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Taco Pizza is the best of both worlds, a crispy pizza crust loaded with seasoned taco beef, melty cheese, and all your favorite taco toppings, ready in about 30 minutes. I started making it on busy weeknights when the kids could not agree between taco night and pizza night, and it solved everything. If mash-up dinners are your thing, you will also love our easy sheet pan pizza.
Taco night meets pizza night in one easy, family-pleasing dinner that comes together fast and lets everyone build their own slice.
Taco Pizza Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 30 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 6 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 333kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Savory and zesty with seasoned taco beef, cheese, and fresh toppings
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy and weeknight-friendly, like our sheet pan pizza
Quick Answer
Brown ground beef with taco seasoning and pinto beans, and simmer a quick taco sauce of tomato sauce and spices. Pre-bake a thin pizza crust until set, then spread the taco sauce over it and top with the seasoned beef and shredded cheese. Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted, then finish with fresh taco toppings like lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Two family favorites in one. It settles the taco-versus-pizza debate by giving everyone both in a single easy dinner.
- A quick homemade taco sauce. Simmering tomato sauce with cumin, garlic, and paprika gives the pizza a zesty, saucy base full of flavor.
- Beans stretch the beef. Stirring pinto beans into the taco meat adds heartiness and makes the pizza more filling and budget-friendly.
- Pre-baking the crust. Giving the crust a head start in the oven keeps it crisp and sturdy under all those toppings.
- It is totally customizable. Everyone builds their own slice with their favorite taco toppings, so it is a hit with picky eaters.
- It is on the table in 30 minutes. Using a store-bought crust and a quick stovetop filling makes this a true weeknight winner.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It combines taco night and pizza night into one easy, crowd-pleasing dinner.
- It comes together in about 30 minutes with simple, budget-friendly ingredients.
- Everyone gets to top their own slice, just like building our Doritos taco salad.
Key Ingredients
Here is what builds this taco pizza. Most of it is taco-night staples plus a shortcut pizza crust.
- Ground Beef: browned with taco seasoning for that classic taco flavor; ground turkey works too.
- Pinto Beans: stirred into the meat to stretch it and add hearty texture.
- Tomato Sauce and Spices: simmered into a quick taco pizza sauce with cumin, garlic, and paprika.
- Pizza Crust: a thin store-bought crust keeps things fast; pre-bake it so it stays crisp.
- Cheddar and Monterey Jack: a melty Mexican-style cheese blend, like the cheese we pile on our smothered beef burritos.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This taco pizza is endlessly customizable for your family.
- Change the protein: use ground turkey, shredded chicken, or chorizo in place of the beef.
- Add more toppings: black olives, jalapenos, green onions, and corn all make great additions.
- Make it spicy: add diced green chiles or a drizzle of hot sauce to the taco meat.
- Use a different crust: a flour tortilla, naan, or homemade dough all work; try the crust from our sheet pan pizza.
- Go loaded: finish with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, and a sprinkle of crushed tortilla chips.
How to Make Taco Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brown the ground beef over medium heat, drain the fat, then stir in the taco seasoning and pinto beans.
- Place the thin pizza crust on a baking sheet. While the meat cooks, make the taco pizza sauce by simmering the tomato sauce with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cumin.
- Per the package directions, pre-bake the crust until just set so it stays crisp under the toppings.
- Spread the taco sauce evenly over the pre-baked crust, then top it with the seasoned taco beef and bean mixture.
- Sprinkle the shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack blend evenly over the top.
- Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly, then finish with your favorite taco toppings like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream, slice, and serve.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Drain the beef well after browning so the pizza does not turn out greasy.
- Pre-bake the crust for a few minutes before topping to keep it crisp instead of soggy.
- Do not overload it; a thin, even layer of sauce, meat, and cheese bakes up best.
- Add cold toppings after baking so the lettuce and tomatoes stay fresh and crisp.
- Set up a topping bar and let everyone build their own slice, the same way we do for our shredded chicken tacos.
- Use a pizza stone or sheet pan for an extra-crispy bottom crust.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Taco Pizza is a full meal on its own, but it is even better with a few simple sides to round out a fun fiesta night at home.
Serve it with a crisp green salad or our Doritos taco salad, a side of Mexican rice, and plenty of toppings so everyone can customize their slice.
For a bigger spread, pair it with a pot of copycat Chili’s chicken enchilada soup or a hearty bowl of stuffed pepper soup to feed a hungry crowd.
Taco Pizza FAQs
You can prep ahead by browning the beef and making the sauce a day in advance and refrigerating them. When ready, assemble and bake so the crust stays crisp. Add fresh toppings just before serving.
A thin, store-bought pizza crust keeps it quick and crisp, but homemade dough, flatbread, naan, or even large flour tortillas all work great. Just pre-bake whatever you use so it holds up to the toppings.
Absolutely. Ground turkey, shredded chicken, or chorizo all make delicious swaps. For a vegetarian version, use seasoned black beans or a plant-based ground crumble.
Store leftover baked pizza without the cold toppings in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat slices in a 350 degree oven or air fryer to re-crisp the crust, then add fresh toppings.
Yes. Freeze the fully baked, cooled pizza without the cold toppings, wrapped tightly, for up to two months. Reheat from frozen in the oven and finish with fresh toppings.
Classic taco toppings shine here: shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, black olives, green onions, jalapenos, and avocado. For extra crunch and flavor, finish with crushed tortilla chips, a drizzle of hot sauce, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro, or a squeeze of lime right before serving.
Craving more taco-night favorites? Our slow cooker Mexican shredded chicken tacos are another easy, build-your-own family dinner.
Easy Taco Pizza
Ingredients
Taco Meat:
- 1 pound ground beef I prefer ground chuck
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 15 oz can pinto beans preferably no salt added
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2/3 Cup water
Taco pizza sauce:
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
Pizza assembly:
- 1 can thin crust pizza dough
- 3 Cups shredded cheddar & monterey jack cheese blend
- toppings: diced tomatoes shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro, sliced scallions, sour cream, taco sauce, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown ground beef over medium heat in skillet. Drain fat, add in the pinto beans and seasonings for the taco meat. Mix and let the seasonings coat the meat and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add in the water, allow mixture to simmer over medium low heat.
- While browning the meat, get the taco pizza sauce ready by placing all ingredients in a small sauce pan, mix, cover and let simmer until ready to assemble pizza, stirring occasionally.
- While the taco meat and sauce is simmering, per the direction on the back of the pizza crust, pre bake the dough. After the first baking, layer as much sauce as you like on the pizza crust. Add about 2/3 of the meat mixture on top (try not to get too much of the meat’s sauce or the crust might come out soggy.) Layer on the cheese evenly, back for an additional 10 minutes or per the directions on the back of the pizza crust can, until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.
- Top with your favorite pizza garnishes, cut, serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
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My kids would love this! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wedesday!
It’s dinner time and this would make me SO happy! Thanks so much for the recipe. Pinning!
Thanks so much for sharing your awesomeness at Show Me Saturday! Please join us again this weekend!
~ Ashley
I have to try this. Love the recipe. Who does not love pizza and tacos?
Yum, Dana! This combines two of my kids’ favorite meals, so I know it would be a hit in our house! Pinned. 🙂
Must. Try. This. Oooh, this looks so good! I love Mexican food and now you’ve combined it with pizza…Mmmm! Pinning this!
Hubby and I try to have pizza night at least twice a month. I am definitely Pinning your taco pizza!!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe on The Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop!
This sounds delicious! I love tacos. And pizza! So this sounds fabulous. Thanks for sharing! Pinning!
-Michelle @ The Gracious Wife
Wow! It IS the best of two good worlds! Who doesn’t love tacos and pizza! I will have to give this recipe a go! Thanks for sharing! Stopping in from the link up today 🙂
oh I love taco pizza and this sounds like a perfect recipe!! nom nom nom! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
I love pizza night and taco night, so pizza taco night is just genius!