Main Dish Recipes

I used to live in this little town (seriously, only three stoplights) in Ohio. And there was a wonderful little privately owned pizza place in town that made the BEST Taco Pizza EVER!!!! It was our family tradition to order pizza once a month and when it was my turn to pick what we ordered it was always Taco Pizza from Hungry Howies. The crust was crispy, the taco meat with beans was delish, and the towering toppings of lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and sour cream was so heavenly that my mouth waters just writing about it.

But sadly, I moved away from that little town when I was 14 and haven’t tasted a bite of Taco Pizza since then (until I recreated it myself). Actually, everyone I have ever asked, had never even heard of Taco Pizza! So while this isn’t exactly the wackiest on my list of Wacky Wednesday ideas, since it seems no one outside of my sleepy little childhood town has even heard of Taco Pizza, I  just have to share my recreation of this delicious marriage of two of my favorite foods, Pizza and Tacos! Now, I know what you are probably thinking, and it is probably pretty close to my husbands reaction, “taco?…..pizza?…..That sounds really gross but if you must……” But I assure you, give it a shot and your family will have a taste-bud explosion and it will soon become a family favorite like it has in our house.

And it is so versatile, cut small squares and it can be an appetizer at a casual party or larger slices and it’s dinner, you choose!

What you need:

1 Pizza Crust (store bought or homemade, it doesn’t matter but crispy is the key!)
1 lb. Hamburger
1 Taco Seasoning Packet
1/2 can of re-fried beans
8 oz. Taco Blend shredded cheese
1/2 head of lettuce
2 small tomatoes
Black Olives
Taco sauce
(any other taco toppings that your family prefers)

How to make this simple taste-bud masterpiece:

Roll out your pizza crust to get it as thin as possible without tearing onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until just browned, drain well and add taco seasoning mix and 1/3 c. of water until well mixed as if you are making traditional tacos.

Spread a thin layer of re-fried beans over your pizza crust (not to much, we don’t want to overpower the meat). Even if you don’t care for re-fried beans, this is a necessity, it isn’t true taco pizza without it! Top this with the prepared taco meat, and drizzle with desired amount of taco sauce. I used about 1 cup for my pizza. All that is left to do for this part is to top with cheese! Cover the pizza with the entire bag of cheese and pop it into the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or the cooking time recommended for the crust that you use. Since everything is already cooked except for the crust, the goal is to just get the crust cooked through and melt the cheese.

While your pizza is in the oven, shred your lettuce to bite size strips, dice the tomato, and open the olives so you are all ready to add your toppings and eat!

After your pizza comes out of the oven, immediately top with shredded lettuce (don’t be afraid to really pile it on!) The crunchy chill of the lettuce contrasts so nicely with the warm gooey-ness of the taco meat, cheese and beans. Now top with diced tomatoes and black olives and any remaining ingredients you would like to add! Cut into squares, not triangle slices, this pizza works better with squares. It could be because that was how Hungry Howies always cut their pizza but it could also be because the toppings are loose and will fall all over the place if it isn’t in small easy to manage pieces. The last step is to add a dollop of sour cream to each piece and enjoy!

As you can see this is just like any other pizza so you can add or subtract ingredients to suit your families tastes. My recommendation is to NOT take away are the refried beans, taco meat, and lettuce! Those make it the best EVER!

Let me know what you think, just scroll down a little and leave a comment in the box below and give it to me straight, is it just me or is this the best pizza ever!?!?!?

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