Homemade Taco Pizza Recipe

This homemade Taco Pizza recipe blends Italian-style pizza dough with your favorite Mexican taco toppings to create a delicious new pizza night masterpiece. Made with refried beans and salsa, rather than tomato sauce, and topped with seasoned taco meat, shredded cheese and your favorite taco fixings, this baby is then drizzled with sour cream salsa.

Follow along for tips and variations that include pizza crust shortcuts, ingredient substitutions, and topping ideas. Easy-peasy and oh-so-delicious!

A homemade taco pizza on a table topped with ground beef, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and a mexican pizza sauce drizzle.

Taco Pizza Recipe

If pizza and Mexican food are big hits in your family, then here is the recipe you’ve been waiting for! This is such a great recipe for your next Friday night pizza night. It comes together quickly, and is so easy that you can even have the little ones help you out.

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All you need is our simple homemade pizza dough (which can be frozen or made ahead of time, I might add!), salsa and refried beans for your “sauce,” and your favorite taco toppings.

For your toppings, you can go simple or get as creative as you want. We’ve even been known to throw some crushed Doritos onto ours, so feel free to go wild!

Quick and Easy Pizza Dough Alternatives

For even quicker dinner solutions, here are a few shortcuts that will cut down on prep time and still taste great:

Use canned Pillsbury pizza dough. It can usually be found in the refrigerated dairy section and other Pillsbury canned items. In fact, their crescent rolls would work, too!
Purchase pre-made fresh pizza dough from your grocery store or local bakery. You can usually purchase them in balls that range between ¾ to 1 pound of dough.
You can use Original Bisquick mix at a ratio of 1 ½ cups mix to ? cup hot water. Mix well, then press into a greased pizza pan.
Flour Tortillas make a great Taco Pizza “crust” – pre-bake the tortillas at 375 degrees F until golden brown, then remove from the oven and spread one with a mixture of refried beans and taco meat. Top with another toasted tortilla, and then spread your toppings and sauce over the top as desired.
If you want easier ways to enjoy homemade pizza at home without the pizza dough, we’ve got you covered with this easy French bread version.

how to make taco pizza sauce for this taco pizza recipe using refried beans and salsa.

Key Ingredients You Will Need

Pizza Dough

Flour – we use all-purpose flour but you can also use bread flour.
Salt – salt is important for the flavor and for the structure of any bread, so don’t forget to add it!
Water – warm water is best because it helps to wake up your yeast. It should be between 95-110 degrees F.
Yeast – we use active dry yeast in this recipe, which needs to be proofed. (check out our Homemade White Bread recipe for more info on activating yeast). If you use instant yeast, you can skip the proofing step and just mix the pizza dough together, knead and then let rise.
Sugar – we use regular granulated sugar, but you could also substitute honey.
Oil – olive oil, or else any other cooking oil that you’d like to use. It’s best to use something with little flavor, like avocado oil.

A pizza on a pizza pan ready to bake, topped with taco toppings.

Pizza Sauce

Salsa – use your favorite brand.
Refried Beans – any brand of canned refried beans will work. We especially love the jalapeno-refried beans!

Toppings

Shredded Cheese – we like to use a mixture of mozzarella and pepper jack. If you don’t like pepper jack, you could substitute a cheddar blend.
Ground Beef – we like to use leaner ground beef.
Taco Seasoning – you can find this in the store’s spice section and the Mexican aisle.
Green Onions – you can use both the white and the green parts.
Red Bell Peppers – deseeded and diced.
Black Olives – sliced.
Sour Cream Salsa– just a 50/50 mixture of your favorite salsa and sour cream. You can also adjust that percentage to your liking.

How to Make a Taco Pizza

You can check out our blog post for a step-by-step breakdown of making Homemade Pizza Dough! From there, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and follow these basic steps:

Cook the ground beef. Saute the ground beef over medium heat along with a couple tablespoons of water and the taco seasoning. Drain any excess grease from the pan, then set aside.
Spread out the pizza dough. Spray your pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place your dough on the pizza pan and gently spread it out to cover the entire pan. Try to spread evenly and push dough so the crust is about a half inch from the edge of the pan.
Make the taco sauce. Combine the salsa and refried beans, then spoon this sauce evenly onto the dough, keeping it about a half inch away from the edges.
Add the toppings. Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over the sauce, then top with the taco meat, bell peppers, black olives and green onions.
Bake. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden on the bottom and the cheese is melted and golden on top. Then remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Serve. In a blender, combine 1/3 cup salsa and 1/3 cup sour cream and blend until smooth. Use a spoon or pastry bag to drizzle on top of your baked pizza, or serve on the side as a dip. Enjoy!

easy taco pizza, baked with a salsa ranch drizzle.

Topping Variations

A few toppings to sprinkle onto your pizza before baking including green chilis, shredded chicken, bacon bits, or different types of cheese such as a Mexican blend.

After your pizza has finished baking, try topping with more taco favorites such as shredded lettuce, cilantro, diced tomatoes, Salsa, Ranch Dressing, Sour Cream, Guacamole, or even crushed Doritos!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Best Pan to Use for Homemade Pizza?

We used a round wide-rimmed aluminum pizza pan and a pizza wire for this Taco Pizza recipe. Pizza wires help distribute heat evenly and can be found at restaurant supply stores or on Amazon. They’ll give you a crispier crust.

You can also try and find perforated pizza pans, eliminating the need for a pizza wire. Some other great options to try include:

Baking Sheet: Rectangular baking sheets are a great alternative, especially if you plan to use one of the “shortcut” methods mentioned above. Just be sure to lightly grease the pans before you add in your dough.

Cast Iron Skillet or Cast Iron Pizza Pan: This is a great option for baking pizzas at home. Cast iron bakes very evenly and holds heat well, making for a crispy and chewy crust. They are also very sturdy and will last forever – make sure not to wash in your dishwasher.

Pizza Stone: Place the pizza stone into a cold oven, then preheat them both together so that it gets nice and hot. Shape and build your pizza on a baking peel, then transfer the pizza onto the hot stone to bake.

Here are a few more pizza recipes that we love!

This Homemade Taco Pizza recipe blends Italian-style pizza dough with your favorite taco toppings to create a delicious new pizza night masterpiece. Made with refried beans and salsa, rather than tomato sauce, and topped with seasoned taco meat, shredded cheese and your favorite taco fixings, this baby is easy-peasy and oh-so-delicious!