A fun Mexican Pizza with a layer of refried beans and spicy ground beef sandwiched between two flour tortillas, topped with salsa, shredded cheese, jalapenos, green onions, and tomatoes. Then baked until it’s hot, melty, and gooey delicious.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: These Mexican pizzas are easy to make with ingredients I usually have on hand. It’s a really filling lunch or dinner.
This recipe was one of the first I posted when I started blogging in 2008. It’s a copycat recipe for the Mexican Pizza they serve at Bajio Mexican Grill. Taco Bell Mexican Pizza is back on the menu.
It’s also a popular recipe on All Recipes. I’ve adapted it to better suit the way I like to prepare it and updated the post with new pictures.
How To Make Mexican Pizza
The original recipe was made in two pie plates, but I find it’s easier just to make them on a baking tray.
I like to line my baking trays with a Silpat, parchment, or tin foil to make clean up a breeze.
The recipe uses a whole can of refried beans, which makes a nice thick layer. If you’re not a big bean lover, you can cut that in half, but use some beans because it’s sort of the glue that holds it all together.
I used black refried beans, but use which refried beans you prefer.
The original recipe says it feeds 2 to 4 but I’ve changed it to 4 – 8 servings because one slice is enough for me.
My husband had two slices but I can’t image eating a whole pizza by yourself. Although maybe when my teenage boys were still wrestling, they could have pound a whole one down. Let me know what you think.
Mexican Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 10 inch flour tortillas
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- dash cayenne powder
- 1 16 ounce can refried beans
- ½ cup salsa
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 2 green onions chopped
- 8 grape tomatoes diced
- ¼ cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers
- ¼ cup sour cream optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment, Silpat, or foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the tortillas on the pan and bake them for 3-5 minutes or until lightly crisped, flip over and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes until both sides are lightly crisped. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium-high heat until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne.
- Place two of the prepared tortillas side by side on baking sheet, and cover with a layer of refried beans. Scatter half of the seasoned ground beef over each tortilla, and then cover with a second tortilla.
- Bake 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
- Spread salsa on top of each top tortilla stack. Top with cheeses, tomatoes, green onions, and jalapenos.
- Return the pizzas to the oven, and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, and let cool slightly before slicing each one into 4 pieces.
Notes
PG
OMG!!! I simply must make this Pizza, I’m hungry just from looking at the picture!!! I Love Mexican food, I must add a dollop of guacamole and cut back on the heat meaning pepper because of health reasons. Thank you so very very much for this recipe I love Mexican pizza. You are an angel ? and again thank you.?
Shakila Erandi
Oh my, love the recipe!
Lindsey
I made this last night with ground turkey and cumin! We used small tortilla shells and my husband ate THREE!! He wanted more but we ran out of shells ?
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for sharing Lindsey – sounds like a nice problem to have 🙂
Lisa Williams
I just made this for Dinner with regular refried beans. Very good!! My kids loved it!!! A hit for sure. With 3 boys in the house and husband I made 8 and 4 wasted. Thank you for recipe!!!
Cathyt
Not a comment but a question. Do yhe tortillas become crispy when it is baked, or do they stay soft?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Cathy – they crisp up a little bit on the edges, but mostly stay soft. Enjoy!
Lindsey
If you’d like crispy tortillas we sometimes lightly “fry” our soft shells in olive oil in the skillet before assembling ?
Sharon
Made these last night with a few alterations. Used cumin instead of chili and peppers and bison since it’s a leaner and healthier meat. I’m thankful to you for sharing your recipe idea. It was delicious! Thank you for contribution to meal ideas that are quick and easy yet full of flavor!
Barbara Schieving
That’s so nice – thanks Sharon! Sounds like delicious changes.
Lindsey
I did something very similar! We used turkey meat and cumin because we budget and limit the amount of ingredients per meal, but I’ll try again in the summer when I have fresh picked peppers in my garden!
Cindy P
Wayyyyy too spicy. Cooked perfectly, smelled divine, would have loved it but threw about $7 worth of fresh groceries right into the garbage and went to bed with no dinner 🙁 Disappointed!
Barbara Schieving
Sorry you thought it was too spicy. You should definitely pick a salsa that isn’t too spicy for your tastes.
Leif Voss
Went to bed without dinner? Sounds like you messed up the recipe and can’t cook anything else. I’m not the best cook, occasionally I mess up a dish. But I try to fix it or move on to something else. Can’t blame this lady for you starving yourself because you found it to be a waste. P.S. Cook your own way. I don’t ever follow anyones recipes. My wife has tried to cook Rachael Ray or whatever her name is, 3 times, and each time it came out god-awful and nothing like what she advertised the food to look like so I had to fix it. Just cook your own way. Cooking is a form of self expression and allows you to unleash your own creativity.
Natasha
Love your comment ..i cracked up…too funny….lolololo..lmaooo im going to try this tonight.
Cena
Lol totally agree with you. I always cut down on the spices and choose mild salsas because i know i cant handle anything spicier. This person needs to be mad at themselves for not cooking to their taste.
Nbell
What was spicy in it? Leave off the salsa if needed?
Jessica
Made this with corn shells and veggie ground! Delicious!! So simple, quick and yummy. Thanks!
Vicki
Back in the late 80s, early 90s on the island of Oahu I found a small Mexican restaurant that made this quite similar to yours only with 3 crispy layers. It was incredibly delicious and I found myself going back numerous times (I lived on Kauai at the time). I went back in 2003 and found the restaurant was gone….so sad. I will definitely make this to bring back the yummy flavor and warm memories of my times in Hawaii. Thank you Barbara for posting this!
Sapana
This looks interesting, but I dont eat beef. I will try it with Chicken.
Foodiewife
I hate to admit it, but I’ve ordered this from Taco Bell in the past. Your version looks much healthier, and delicious. Beautiful photos, as always.
Mary Frances
Oh my, love the recipe! I have been craving mexican food for a while. I’m definitely going to try out this recipe 🙂
Nagi@RecipeTinEats
I love the vibrant colors this dish have, Barbara. It’s really tempting and I love your combination of flavors!
Adr
This sounds so tasty. The cheese and the beans, oh I can taste it now! With something nice and cool to drink, I could go for this.
Carol
Boy does that look delicious…..I could go for a slice right now! Bob would be able to eat a couple of slices I bet….but not a whole pie. What a super meal for a busy weeknight-easy to assemble and uses things I always have on hand.
Can’t wait to try it. Thank you Barbara! 🙂
Rosa
Such a wonderful idea! Those “pizzas” look really mouthwatering. I love the refried bean layer.
Cheers,
Rosa
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
This looks so good mum! I make a quesadilla cake which is similar but not nearly as pretty as yours 🙂 xxx
Tracy
That looks wonderful, even though I’ve never heard of Bajio!
Also, I tagged you for a meme…
Barbara Bakes
Thanks Deborah I hope you enjoy!
Deborah
I have never had this at Bajio, but it sure does look good! I can’t wait to try it!