Taco Bell Mexican Pizza - Copycat

This Taco Bell Mexican pizza copycat recipe is inspired by the classic Taco Bell menu item and is easy to make in your own home.

Let's take the popular fast-food-style Mexican pizza and make it our own homemade version with fresh toppings and your favorite ingredients. You can easily customize this recipe to fit any taste.

What is it?

Taco Bell Mexican pizza is a menu item popularized by the American fast-food chain, Taco Bell, using Mexican ingredients such as refried beans, taco meat, and more.

Mexican pizzas are a two-layer creation. The bottom layer is loaded with refried beans and seasoned beef and then topped with a corn tortilla which is loaded with melted cheese and additional toppings.

The Taco Bell version uses two crispy tortillas, however, I like to use a soft flour tortilla for the bottom later and a crisp corn tortilla for the second layer. Feel free to use whichever you like best for your own copycat Taco Bell Mexican pizzas.

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Lean ground beef
• Taco seasoning 
• Refried beans
• Flour tortillas (6" diameter)
• Corn tortillas (6" diameter)

Toppings: This is where you can get creative with your favorite taco toppings. Taco Bell keeps it simple with using enchilada sauce as their Mexican pizza sauce, along with shredded cheese, and diced tomatoes. However, I think this dish can be improved with a few simple ingredients.

• Pico de Gallo - Rather than using mild flavored tomatoes by themselves, pico de gallo adds more of a punch while retaining that fresh, uncooked flavor.
• Salsa - Salsa makes a flavorful sauce for these pizzas, both salsa verde and traditional red salsa work equally well. You can put it under the cheese, or just add a dollop on top after the cheese has melted.
• Sour cream - Sour cream is an obvious addition to most Mexican dishes, however, you can jazz it up further by substituting my Cilantro-Lime sour cream.
• Shredded Cheese - Use mild cheddar cheese or any taco blend at the grocery store. Alternatively, you could use nacho cheese sauce as well. I would put it directly on top of the beans and beef.
• Guacamole - Using chopped avocado or a prepared guacamole is a great way to add creaminess and additional flavor!
• Fresh vegetables - Chopped green onions, black olives, or cilantro adds a flavorful finishing touch.
• Hot Sauce - Taco sauce is also a good option.

How to make it

Begin by making taco meat with ground hamburger and a packet of taco seasoning mix in a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground beef into small pieces with a wooden spoon.

Heat the refried beans while the ground beef is cooking. Then toast your flour tortillas in a hot skillet until warm and crisp.

Assemble the pizza by spreading a layer of beans on the flour tortilla, followed by taco meat. Then top with a corn torilla and a generous amount of cheese. These can be placed on a baking sheet and set in a 350 degree oven for 3-5 minutes. Once removed from the oven, add all of your desired toppings and serve.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

Leftover Mexican pizza does not store well in the refrigerator because the tortillas will soak up moisture and become soggy. It is best to store the leftover taco meat and remaining toppings in an airtight container and use fresh tortilla shells when reheating leftovers.

This recipe was originally published on April 17, 2020.

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