Mexican Pizza Taco Bell Copycat

Remember when Taco Bell took their Mexican Pizza off the menu? Well, it's back (for now) because its cult following refuse to let it go away forever. I'm taking away all risk and creating my own copycat version that I think is even better than the original.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword Mexican Pizza

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 670kcal

Author Katie Cooksey

Equipment

meat chopper optional

Ingredients

8 Corn + Flour Blend Tortillas taco size, or just flour OR corn
1/4 cup avocado oil or canola or vegetable, for frying

for red sauce

1/2 cup homemade enchilada sauce quarter of the recipe - or store-bought can of mild red enchilada sauce (will not use whole can)
1 tbsp diced green chilies drained (about 1/8 of a 4 oz can, will have some left over)
1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes drained (about half of a 14.5 oz can) - save juice for meat

for ground beef

1 lb ground beef
3 1/2 tbsp homemade taco seasoning or 1 store-bought packet
2/3 cup tomato juice from can

for refried beans

16 oz can refried beans
3 tbsp milk or water

toppings

1 cup Mexican blend cheese shredded (or Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, Sharp Cheddar - any good melting cheese will work here)
1/4 cup tomato fresh, petite diced
green onions diced, optional
black olives sliced, optional
sour cream optional
taco sauce optional
salsa optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425° F.
Over medium high heat, in a medium skillet heat oil until hot and just starting to bubble. You'll know it's ready if you drop a couple water droplets in and they dance.
One by one, fry the tortillas in the oil, flipping once with tongs until both sides are lightly browned and the tortilla is crispy. Place on a paper towel lined tray and set aside.
Make the enchilada sauce according to my recipe or open store-bought can and place in small bowl. Add drained tomatoes and green chilies, stirring to evenly distribute. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown ground beef until cooked through, stirring and chopping into small pieces as you go. Once completely cooked, use a meat chopper or flat wooden spoon to make beef as tiny as possible (think Taco Bell meat!). Tip pan to one side to allow grease to gather and dab a paper towel to remove "most" of the grease.
Turn heat down to low and add taco seasoning along with the juice from tomato can (should be exactly 2/3 cup). Stir and simmer for a few minutes while you prepare other ingredients.
Combine refried beans and milk (or water) in a small bowl and microwave for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally to combine. Beans should be thin and spreadable. Set aside.

Now let's put it all together!

Take one tortilla and spread an even layer of refried beans almost to the edge.
Spread an even layer of the ground beef mixture over top the beans.
Place a second tortilla on top of ground beef.
Add a good layer of red sauce over top the tortilla.
Sprinkle cheese all over the top of red sauce.
Repeat with remaining ingredients.
Place all Mexican Pizzas on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for a couple minutes, just until the cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and top with fresh tomatoes and/or any desired optional toppings.
Cut each pizza into 4 even triangles and enjoy hot!

Video

Notes

*Taco Bell technically uses a corn+wheat (or corn + flour) blend for their tortillas, but those are extremely difficult to find, so I used flour tortillas instead. Feel free to use corn or flour or a blend. You can find them on Amazon, but they are only available in bulk at the moment.

Nutrition