Loaded Cheeseburger Pizza Recipe

While my favorite pizzas are simple, classic margheritas, I also believe just about anything can become a great pizza topping. From meatballs to cherries (and yes, even pineapple), creating a good pizza relies more on harmonizing flavors than playing by any rules. Cheeseburger pizza is a great example of this: None of the layers are typical pizza toppings, but combined in just the right way, they together make an excellent slice of pie. And it's no wonder, really — it's basically a cheeseburger flipped on its head.

In our loaded cheeseburger pizza recipe, we first brush fluffy Neapolitan dough with butter and sesame seeds to replicate a bun, then cover it with a ketchup-and-mayo-based burger sauce. From there, the pizza is topped with savory seasoned ground beef, onion, pickles, and plenty of melty cheese, resulting in slices that taste just like your favorite loaded cheeseburger. I skipped the lettuce and tomato here, leaning instead into the tangy, cheesy, meaty flavors of cheeseburgers, which come through in every bite.

The first ingredient you'll need for this pizza is pizza dough, which you can buy from the store or make homemade. You'll then need a little bit of flour, butter, and sesame seeds to make a sesame seed bun crust. Instead of tomato sauce, this pizza uses burger sauce, which is a mixture of a few different condiments. For the burger sauce, you'll need mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, granulated sugar, white vinegar, and a pinch of black pepper. From there, you just need the remaining ingredients to make the beef and top the pizza: vegetable oil, salt, ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella, pickles, and sliced onion.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

In a bowl, whisk the burger sauce ingredients together until well combined. Set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the ground beef and brown while crumbling. Season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Lightly dust a pizza stone with flour.

Stretch the pizza dough to fit the pizza stone.

Brush the crust with melted butter, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Cover the dough with the burger sauce in a circle, leaving the brushed edges exposed.

Sprinkle with both cheeses

Add the crumbled beef.

Top with sliced onion and pickles.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the crust is puffy and golden and the cheese is melted.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

• Za'atar and Parmesan Smashed Broccoli Recipe
• Panko-Breaded Goat Cheese and Crisp Apple Salad Recipe
• Grilled Teriyaki Shishito Peppers Recipe

Premade pizza dough can be found in a lot of grocery stores, but there are a few best places in the store to look. The kind of pizza dough I like to use (and recommend for this recipe) is fresh dough, which is usually sold in a ball in the fridge or freezer sections. My favorite dough is from the local Italian market — if you have an Italian market near you, it is likely they batch and sell dough, which can usually be found in the freezer section and can be used for pizza and calzones. If I can't make it to the Italian market, the next place I look is Whole Foods, which sells dough in bags in the prepared food section. If you are having trouble finding fresh dough, you can also use one of the top-ranked store-bought pizza crusts, though these will have a different taste and texture.

One option you can also try is your local pizzeria, which can be the best place to buy fresh, homemade dough. One recommendation? Don't go to a place that frequently sells out, because they likely won't have extra dough to sell. If you don't have time to hunt down pizza dough, it's also fairly easy to make from scratch at home, as long as you have a little flour and a lot of patience.

My version of cheeseburger pizza doesn't include tomato and lettuce, which are typically two toppings found on classic cheeseburgers. The reason is simple — I developed this pizza to be savory, salty, and a little tangy from the pickles, and the tomato and lettuce would throw off the balance of flavors. Of course, you can add both and more to your pizza for a more refreshing topping. My suggestion, though, is to add fresh toppings after you bake the pizza for the best results.

To add lettuce and tomato, shred the lettuce and thinly slice the tomato, then add them to the pizza after you bake it. You can also add any of your other favorite cheeseburger toppings, like sauteed mushrooms, cooked bacon pieces, or jalapeños, for more flavor options. Or you could go in the other direction and add more typical pizza toppings like olives, pepperoni, or arugula for a more artisanal pizza flavor.

• Sweet and Savory Monte Cristo Sandwich Recipe
• Hearty Lasagna Soup Recipe
• Cheesy Fig and Arugula Pizza Recipe
• Grilled Peach and Mozzarella Flatbread Recipe