French Bread Taco Pizza

French Bread Taco Pizza features refried beans, salsa, taco meat, and cheese layered on a French bread crust, baked until piping hot, and then topped with cool, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and sour cream!

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Raise your hand if you have taco night at your house? How 'bout pizza night? Well, today I've got a quick and easy dinner idea that combines the best of both worlds!

I'm not too proud to admit that I'd never had taco pizza until a couple of months ago. My family took a beach vacation to Florida this past summer, and on the first night of our trip, we put off a seafood feast in favor of a local, family-friendly pizza place right across the street from our condo. After a long two days in the car, we wanted an easy dinner that everyone would eat, so pizza it was. But little did we know that this joint had an amazing menu of pizza options! We ordered several pies to share amongst our large table and we got down to eating.

Much to my surprise, one of my favorite pizzas of the night was a deep dish taco pizza, featuring warm taco meat and melted cheese with a cool topping of lettuce and tomatoes. It was the flavors of a taco on a soft, doughy crust, contrasting rich meat and cheese with a fresh, pseudo-salad on top. In one word? Scrumptious! I knew I'd have to recreate it when I got home.

It had been awhile since I made a French bread pizza, and I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy using a loaf of bread in lieu of a traditional pizza crust. I've said it before, but I could pretty much subsist on bread alone, so this kind of crust is right up my alley...not to mention the fact that it requires zero effort!

Ingredients

Now I don't remember that taco pizza in Florida as featuring refried beans, but I just so happened to have some leftover Ultimate Bean Dip in the fridge, so I decided that it would only make sense to use that as my first layer (in lieu of traditional pizza sauce).

And where there are beans, there must be salsa, so that comprised layer #2.

The next layer was obvious enough…taco-seasoned ground beef!

And what would a pizza be without cheese? I chose Monterrey Jack with a bit of cheddar mixed in for good measure, but Colby Jack, straight cheddar, Pepper Jack, or even mozzarella would all be ooey-gooey delicious.

Finally, once the piping-hot pizzas came out of the oven, I drizzled it with sour cream and sprinkled with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, and sliced black olives.

But you know what? If you don't (or your persnickety 4-year-old doesn't) care for all of those veggie-like toppings? Leave them off! This pizza is pretty darn tasty as a meat-&-cheese-lovers version as well.

So the next time you have a hankering for something a little more exciting than pepperoni, promise me you'll give this French Bread Taco Pizza a try! (At the very least, if you ever want to whip up a pizza with minimal fuss, buy a loaf of French bread to use as your base.)

My kids equally adore both tacos and pizza, so this recipe was a win-win for them. My husband raved about it. And me? Well, let's just say I ate all of the leftovers for lunch the next day...before anyone else could claim them. 😉

More Pizza Inspiration

• Caprese French Bread Pizza
• Pineapple Pulled Pork Pizza with Bacon, Jalapeño & Cilantro
• Pizza Quesadillas
• One-Pot Pizza Pasta

French Bread Taco Pizza

French Bread Taco Pizza features refried beans, salsa, taco meat, and cheese layered on a French bread crust, baked until piping hot, and then topped with cool, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and sour cream!

By Samantha Skaggs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 722kcal

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Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning, OR 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 loaf French bread, wide, oval shape, not a baguette
• 1 can (16 ounces) refried beans, or 1 ½ cups Warm & Cheesy Bean Dip
• ½ cup salsa
• 2 cups grated Monterrey Jack cheese, or Colby Jack or cheddar
• Chopped lettuce
• Diced tomatoes
• 1 can (2.25 ounces) sliced black olives
• ½ cup sour cream

Instructions

• In a pan set over medium heat, brown ground beef. Drain grease and stir in taco seasoning. Set aside.
• Place rack in center position of oven and preheat to 400°F. Slice French bread in half lengthwise (so that there's a top half and a bottom half). Place pieces cut-side-up on a baking sheet. All topping ingredients should be evenly divided between the two halves of the loaf.
• Thinly spread each piece of bread with refried beans. Top bean layer with salsa. Spread taco-seasoned ground beef on top of salsa. (For a very meaty pizza, use all of the taco meat. I only used about ¾ of it divided between my bread halves and refrigerated the remaining ¼ for another use.) Top ground beef with grated cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and pizza is heated through.
• Top each pizza with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and a drizzle of sour cream. You may add any other fresh taco toppings that you like (jalapeños, green onions, additional salsa, etc.). Slice pizza into wedges and serve hot.

Notes

To drizzle sour cream, I stir until smooth and then scoop it into a sandwich-size plastic baggie. I then squeeze all of the sour cream into a corner of the baggie, twist the top of the baggie, snip off a tiny piece of the corner, and use it like a piping bag to drizzle my sour cream. Or skip the extra effort and use a spoon to dollop it on. 🙂

Nutrition

Calories: 722kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 136mg | Sodium: 1244mg | Potassium: 699mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 885IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 517mg | Iron: 7mg

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