Homemade Pizza for a Crowd — Easy Dough, Jason’s Taco Pizza, and a Pizzeria Night
Apparently, I Run a Pizzeria Now — And Jason’s Taco Pizza Is the Star
Homemade pizza is one of those weeknight (or in our case, Friday night) miracles — dough that comes together in one bowl, toppings that work with whatever you have in the fridge, and a baked-in excuse to feed a crowd. My college girls were home this weekend (Hannah just finished her Bachelor’s in Communication — she’s officially done), and pizza night is one of their absolute favorite meals. So I made six of them. Six homemade pizzas in one evening. Welcome to Stephanie’s Pizza Palace.
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Watch me make six homemade pizzas in one Friday night — Jason’s taco pizza is the star — or scroll down for the full printable recipe card.
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Jason’s Homemade Taco Pizza
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Ingredients
- 1 whole wheat dough (see recipe) or easy homemade dough below, or store-bought
- 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
- ½ cup salsa
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup onion diced
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- Jalapeños optional
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- ½ cup Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend optional
- 2 cups Shredded lettuce
- 1 cup tomato chopped
- 1 cup Doritos crushed
- Sour cream optional
- Cholula or hot sauce optional
Don’t Want to Build Your Own? I’ve Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F (or 475°F if using whole wheat crust). Prepare your pizza crust on a stoneware pizza pan.
- Brown the ground turkey (or beef) in a skillet over medium heat. Drain excess fat and stir in the taco seasoning per packet directions. Set aside.
- Spread 1/2 cup salsa over the pizza crust like pizza sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
- Top with the taco-seasoned meat, diced onion, sliced black olives, and any other desired toppings (jalapeños, etc.).
- Sprinkle on the shredded cheeses — aim for 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cheese total.
- Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes (or 475°F for 15 minutes if using whole wheat crust), until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is golden brown.
- Once out of the oven, top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and crushed Doritos. Finish with sour cream or hot sauce if desired. Slice and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
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Tap the stars above to rate it! This helps other families find it.Why This Homemade Taco Pizza Works
Jason grew up in Iowa eating taco pizza, and he always thought it was the greatest thing on the planet. So years ago, I had to try. Turns out he was right — it’s the best of both worlds, taco night and pizza night collided into one pan, and now it’s the pizza my whole family asks for. The base is Pace Chunky Medium salsa instead of pizza sauce, hit with a little garlic powder for flavor. Then taco-seasoned ground turkey (I season mine with Taco Bell taco seasoning ), onion, black olives, and a generous layer of cheese. After it comes out of the oven you finish it with crushed Doritos , shredded lettuce, and chopped tomatoes — plus sour cream or Cholula hot sauce for anyone who wants it.
What makes it work is treating the cold toppings as toppings, not bake-ins. The lettuce stays crisp because it never sees the oven. The Doritos stay crunchy because they go on after. The tomatoes stay fresh. You get the melty, cheesy, taco-meat warmth from the bottom and the cool crunch on top, and it’s exactly the contrast that makes a great taco great. Just on a pizza.
The night I made the one in the photos, my husband asked for his on whole wheat crust because he eats Mediterranean — so I made the dough with King Arthur whole wheat flour. Whole wheat crust holds heavy toppings beautifully and gives you that slight nutty flavor that pairs so well with the taco seasoning. If you want the full whole wheat crust recipe, I wrote it up here: Whole Wheat Pizza Crust for My Husband. Otherwise the easy white-flour dough below is what I make for everyone else.
Stephanie’s Easy Pizza Dough — Skip the Delivery Fee
This is my go-to homemade pizza dough — the one I make when the college kids are home and pizza night happens on a whim. Two cups of flour, a packet of yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/3 cups of lukewarm water. I measure it all out with my glass measuring cups . Mix it, let it rest 30 minutes to an hour (it’s forgiving — sometimes it sits two hours when I get busy), stretch it onto your pan, top it however you want, and bake. Light, airy, completely from scratch.
Watch me mix up my easy homemade pizza dough — forgiving, fast, and exactly what one pizza needs.
Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
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Ingredients
- 2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour divided
- 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast 1 packet
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup lukewarm water
- 1-2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for the pan
- Garlic powder for sprinkling on the crust
Don’t Want to Build Your Own? I’ve Got You.Every Saturday I share a full week of dinners, sides, and a dessert — with the grocery list already done. Come grab this week’s Weekly Meal Plans!Method
- In a large bowl, mix half the flour (1 cup) with the yeast, salt, sugar, and lukewarm water until it forms a ball.
- Use your hands to knead and form the dough, gradually adding in the other half of the flour as you knead.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour. It’s forgiving — up to two hours is fine.
- Pour 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil onto a pizza pan. Place the dough on the pan and rub it until the dough is covered with oil, then spread it out into the pan.
- Sprinkle the crust lightly with garlic powder.
- Add desired toppings.
- Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are bubbly.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Tap the stars above to rate it! This helps other families find it.Want a Healthier Crust? Try Whole Wheat
For my husband’s Mediterranean diet, I make a whole wheat version with King Arthur 100% whole wheat flour and a touch of honey instead of sugar. The crust comes out soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, sturdy enough to hold heavy taco-pizza toppings, and 100% Mediterranean-friendly. The full recipe lives on its own post — head over to Whole Wheat Pizza Crust for My Husband for the printable card.
Watch me make the whole wheat version — the crust I make just for my husband, and now everyone wants it.
A Few Things That Make Homemade Pizza Even Easier
- Use stoneware if you have it. Stoneware makes the best pizza crust, by far. I have several pieces of Pampered Chef stoneware, but any quality stoneware works — it pulls moisture away from the dough and gives you that crispy bottom you’re chasing.
- Don’t skip the rest. The dough needs at least 30 minutes to an hour to rest after mixing. Two hours is fine. The yeast needs that time to do its job — if you rush it, you get tough, dense crust instead of light, airy crust.
- Hit the crust with garlic powder before toppings. Right after you spread the dough on the pan, sprinkle a little garlic powder across the whole surface. It seasons the crust itself, not just the toppings, and the difference is huge.
- Cold toppings go on AFTER baking. For taco pizza specifically: lettuce, tomatoes, Doritos, sour cream, and hot sauce all go on after the pizza comes out of the oven. The hot stuff (meat, cheese, olives) bakes in. The cool, crisp stuff finishes it. Don’t bake your lettuce.
- Make six at once for a crowd. When the kids are home or company is over, I’ll do an assembly line — multiple pans, multiple flavors. Cheese for the picky eater. Pepperoni for everyone. Margherita with fresh basil. And of course Jason’s taco pizza. Six pizzas, one oven, one happy crowd.
Homemade Pizza FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
What temperature do I bake homemade pizza at, and for how long?
425 degrees for the easy white-flour crust, 475 degrees for the whole wheat crust. Both bake for about 15 to 20 minutes — you’re looking for a golden, crispy bottom and bubbly, melted cheese on top. Every oven runs a little different, so check at the 15-minute mark and add time as needed.
Can I make homemade pizza dough ahead of time?
Yes — the dough is forgiving. After it rises, you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Pull it out about 30 minutes before you want to bake so it can come back to room temperature, then stretch and top as usual. This is what saves me on a busy Friday night when the college kids text “we’ll be home for dinner.”
Can I use store-bought crust instead of homemade pizza dough?
Absolutely. The recipe card lists “pizza crust of choice” for exactly this reason. The taco pizza assembly works on whatever crust you have — my homemade dough, store-bought refrigerated dough, or a pre-baked crust like the sourdough crusts from Costco. Make it as easy or as homemade as you want it.
What’s the best cheese for taco pizza?
I aim for 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cheese total for one pizza, and for taco pizza I use a mix — cheddar for the taco flavor, mozzarella for the melt and stretch, and a little Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend for extra flavor. You can also use just shredded cheddar and mozzarella if that’s what you have. Pre-shredded works fine — don’t overthink it.
Can I freeze homemade pizza dough?
Yes. After the first rise, divide the dough into single-pizza portions, wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze in a zip-top bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before stretching. This is one of those quiet wins for pizza nights when you don’t feel like starting from scratch.
What’s a good substitute if I don’t have Doritos for the taco pizza?
Crushed tortilla chips work just fine — you lose a little of the cheesy Doritos seasoning but you keep the crunch. Crushed Fritos are also good if you want corn flavor. Whatever you crush on top, do it after the pizza comes out of the oven so it stays crunchy.
How do I scale homemade pizza for a bigger crowd?
The easy dough recipe makes one pizza, so multiply by however many pizzas you need. For our crowd I’ll typically make four to six — each one feeds 3 to 4 people if you serve a salad alongside. The dough scales linearly. The toppings scale however you want them to. And if you’re making more than four, just pull out multiple pans and run an assembly line. Welcome to your own Pizza Palace.
🛒 Complete Shopping List
Everything you need to make homemade pizza — click any item to shop on Amazon.
Easy Pizza Dough Ingredients
Jason’s Taco Pizza Ingredients
Equipment
For the whole wheat version, I use King Arthur 100% Whole Wheat Flour.
More Crowd-Friendly Recipes You’ll Love
- Crispy Fried Tortilla Tacos — The taco night game changer we’re never going back from. Homemade fried corn shells and the same toppings you’d put on this pizza.
- Mediterranean Turkey Meatloaf — My husband’s favorite, lightened up. Same Mediterranean diet that inspired the whole wheat pizza crust.
- Whole Wheat Pizza Crust for My Husband — The full printable recipe for the whole wheat crust I made for Jason’s taco pizza in this post.
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Homemade pizza — About Stephanie’s Recipes
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.