Mexican Pizza Recipe
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My Mexican pizza is a Taco Bell copycat that features seasoned taco meat, cheese, and refried beans layered and baked between two tortillas. It’s so easy to make and perfect for a weeknight dinner.
My Mexican pizza recipe rivals Taco Bell’s
If you’ve ever had Taco Bell’s Mexican pizza, you know just how addictive it is. After making it at home a few times, I honestly prefer this version.
I always crisp the tortillas before assembling everything so they stay crunchy under the taco meat, beans, and cheese. It’s also one of my favorite ways to use up leftover taco meat, which means dinner is on the table in about 15 minutes. Here’s why we make it on repeat:
- Ready in 15 minutes. It’s one of my favorite weeknight dinners when I need something quick but satisfying.
- Perfect for leftovers. Leftover taco meat was the inspiration for this recipe, and it’s one of the easiest ways to turn it into a completely new meal.
- Easy to customize. My partner piles on jalapeños, while I usually add tomatoes, olives, and, of course, extra cheese.
Let’s make these together now!
★★★★★ REVIEW
“Made these for dinner tonight, and they are absolutely delicious 😋 Everyone loved these, even the picky eaters lol. Thank you for sharing, I’ll be making these again.” – Melissa
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
- Onion and garlic. This pair of aromatics is a must for the most flavorful beef.
- Ground beef. Lean or extra-lean ground beef is best. If your ground beef has more fat, you may need to brown the meat first, drain the excess fat, and then combine it with sautéed onion, garlic, and seasonings.
- Taco seasoning. Use your favorite store-bought brand or make your own.
- Oil. To crisp the taco meat and the tortillas.
For the pizza:
- Flour tortillas. These are best for this recipe. Corn tortillas will work, but they don’t hold up as well when weighed down by the toppings. If all you have at home are corn tortillas, use a double layer for the bottom and top.
- Refried beans. Keep it simple with store-bought refried beans or make your own.
- Enchilada sauce. Again, a can of red enchilada sauce from the store works, or you can make enchilada sauce from scratch. Green enchilada sauce is a great alternative, too!
- Cheese. I used equal parts mozzarella and Mexican-blend cheese, but any good melting cheese works. Try pepper jack, cheddar, Havarti, Colby, or Monterey jack.
- Toppings. I used diced tomato, sliced black olives, finely chopped green bell peppers, and sour cream, but you can get as creative as you want.
Variations
Swap out the ground beef with ground chicken, ground pork, or ground turkey. I’ve even had success making a meat-free version using chipotle sofritas.
Change the vegetables, and use thinly sliced mushrooms, zucchini, and even summer squash.
How to make Mexican pizza
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1- Cook the ground beef. Cook the onion and garlic in a skillet, then add the ground beef and taco seasoning and continue cooking until the meat is no longer pink.
Step 2- Warm the tortillas. Warm more oil in a new pan, then add one or two tortillas and crisp on both sides.
Step 3- Assemble. Place one crisped tortilla on a baking sheet and top it with refried beans and seasoned taco meat. Top it with a second crisped tortilla. Pour enchilada sauce and sprinkle both kinds of cheese on top.
Step 4- Bake. Transfer the assembled pizzas to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. When they’re done, top the Mexican pizzas with the taco toppings of your choice.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Leave a border around the edges. I leave about 1/2 inch around the edge of each tortilla so the cheese doesn’t melt over the sides as the pizzas bake.
- Warm the tortillas until crisp first. If you skip this step, the base can turn soft once the toppings are added. A minute or two in a skillet beforehand keeps every bite nice and crunchy.
- Don’t overcrowd the baking sheet. Give each pizza a little space so the tortillas crisp evenly. If you’re making more than two, I recommend using two baking sheets.
More recipes for Mexican night
Mexican Pizza Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablepoons oil divided
- 12 ounces ground beef
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 6 medium flour tortillas
- 15 ounces refried beans
- 1/2 cup enchilada sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup Mexican shredded cheese
- 1/2 cup tomatoes diced
- 2 tablespoons black olives
- 1/2 large green bell pepper diced
Instructions
- In a non-stick pan, add the olive oil and place over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the ground beef and taco seasoning, and cook until the beef is no longer pink.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Heat the oil in a new pan and crisp up the tortillas on both sides.
- Place a tortilla on a baking sheet. Place some refried beans on a tortilla, followed by some ground beef mixture. Place another tortilla on top, cover it with some enchilada sauce, and then 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese, 1/3 of the Mexican cheese. (Keep some room from the edge, so the cheese doesn’t fall off). Repeat the process until all three tortilla pizzas are done.
- Place the pizzas in the oven and bake until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sliced tomatoes, olives, and finely chopped bell peppers. Serve with sour cream on top.
Thank you for your recipe. However I only cook low carb/keto which is a total of 20-30 carbs per day. Are you able to vacillate this please?
Lenre
Hi Lenore- absolutely. When using a low carb tortilla, there’s barely any net carbs!
Is it possible to reduce the high sodium count?
Hi Pam! Absolutely- here’s what I recommend: The first place I recommend reducing it is the taco seasoning. Opt for low-sodium or salt-free taco seasoning. The next place would be either the refried beans or enchilada sauce, so lower sodium versions of ONE of those. I wouldn’t do both, or else you’ll find yourself needing more salt 🙂
I just made these – they’re delicious!
Need to add how much sugar i n your recipes. Some of us need to know
Hi Rosalie- Absolutely, it’s an error with the recipe card, but we’ll be manually adding it to all the recipe cards 🙂
You mentioned storing the Mexican pizza for three days. Sorry, it does not last that long. You have some warm out of the skillet one night and you want the rest for breakfast or lunch
Turned out really good!
Excellent! I have been missing pizza so much. I just found I am allergic to milk products, yeast, soy, and more. However, I could substitute cheese made from potatoes, etc. I added cilantro at the end because I love it and I mixed tomato paste and salsa for my enchilada sauce (because I had one of each open. I used Carb Balance tortillas because I have to eat them. So, my Pizza was pretty stable and satisfying.
Thanks for Your Ideas,
Kathy
Oh wow, thank you so much for sharing your variations and so glad you could tweak it to be suitable for your dietaries. I’ve recently developed a dairy-free cottage cheese recipe which could work well for you 🙂
Which of these ingredients are spicy?
This I was preparing for weeks as I want to make it soon and to be perfect!
What is the substitute for enchilada sauce? I couldnt find it.
I used salsa and a bit of tomato paste. I had also added cumin and two kinds of red chili to the meat mix. I see you asked earlier about what was hot.
Thanks for sharing, Kathy!
Wow this must be amazing taste!
Excellent, so much better than most restaurants offer. Loved it!
I modified it for keto by using mission carb balance tortillas and taking out the refried beans(which my kids won’t eat anyway)
Huge hit and super tasty!
Made these for dinner tonight and they are absolutely delicious 😋 everyone loved these, even the picky eaters lol thank you for sharing, I’ll be making these again.