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The best thing about pizza ovens isn’t just their compact design but also their versatility for outdoor cookouts. With the list of foods and recipes in this guide, you can serve a variety of grilled meals beyond pizzas. Read on to get pizza oven alternatives and make the most of your oven!
Dinner Rolls
No matter what kind of pizza oven you have, you can bake delicious dinner rolls in it! Dinner rolls are a great addition to your menu, especially if you love baking loaves. Use your favourite dinner roll dough recipe or try a new one online. After letting the dough rise once, shape it into balls and place them in a buttered 9” cake pan (or a larger pan if it fits your oven).
Heat your portable pizza oven to around 900°F (482°C), then turn off the flame or let it burn out. Place the cake pan on the baking surface in your oven and bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes, turning them halfway through.
As the oven temperature drops during baking, it should still be hot enough to cook the rolls fully within 35 minutes. If needed, you can relight the flame to boost the heat.
Salmon Fillet
(Image Credit: Freerange Stock)
The high, even heat of pizza ovens makes them ideal for baking or grilling salmon fillets. The convection inside the oven crisps the exterior nicely while keeping the inside tender and juicy.
Start by heating your stainless steel pizza oven to around 500°F (260°C). Models that include a built-in thermometer will enable you to check the temperature. Place a small, oiled cast iron skillet inside the oven. Once the skillet is hot and the oil is sizzling, add a salmon fillet with the skin side down. Season it with a pinch of salt, squeeze some lemon juice over it, add a few pats of butter, and top with lemon slices. Put the skillet back on the hot oven and let the salmon cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.
When it’s done, take it out, let it rest for a moment, and then enjoy your pizza oven-cooked salmon!
Steak
(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Yes, that’s right — you can use your pizza oven to cook your steak! Depending on the size of the oven, you can cook one large steak or two small steaks at once.
Lightly grease your cast iron skillet with vegetable oil and let it heat up in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Then, take out the skillet, place your steak in it (however many fit), and return it to the oven. Cook the steaks for 90 seconds to 2 minutes on each side. Once they’re done to your liking, remove them and let them rest on a cutting board for a few minutes before serving.
Tip: For thicker steaks, bring them to room temperature first and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
Marinated Shrimp
Marinated shrimp deserves its spot in our list of best pizza oven recipe ideas. Not only does it cook quickly, but it also absorbs fantastic smoky flavours! Enhance the shrimp’s taste and keep them tender by soaking the shrimp in a mix of herbs and spices of your choice and liquids like olive oil or lemon juice. Cook them for about two minutes per side on medium-high heat. Once the shrimp are cooked to your liking, remove them from the oven and serve while they’re still sizzling.
Cast Iron Skillet Cookie
Of course, how could we forget about desserts? Baking a cookie on a cast iron skillet in a pizza oven (with lower heat and no flame) is a fun and delicious twist on traditional cookie baking. Homemade or store-bought cookie dough works great, but the more chocolate bits, the better.
Butter up your cast iron skillet and press your cookie dough into a 1/2-inch layer. Heat up your pizza oven to about 750°F (400°C), then pop the skillet inside. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden brown and a bit puffy.
Let the cookie cool for a bit before enjoying it, or go ahead and dig in if you can’t wait — no one is stopping you!
There are many more pizza oven recipes to explore, but these five dishes offer a great starting point for stepping out of the pizza zone. They show that your BBQ oven can be used for more than just making pizza, proving that it doesn’t have to stay covered when you’re not baking your go-to pie.
Up next on your reading list: How to Cook with a BBQ Pizza Oven
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