This Mexican Pizza Recipe reminds me of that favorite fast-food restaurant's menu item but it's made with fresh ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes to put together. A Taco Bell Copycat you need to make at home!
Once upon a time, I ate at fast-food restaurants pretty often. One of my favorite menu items was the Mexican Pizza from the popular Mexican fast food joint.
It was the best of all things: melty cheese, spicy sauce, flavorful meat, and beans in between two crunchy tortillas. Yum! So of course, I needed a Mexican Pizza Recipe ASAP.
Now that I'm older and wiser...and a much better cook, I haven't had fast food in a long time. But, that doesn't mean I don't want some of my favorite things from those places.
Enter: the Mexican Pizza Recipe. This meal is also kid-friendly which is perfect for my house!
Ingredients Needed to make a Mexican Pizza
- refried beans
- milk
- flour tortillas
- cooked ground beef with taco seasoning or Mexican Shredded Beef
- shredded cheddar cheese
- canned enchilada sauce
- sliced olives
- green onions
- fresh tomatoes
- sour cream
How to Make a Mexican Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 375° and prepare two baking sheets with tin foil.
- Place the beans in a small saucepan with the milk and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook the beef with taco seasoning. If your meat is already cooked, heat it up before assembling the pizzas.
- Crisp the tortillas on a skillet with butter on the stove or in the oven (see the recipe card for details)
- Take one flour tortilla and spread a layer of beans and then ⅓ of the meat on top of the beans.
- Place another flour tortilla on top of the first layer. Spoon a thin layer of enchilada sauce on top of the second layer. Sprinkle a layer of cheese and olives on top of the sauce.
- Repeat the assembly for the remaining 3 pizzas. Once the pizzas are ready to go, place them in the oven for 8-10 minutes until all the cheese has melted. Remove the pizzas from the oven and sprinkle the tops with green onions and tomatoes.
Other Delicious Meat Options or Make it Vegetarian
Seasoned ground beef is the way Mexican Pizzas are served at Taco Bell and is delicious on these pizzas. Another meat option for these pizzas is my Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Beef.
It's spicy and adds another layer of flavor. You can also use shredded chicken, or, if you are a vegetarian, you can leave out the meat and enjoy a meatless Mexican Pizza!
Tips for Making this Recipe
- The flour tortillas will bubble in some areas while you are crisping them in a pan or the oven. You can pop these bubbles with your spatula or a fork so the tortilla lays flat in the pan and gets crispy all over.
- If you don't want to crisp the tortillas in a pan, you can also place them in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp them up. Just be careful they don't burn! You can also pop them while they are in the oven, but be careful because they are hot.
- It's easiest to assemble the pizzas right on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- The beans and meat should be heated before assembly as in the recipe, you don't have to heat the enchilada sauce ahead of time as it will heat up just fine in the oven.
- A pizza slicer is a perfect tool to cut these Mexican Pizzas into slices.
Mexican Pizza (Taco Bell Copycat)
Equipment
- skillet for cooking and/or heating the beef
- 2 baking sheets
- tin foil
- pizza cutter or knife
Ingredients
- 1 can refried pinto beans
- 3-4 tablespoon milk (optional)
- 8 flour tortillas
- 3-4 tablespoon butter (or you can use non-stick spray)
- 2 cups cooked ground beef with taco seasoning (follow directions on seasoning packet)
- 3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can enchilada sauce
- 1 can sliced olives
- 1-2 small tomatoes, diced
- 3-4 stalks green onions, chopped
- sour cream (optional)
Instructions
Crisping the Tortillas
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and prepare baking sheets with tin foil. There are two ways to crisp the tortillas. One is in a skillet with butter, flipping to ensure both sides are brown and crispy. The other is in the oven at 375°F for 3-4 minutes on each side. The skillet method takes more time but the butter makes the tortilla nice and crisp. The oven method is easy but the tortilla can bubble up, and the tortillas burn easily so you have to keep an eye on them.
Warm the Refried Beans
- Place the beans in a small saucepan. Add the milk warm over low heat, stirring occasionally. The milk is optional but helps smooth out the beans and makes them easier to spread on the tortillas.
- Cook the ground beef in a skillet so that it is fully cooked. Drain the grease and add the taco seasoning according to the packet. If your meat is already cooked, microwave it or reheat it in a pan.
Pizza Assembly and Cooking
- Take one crispy flour tortilla and spread a layer of beans all over leaving about ½" around the edges. Add ⅓ of the meat on top of the beans.
- Place another crispy flour tortilla on top of the first layer. Spoon out a thin layer of the enchilada sauce on top of the second tortilla. Sprinkle a layer of cheese and olives on top of the enchilada sauce. Repeat the assembly for the remaining 3 pizzas. Once the pizzas are ready to go, place them in the oven for 8-10 minutes until all the cheese has melted.
- Remove the pizzas from the oven and sprinkle the top with green onions and tomatoes. Cut into pieces with a pizza cutter or knife and serve with a side of sour cream. Enjoy!
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Did you make this Mexican Pizza Recipe?
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Mari says
My husband loved this, he said it was BETTER than Taco Bell.
Emily says
Yay! That’s awesome. Thanks so much for trying the recipe!
Julia says
I love the thought of all these flavours on a pizza. I'd go with the vegetarian version and perhaps add some chopped fresh coriander to compensate. (Love that herb.) It'd be a lovely end of the week treat... thank you for sharing this.
Emily says
I love that idea!!!
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady says
Oh wow my kids would love this. I love that you've included a vegetarian option, since I am not a ground beef eater.
Emily says
Yup, your kids are gonna love it...and probably the adults too!😁
Marita says
Oh wow! I have some tortillas that we need to use up. I am totally going to make this for my kids. But we do not have any refried beans in a can in Germany. What Can I substitute this with?
Emily says
Hi Marita, you can make your own refried beans with canned pinto beans! Place the beans in a saucepan on the stove and while they are heating up, mash them with a potato masher or the back of a spoon. You can add a splash of milk if you want them to be even more creamy. I do this all the time! Let me know how they turn out!
Gabriela says
Girl you had me at Mexican. I love Mexican food and this pizza is to die for.
Emily says
LOL! I love Mexican food as much as you do and this one is definitely at the top of the list.🤩
Gregory Halpen says
I have been craving pizza lately. What a terrific idea and so easy too!
Emily says
You are gonna love this one, I promise!
Linda says
This might be hard to imagine, but I did not eat Taco Bell until I was in college. And when I finally discovered the Mexican pizza on their menu, it was all over! This recipe take me back and it looks so scrummy!!!
Emily says
Linda, you are so funny and I can believe college led you to Taco Bell. It was a go-to for me in college for sure. And now you can have your favorite at home!! Yay!
Gina says
Thank you for the inspiration for dinner tonight. I am so making this for my family.
Emily says
You are so welcome, Gina. I hope your family loves these pizzas as much as mine does!
Sue says
I love how easy this is to customize to each person. I made a vegetarian version for myself and a ground beef one for my guy. Both were delicious! This may be considered a copycat but better I think than Taco Bell!
Emily says
I love that you made one of both, how perfect. And I'm so glad you guys enjoyed the pizzas!
Nora says
This looks fantastic! Can't wait to make this for my family! Thanks for sharing!
Emily says
Thanks, Nora! I hope you and your family love this Mexican Pizza!
Andra says
This looks so good! I'll be making the vegetarian version. Can't wait 😀
Emily says
Oh good, let me know how it turns out!
Jeanne Eisele says
Made this for dinner tonight!! It was fabulous!!!
Emily says
I'm so glad!! It's a favorite for sure!