It was love at first sight…me and this cheeseburger pizza. Okay, so Barry and the kids ate some too. We were all quite smitten. It makes you do crazy things and act all nutso. However, the deliciousness makes it all worth the weirdo behavior. And because I love you, I’m sharing the recipe – so that way I won’t be nutso alone.
Before you get started, throw your pizza stone in the oven to heat up. I like putting crust on a hot stone. It keeps the crust nice and crispy. If you’re not using a stone, you can throw your pizza pan in there. Actually, don’t throw it…just put it in there nice and gentle-like. Heat to 450.
You’ll need pizza dough, ground beef (I used venison), chopped onion, pizza sauce, chopped and cooked bacon (turkey bacon is fine), pickles, and mozzarella cheese. I used sourdough pizza crust that I had in the freezer, but you could use your own recipe or the one I have listed here. I love having pizza dough in the freezer so that I can make pizza any time I want. And I want to regularly.
I rolled my dough out on parchment paper so that I could transfer it that way onto my stone. But if you’re not preheating your stone, you can just roll the crust out directly on that. I use the term “roll” loosely, because I just patted it out with my hands. It looks much more rustic like that and I feel all Italian. Barry hates patting out pizza crust – but I love him anyway. I’m the designated patter…I’m also the designed Christmas tree fluffer – but I’m bitter about that job. I would much rather have a REAL tree.
Go ahead and brown your meat and onion in a skillet. I went ahead and browned the whole pound and then I added the onion after I divided it up. Some recipes call for ½ pound of hamburger and now I already have some in the freezer…or I’m already prepped for another one of these beauties.
Pro Tip: Give the Dough a Head Start
While your meat is browning, put your dough in the oven to bake just a bit – only about five minutes. I learned this trick from my mom. It keeps the dough from getting soggy in the middle.
After 5 minutes, top the pizza with sauce, meat, onions and bacon pieces. You can also add any other ingredients that you normally put on your cheeseburger…except mayo. I just don’t think that fits in this time. We love pickles! Pile those on next. A cheeseburger isn’t complete without pickles. They are the magic ingredient.
Last but not least, put the cheese on. This was a new cheese that I tried from Organic Valley. We really liked it and it shredded up so beautifully…and it tasted great too. I had to taste some. I wouldn’t want to feed my family sub-par food would I? So who cares if one taste turned into spoonfuls?
Pop that beautiful piece of work into the oven for 10 minutes. It’s going to come out looking like THIS! And your family is going to kiss you…and then you’re going to tell them to go away so you can eat it all yourself. It’s the cheeseburger pizza…it makes you act all nutso.
Cheeseburger Pizza
Ingredients
- Crust for one pizza
- ½ lb ground beef or venison
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 6 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- Dill pickles
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Prepare pizza stone for baking. Pop into a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Brown meat and onion in a skillet. Drain if desired.
- Top pizza crust with pizza sauce, beef, onion, and bacon. Layer with pickles. Sprinkle top evenly with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Cut and serve.
Monica says
Next time you make this, try ketchup and mustard instead of pizza sauce. It is really yummy that way!
Cynthia says
I really like the new way with your photos, it is still plenty! Sometimes, though, it would be nice to see your ingredients. This was all basic and not really needed here. Just a thought.
Not sure I could get my husband to try it, he does not like pickles on burgers, but who knows, maybe I’ll sneak it in on him.
Stacy says
🙂 You won’t sneak them in here……you can see them. LOL
Amanda says
I looked online and apparently the USDA guidlines are very strict. You can buy it but it is very expensive and most retail places won’t carry it…..boo.
Stacy says
I’ll keep my ears open. 🙂
Linda says
Sounds so good but…dill pickles on pizza? I’ll try it! My husband will think I’ve lost my mind. lol!
Stacy says
Oh, it’s sooooooooooooooooooooo good. 🙂
Amanda says
Everytime I see venison on here I starting craving it. Is there a store where you can buy it? We don’t know any hunters.
Stacy says
I have no idea. You could ask on Facebook and see if you happen to have any friends who hunt?