TikTokers Are Making Upside Down Pizza in a Skillet — But Is it Any Good?

Just when you thought you finally figured out how to cook a pizza at home, TikTok is here to tell you: No, you're doing that wrong too.

Or so they say.

The concept of building a pizza backwards for the perfect inverted pie is definitely intriguing, so with a whole lot of optimism, I tried the recipe for myself. The good news is the recipe is totally adaptable to your pizza toppings of choice. Plus, it just sounded like fun.

Here's how to make TikTok's Upside Down Pizza

In a greased cast iron skillet, I laid out my uncooked toppings: onions, mushrooms, olives, and salami (I was fresh out of pepperoni). Next, a hefty layer of shredded mozzarella. On top of that, I smoothed out some pizza sauce until the entire pie had a thin coating.

Finally, a slab of store-bought pizza dough that I had rolled out until thin. I gave this a light drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and basil, then the cast iron pie went into a 400°F oven for 30 minutes.

At first, my upside down pizza came out looking bubbly and promising, but when I flipped it over onto a cutting board, I was very disappointed to find only about 4% of the original toppings remained (including the cheese). The crust of the dough was crisp, but because so much moisture was trapped inside the pan with nowhere to go, the end result was a rather soggy piece of pizza with just a layer of tomato sauce cooked in. And my trusty cast iron looked more like a dish of queso fundido.

All in all, it was not worth the effort, in my opinion. But hey, if you use a whole lot more oil/butter to grease your cast iron at the top, your pizza toppings might just escape the pan.

Just because this TikTok pizza hack was a flop doesn't mean upside down pizza should be out of your life forever. Try out this Easy Upside-Down Pizza Casserole or these Upside-Down Pizza Pot Pies to fill your reverse pizza curiosity.