Can't decide between pizza or tacos? Enjoy the best of both using this Taco Pizza Recipe. Made with tender pizza dough, creamy refried beans, perfectly seasoned taco meat, tangy tomato salsa, and melty cheese, Taco Pizza brings you the best that both tacos and pizza have to offer.
Looking for more creative pizza recipes? Don't miss my recipes for Buffalo Chicken Pizza, BBQ Pizza, Pizza Meatloaf and Pizza Grilled Cheese.
Taco Night + Pizza Night = Taco Pizza
When it comes to family-favorite dinner recipes, you can't go wrong with this Taco Pizza. Inspired by Papa Murphy's Taco Pizza, this recipe combines two all-time favorites, tacos and pizza, to make one a simple dinner that the entire family is guaranteed to enjoy!
But beyond the fact that Taco Pizza a clear favorite, it also happens to be one of my very favorite recipes to transform leftovers! The toppings used in tacos, such as taco meat, refried beans, salsa, cheese, and all the taco toppings can all be repurposed to make a delicious taco pizza. Enjoy tacos one night, then taco pizza the next. Two winning meals!
How to Make Taco Pizza
The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Roll Out Pizza Dough
Starting with either homemade pizza dough or store-bought dough, roll it into a large circle and then place it onto a greased 12-inch pizza pan. You want to ensure an even crust for even baking (and crust to topping ratio.)
Assemble Taco Pizza
Start by spreading a thin layer of canned or homemade refried beans over the pizza dough, then top with salsa. Adding the refried beans first, will help prevent the crust from becoming soggy from the salsa, but it is still best to drain off excess liquid from your salsa if it has a lot of liquid content. Top the salsa with any taco meat you have or like (classic taco meat, tofu taco meat, shredded chicken taco meat, lentil taco meat, etc). Finally, top with a generous layer of shredded cheddar or Mexican blend.
Bake Taco Pizza
Bake the pizza until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for 5-10 minutes, so that it is easier to slice and won't burn your mouth.
Serve with Toppings
Just like tacos, taco pizza is even more delicious when served with your favorite toppings like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, avocados, guacamole, sour cream, olives, etc. Use whatever you like!
Taco Pizza Variations
This recipe for taco pizza is highly customizable. You can swap out the type of beans, salsa, meat, and toppings to tailor the pizza to suit your taste preferences or what you have on hand.
- Take a Short-Cut: The recipe card for Taco Pizza will walk you through the steps on how to make homemade pizza dough and homemade taco meat as well, That said, you can begin this recipe with store-bought pizza dough and leftover taco meat of any variety to make fast work of this recipe.
- Vegetarian Taco Pizza: Be sure your refried beans are vegetarian and skip the taco meat. In place of the taco meat, you can use Sofritas, lentil taco meat, or just keep it simple and skip adding "meat" altogether.
- Taco Pizza with Chicken: Replace the taco meat with leftover Instant Pot Chicken Taco Meat or Shredded Mexican Chicken. Alternatively, you can combine 1 to 2 cups of leftover rotisserie chicken that has been seasoned with 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning.
- Dairy-Free Option: This Taco Pizza has so much flavor, you can simply omit the addition of shredded cheese and still have a pizza filled with flavor, especially if you top with guacamole after baking the pizza.
More Pizza Recipes
- English Muffin Pizzas
- Pita Pizza
- Air Fryer Bagel Pizzas
- Easy Pull-Apart Pizza Bread
- Tomato Pizza
- Chicken Pesto Pizza
- Spinach Pizza
- Air Fryer French Bread Pizza
If you gave this recipe for Taco Pizza a try, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Taco Pizza
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
- ¾ cup warm water 100-105 degrees
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cup flour
For the Taco Meat
- ½ pound ground beef or chicken or turkey
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
For the Pizza
- cooking spray
- 1 pound pizza dough using recipe provided or store-bought dough
- 1 cup refried beans
- ¾ cup salsa
- 1-2 cups prepared taco meat using the recipe provided or leftover taco meat
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- Toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, avocado, olives, sour cream, etc
Instructions
For the Pizza Dough
- Combine the water and yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes in a large mixing bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached until the yeast is foamy.
- Add the honey and oil to the yeast mixture, stirring to combine. Add the flour and salt slowly, mixing as you go, until well combined.
- Once mixed, knead the dough for 5-9 minutes by hand on a lightly floured surface or with your dough hook on low-medium speed for 3-4 minutes. You want your dough to form a shiny ball.
- Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 20-30 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
Taco Meat
- In a medium skillet, brown the ground meat over medium-high heat, breaking it into small chunks as it cooks. Once browned, drain off excess grease if needed, and then return the meat to the skillet. Add in tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning. Simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until thickened.
For the Taco Pizza
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray or brush with oil.
- Roll out the pizza dough onto the lightly greased pizza pan.
- Spread refried beans out evenly over the pizza crust. Top with salsa, spreading to cover the beans. Sprinkle the prepared taco meat over the salsa and then top with cheese.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until crust is cooked through and cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.
- Let the pizza cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing and topping with your favorite toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2017 but updated in 2022 and 2024.
Rachel Cooks
I love switching up leftovers too (hate eating the same thing two nights in a row!). Pizza crust is always such a great vessel for leftovers. Yours looks amazing!
Kristen Chidsey
Pizza can take on so many flavors--it is truly so versatile.
Josie
Looks like a great fusion of Mexican and Italian food 🙂 Love the idea of turning leftovers into something yummy!
Kristen Chidsey
Using leftovers to create something new (and yummy) is something I LOVE to do!
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life
We love taco pizza! Great way to use up those leftovers that everyone forgets about!!!
Kristen Chidsey
I hate letting ANYTHING go to waste, and this is a fun way to use up leftovers!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme)
Wow! This is so creative. I never would have thought to do this, but I totally agree, food waste is the worst. I feel like its something I need to get better about!
Kristen Chidsey
Well, I hope this inspired you to cut down on your food waste at least when it comes to Mexican food 🙂
Alida
This is such a great idea to use up taco leftovers! Yum!
Kristen Chidsey
Makes cooking a whole lot easier when a meal can do double duty.
allie@ThroughHerLookingGlass.com
Love this idea Kristen! Taco Pizza. We all love both, so this is sure to be a hit at our house!
Kristen Chidsey
It is a great family pleasing meal for sure 🙂
Kimberly
Oh yum! This looks so good. Pinned. Lou Lou Girls
Jaren (Diary of a Recipe Collector)
It's a great feeling to turn leftovers into another great meal! Looks great! Thanks for linking up with SNF! Pinned to our party board!
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks so much!!
mila furman
This looks pretty awesome!!! The crust looks so nice and thin! That's my favorite type.
Thanks for linking with us at #Foodie Fridays! Great to see you on there this week!
Kristen Chidsey
A thinner crust, just means you get to eat more slices, right?!
chanelle
I also can not STAND to waste food! My kids know to only take a little bit on their plate because you can always have more, but mama doesn't like food to get thrown out! This recipe looks good, and what a good way to use up leftovers.
Kristen Chidsey
Sounds like you and I are on the same wave length. I am always looking for creative ways to reduce waste. Wait till you see what I share tomorrow on my blog about how to use kitchen scraps 🙂
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup
Thanks so much for this simple, clever recipe. We eat a lot of Mexican food around here and this is a great way to change it up a bit. Definitely pinning this one and trying it soon. Thanks, again!
Dini @ giramuks kitchen
I love leftover ideas! Tacos in pizza form? Genius!! Can't wait to try it out! 😀
Kristen Chidsey
It is a crazy good way to eat pizza (plus use up a few leftovers!)
Michelle @ A Dish of Daily Life
Brilliant! I love finding creative ways to use up leftovers too. Sometimes I even make things with the leftovers in mind! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays!!
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
Yum! I love leftovers!
Kristen Chidsey
Especially when those leftovers can be so tasty 🙂
Kristen Chidsey
Yea! You will love it--even if you have to make the taco meat first 🙂 Or you could just season up some canned refried beans and keep it really simple!
Joanna @Makingmine
I don't have leftovers, but I still think I'm going to try this tonight! It looks SO good! Thanks for sharing!