Combine taco night and pizza night with a tasty homemade Mexican pizza. Crispy tortillas filled with seasoned ground beef and refried beans are topped with taco sauce, melted cheese, and fresh tomatoes. This copycat Taco Bell Mexican pizza recipe has all of your favorite taco toppings. This is a fun way to enjoy your favorite Mexican food in a whole new way.
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What makes the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza so good?
This sometimes elusive menu item at Taco Bell has been on their menu since 1985. Made with perfectly seasoned lean ground beef, crunchy tortillas, a layer of refried beans, shredded cheese, and your favorite toppings, it is no wonder this is a fan favorite. So, next time you have taco night, try this copycat recipe.
Why you should try this recipe
Some recipes suggest using corn tortillas or tostada shells. Taco Bell uses flour shells, so you should use what they do if you want a more authentic experience. Our recipe also walks you through how to make seasoned beef like they do, using a packet of taco seasoning mix. While perfectly delicious, it won’t bring you to the taste of the Taco Bell menu. So you should try our homemade version of the famous Mexican pizza.
Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza has had several different variations from Taco Bell over the years.
It’s no wonder our memories of this treat can be a little fuzzy. This recipe has changed multiple times over the years.
- In 1985, this was introduced as the Pizzazz Pizza. These were made with flour tortilla shells, and the top shell had sauce before the layer of mozzarella cheese, diced tomato, and chopped black olives. You could order these with or without the seasoned taco meet.
- In the 1990s, this was brought back as a promotional item, but there were changes. The shells remained flour tortilla shells. The top shell was still topped with a pizza-style sauce, but the cheese was Monterey Jack and a cheddar cheese blend; the black olives were removed, but this was topped with chopped tomato and green onions.
- In the mid-2000s, green onions were removed from the pizza.
- The Mexican pizza remained the same until it was removed from the menu in 2020.
- In 2022, Taco Bell returned Mexican pizza as a permanent menu item.
Ingredients you will need
- Flour tortillas
- Vegetable oil
- Refried beans
- Taco meat
- Shredded Mexican cheese blend
- Taco Bell Sauce – homemade or bottled
- Chopped tomatoes
How to Make Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
- Prepare the Mexican spice blend and seasoned ground beef.
- Heat vegetable oil to 350°F in a skillet.
- Place one tortilla into the hot oil. Cook for about 30 to 60 seconds until the shell crisps.
- Remove the crispy tortilla from the oil and place it on a wire rack.
- Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Spread warm refried beans onto six of the shells.
- Sprinkle cooked seasoned ground beef over the refried beans.
- Place the top tortilla shell on the ground beef and cheese layer.
- Sprinkle cheese on top.
- Broil the pizza until the cheese melts.
- Sprinkle diced tomatoes on top.
- Garnish with chopped green onions if desired.
You might want to add taco sauce or chopped green onions or pile this Mexican pizza with fresh lettuce, as it was initially served.
This Mexican Pizza is an excellent take on traditional pizza. Flour tortillas are fried to take the place of your everyday pizza shells.
This pizza is filled with Taco Bell seasoned ground beef and the Taco Bell mild sauce.
What can you serve with your Mexican pizza?
You may want to round out this meal with seasoned Mexican-style rice, or refried beans. We also enjoy serving soft tacos with our Mexican pizzas.
How to store leftover Mexican Pizzas
Ideally, prepare only what you will consume in one meal. Store the ingredients in airtight containers until you are ready to serve them again. Now, we will fry all of our tortillas at once. These can be refreshed in either a warm oven or an air fryer.
More Taco Bell copycat recipes
- Baja Blast
- Breakfast Crunchwrap
- Crispitos
- Crunchwrap
- Enchirito
- Fresco Taco
- Potato Tacos
- Quesadilla Sauce
Favorite Mexican Recipes
Check out my easy Mexican recipes and the best Taco Bell recipes here on CopyKat!
Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
Ingredients
Taco Meat
- 1 1/2 tablespoons masa harina
- 4 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon beef bouillon powder
- 1 1/3 pounds ground chuck
Pizza
- vegetable oil for frying
- 12 8-inch flour tortillas
- 14 ounces refried beans
- taco meat
- 12 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend (do not use extra-thick shreds like Tillamook)
- 4-6 tablespoons Taco Bell Sauce or use bottled
- 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
Instructions
Taco Meat
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients except for the ground chuck. Mix well.
- Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium-high heat, stirring well, until the meat has browned. Remove from the heat.
- Transfer the meat to a strainer over the sink, rinse with hot water, and drain.
- Return the beef to the skillet along with the spice mix and 3/4 to 1 cup of water. Simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until most of the moisture has cooked away. Remove from the heat before the meat is completely dry.
Pizza
- Add vegetable oil to a 10-inch skillet until it reaches a depth of about 1/2 inch. Heat the oil to 350°F. When the oil is hot, place a tortilla into the hot oil and fry for about 30 to 60 seconds until the shell crisps. Remove the tortilla from the oil and drain on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Spread an ample portion of refried beans onto 6 of the fried tortillas. You want a good base of refried beans on the tortilla. Sprinkle 4 to 5 tablespoons of prepared taco meat over the refried beans and place another tortilla on top. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of Taco Bell sauce over the tortilla and sprinkle with enough cheese to mostly cover the sauce.
- Place the pizzas under the broiler until the cheese begins to melt.
- Sprinkle tomatoes over the melted cheese and serve immediately.
Craig in Raleigh
The only inconsistency I see in the content, is that you’re saying to spread refried beans, seasoned taco meat “and cheese” on the bottom layer. Everywhere else, the cheese goes only on the top tortilla. I’m assuming it was a typo, and that cheese is only spread on the top of the “sandwich,” to melt during the final broiling?
Just in passing, here in North Carolina we have a supermarket chain called Food Lion. They have store-brand items, one of which is the frozen Food Lion (brand) 12″ Mexican Pizza. It includes chopped onion, and black olives. I was fascinated to read that the original Taco Bell pizza also had the black olives, which later were removed. So too with the green onions. I happen to like black olives on pizza, and this recipe now allows for personal alterations. Thank you very much, not only for the recipe but for the bit of history! 🙂
BTW: If you really want to up the game, make your own tortillas. 1/3 of the recipe should be bread flour, and the all-purpose flour should be the higher protein King Arthur All Purpose. That give flexibility and some “chew” to the tortillas. Use about 3/4 of the lard, butter, or fat found in most online recipes. The fat will cause the tortillas to be a little crumbly, so less fat makes better flexibility as well. Just a thought.