Taco pizza is a total comfort food for me. I grew up in a small town where the only fast food was the local gas station that made pizza. We didn’t have take out pizza often, but it was always a treat. Taco pizza was always my favorite, so I created a taco pizza that is vegetarian to remind me of the old comfort food I grew up on.
My taco pizza uses a mix of refried beans and taco sauce for a filling base. I use homemade refried beans and usually pick my taco sauce by selecting one without corn syrup. I mix in some spices to make it sing, and top with cheese and garlic. You could probably eat it just like this, but the fresh toppings are one of the reasons I love to make taco pizza.
After the pizza cools a bit, it is topped with fresh romaine and tomatoes. These toppings don’t make good leftover pizza, so only add them to the slices you plan to eat that day.
Finally, top with crushed tortilla chips to include the shell flavor of a taco, and a bit more texture. The gas station back home always used nacho cheese flavored Doritos. When I was shopping for ingredients, I was amazed at the number of new Doritos flavors (I don’t eat them often), and decided to try the spicy nacho. I also decided to try regular old tortilla chips because I attempt to avoid highly processed foods, and the list of ingredients on basic tortilla chips is much shorter.
Both chip styles were delicious and I did not feel that the plain tortilla chips slice was lacking any flavor and will try it again in the future. If you make this pizza recipe, please let me know what you think in the comments. Enjoy!
- 1 prepared whole wheat pizza crust
- ½ cup taco sauce (medium spicy)
- ½ cup refried beans (check for vegetarian if using canned!)
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ cups Mexican cheese blend
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 4-5 leaves romaine lettuce, chopped
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- Crushed Doritos or tortilla chips, enough to cover pizza
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Press pizza dough out into a 12 inch circle.
- Mix together taco sauce through black pepper. Spread mixture over pizza crust and sprinkle with cheese and minced garlic.
- Bake pizza in preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until cheese turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes.
- Cut pizza into slices. I usually cut 6 slices for a 12 inch pizza. Top pizza slices that you plan to eat that day with romaine, tomato, and crushed chips of choice. Refrigerate any leftover slices and top with fresh romaine, tomatoes, and crushed chips when ready to eat.
