This taco pizza is served with refried beans, cheese, romaine lettuce, crumbled tortilla chips and, of course, ranch. In one word: WOW.
Are you a taco pizza fan? At A Couple Cooks, Alex and I have spent years perfecting our finest Italian pizza dough and tastiest pizza sauce. We even went to Italy to do some research. But our new best pizza recipe isn’t Italian at all. Yes it is Taco Pizza! It’s artisanal Italian crust on the bottom, delivery service-style taco pizza on top. It’s incredibly good. And oh yes: it’s topped with crunchy tortilla chips and drizzled with creamy homemade ranch. That’s how it’s done!
How to make a taco pizza
Most of our pizza recipes show you how the Italians do it. But now we’re going rogue! Here’s our version of the American taco pizza. Alex had a taco pizza like this growing up, ordered from a well-known pizza delivery company (whom we won’t name here). Surprisingly, this pizza has a healthy twist: It’s loaded with good veggies and not too much cheese. Here are our tips for making the BEST taco pizza ever!
Opt for bean sauce instead of tomato sauce.
The best thing about a taco pizza is that instead of red pizza sauce, it has a thin layer of refried beans. If you’ve never tried it, it is Then Good! Use your favorite can of refried beans. Some of them are even already flavored and ready to use. Taste them and if they are bland add a pinch of salt and cumin. Or make your own! Try our homemade bean puree or our instant fried beans.
Stock up on vegetables.
This taco pizza is vegetarian, so we loaded up the veggies! In addition to chilled beans, there are black olives, spring onions and tomatoes. Minced romaine makes for the perfect crunch.
The key: Top with tortilla chips and ranch!
The keys to a perfect taco pizza, according to Alex? Tortilla chips and ranch. This homemade ranch dressing is perfect: it’s made with Greek yogurt for a healthy twist. It literally tastes good Divine on this taco pizza! You have to try this. Statistical
No meat on this taco pizza? Add it if you like!
You could say that taco meat should also be present on a taco pizza. And feel free to add more! Alex and I eat mostly plant-based foods. We eat meat occasionally, but we love that this pizza doesn’t need meat to be irresistibly delicious. In fact, we think this is one of the best vegetarian recipes for meat eaters. Try it and tell us: What do you think?
Use our best pizza dough (or thin crust).
All of our best homemade pizza recipes use our best pizza dough recipe that has been perfected for over 10 years. It has that perfectly chewy texture and complex flavor. Use our thin crust pizza dough if desired. Thin crust is even easier to make and a tiny bit healthier than plain crust (less batter, fewer calories overall).
The required tools: pizza stone and pizza peel.
The best way to bake a pizza? On a pizza stone. This gets the pizza very, very hot, making the crust crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Next, you’ll need a pizza peel to drop the dough right onto the hot stone. You can use a baking sheet if you don’t have one, but it’s definitely worth investing in one for convenience! Here are the ones we use:
Video: How to make pizza dough! (1 min 45 sec)
Here’s one final resource: a step-by-step guide to making pizza dough! The hardest part of making homemade pizza is preparing and stretching the dough. Since we can’t come to your kitchen to show you, the next best thing is virtual! Here’s a video of Alex showing you how to make and shape the dough. It’s very useful, so we recommend checking it out before you start.
This Taco Pizza Recipe is…
Vegetarian. For plant-based, dairy-free vegans, skip the cheese and embrace our Vegan Ranch.
The description
This taco pizza is served with refried beans, cheese, romaine lettuce, crumbled tortilla chips and, of course, ranch. In one word: WOW.
- Prepare pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (It takes about 15 minutes and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (this is the pizza oven we use).
- Preparation of the toppings: Try the refried beans: Mix in a pinch or two of cumin and a pinch of kosher salt, if desired. (Ours were already well seasoned.) Thinly slice the spring onion. Chop the romaine lettuce. Chop the tomatoes.
- Bake pizza: When the oven is done, dust a pizza peel with corn or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimmed baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is worth the investment!) Roll out the dough in a circle; For instructions, see How to stretch pizza dough. Then carefully place the dough on the pizza peel.
- Using a spatula, spread the refried beans over the batter to form a thin layer. Add cheddar cheese, then top with black olives and half the scallions. Garnish with a pinch of kosher salt.
- Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven).
- Top with reserved spring onions, chopped tomatoes and romaine lettuce, and crumbled tortilla chips. Drizzle with ranch dressing and sprinkle with hot sauce, if desired. Cut into pieces and serve immediately.
- Category: main course
- Method: Cooked
- Kitchen: Mexican inspired
Looking for more homemade pizza recipes?
Aside from this taco pizza recipe, here are some of our favorite pizza recipes:
Last update: February 2020
