This Sheet Pan Pizza or Party Pizza will make about 18 slices of Pizza per Tray! Double it up and place both into the oven side by side to get 36 slices of Pizza. Instead of two Party Pizzas, you can make one a Pizza and the other Garlic Fingers or go half Pizza & Garlic Fingers for each Sheet Pan Pizza. Either way you do it, this is a recipe to feed a crowd.

This Pizza is prepared with the fingertip technique and boast a beautiful browned Crust with dimples that not only bake up the underside crust with a very pleasing texture contrast. It also creates dimples on the top side to hold pockets of extra Pizza Sauce. The Pizza is Sauced right to the edge and creates a really crispy edge when cooked up.

Greco’s Party Pizza

Besides these types of Pizza being made in Sicily, Greco Pizza is one of the first places I seen offer this in local Pizzerias. They advertised as a 24 slice Party Pizza and it’s quite popular.

Greco’s Party Pizza is made in a 12×24 sheet pan which yields 24 slices of Pizza that are about 4 inches by 3 inches.

Party Pizza Preparation Time

The Dough needs to be started the night before for proper proofing and aging of the dough. Which takes about 20 minutes of active time and at least 1 day to proof.

The next day, it takes about 1 hour to proof and press the dough in the pan. Place the Dough on the left side of the stove top away from the vent covered in plastic so that it can get the heat from the oven while preheating. This will cause the Dough to proof much faster and pressed out in about 1 hour.

You will need to get all the Toppings you want prepared as well. Which may include some cook time for toppings used such as Italian Sausage & Bacon. Although all of the Toppings & Pizza Sauce can be made while preheating and proofing the dough which will take about 1 hour.

• Pizza Dough | 20 minutes the day before
• Proofing and pressing into the pan | 1 Hour.
• Pizza Sauce & Toppings can be prepared during the proof time
• Assembly | 5 minutes
• Total Preparation time | 1 Hour 25 minutes

Party Pizza Cook Times

Once the Party Pizza is assembled it only takes about 10 minutes to cook the Sheet Pan Pizza. You will need to preheat the oven for a good hour. Meanwhile all the Toppings & Sauces can be prepared and cooked if needed.

• Pizza Toppings (Beef, Sausage, Bacon)| 5 minutes each
• Party Pizza | 10-11 minutes
• Total Cook Time | 10 – 26 minutes.

Party Pizza Servings

• 2-3 slices per person
• 17.25×11.5 sheet pan Pizza will make 6-9 servings.
• This recipe can make 2 thin Party Pizzas or 1 Thick and 1 Thin for a total of 12-18 servings.

Kitchen Cookware for Party Pizza

• Mixing Bowl or Dough Mixer for the Dough
• Bowl for Pizza Sauce & Ladle or Spoon
• Digital Scale
• Plate to hold the Toppings
• Baking Sheet 17.25×11.5
• Brush to grease the pan
• Plastic to cover the Dough
• Pizza Cutter

Party Pizza Ingredients

1. Pizza Dough
2. Olive Oil or a Neutral Oil
3. Pizza Sauce
4. Toppings
5. Mozzarella Cheese (High Moisture)

Party Pizza Dough

The Dough is the Classic Hand Tossed Pizza Dough, except for this recipe there is no hand tossing. Just pressing it out on an oiled Baking Sheet. Here it is proofed again until it can be hand pressed to fill the baking sheet.

Start the Dough the night before. Once formed and kneaded, Place back into the bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight to have ready for the next day.

The amount of Dough is about 1500 g. Which can be used to make 2 Thin Crust Party Pizzas or 1 Thick and 1 thin. The extra Dough can also be used for a Large Pizzas, Garlic Fingers or Twisty Bread. You can also just freeze it for future use.

Did you know that the proofing and aging of the dough is required for a final product that is easier on your digestive system. Any pizza doughs out there that is thrown together and used almost immediately will be hard on the digestive system and will cause bloating in many cases. The yeasts needs time to work and age the dough.

Pizza Sauce

Use your Favorite Pizza Sauce. We got a few of them you can choose from.

Since this is a Greco Style Pizza, I prefer the Quick Tomato Sauce which taste I believe extremely close to Greco’s Cheeseburger Oven subs if not better, I definitely get my fix with this recipe. The Tomato Soup Pizza Sauce is also in the same style as Greco’s Pizza.

Sauce & Top the Pizza right to the edge leaving no crust to get crispy sides and corners.

Pizza Toppings

Top the Pizza with your Favorite Toppings. The main Pizza made for this post used Pepperoni, Italian Sausage and Bacon with the Cheese on the bottom. The other one in this post was made with Pepperoni, Chourico, Onions, Bacon, Orange & Yellow Bell Peppers with the Cheese on top.

Pepperoni Pizza Topping

The best Pepperoni for Pizza is by far the one pictured below. This is a cured Pepperoni. Don’t pick up deli style Pepperoni thinking it will work just as good, quality matters.

Italian Sausage Pizza Topping

The Best Italian Sausage for Pizza toppings is the Mild Italian Sausage with the Fennel Seeds in small nodules. Pick up your favorite Italian Sausage and remove the skin or attempt to make your own Italian Sausage Pizza topping with a lb. of Ground Pork and some Seasonings.

If your Sausages don’t contain Fennel Seeds, you can add some in along with smoked Paprika and mix it in. Add some Cayenne or Red Chili Flakes for a boost in heat if needed. Then shape into those tiny nodules and cook them up the same as a Pizzeria.

Bacon Pizza Toping

To get Bacon like the Pizzerias, mince the Bacon and cook it in a skillet over medium heat while covered until just cooked. Then uncover and continue to cook just until slightly crisp and to evaporate any water. Break up the Bacon and move it around while it cooks.

This way of preparing the Bacon yields the best results for the kind of Bacon you get at Pizzerias. Of course you could go old school and cook the Bacon strips then slice into 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces to top the Pizzas with.

Place the toppings on the Pizza starting with the flattest and working up to the bulkier toppings last. This ensures everything sits nice and even for cooking.

Don’t load the Pizza up with too many toppings, this will almost always weigh the dough down resulting in a poor cook.

Pizza Cheese

The Cheese Blend I always use is a mix of High Moisture Mozzarella Cheese & Provolone Cheese at a ratio of 3:1 Mozzarella to Provolone. For the Party Pizza I sometimes include a bit of Shredded Cheddar Cheese, I like the sharpness it adds.

The Cheese can go on before or after the toppings. Really up to you. I prefer the Cheese on top for this style of Pizza.

Pizza Math

To determine how much Dough to use for a given size, first calculate the area and multiply by the desired thickness or grams of dough per square inch. This determines how thick or thin the Party Pizza will be.

A good range for the thickness or how thin a Pizza slice ends up being is around 3 – 4 g dough per square inch. With 3 to 3.5 on the thinner side and 3.5 – 4 on the thicker side. Anywhere in between is pretty good.

In this example I am using a 17.25×11.5 baking sheet with 4 g per square inch. This is on the thicker side. You can go with 3.1 (615g), which I do sometimes for a thinner Party Pizza and to get two of them from one batch of dough, entirely up to you.

17.25 Length * 11.5 Width * 4 Thickness = 794 g of dough.

Sheet Pan Pizza

The Party Pizza is a Sheet Pan Pizza where the entire Pizza is cooked in a baking sheet, pan or tray and uses the Fingertip press technique to press the dough out. Greco calls this their Party Pizza.

This method is an old way of making Pizza. It creates those dimples in the Pizza that not only makes a very nice texture on the bottom crust. It also creates small pockets on top where Pizza Sauce can pool. It’s a very nice Pizza and I sometimes crave this specific style.

The Fingertip press technique is to place Pizza dough in a well greased pan. Press it out with your fingertips, cover and proof. Keep repeating this until you have pressed the dough out to fill the entire pan. Ensure that the dough is pressed out evenly by feeling how much dough there is when pressing.

How to make Sheet Pan Pizza

It first starts with a properly proofed and aged Pizza dough. Either Homemade or Store bought. If buying already made dough then this recipe can come together in the same day since the Store bought Pizza dough will already have been aged. All you have to do is proof it while the oven preheats for 1 hour and it’s ready to go.

Anywhere between 615 g thin, 794 g standard or thicker Party Pizza with the use of a 17.25 inch by 11.5 inch baking sheet. If your biggest baking sheet is a different size, calculate how much dough you will need for your specific tray size.

Preheat the oven to the highest setting it will go with the Rack in middle position. Place the wrapped dough on the stovetop to proof faster from the excess heat coming off the stove. If making 2 Party Pizzas alternate the Sheets for 10-15 minutes, press out and place the other one on for 10-15 minutes and press out.

If there is excess oil after you have pressed the dough out fully, pick it up with some paper towel so that the Pizza is not overly greasy.

While the Dough is proofing on the stovetop and slowly being pressed out, you can prepare the Pizza Sauce and all the toppings you want for the Party Pizza as well as any Dips like Papa Johns Garlic Sauce or Donair Sauce.

Thin Crust Party Pizza

Stick to about 3.1 g of dough per square inch for your calculation of how much dough you need for your specific tray. If your tray is 17.25 x 11.5 then calculate as;

17.25 Length * 11.5 Width * 3.1 Thickness = 615 g of dough.

With the Classic Hand Tossed Pizza Dough portion, this is enough to make 2 Thin Crust Party Pizzas with some dough leftover.

Thick Crust Party Pizza

Stick to about 4 g of dough per square inch, maybe a little more or less for your calculation of how much dough you need for your specific tray. If your tray is 17.25 x 11.5 then calculate as;

17.25 Length * 11.5 Width * 4 Thickness = 794 g of dough.

With the Classic Hand Tossed Pizza Dough portion, this is enough to make 1 Thin Crust Party Pizzas and 1 Thick Crust Party Pizza with a small amount of dough left over.

Party Pizza Toppings

Once the Dough is fully pressed out it is ready to be assembled. This should take the full 1 hour of proofing and preheating the oven. After which the Pizzas are ready to be assembled. With your Cheese, Pizza Sauce and Toppings ready to go, you’re about 15 minutes away from your Belly Smile!

How to cook a Party Pizza

The oven should be preheated for 1 hour with the rack in middle position. Cook for 10 minutes turning the Pizza around halfway through. Broil the top for about 1 minute only if needed for color.

With a Party Pizza there is no need of a Pizza Stone. Instead the oiled Baking sheet will be adequate enough to brown the bottom of the Pizza.

Watch for Air bubbles as it is cooking. Use a fork to pierce any air bubbles that may form.

How to Slice a Party Pizza

Greco slices are about 4 inches x 3 inches. For a 12 x 24 inch Pan slice the length 2 times of equal size and width 7 times of equal size or lengthwise 3 times and width 5. This is the Greco Party Pizza size with 24 slices of Pizza.

For a 17.25 x 11.5 tray of Pizza, slice lengthwise twice off center and slice the width by half. Then each half off center on both sides for 5 cuts made across the width. This will give you just shy of 4 x 3 inches slices and a total of 18 slices of Pizza.

Don’t worry about it too much, you can slice this up any way you like with larger or smaller slices. The important thing is that you slice it up so that all the slices are pretty much equal. I often just slice in half, then each half in half again and repeat until I get pretty much all even slices.

Party Pizza Duo

Instead of making the whole Sheet Pan Pizza a Pizza. Sauce half of it with Pizza Sauce and the other half with Garlic Butter for Garlic Fingers for a really nice Party Pizza Duo.

Make two Pizzas in one. On one half a set of Toppings and on the other half another set of Toppings.

Another option is to make the Party Pizza on the thinner side so you can get 2 Party Pizzas. One for Pizza and the other for Garlic Fingers.

Pizza Side Dishes