Street Taco Pizza
This street taco pizza recipe is perfect for when you can’t decide between tacos or pizza! It features all your favorite taco flavors like carne asada, salsa, jack, and cotija cheese on a delicious thin crust!
For the full details keep reading, for just the recipe card click this link!
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I am absolutely terrible with decisions, especially when it comes to food. All those memes about not knowing where to go eat? Those are about me.
I love tacos. I also love pizza. So, when trying to decide what to make for dinner one night years ago I came up with this brilliant idea for street taco pizza. Why decide? I can have two of my favorite things!
Ingredient Notes
- Pizza Dough: a thin crust pizza dough is recommended to really feature the flavors, but it’s up to personal preference.
- Roasted Garlic: you’ll need the full bulb of garlic, which is usually about 10-12 cloves. Make your own roasted garlic ahead of time so it’s ready to go!
- Tomato: deseed the tomato, we don’t need the excess moisture, it will result in a soggy crust.
- Cilantro: a necessity for street tacos, but if you’re a cilantro hater go ahead and leave it out of the salsa and don’t sprinkle any on top.
- Carne Asada: this is my favorite meat to use for this taco pizza recipe, but pollo asado or carnitas are excellent too! I’ve also made this with plant based carne asada and it was fantastic!
- Jack Cheese: this cheese isn’t usually found on street tacos, but we need some melty cheese for the classic pizza goo factor.
- Cotija Cheese: the salty taste and crumbly nature of this cheese is ideal, but feel free to try out queso fresco, or panela. In an emergency, feta could be substituted but it won’t taste the same.
- White Onion: mince the onion, and if it’s super strong you can soak in cold water for a few minutes and drain in order to mellow it out. Other onion options include sweet, yellow, or even green onions.
- Lime: fresh limes are the only way to go, as you need both the lime zest and lime juice.
- Hot tip: zest the lime before juicing!
- Sea Salt
- Sliced Jalapeños: Optional
- Pickled Onions: Optional
- Cornmeal: for dusting the pizza peel and/or stone.
How to Make Street Taco Pizza
- Make the sauce first so the flavors have plenty of time to meld.
- Blend the tomato, Roasted Garlic, 1 cup of the cilantro (some stems are OK), 1 teaspoon of lime juice, the zest of 1 lime, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in a mini food processor or blender.
- If the sauce seems too thick you can add some olive oil or extra lime juice until your desired consistency is reached. Thick isn’t a bad thing though, too much moisture can make your crust soggy.
- Once blended set aside so the flavors can come together.
- Precook the carne asada, since the assembled pizza will cook faster than the meat.
- Grill the carne asada on high heat for about two minutes on each side.
- Let it rest for five minutes and then chop the meat into small cubes and set aside.
- Prepare the rest of the toppings.
- Shred the jack cheese.
- Crumble the cotija.
- Clean and chop the cilantro.
- Slice the onion.
- Assemble the pizza.
- Roll out the dough and place it on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
- The cornmeal will help to keep the dough from sticking, which makes it easier to slide onto the grill. (The cornmeal is ESSENTIAL, trust me.)
- Gently spread the sauce over the base of the dough, leave about an inch around the outside for the crust.
- Next, layer the shredded jack cheese, cotija, carne asada, and onions evenly over the sauce.
- Wet the crust with fresh lime juice, then sprinkle with sea salt, margarita salt, or flaky salt like maldon.
- Roll out the dough and place it on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
- Cook the pizza.
- This can be done in the oven or on a grill. See below for grilling instructions.
- Add the rest of the toppings and serve!
- Sprinkle the remaining cilantro all over the top, and finish it off with more fresh lime zest if you like.
- Use a pizza wheel to slice into eight even pieces and you’re ready to serve your Street Taco Pizza!
How to Grill Pizza
- Preheat the grill on high heat.
- Once the grill is preheated to around 600°F, use the pizza peel to gently slide your street taco pizza directly onto the grill grates.
- Close the lid to the grill and lower the flames to medium.
- Cook the pizza until the cheese is bubbly and your crust is at your desired level of crispiness.
- Depending on your grill, you may need to rotate your pizza about halfway through using the peel to ensure even cooking.
- Remove the pizza from the grill with your peel and place it on a cutting board.
Baking Pizza in the Oven
- Set the pizza stone on the middle rack of the cold oven and preheat to 500°F.
- Use a pizza peel to slide the prepared street taco pizza onto the preheated pizza stone.
- Alternatively you can carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven, place on a trivet, and assemble the pizza directly on the stone. Use caution though, it will be HOT.
- Bake the pizza at 500°F until the cheese is melted and the crust is done to your liking.
- The shorter you cook the pizza, the softer the crust will be, the longer you cook it the crispier it will be.
Tips for Using a Pizza Peel
There are two kinds of pizza peels: wooden, and metal.
The wooden pizza peels are used to assemble the pizza.
- Dust the peel with cornmeal. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the wood, and help it to slide off easily.
- Roll out the pizza dough into your desired size, considering the size of your pizza stone or grill.
- Learn more about rolling out pizza dough in this thin crust pizza dough recipe.
- Work quickly to top the pizza dough, if the topped pizza sits too long it will stick to the peel.
- Once assembled gently slide the pizza onto your cooking surface.
- Holding the peel at a slight angle (with the handle up toward you) and start by placing the tip of the peel at the far end of the grill or pizza stone.
- Give a gentle shake to begin to lodge the pizza forward.
- Once the dough has touched the cooking surface start to pull the peel back.
- It should slide out easily with the pizza staying put, but you may need to give a couple more gentle shakes to get it off.
The metal pizza peels are for moving the cooking and cooked pizza.
- Press the end of the metal peel at the edge of the crust, and with a swift motion slide it under the pizza while pushing down slightly.
- If you do this too soon you will rip the dough, make sure to wait until the bottom of the pizza is cooked enough.
- Check by sliding the peel 1-2 inches under the crust and lifting up gently.
- If you are cooking the pizza on a grill or in a larger pizza oven you should use the metal peel to rotate the pizza for even cooking.
- Once the pizza is cooked, use the metal peel to transfer it to the serving plate.
How to Make it Spicy
As I’ve mentioned, adding sliced jalapeños is optional. They add a nice flavor and heat to the pizza. If you need an extra kick on top of that, we’ve found that Tapatío is the perfect store bought heat match for these flavors. You can also serve my Spicy Serrano Salsa if you want some serious fire!
What are Street Tacos?
Street Tacos are a favorite in Southern California. Arguably the best tacos are the super simple carne asada street tacos. They consist of tender carne asada, white onions, cilantro, and cotija cheese on a soft corn tortilla, served with a slice of lime. These are the flavors that inspired this recipe.
What to Serve With Street Taco Pizza
I highly recommend serving each slice of pizza with a lime wedge that each person can freshly squeeze all over just before eating!
My favorite drink to enjoy with this dish during the summertime is a fresh margarita. When the weather is a bit cooler a delicious Tempranillo pairs well. And of course any time is a good time to sip a Mexican lager alongside this street taco pizza!
If you need a few more bites to nosh on, serve with some chips and guacamole with pancetta or street corn dip.
Street Taco Pizza
This street taco pizza recipe is perfect for when you can't decide between tacos or pizza! It features all your favorite taco flavors like carne asada, salsa, jack, and cotija cheese on a delicious thin crust!
Ingredients
- 1 Bulb/Head Roasted Garlic (about 10-12 cloves)
- 1 Roma tomato (3/4 cup – 1 cup large dice)
- 1 1/4 Cup Cilantro (divided, loosely packed)
- 1 Lime (juice and zest)
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 Thin Crust Pizza Dough
- 1/2 lb Carne Asada
- 6 oz Jack Cheese (approx 2 cups shredded)
- 4 oz Cotija Cheese (approx 1 cup crumbled)
- 1/2 Cup White Onion (minced)
- Sliced Jalapeños (Optional)
- Pickled Onions (Optional)
- Cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Mix roasted garlic, tomato, 1 cup cilantro, lime zest, 1 teaspoon lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in food processor until blended, set aside.
- Partially cook the carne asada on a preheated grill over high heat. Let rest for 5 minutes then dice meat. Give it a good sear, depending on the thickness about 1-2 minutes per side.
- Prepare all toppings. Shred jack cheese, crumble cotija, thinly dice white onions, chop remaining cilantro, and slice jalapeño if using.
- Roll out pizza dough and place on a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
- Spread tomato mixture on dough, leaving about 1 inch around the outside for crust.
- Layer the cheese and remaining toppings evenly over the sauce.
- Wet crust with remaining lime juice and sprinkle with salt (margarita, sea salt, or maldon).
- Cook until cheese is bubbly and crust is done to desired crispness.
- Use pizza peel to remove pizza from grill or oven and place on cutting board.
- Sprinkle the remaining cilantro all over, cut into 8 equal slices, and enjoy!
Notes
I like to use my recipe for Thin Crust Pizza Dough but this could also be made on any crust.
Any meat can be substituted for the carne asada, such as pollo asado or carnitas.
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