This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
You won’t need a special deep-dish pizza pan to make this easy and delicious Upside-Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza.
Hi everyone – it’s Jack. I never know when and where recipe inspiration will strike – and I’m here today to tell you about the story behind this Upside-Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza.
I had bit of insomnia the other night after a hectic day at work, so I started channel surfing while lying in bed, hoping to get tired enough to sleep. I came across an infomercial for a frying pan (I don’t remember the brand) that claimed to be so strong you could break concrete with a sledge hammer inside the pan, and doing so would never damage it, and the pan would never stick or scratch. (The commercial was less informative than it was comical, and it just seemed too unrealistic.)
However, just before I was about to surf over to the next channel, they showed someone putting an upside-down pizza into the oven and then flipping it over onto a pizza pan once it was cooked. I actually liked the idea and started brainstorming ideas for pizza toppings before finally falling asleep.
And that – my friends – is where I came with this Upside-Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza recipe.
How do you make Upside Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza?
This recipe uses all of your typical homemade pizza ingredients – pizza dough (you can make your own using this recipe or use store-bought), pizza sauce (if you haven’t tried this homemade easy, no-cook pizza sauce recipe yet – you should), and your favorite toppings. We went with sweet Italian sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers, onions, pepperoni, and three kinds of cheese (mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan). What can I say – I like my pizzas loaded with lots of toppings.
You’ll pre-cook the toppings – then layer them into a large oven-safe, non-stick skillet (we used this one from Calphalon). Finally, the pizza dough is placed over the toppings, you’ll brush the dough with some olive oil, and the entire thing is baked in the oven.
Once it’s baked through, you’ll place a pizza pan on top of the skillet – then flip the pan over so you now have a typical-looking (and delicious-looking) pizza sitting on your pizza pan. You’ll want to bake the pizza right-side-up for a few additional minutes just to crisp up the pizza crust.
Sprinkle on some additional cheese and dig in.
In the end, you’ll enjoy a deep-dish skillet pizza with a light and crispy crust and perfectly caramelized toppings. During that upside-down baking time, the crust soaks in some of the sauce and some of the juices from the sausage – giving it really outstanding flavor.
This Upside-Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza is so good – we made it twice in one week and devoured it! I really think you’ll love it too.
You may like these other pizza recipes:
- Mexican Street Corn Bacon Pizza
- Easy No-Cook Pizza Sauce
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Pizza Margherita with Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce
- Prosciutto and Fig Pizza with Arugula
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Upside-Down Deep-Dish Skillet Pizza
Ingredients
1 pizza dough, about 20 ounces (ours was 18.5 ounces)
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 Italian sausage links, removed from casing
Pinch red pepper flakes
5 medium mushrooms, cut into 1/4” thick slices
4 slices green bell pepper, cut into 1/4” thick slices
2 slices onion, 1/4” thick
14 pepperoni slices
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
5 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup pizza sauce (see here)
Instructions
Bring dough to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in top position in oven (opposite of a normal pizza cooking on a stone close to the bottom)
While dough is warming up, in a large 12”-14” non-stick oven proof fry pan*(see tip), heat one tablespoon of the oil over medium heat and cook sausage and pepper flakes until the meat has browned, breaking up as it cooks. Pour into a strainer over a bowl.
Add another tablespoon of oil and cook the mushrooms until browned. Remove to a plate or bowl leaving any fat in the pan.
Add another tablespoon of oil and place the pepper rings and onion slices in and cook for two minutes then turn off burner. Remove the peppers and onion to a plate and wipe any excess oil from the pan.
With the pan off the heat, build the upside-down pizza. Start by laying out the pepper and onion rings covering the bottom. Next fill in the holes with the pepperoni slices.
On top of that spread out the mushrooms then top with the drained sausage, again spreading to the edge.
Sprinkle on two tablespoons of the Parmesan next and then the mozzarella and finally the provolone, overlapping the slices as you go around the pan.
Spread the sauce over the provolone going almost to the edge.
On your cutting board, drizzle a tablespoon of the oil and spread the dough out to be slightly larger than the bottom of the pan, building a thick edge all the way around. Lift the dough and place over the sauce, stretching to go up the sides a bit and then tucked back in so no filling pops out.
Brush the remaining oil over the top of the dough (which is actually the bottom once flipped) and place on the upper rack and bake 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden.
Remove the pan, keeping the pot holder in place over the handle. Put an upside-down pizza pan over the pan top and with one quick motion, flip the pan over so that the pizza is sitting upright on the pizza pan. Place back in the oven for 15 more minutes to crisp up the edges. (As it bakes upside down, the sauce and any fat bakes into the crust edge (yummy) and when you invert it, it is soft and spongy and needs to crisp up).
When it comes out of the oven the second time, sprinkle on the remaining two tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, cut and serve.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Notes
*We use a non-stick Calphalon pan rated oven proof to 400 degrees F.
I used store dough and saturated my veggies and seasoned them to our liking first and then constructed the pizza as described. I messed up the dough in one side and had to place a pan next to it in the oven until cooked on top so ingredients stayed put. I wasn’t expecting much bc it looked God awful. That was thee best homemade pizza I have ever tasted from anywhere. We are making it again bc my daughter is home from college and had heard about it from her VERY HARD TO PLEASE father. I will NOT make the same mistake with the dough. Practice makes perfect!
Thanks Juanita! So glad everyone enjoyed the pizza! 🙂
I am about to make this for the third time in four weeks. It is delicious. I do use an Italian mix of shredded cheeses, rather than mozzarella and provolone separately. I use at least a cup of the mixed cheeses. And I use a little more pizza sauce than the recipe calls for. Each time I make it I add a little more onion and green pepper than the recipe says. So our pizza is fairly massive – but delicious. Our grocer only offers 16-oz fresh pizza dough, smaller than the recipe. That may be why my baking time (electric oven) is less. I do 20 or 21 minutes for the first round. Then, after flipping, no more than 7 to 10 minutes.
So glad you are enjoying the recipe Len!
I made this in my large cast iron skillet. I made sure it was well coated with olive oil. It came out fantastic.
Thanks Bonnie!
This recipe is super simple! Easy to follow and delicious. My husband doesn’t care for pizza, but he loves this pizza!
Thanks Kay – so glad to hear the pizza is a hit!
So good! I’ve made it twice and we love it!
Thanks Jill!
Since I am originally from Chicago, I thought this won’t be as good as Chicago deep dish. Well it was as good and am now making it the second time in one week. It knocked my Sox off! Yummy!
Wow Cindy – thank you so much!
I have made numerous pizzas through the years and this was the best I have ever made! I will make again!
Thank you so much Hilda!
This is amazing! I made this for dinner and everyone loved it!
Thank you Tina!
Fantastic my husband wanted me to make it twice in one week. LOL 😊
We love hearing this MaryEllen – thank you!
Made this tonight for the first time. We are meatless in this house so no meat but added green and black olives. It turned out like a deep dish. It was sloppy to turn over so be careful and make sure your pan has a side on it. I baked it first in a 12 inch cast iron skillet that was my grandfathers, then flipped it into a brownie pan. I used my own homemade pizza crust recipe. Husband says it’s a repeat
Thanks for your feedback – glad you enjoyed the pizza!