. Heaven for dinner. Seriously.
The crust is the perfect amount of crisp and chewy. As much as I adore big chewy outer crusts, this one is amazing without it. Toppings practically all the way to the edge! You won’t miss the big crust handle on this pizza at all!
And the cheese… ahh the cheese. There may be no going back after trying this combination. You’ll have to trust me and try it for yourself.
Dust off your cake pans and whip up this easy and flavorful homemade three cheese pan pizza for dinner! You’ll be glad you did.
Looking for more pizza ideas? Check out my recipe index for even more pizza recipes! There’s something for everyone!
Three Cheese Pan Pizza
Ingredients
- 3/4 C water
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 C all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2-3 tsp olive oil
- 1/4-1/2 C pizza sauce
- 1 C sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 C whole milk mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/4 C Parmesan cheese
- Ground black pepper
- Thin sliced pepperoni
Instructions
- Heat water to 115°F. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, allow to proof.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, combine flour and salt. With mixer running on low, slowly add yeast mixture. Increase speed, adding olive oil, mixing until dough comes together. Lightly grease your hands, shape dough into a ball, transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise a warm location until doubled in size, roughly 60-90 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 500°F. Lightly grease two 9-inch round cake pans with olive oil.
- Divide dough in half, shaping to fit the bottom of each prepared pan and 1/4-inch up the sides. Allow dough to rest for several minutes if it snaps back.
- Spread 2-4 Tbsp sauce per pizza. Divide cheese between prepared dough. Lightly sprinkle with ground black pepper and additional toppings, such as pepperoni.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Slide pizza out onto a cutting board, slice and serve warm.
Notes
Rachel, you make some AMAZING pizza. I’ll hire you to be my personal pizza maker.
Thanks Beth! :)
I so wanna be at your house for pizza night.
That would be amazing :)
Absolutely must try! I loved personal pan pizzas growing up. Haven’t had one in so long!
You really must! :)
We make pizza A LOT but I’ve never done pan pizza. I definitely need to try this because it looks great!
You definitely do! And thank you :)
It’s Friday, and in my book that means pizza. I’m a total sucker for cheese, the more the better. Two thumbs up for this recipe. Yummy!
Thanks so much :)
Your pizza always looks ridiculous. I love that you made it in a cake pan!
Thanks Michelle!
Pizza looks good, you make no mention of the pan?what do you use?
Thanks
The recipe specifies to use two 9-inch round cake pans.
These are some pretty spectacular looking pizzas!!! Wish I could have one for breakfast right now!
Thanks Laura!
I just love the cake pan idea!! These are some great looking pizzas! Pinned!
Thanks Jaren!
Love these, so easy to make and exactly what I need tonight!
Thanks Matt!
This looks awesome!
Thanks Amanda!
mmmmmm. A carb lovers Paradise! This looks great and I like the cake pan option instead of rolling out the pizza stone every time. And tons of toppings for me!! What a treat!
And yes to ice cream cake!!
Thanks Luci! :)
pan pizza is my absolute fave! I’m so craving some pan pizza now! mm!
I’ve done my job then. Thanks Angelyn :)
I love pizza. Period. These look amazing!
Thanks Rebecca!
Our kids love homemade pizza too! The more cheese – the better! This looks fantastic! Pinned!
Thanks Anna!
Looks awesome! Did you use shiny cake pans or dark?
They’re heavy duty pans more along the lines of dark coated.
I love that you used a cake pan for these. My kids do love pizza. My oldest turned 8 this week, and I bought pizza for her party last night. It was terrible. Now I am wishing I had made these beauties! pinning for next time.
Happy birthday to your daughter! I hope you enjoy the pizza as much as we did when you try it. :)
These look fabulous! And I love that they just use cake pans… no special pan needed!
Can this dough be made if I don’t have a stand mixer?
Homemade dough takes a bit of elbow grease but it’s totally doable. Just have some patience and determination. Be sure to watch the consistency and make sure it’s not too dry or wet while kneading by hand.
Used your recipe to make our pizza tonight and it was great! I did have to use more flour though than your recipe called for.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! As with most bread recipes, the flour amounts can vary depending on many factors, always adjust as needed! :)
Hi Rachel – Can this dough be frozen? And at what point would that be done? We love, love, love this dough and consider it our go-to, but sometimes we don’t have 60-90 minutes for it to rise.
Thanks in advance!
I haven’t personally frozen this dough before, but it should work just fine. Allow it to rise fully, punch down and shape into a ball before wrapping well and storing in the freezer. Alternately, you can prepare the dough the night before and allow it to sit in the refrigerator covered. Be sure to bring it to room temperature before using.
I just made the crust for this recipe and it was fantastic! I do not have a standing mixture. I simply used a whisk and spoon to stir, and it was still easy to do. This is my new go-to crust recipe for homemade pizza! Thank you so much for sharing this! :)
So glad you enjoyed it, Megan!
Hey Rachel – looks very delish!
Instructions read: “allow to proof”. How long does it take to proof? Is this something I can see or just a matter of how long it needs to stand?
Thanks!
Proofing is simply allowing the yeast to sit and activate. The timing can vary but it’s typically between 5 and 10 minutes. You absolutely should see some change to the mixture, especially on top. If you don’t, then your water may have been too cold or too hot. Good luck!
What kind of pizza sauce do you use? I can’t wait to make this!!
I use store bought. You can make your own or purchase your favorite store bought as well. :)
I’ve made this pizza 3 times now and it turns out perfectly every time. I’ve always been nervous to make my dough but now I love it. Thanks!
So glad you’ve enjoyed it!
I usually grill my pizzas or use the pizza stone in the oven. It was rainy tonite so the grill was out and I didn’t feel like waiting for the stone to heat up so I tried the pan pizza (I had previously made a King Arthur pizza dough recipe). Two thumbs up! It came out crispy and perfect! I will be making this regularly from now on!
So glad you enjoyed it!