Taco Pizza | Cookies and Cups

Taco pizza is everything you love about Tex-Mex, loaded onto a hot-from-the-oven homemade pizza! It’s topped with juicy ground beef, creamy chipotle sauce, and more easy taco fixings.

If you love this tasty mash-up of Italian and Mexican classics, try my cheesy burrito lasagna, too!

Why You’ll Love This Taco Pizza Recipe

Tex-Mex, meet pizza! This easy Mexican taco pizza combines savory seasoned taco meat, beans, and cheese on top of a chewy homemade pizza crust and a white pizza base of creamy chipotle sauce. Here are more reasons to love it:

• Bold flavor. Instead of traditional pizza sauce, I smother my taco pizza with a base of chipotle chilies and sour cream. Topped with juicy seasoned taco beef, black beans, and melty cheese, it’s a delicious combination of bold, smoky Tex-Mex flavor.
• Homemade pizza crust. Rapid-rise yeast makes my homemade pizza dough recipe fast and easy! Of course, you can always make this pizza on your favorite dough base, or even a store-bought pizza crust. A ring of crispy tortilla crumbs added around the edge makes the crust extra crunchy!
• Make it your own. Customize your homemade pizza with your favorite taco toppings. Scroll for easy pizza variations!

Ingredients You’ll Need

So, what goes on a Mexican pizza? I go over the key ingredients below, plus notes on what you’ll need to make the pizza crust. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card with the full measurements and recipe details.

For the Crust

• Flour
• Yeast – Rapid-rise yeast, also called instant yeast, speeds up the rising time and there’s no need to activate it beforehand. I use Fleischmann’s® RapidRise™ Yeast.
• Sugar and Salt
• Oil – Olive oil or another neutral-flavored oil, like canola.
• Tortilla Chips – Fritos, Doritos, or any kind of crunchy tortilla chip will do. You’ll crush up the chips to press them into the crust for extra taco crunch.

Pizza Toppings

• Ground Beef – You can also make your taco meat with ground chicken or turkey.
• Onion
• Taco Seasoning – Use your favorite packet of taco seasoning from the store.
• Beans – Black beans, or another variety like pinto beans. If you’re using canned beans, make sure to drain and rinse them well beforehand.
• Sour Cream
• Chipotle Peppers – I use canned chipotle peppers in adobo and reserve a couple of spoonfuls of sauce.
• Cheese – Shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Pepper Jack cheese.
• Garnishes – Top this taco pizza with diced tomatoes, avocado, chopped cilantro, or any other toppings you’d like. See further on for ideas.

How to Make Mexican Taco Pizza

Ah, taco pizza. Is it a Mexican dinner gone Italian? Or an Italian classic gone Mexican? All I know is that it’s DELICIOUS, and easy to make. This homemade pizza comes together in three parts: the dough, the toppings, and the assembly.

Make the Pizza Dough

First, you’ll use my super-quick homemade pizza crust recipe to make the dough:

• Prepare the pizza dough. Combine the crust ingredients, including the yeast and a bit of warm water, in a large bowl (leave out the tortilla chips). Mix until the dough forms a ball. It’s OK if the dough is still a bit sticky.
• Knead. Turn your pizza dough out onto a floured countertop. Using your hands, knead the dough for a few minutes, until smooth.
• Rise. Let the pizza dough rest, covered, for 10 minutes while you prepare your toppings.

Prepare the Pizza Toppings

Next, you’ll get your taco meat and cream sauce ready to go:

• Cook the ground beef. In a skillet, sauté the ground beef and onions. Add your taco seasoning, black beans, and a splash of water to create a gravy.
• Make the chipotle cream sauce. Combine sour cream with chipotle peppers and adobo sauce in a bowl. Stir everything together. Feel free to adjust the peppers and sauce to taste.

Assemble and Bake

With your pizza dough rested and your toppings prepared, it’s time to assemble this taco pizza:

• Roll out the dough. Use your hands to press the pizza dough out into a circle on a greased pizza pan. Aim for a diameter of 12-15”. Afterward, press crushed tortilla chips into the outside edges of the dough (what will be the crust).

• Add the toppings. Spread the top of the pizza with your prepared chipotle cream, and top it with your taco meat and beans. Sprinkle over shredded cheese.
• Bake. Bake the taco pizza in a hot 425ºF oven for 12-15 minutes. 
• Garnish and serve. Before serving, load up your pizza with tomatoes, cilantro, diced avocado, and more of your favorite taco toppings (see below). Drizzle over any leftover chipotle cream, slice, and serve!

Tips for Success

These are my top tips for making this taco pizza from scratch:

• Speed things up with a stand mixer. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, go ahead and use it! It makes mixing and kneading the dough even faster.
• Check expiration dates. Double-check the expiration dates on your yeast packets. Yeast that’s expired will cause the pizza crust to fall flat.
• Make sure the water in the dough isn’t too hot. The temperature of the water that you mix into the pizza dough ingredients should be between 120ºF-130ºF, and not warmer. Water that’s too hot might kill the yeast.
• Drain any excess fat. If you notice extra grease accumulating in the pan after your beef is cooked, drain it before adding the seasonings. Taco meat that’s too greasy can lead to a soggy pizza crust.
• Check the pizza is done. Your taco pizza is done baking when the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. 

Why Is My Homemade Pizza Crust Not Crispy?

There are a couple of reasons why your homemade pizza crust might come out of the oven soft or soggy. First, it could be that the beans you used in the taco meat mixture weren’t well-drained, or there was a lot of excess grease in the pan. Too much moisture in the toppings can lead to a soggy pizza crust. Secondly, try pre-heating your pizza pan, or use a pizza stone if you have one. This can help the bottom of the pizza crisp up in the oven.

Taco Pizza Toppings and Variations

Any homemade pizza is an excuse to let your creativity shine in the kitchen, and this taco pizza leaves tons of room for toppings (not to mention easy recipe variations, see the next section). Here are some of our favorite taco toppings that also taste great on a pizza:

• Avocado – Diced avocado, or try this creamy avocado salsa.
• Chilies – Sliced jalapeños, poblano chilies, or pickled pimentos.
• Herbs – Fresh cilantro leaves, parsley, or basil.
• More Cheese – Drizzle over queso blanco, nacho cheese, or crumble over Mexican cotija cheese (or feta).
• Salsa – Drizzle over your favorite store-bought salsa or salsa verde.
• Tomatoes – Diced whole tomatoes or cherry tomatoes.
• Different Protein – In place of ground beef, make your taco meat with ground chicken or ground turkey. You can also replace the taco meat with salsa verde chicken or pork carnitas.
• Vegetarian – To make a vegetarian taco pizza, use your preferred meatless mince in place of ground meat. Or, try meatless alternatives like crumbled tofu or cooked mushrooms.
• Greens – Add sautéed spinach or kale, or top your pizza with fresh arugula or shredded lettuce after baking.

What to Serve With Taco Pizza

Put a fun twist on taco night and serve this Mexican taco pizza with easy appetizers like cheesy chicken taquitos, crispy chicken flautas, or nacho dip with corn chips for dipping. We also love this pizza with a family-sized Southwestern Cobb salad on the side. Enjoy a slice of fluffy tres leches cake for dessert!

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• Refrigerate. Store any leftover pizza slices airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend reheating this taco pizza in the oven for best results. Place the pizza on a baking sheet and warm it at 400ºF for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted again.
• Freeze. Allow the pizza to cool completely and freeze the leftover slices airtight in a container or double-wrapped in plastic wrap. Keep the pizza frozen for up to 2 months and defrost it in the fridge before reheating.

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I have partnered with Fleischmann’s® Yeast to create this recipe. I only partner with brands that I use in my kitchen. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.