Taco-Inspired Pizza
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This pizza mash-up creation is topped with seasoned ground beef, grilled avocado, cherry, onion, sour cream, tortilla chips and lettuce for a meal reminiscent of ground beef tacos dorados. It reminds me of “make your own taco nights” when I was growing up where we would make a big batch of seasoned ground beef, and put out bowls of tomatoes, salsa, sour cream and lettuce among other toppings.
Taco-Inspired Pizza
Table of contents
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Dough – Pizza is the perfect cure for a hectic tornado of a week. It’s fast and homemade dough is easy to make using my recipe here. If you want a shortcut, then instead of making homemade dough you can find pre-made dough in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I also recommend checking if your local pizza spot sells their dough, it’s a great way to support local!
How to Make Taco-Inspired Pizza
- Heat the oven. Preheat oven to 500ºF. If you have a pizza stone then put it on the middle shelf and let it heat up with the oven.
- Cook the beef. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and heat through. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the beef, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Drain the fat from the pan and discard. Stir in the chili powder and cayenne until combined. Set aside.
- Press out the dough. On a lightly floured surface press out one the dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin. Place the dough on piece of parchment paper on top of the pizza peel. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Par bake the crust. Rub the remaining olive oil over the pizza dough including the edges. Bake for 6 minutes so the crust is partly baked, then remove from the oven.
- Top the pizza and bake. Top the pizza with the canned diced tomatoes, followed by the cheeses and onion, leaving about 1” around the edge of the pizza for the crust. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted, for an additional 6 to 8 minutes.
- Garnish the pizza and serve. Top the pizza with the cherry tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, romaine and tortilla chips. Cut into equal pieces and serve immediately.
Tips and Tricks for This Recipe
- A pizza stone is a great investment as you end up with delicious, crispy, evenly cooked pizza.
- Heat the oven with the pizza stone inside the oven or grill so that it is thoroughly heated when you start cooking the pizza.
- Putting the dough on the parchment paper after rolling it out allows the dough to stick to it and then you can easily slide it onto the pizza stone from the pizza peel.
- Another option is to use cornmeal but this is a much messier method. Once the pizza is cooked it slides right off the parchment paper and is nice and crispy.
- If you do not have a pizza stone, cook your pizza on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- I like to move my pizza to a cooling rack after it comes out so the bottom remains extra crispy.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
This method is great when cooking pizza, using lower heat methods like an oven. It’s not going to get as hot as a grill or pizza oven so partly baking the crust before adding the toppings makes for a crisp base crust. This way it doesn’t get soggy – you want some structural integrity with each slice.
With thin crust pizza like this, the bottom crust is important. I like to reheat my pizza first in a cast iron pan or skillet over medium-low heat until the crust is crisp then broil in the oven on high until the cheese is bubbling and hot.
Yes! Preheat oven to 500ºF. If you have a pizza stone then put it on the middle shelf and let it heat up with the oven. Par-bake the crust then continue to bake until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about an additional 6 minutes
Other Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:
Taco-Inspired Pizza
Equipment:
- Pizza Peel (optional)
- Pizza Stone (optional)
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- ½ pound ground beef 85/15
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
- ½ pound pizza dough
- ½ cup canned diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1 medium Haas avocado, halved, pitted and sliced
- ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon sour cream
- 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
- 1/3 cup crushed tortilla chips
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 500ºF (260ºC). If you have a pizza stone then put it on the middle shelf and let it heat up with the oven.
- Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and heat through. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the beef, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Drain the fat from the pan and discard. Stir in the chili powder and cayenne until combined. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out one the dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin. Place the dough on piece of parchment paper on top of the pizza peel. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Rub the remaining olive oil over the pizza dough including the edges. Bake for 6 minutes so the crust is partly baked, then remove from the oven.
- Top the pizza with the canned diced tomatoes, followed by the cheeses and onion, leaving about 1” around the edge of the pizza for the crust. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted, for an additional 6 to 8 minutes.
- Top the pizza with the cherry tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, romaine and tortilla chips. Cut into equal pieces and serve immediately.
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