Upside Down Pizza With Pepperoni and Jalapeno
This upside down pizza is built backwards in the pan. Pepperoni first, then cheese, marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, jalapeños, more cheese and finally the dough pressed into place like a lid. Bake at 400° then flip out onto board. What was bottom is now the top. Pepperoni will come out fried in its own grease. Ready in thirty minutes start to finish.
What Goes Into Upside Down Pizza
| Ingredient | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pillsbury pizza dough | Just one tube. Your own dough would work or any store bought variety. |
| Marinara sauce | Whatever you like. |
| Mozzarella cheese | Shredded. Used twice, once on the bottom under the sauce and once on top of the jalapeños. |
| Pepperoni | Regular sized pieces. These will be the bottom layer of the pizza, which becomes the top once flipped. |
| Fresh jalapeños | Sliced thin into rounds. |
| Parmesan cheese | Grated, sprinkled over the sauce. |
| Egg | Beaten for wash on dough. |
| Oregano | Sprinkled on top of egg wash before baking. |
Exact measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.
How I Made this Upside Down Pizza
Line the bottom of a cold pan with pepperoni slices.
Layer mozzarella cheese on top of that.
Add marinara sauce, spreading it out over the cheese.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
Place sliced jalapeños on top.
Sprinkle more mozzarella cheese on top of the jalapeños.
Lay pizza dough overtop of everything else. Tuck the edges around the inside of the pan so they overlap like a lid.
Brush the dough top with egg wash and sprinkle on oregano.
Bake until the dough is golden brown and cooked through.
Flip pizza out onto a board in one piece. Be careful!
Times and temperatures can all be found in the recipe card below.
Use a Smooth Pan, Not a Ridged One
I used a cast iron pan with ridges in the bottom. You can see where some of the pepperoni and cheese slid down into the grooves. Don’t do that.
This recipe works best with a completely smooth flat surface. Square cast iron works great, as does a deep dish pan or baking dish. Anything really, but make sure there’s nothing on the surface that could grab onto your ingredients. Every ridge is basically a place for a piece of pepperoni to lodge itself into the pan and tear when you flip it out.
Start with the pan in the oven cold. You don’t need to grease it either because the pepperoni will render enough fat in those first few minutes of baking that it will grease itself. The rendered fat will also fry up that pepperoni against the pan surface which is how it gets so crisp instead of steamed.
Why Each Layer Gets Added in That Order
Ok, it may go against your pizza instincts but hear me out on why each layer goes where it does.
First, this pizza is literally flipped upside down. So when you think about how it’s coming out versus how it goes in, that helps.
Pepperoni goes on the bottom because that’s the whole point of this exercise. Raw pepperoni lays right against the metal and gets rendered AND fried. On a regular pizza those pepperoni slices sit on top of the sauce and never touch metal. This way they do.
Cheese gets added after pepperoni to seal it in, plus it acts as “glue” to help hold everything together when you flip. Sauce goes on top of cheese rather than directly on pepperoni so the pepperoni never loses contact with metal and grease. If it sat on top of sauce it would essentially be sitting in liquid.
Jalapeños go on high and then covered with more cheese. Note the second layer of cheese has purpose. It binds the jalapeños and sauce layer to the dough layer above so none of it shifts loose when you flip.
Pizza dough goes on last, pressed into place and tucked around edges like a lid. Once flipped it acts as your crust and holds all that deliciousness in.
Author’s Notes
Use a Nice Baking Dish
Use a nice baking dish. I used the cast iron pan, had like some grill grates on it, and it kind of got stuck, the pepperoni and some of the cheese. So it’s better if you use a deep dish or a baking dish that is nice and smooth at the bottom, because the grease from the pepperoni will grease up everything and nothing should stick.
These are super simple to make. You can make it within, you know, 30 minutes from prep to cook and you’re gonna enjoy a really good pizza.
You can always make your own dough, or you can use a Pillsbury dough if you want a quick and easy meal. You can do your own twist on this. Any ingredients work on it, it doesn’t have to be specifically what I added, and the whole family will enjoy it.
Miguel
Make-Ahead and Storage
As far as make-ahead goes this recipe is not it. Thirty minutes start to finish is pretty fast which means just make when you’re wanting pizza. The dough will also start to push back at you if you try to let it sit assembled for too long.
Leftovers store in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in the oven or air fryer for best results. You want that crust to come back nice and crunchy and for the pepperoni to recrisp. Microwave will leave you with a soggy top and soft crust.
Tips from Miguel
- Smooth pan only. Ridged pans grab onto your pepperoni. Don’t do it!
- Cold pan, no grease. Pepperoni takes care of that for you. Literally. Trust.
- Tuck dough around edges. Anything hanging over is thin and will burn before the rest is done.
- It may stick. Don’t panic. Slide a spatula around the edges and underneath first. If it loosens just flip. If it’s in there too much, pieces of pepperoni will break. Yeah, happened to me. Not mad about it.
- Make it yours. Add sausage, onions, mushrooms, garlic, whatever your people enjoy on pizza. Nothing in this recipe is written in stone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to use Pillsbury pizza dough?
No you do not. Any store bought pizza dough will work here. Heck, if you make your own go for it. Pillsbury is the cheat code.
What do I do if it sticks to the pan when flipping?
Run a spatula around the edges and underneath first. That will usually do it. If you have a ridged pan like I did, expect to lose some pepperoni.
Can I use jarred jalapeños instead of fresh?
Fresh is better because you get more heat and they hold their shape. Jarred will work but drain them really well first. Extra moisture is your enemy here.
Related Recipes
- Grilled Cheese Pepperoni Pizza
- Nashville Hot Chicken Pizza
- Smoked Pizza Rolls
- Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Bread Boat
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Upside Down Pizza with Pepperoni and Jalapeño
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Start with a cold pan with a smooth flat bottom. A square cast iron skillet, deep dish pan or baking dish all work. Avoid anything with ridges, because the pepperoni and cheese will lodge in the grooves and tear when you flip it.
- Lay a generous layer of pepperoni across the entire bottom of the pan, overlapping the slices so the bottom is well covered.
- Sprinkle a layer of shredded mozzarella over the pepperoni.
- Spoon the marinara sauce over the cheese and spread it out evenly.
- Sprinkle grated Parmesan over the sauce, then add the thinly sliced fresh jalapeños.
- Add a second layer of shredded mozzarella over the jalapeños. This layer binds everything to the dough so nothing shifts loose in the flip.
- Lay the pizza dough over the top, pressing it gently into place and tucking the edges down around the inside of the pan like a lid.
- Brush the top of the dough with beaten egg, then sprinkle with oregano.
- Bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and cooked through.
- Let it sit for a minute or two. Place a cutting board or serving platter over the pan and carefully flip it over. The pizza should release in one piece with the crisped pepperoni and melted cheese now on top.
- If anything is sticking, run a spatula around the edges and underneath before flipping.
