Burger night, but make it pizza
This Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza includes a red sauce base topped with all the classic cheeseburger fixings, a measure of crunchy bacon, and a drizzle of tangy burger sauce. You'll even find a sesame seed crust because what's a burger without the sesame bun?!
What toppings should I use for a bacon cheeseburger pizza?
- Red sauce (a pizza-appropriate swap for the ketchup you'd usually find on a cheeseburger)
- A sprinkle of sesame seeds around the edge of the crust (to mimic a sesame seed burger bun)
- Shredded cheese: I used Colby-jack cheese for this, but feel free to use cheddar, mozzarella, or whatever meltable cheese you like best
- Hamburger meat: I used ground beef, but you can definitely swap this out with ground turkey if you prefer
- Bacon: I use traditional pork bacon, but feel free to swap for turkey bacon if that's more your style
- Tomato slices
- Pickle slices -- extra pickles for this girl!
- Onion: White, yellow, or red - or try scallions
- Burger sauce to top the pizza after it bakes
WHAT ABOUT THE PIZZA CRUST?
I prefer to use this Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough recipe to make this Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, but if you have a preferred pizza crust recipe of your own or want to grab some pre-made dough from the store, feel free to use those as well.
WHAT TEMPERATURE IS BEST TO BAKE PIZZA AT?
Your aim is a perfectly golden crust and nicely caramelized toppings, so the hotter the better. Many professional pizzerias keep their ovens heated to 800 degrees F or higher, but most home ovens only reach temperatures between 500-550 degrees F so this recipe is created with those constraints in mind. I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and get wonderful results. If your oven tops out at 450 degrees F / 232 degrees C, I have tested that temp many times over as well and it works well, though you’ll want to plan on a few extra minutes in the oven, especially if your pie is piled high with toppings.
REHEATING PIZZA LEFTOVERS
It would be cliche if I made a joke about leftovers and pizza right now, so we’ll just skip that and assume you didn’t eat the entire pie for a moment. My two favorite methods for reheating pizza so it retains its crisp crust while remelting the cheese is in the oven or in a cast-iron pan on top of the stove.
Oven method: Bake on a sheet pan at 350 F / 175 C for 10 minutes or until pizza has reached your desired level of warmth and crispness.
Stovetop method: Set pizza in a cast-iron pan over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until the crust has reached your desired level of crispness. If the cheese isn’t melted enough for your taste you can add a few drops of water to the pan (away from the pizza) and cover the pan for a minute or two to allow the steam to melt the cheese further.
What tools do I need to make this recipe?
- A kitchen scale or measuring cups (for less precise measurements)
- Measuring spoons
- A cutting board
- A chef’s knife
- A cheese grater
- A skillet
- A wooden or silicone spatula
- A plate lined with paper towels
- A baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- A rolling pin (only if you prefer an evenly thick pie) otherwise your hands are your best tool
- A small mixing bowl
- A spoon or spatula (to spread the sauce)
- A pizza wheel
Are you looking to upgrade to your cooking tools or replenish your pantry? Check out my kitchen tools shop page and pantry staples shop page to find my must-have kitchen tools, pantry items, and other Whip & Wander favorites.
LOOKING FOR MORE PIZZA INSPIRATION?
Love this Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza recipe? Here are some additional favorites for your next pizza night:
- Taco Pizza
- Meatball and Ricotta Pizza
- Eggs Benedict Pizza
- Sausage, Fennel, and Calabrian Chili Pizza
- Pizza Quattro Stagioni
- White Pizza with Pumpkin, Bacon, Kale, and Gouda
- Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, and Sauerkraut Pizza
Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 large pizza 1x
- Category: Pizza, Mains
- Method: Oven / Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza includes a red sauce base topped with all the classic cheeseburger fixings, a measure of crunchy bacon, and a drizzle of tangy burger sauce. You'll even find a sesame seed crust because what's a burger without the sesame bun?!
Ingredients
For the Pizza:
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ lb bacon, chopped
- ½ recipe Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, plus more to taste
- 6 oz (about 1 ½ cups) Colby cheese, shredded
- 70 g (about 2 medium) tomatoes, sliced (I used Campari tomatoes)
- 34 g (2-3 slices) white onion
- 47 g (about ¼ cup) dill pickle slices
For the burger sauce:
- 4 tbsp mayo
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- 1 ½ tsp dill pickle relish
- 1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp white vinegar
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and set a baker’s half sheet to the side.
- While the oven is preheating, cook the bacon and the ground beef:
- In a skillet over medium-high heat cook bacon until crispy, stirring occasionally to make sure that the bacon gets evenly browned, then reserve to a paper-towel-lined bowl to the side. Drain any residual grease.
- In the same skillet you just cooked the bacon in, brown the ground beef, breaking it apart into chunks until cooked through. Strain off any residual grease and reserve meat to the side.
- Shape your dough. If you prefer a classic pie-shape with a thicker crust compared to the center of your dough, I suggest hand-stretching your dough. If you prefer your pizza to be an even thickness, I suggest rolling your dough out with a rolling pin.
- If you are hand-stretching your dough:
- I like to rub a small amount of olive oil into my hands first; this allows me to shape the dough easier without it ripping accidentally from friction.
- Press the dough down with the palm of your hand into a disk shape, then use your fingertips to gently press down on the dough disk, further flattening it.
- To further extend the dough, I prefer to press one palm on top of one side of the dough and with the other hand lift the alternative side of the dough and gently work the dough outward, pulling very gently with the tips of my oiled fingers (like a very discrete “come hither” motion) to slowly stretch the dough out. Rotate slightly and repeat until the dough is shaped and stretched to your liking. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again. Transfer your stretched dough to a sheet of parchment paper.
- If you are using a rolling pin:
- I prefer to place my dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid the dough sticking to my rolling pin, but if you prefer you can also sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough ball as well as wiping some over your rolling pin by hand to prevent sticking instead. Once the dough has been rolled to your preferred size and shape, peel the top layer of parchment paper off (if using). The bottom layer that the dough is resting on can be utilized for your baking sheet. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again.
- If you are hand-stretching your dough:
- Transfer your shaped dough to the reserved baking sheet.
- Brush olive oil onto the pizza dough lightly and evenly. This can be done with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon.
- In a small bowl combine tomato sauce and salt. Pour over the top of the pizza dough and using the back of a spoon spread the sauce out evenly over the dough, leaving a small outer edge of un-sauced dough as desired. Sprinkle the edge of the pizza with sesame seeds.
- Top the pizza with Colby jack cheese, sprinkling evenly inside the border of the sesame seeds across the top. Then top evenly with the reserved ground beef and bacon, the sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, and pickle slices.
- Bake for 14-20 minutes or until the crust has reached your preferred level of crispness and the cheese is fully melted and starting to blister. I find that pizzas that have a thinner topping layer take less time to bake and heavier-topped pizzas generally take a bit longer to bake so watch your pizza closely after the 14-minute mark and adjust as desired.
- Once the pizza has been carefully removed from the oven, drizzle with burger sauce, slice, and serve warm.
For the Burger Sauce:
- Add the mayo, ketchup, relish, Dijon, vinegar, paprika, and pepper to a small bowl. Mix with a spoon or spatula to combine. Store any unused sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼th of the pizza
- Calories: 890
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 2675 mg
- Fat: 49 g
- Saturated Fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 57 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 48 g
- Cholesterol: 107 mg
Keywords: Cheeseburger, Bacon, Burger Sauce
Leave a Reply