Everyone who owns a cast iron skillet knows just how much of a lifesaver it can be in the kitchen. You can cook any number of dishes in this pan with confidence that it’ll cook everything thoroughly, won’t break, and can even be stuck in the oven.
With such a versatile kitchen tool, there are pretty much endless possibilities for what you can cook with it. In fact, sometimes it can be pretty tough to decide on just one recipe to use! That’s why we’re here to help.
This is our guide to the 40 best-cast iron skillet recipes that can bring some of the best cultural cuisines into your own home kitchen.
We’ll be looking at recipes you can make in your cast iron skillet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, we’re not going to tell you when you have to eat them!
Breakfast
Italian cloud eggs
The first recipe on our breakfast list is this delightful Italian treat. This is the perfect way to create light, fluffy eggs and combine them with rich Italian flavors. The seasoning blends gorgeously with the sweet tomato taste. We’re pretty sure you’ve never had eggs like these before!
Breakfast lover’s cheesy skillet breakfast
As you can probably tell from the name, this recipe has everything you could ever want to be absolutely delicious! Combine classic breakfast ingredients like potatoes, eggs, and bacon with some interesting twists in the form of chorizo, red onions, and sweet peppers. Of course, you can then drench the whole affair with gooey, melted cheese!
Strawberry griddle cakes
With this recipe, we delve into the world of sweet breakfast foods and what’s a better way to start than with some fruity pancakes? This recipe has been around as long as pancakes themselves and it’s impossible for people not to like it! Of course, the strawberries can be substituted for other foods to suit dietary needs.
Cheesy bacon and egg hash
Despite being designed as a breakfast recipe, this is the sort of thing you could easily have at any point in the day. It’s a really simple, classic dish that you can’t really go wrong with. The combination of breakfast classics like bacon, eggs and cheese is pretty much flawless and it’s so convenient to make in a single skillet pan.
Beefy huevos rancheros
Taking a more exotic approach to breakfast, this Mexican recipe will provide a little kick and zest to your morning meal. It’s almost like a classic American breakfast skillet with the use of ground beef instead of bacon and a few extra ingredients and flavors. Eat this one straight from the pan or in a warm tortilla wrap.
Chimichurri steak and eggs
This is another really simple dish that has some great flavor combinations. Steak and eggs are one of the most classic American breakfasts but combining them with chimichurri is a stroke of genius! It’s super easy to make and will only take around 25 minutes from start to finish.
Cowboy breakfast skillet
We couldn’t resist including this recipe just for the name alone! However, it’s also got some interesting takes on the traditional breakfast skillet recipe. All the ingredients should be shredded and sliced up small to give each bite the perfect balance of flavors.
Corned beef hash
Corned beef isn’t something a lot of people get excited about in a dish. However, it can make the perfect base for a breakfast recipe. This one has plenty of additional ingredients and seasonings to bring the dish to life and a lovely, rich beef flavor in the background.
Crispy potato, chorizo, and green chili hash with avocado and eggs
Created by the legendary J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, this recipe is a masterpiece of breakfast cuisine. It combines all the ingredients we’ve seen and tasted a million times before with some interesting twists like avocado and green chili. This is the sort of thing you could serve to your friends and have them all in awe of your skills!
Heirloom tomato galette
The last breakfast recipe we’re looking at is a slightly more advanced one that could easily be eaten for breakfast or lunch. It’s a simple recipe that’s been perfected over decades. It’s very unlikely to let you down, but it will take some careful assembly to get it just right.
Lunch
Erin Napier’s skillet cornbread
Cornbread is such a simple pleasure in life and can be accompanied with any number of other foods. The best part about this recipe is that it only takes around 40 minutes to prepare and cook, meaning you’ll never go hungry waiting around for it!
Baked ham and Swiss sliders
Everyone knows sliders as a great American dish. After all, what’s better than cute, miniature versions of burgers? This recipe lends its;ef really well to being baked in a cast iron skillet and it ensures that all the slider fillings will be cooked evenly, with gorgeously melted cheese.
Garlic butter shrimp
This probably isn’t technically a full lunch recipe, but you can easily add these shrimp to pasta, rice, or anything else you have laying around your kitchen. It’s the perfect sauce and
seasoning blend to bring out the best flavor from shrimp. Simple, yet delicious!
Cheesy pizza rolls
You can make pizzas in a cast iron skillet (we’ll have more on that, later on, our list) but pizza rolls are the perfect lunch or party treat because they’re perfect for sharing. You can easily adjust the recipe to suit how big your skillet is and how many people you need to feed.
Blackened fish sandwich with avocado and cabbage
This recipe makes a really tasty, Instagram-worthy lunch! It’s been designed with health in mind so all the ingredients are well balanced in nutrition. Not to mention, the cast iron skillet is perfect for cooking the fish to be nice and crispy.
Garlic naan bread
An Indian staple food, naan bread is a fantastic accompaniment to any soup or saucy meal. A lot of people are put off cooking Indian dishes because of the complex seasoning and flavor blends but this recipe is super easy to make and can all be done in one cast iron skillet!
Easy cauliflower and chickpea masala
This recipe would go perfectly with the garlic naan bread we’ve just looked at! It’s a comforting, warm, and delicious dish that’s packed with flavor. This really is the perfect bowl of food to make on a cold winter day.
Sweet potato kale frittata
Another perfect lunch dish is the sort of recipe you can make in large batches and keep in the fridge to eat all week. The creamy flavors of sweet potatoes and goat’s cheese makes for a smooth flavor and texture that you’ll fall in love with.
Greek shrimp, pearl barley and kale with feta
This recipe is another great example of how healthy food can be delicious. It’s really easy to make and the key to its greatness is in the ingredients. If you can get hold of the freshest shrimp and some high-quality pearl barley, you’re in for a treat!
Fried rice
Recipes don’t get much simpler than this. The classic fried rice recipe you already know and love can also be made in a cast iron skillet. You can easily change out any ingredients you want and experiment to find your own favorite combinations.
Shakshuka
Honestly, this is probably one of the best things you can make in a cast iron skillet. It’s a wonderfully gooey melting pot of explosive flavors that can be paired with pretty much anything. Dip some crusty bread into the tomato sauce and runny egg yolk or serve it with some rice. It doesn’t matter how you eat it, just make sure you do!
Skillet phyllo pie with butternut squash, kale and goat cheese
Phyllo pastry is notoriously difficult to work with and can be incredibly fragile at the best of times. However, it does make a great home for this delicious blend of flavors. The vegetables have been carefully selected to come together as a creamy mix with goat’s cheese and parmesan. You might have to be careful while making this recipe, but there’s no need for caution when devouring it!
Cast iron nachos
Everyone knows nachos are a fun dish to be shared with a big group of friends at a party. Well, there’s nothing wrong with making them for lunch either! It works really well as a cast iron skillet recipe as it avoids all the unpleasant hal-melted cheese that you sometimes get with nachos.
Cheeseburger dip
Another great party food, this cheeseburger dip will make a lovely accompaniment to bread, crackers or even nachos to eat for lunch. You can easily adjust the ingredients and quantities to fit your needs but you shouldn’t change too much as it’s been designed with great flavor combinations in mind.
Cast iron hasselback potatoes
For such a simple recipe, this is one of the most delicious ways you can cook potatoes in a cast iron skillet. They’ll come out of your oven gorgeously crispy and flavorful and you can pair them with absolutely any dish you want. Alternatively, just enjoy them on their own as a little treat- they’re that good!
Dinner
Beef taco skillet
As we move on to some dinner recipes for your cast iron skillet, we start with this interesting take on a traditional beef taco filling. The sweet potatoes and avocado slices provide a nice, creamy flavor to go with the rest of this rich, spicy filling.
Cast iron skillet pizza
Like we said earlier, making a pizza in your cast iron skillet can produce some great results. The extra heat from the pan itself can give a nice charring effect to the base and you can personalize it with whatever toppings you want.
Bacon harvest chicken skillet
This recipe will give you a comforting, hearty meal conveniently in a single pan. It’s almost like a full roast dinner in a cast iron skillet. That means you can easily add or remove whatever ingredients you like. However, you’ll definitely want to stick to the gorgeous seasonings and flavors.
Flank steak fajitas
Mexican cuisine really does lend itself well to cast iron skillets and this one is perfect for it! The best thing about this recipe is that the scorching heat from the pan gives a lovely seared flavor to the meat and vegetables.
Chicken under a skillet with lemon pan sauce
This is an absolutely gorgeous way to cook chicken and will produce restaurant standard results with minimal effort. Here, you’ll have a great piece of meat and creamy sauce to go with any combination of veggies and carbs that you have in your kitchen.
Cheesy rotisserie chicken enchilada
Enchiladas are another popular Mexican dish that basically consists of tortilla-wrapped filling, baked with some gooey cheese on top. This recipe has been tailored to work with a cast iron skillet and still pack the same amount of exotic flavors.
Crispy pan-seared chicken and zucchini with olives and lemon
This healthy dish will make you feel like you’re in the heart of the Mediterranean with every bite. The chicken is well seasoned and cooking it in a ripping hot cast iron skillet will give it a great, crispy texture. The veggies are all selected to balance the flavors perfectly.
Poached salmon in coconut lime sauce
Salmon is probably one of everyone’s favorite fish to eat and this recipe will make you want it every day of the week! The recipe itself will leave you with some wonderfully cooked fish and a powerful sauce that can be drizzled over vegetables, rice or anything you want.
One skillet pasta
This is definitely one of the simpler recipes on our list, so it’s perfect for a busy day that requires a low effort meal. Ground turkey is the recommended meat for this dish because it’s one of the healthiest you can get. However, pretty much any meat will also work.
Skillet chicken pot pie
An American classic, the chicken pot pie is a lot of people’s favorite meal. This recipe will teach you how to make the best possible version of a pot pie and you can even do it conveniently in one cast iron skillet.
Gnocchi chicken skillet
Gnocchi, a potato-based pasta, is something most people don’t even know about until they’ve tried it once. This recipe definitely brings out the best of gnocchi, using a simple, rich sauce and chicken to cling to the pasta and make it taste even better!
Salisbury steak meatballs with hearty mushroom gravy
This is another really versatile recipe that you can add to pasta, rice, potatoes, or anything you like. It’s a very simple looking dish that has a great depth of flavor to it and is sure to impress any dinner guests.
One skillet chicken with buttery orzo
Using a unique combination of ingredients like fennel and orzo, this dish is perfect for people who like branching out and discovering new, exquisite food. It produces a fantastically crispy chicken skin and a rich, gooey sauce with comforting flavors.
Butternut squash mac and cheese
We might be nearing the end of our list but we certainly haven’t run out of great dishes you can try. Mac and cheese works really well in a cast iron skillet and the combination with butternut squash makes for a creamy food lover’s paradise! Not to mention, it’s a pretty healthy alternative to traditional mac and cheese.
Sausage and cheese lasagna
The last recipe we’re looking at is another twist on a classic dish: lasagna. This is one of Italy’s most famous dishes and normally calls for a baking dish and a couple of hours of hard work. However, this recipe has been tailored to work in a cast iron skillet and won’t take more than 40 minutes to make from start to finish!
Conclusion
There you have it, those were our favorite 40 cast iron skillet dishes. Of course, there are hundreds of recipes out there that create some interesting combinations of flavors or put a twist on classic dishes. However, this is our narrowed-down list of the best ones!
Cast iron skillets are such a great tool to use as there are plenty of full meals that can be cooked in just this single pan. If you don’t own one already and are thinking about making the investment, imagine yourself cooking and eating all the lovely meals we’ve talked about in this article. Your mouth is probably already watering!
