Tex Mex Pizza Recipe
Pizza is a staple around our house and it was a joyous occasion when I finally learned to make homemade pizza dough! Living in the middle of nowhere, we do not have pizza take out or delivery. So I learned to make it myself.
Don’t be afraid of the yeast, it is not difficult and really the pizza dough does not have to rise all day. I found that my failures when using yeast were mainly due to my yeast being old. I would buy it and then it would take forever for me to get the nerve up to bake something with it. By then my yeast was old and my bread would fail. So make sure your yeast is fresh!
I don’t like to waste food but we are not big on leftovers either. So I try to create something different with my leftovers like this pizza. I had about a pound of taco meat left from the night before and that isn’t really enough to feed everyone tacos, so I thought a Tex-Mex pizza would be great.
Next was the issue of making a sauce for Tex-Mex pizza. I was out of salsa – I know it’s tragic! So I added a can of chili beans, which have somewhat of a sauce in the beans. It turned out really great. The boys thought it was one of the best pizzas that I had ever made. You can switch the toppings up to what you have on hand. That’s the beautiful thing about pizza.
I used my cast iron skillets to bake the pizzas in. I find it gives the pizza a more crunchy crust than a baking sheet. A pizza stone works great too. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet or a pizza stone, just use a baking sheet.
For your next family night, try making homemade pizza. You can even make mini pizzas and let everyone choose their own toppings. I find this is a great way to get kids to eat their veggies. Getting kids involved in cooking is often a great way to get them to try new and different foods. My seven-year old loves to help make pizza. I usually let him roll out his own dough and choose his toppings. It’s a great sense of accomplishment and they feel like they are really grown up!
Tex-Mex Pizza
Ingredients:
Pizza dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur is my favorite)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 1 pound ground beef seasoned, cooked and drained (leftover taco meat works great or add 2 tablespoons Tex-Mex seasoning to 1 pound ground beef)
- 1 16 oz can chili beans (I like Bush’s)
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 cups shredded cheese (cheddar or Colby-Jack)
- 1/2 cup sliced olives
- 5 green onions, chopped
Cooking Directions:
for pizza dough:
In a large bowl, add warm water (about 95-100 degrees F). Stir in yeast and sugar and olive oil. Let stand about five minutes or until yeast begins to bubble.
Stir in 1 cup of flour and then salt. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough comes together and pulls away from sides of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead about 3 minutes, adding more flour as needed.
Place dough into an oiled bowl and cover with a damp flour sack towel. Set aside while you prepare the fillings. The dough does not have to rise for a long period of time. If you allow it to set five or ten minutes the dough will relax and be easier to roll out.
Place 2 cast iron skillets in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. ( I used a 10 inch and a 12 inch) You may also use a pizza stone or regular baking sheets. The pizza stone should be placed in the cold oven; however, the baking sheets should not.
Combine cooked ground beef, chili beans and diced tomatoes in a large bowl.
Divide pizza dough in half. Roll out to desired pizza size, if using cast iron skillets, roll to approximate size of skillet bottom.
Carefully remove skillets from the oven, they will be really hot! Make sure to set them on something sturdy like a big wooden cutting board or your cooktop grate, making sure it is also heat-proof.
Carefully place pizza dough into skillet. Spoon half of meat mixture over dough. Sprinkle with half of cheese, half of olives and half of green onions. Repeat with remaining ingredients in second skillet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is browned around the edges and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Carefully remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing or slicing. You can slice it in the skillet or remove it to a cutting board to slice.
Serve with sour cream, guacamole and salsa (if you have it!). Yield: 2 pizzas
Enjoy!
Miss
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Looks delish!!
Thanks Cynthia!
Pizza is a family favourite in our home too – - I love the idea of using a cast iron skillet for the baking, I can just imagine the crunch on that crust!! ~ yum
I don’t know what took me so long to make pizza in a cast iron skillet, but it is wonderful!
This looks delicious and the perfect weekend meal! And I love that it’s cooked in cast iron!
We do share the love for cast iron, don’t we Nelly!
That looks yummy!
Thanks Willie!
I had never thought of using my cast iron for pizza, but that is a great idea.
Yummo!! Makes me want to have tacos for supper-just for the leftovers so I can experiment with this one!!
Lovin’ the simplicity! Definitely going to be a future meal!
Wonder how it would be for breakfast! ; )