This skillet taco pizza recipe might just become a new favorite in your house! A tasty cornbread crust is topped with ground beef and your favorite taco toppings.
(Originally published 9/10/13 and updated for content on 2/15/24)
If you like this recipe, check out my Copycat Lunch Lady Pizza next!
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Here in Cincinnati, Ohio where I live we have a terrific local pizza place called Deweys Pizza. Several times a year they feature their Tito Santana pizza, which is their version of a taco pizza. It’s my absolute favorite of their not traditional pizzas. I decided to recreate it for an easy meal at home.
However, I just can’t duplicate their hand tossed pizza crust in my own (not a) pizza oven. I’ve tried over the years but it takes a lot of time and more patience than I currently have. So I decided to make a taco pizza with their toppings. But with an easy cornbread crust. The resulting taco pizza recipe is a friendly dinner the whole family will enjoy.
More pizza recipes
Ingredients for taco pizza
- Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix – I used the crust recipe I found here for my pizza. This crust is what makes my easy taco pizza recipe unique. But you could replace it with your favorite store-bought pizza dough. Or a homemade pizza dough recipe.
- Egg – One large egg is needed for the crust.
- Sour Cream – One half cup of sour cream is needed for the crust. I used full fat sour cream.
- Ground Beef – Use 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef – you want the grease for the pan to help prevent the crust from sticking. If you are not a beef eater you could sub ground chicken or ground turkey instead.
- Taco Seasoning Mix – One envelope to season the ground beef. Use your favorite brand.
- Taco Sauce – I use Taco Bell mild sauce to act as the pizza sauce for this recipe.
- Fritos – Crushed Fritos add a salty counterpoint to the slightly sweet cornbread crust.
- Cheese – Shred your own Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese. Or use a Mexican blend cheese.
- Ranch Dressing – My favorite brand of bottled Ranch dressing is Litehouse. I mixed a little chipotle sauce into my Ranch dressing for an extra kick.
- Taco Pizza Toppings – A Tito Santana taco pizza is topped with shredded lettuce and chopped tomato after the bake. You could also top your pizza with red onions, black olives, salsa or sour cream.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk together one large egg with 1/2 cup sour cream. Add that to the Jiffy corn muffin mixture. Stir until well combined. Set aside.
Cook the ground beef over medium or medium-high heat in the same skillet you are going to bake the pizza. Add the taco seasoning and water and simmer until thickened and the beef is browned and no pink remains. Remove the beef from the skillet, leaving behind some of the grease.
Gently spread the prepared corn bread crust into the bottom of the skillet. Bake for 15 minutes, until light golden brown. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Then proceed with the toppings.
Evenly top the pizza crust with taco sauce, then the cooked taco meat, crushed Fritos and shredded cheese. Return the skillet to the 400 degree F oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Cut and serve slices of pizza. Allow everyone to top their pizza as they choose – with lettuce, tomato and chipotle Ranch dressing.
Pro tips
Be sure your cast iron skillet is well seasoned. Meaning it has built up a non-stick coating. This will help to prevent your cornbread pizza crust from sticking to the bottom.
Cooking the beef in the skillet before adding the crust to bake helps to grease the skillet even more. This will help your pizza to be served in neat slices. It also helps to “fry” the deep dish crust in the oven.
Use 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef for this recipe. I first tested this recipe with 90/10 beef and it was too lean.
If possible, always use cheese that you shred yourself. It melts better! I know from experience and wish I’d not used pre-shredded cheese for photographing this recipe.
Storage directions
This isn’t a great recipe for leftovers. But if you do have leftover pizza slices, its much better to store them without the additional toppings. Store the pizza, as baked, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat in the microwave and then add additional toppings like the lettuce, tomato and chipotle Ranch dressing.
Serving suggestions
This is an easy meal for even picky eaters. The slightly sweet cornbread crust will probably be popular with your kids. Plus it combines the fun of a Taco Tuesday with pizza night all in one. Serve your taco pizza with some cup up veggies and Ranch dressing to dip and maybe a side of refried beans. Plus this delicious dirt pudding for dessert.
Kitchen tools
- A 12-inch cast iron skillet similar to what I used to test this recipe
- If you don’t own a cast iron skillet, you could bake the pizza in a 12-inch deep dish pizza pan instead
- Small spatula for serving the pizza slices
- Offset spatula for helping to evenly spread the cornmeal crust into the skillet
Taco Pizza
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Jiffy corn muffin mix
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 pkg taco seasoning
- 1/3 cup taco sauce
- 1/2 cup Fritos corn chips lightly crushed
- 4 oz cheddar cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup iceberg lettuce shredded
- 1/2 cup tomatoes diced
- 1/3 cup Ranch dressing
- 2 tbsp chipotle sauce
- fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the egg and sour cream until smooth.
- Pour the dry Jiffy corn muffin mix into a large bowl. Add the sour cream and egg mixture. Stir until a smooth batter is formed. Set aside.
- Heat your 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks, until no pink remains. Add the taco seasoning and about 1/2 cup of water. Allow to simmer until thickened. Transfer the taco meat to a clean bowl.
- To the same skillet, add the corn bread batter. Smooth it gently with an offset spatula into the skillet. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow the crust to rest for 5 minutes.
- Then, evenly top the pizza crust with the taco sauce, seasoned ground beef, crushed Fritos and cheddar cheese.
- Bake the pizza for an additional 15 minutes, or until the cheese is all melted.
- Whisk together the Ranch dressing with the chipotle sauce. Or you could use more taco sauce.
- Slice the pizza to serve. Top each slice of taco pizza as desired with lettuce, tomato, chipotle Ranch dressing and chopped cilantro. Or feel free to add any of your own additional taco pizza toppings.
Nutrition
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Lima Ekram says
This taco pizza looks absolutely delicious and so easy! I cant wait to try it!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you. Enjoy!
Cathleen says
This pizza is so unique, I love it so much!! It is definitely going to be on a regular rotation in my kitchen 🙂
foodtasticmom says
Yay, so glad you liked it!
Ann says
When two worlds collide you get this masterpiece. Thanks!
foodtasticmom says
You’re welcome!
DK says
What an interesting recipe! I’d never heard of corn muffin pizza crust but sounds so appetizing!
Sky says
I love everything about this dish! And it was a huge hit with everyone! Will definitely be making it again!
foodtasticmom says
So happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for stopping back to rate and review!