If you’re looking for some fun food, give this Easy Turkey Taco Pizza recipe a try. It’s super kid-friendly and adults will love it too.
Sometimes my cleverness gets the best of me. I think I’m so smart, and then disaster strikes and I’m put back in my place. Has that happened to you?
I got this smart idea of making pizza dough in my bread machine – let the machine do all the mixing, kneading and rising of the dough, and then all I’d have to do was roll it out into a a circle.
Well, I was keeping an ear out for my bread maker to buzz and let me know that it had completed the knead cycle so I could remove the dough…but for some reason, I didn’t hear the alarm go off. By the time I checked, the pizza dough was nearly cooked through into a loaf shape. Later, I discovered there’s a menu setting on the machine to automatically shut off the machine once the dough has risen. Note to self…read the manual more carefully next time.
I was hoping the dough hadn’t started baking too long so that I could reshape it into a pizza circle, but it was 90% done by the time I stopped the cycle.
As I stared at the loaf of pizza dough that was only about 2″ thick after baking, I started to get visions of French Bread Pizza. You know, the kind you might have eaten as a kid that’s sold in the freezer case.
Plan B set in – I sliced the pizza bread loaf in half horizontally and decided to use that as my pizza crust base. My youngest son loves tacos – I think he’d eat tacos practically every night if I let him, so that’s how this Turkey Taco Pizza was born. He loves all lots of toppings on his tacos, which is a great excuse for me to load up on some extra vegetables on top.
This French Bread Pizza is so much better than anything you’ll find in the supermarket freezer case. Made with Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix, topped with turkey taco meat (I used Penzey’s taco seasoning), organic cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese), organic tomatoes, organic romaine lettuce and homemade pickled jalapeno peppers, it doesn’t get much better than that.
That’s the biggest advantage of making your own pizza in the comfort of your kitchen – you know exactly what goes into your pizza, and can rest assured that you’re feeding your family the best, healthiest ingredients.
Today, I’m participating in Food Network’s Comfort Food Feast where Pizza is being featured. Please be sure to check out what my fellow foodie friends made:
The Heritage Cook: Gluten-Free Pizza Crust and Homemade Pizza Sauce
Devour: Top 5 Pizzas Without Sauce
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
Weelicious: Pizza Balls
Dishin & Dishes: Iron Skillet Chicken Pesto Pizza
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Pepper and Corn
Red or Green: Pizza with Green Chile, Chicken and Cheese (Gluten-Free)
Virtually Homemade: Individual Cheese Quesadilla Pizzas
Domesticate Me: Grilled Pita Pizza with Prosciutto, Chanterelles, Arugula and a Fried Egg
Food for 7 Stages of Life: No Yeast Pizza Dough
In Jennie’s Kitchen: Easy, Homemade Pizza Dough
The Blue Apron Blog: Our Favorite Pizza Toppings
The Sensitive Epicure: Mini Deep Dish Polenta Pizzas (Gluten-Free)
FN Dish: Homemade Pizza Comfort by the Slice
Gluten-Free Taco Pizza
Ingredients
- Gluten-free pizza crust I used Pamela's Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Mix
- organic marinara sauce
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 pound antibiotic-free ground turkey
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning I used Penzey's
- 2 tablespoons water
- shredded organic mozzarella cheese
- shredded organic cheddar cheese
- shredded organic romaine lettuce
- chopped organic tomatoes
- pickled jalapeno peppers
Instructions
-
Prepare pizza crust according package instructions or use your favorite pizza dough.
-
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-
Prebake pizza crust until lightly browned.
-
Make taco meat by sauteeing ground turkey in olive oil until cooked through; add taco seasoning and water and cook until water evaporates.
-
Spread marinara sauce on crust; top with turkey taco meat; sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Bake until cheese is melted. Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes and pickled jalapenos.
Easy College Dinner Recipes with Printable Weekly Meal Plan and Shopping List
18
These would make for a tasty meal!
Thanks Kevin 🙂
As a proud owner of a bread maker myself, I can relate. I’ve definitely had my own trail and errors! But this recipe looks delicious– it was well worth it!
I do love my bread maker and am still learning about all the different settings. Fortunately, my mistake turned into something tasty 😉
This looks really good. I’ve been trying to find a way to bridge the gap between take-and-bake pizza and my homemade without experiencing a backlash from my family. So this is wonderful. But I’m just wondering about the cheese you’re using. I buy organic cheddar, and mine is a solid light buttery-yellow color. Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t the orange-color in most cheddars a result of added food coloring?
Nathalie, the yellow coloring in the cheddar cheese is from annatto, a natural ingredient that is derived from the seeds of the achiote trees. The seeds contain a natural dye that ranges in color from yellow to orange.
Oh, I didn’t know that. Thanks Jeanette.
Love the story behind these turkey taco pizzas! Sometimes accidents turn into the best surprises!
I’d say this was more of a happy accident than anything else!! My mom used to make us French bread pizza (on purpose) all the time and it is so good! Love your taco toppings!
Joanne – funny how sometimes the unexpected all works out.
Indeed a happy accident, Jeanette! The colourful topping looks so tempting.
Thanks Angie – the toppings are fun!
Looks like everything turned out for the best. This looks really delicious!
Yes Cheri, thankfully, it all worked out fine. I actually considered tossing the bread but I’m so glad I didn’t.
It takes a confident cook to admit and then salvage a kitchen fail — you came up with something unique and wonderful!
Sue – it kills me to throw food out, so I am all for trying to salvage kitchen disasters 🙂
Oooh, I love happy accidents like that! That looks amazingly good, Jeanette!
Shirley
Thanks Shirley – yes, so happy when potential disasters turn out – I hate throwing food away so I’m always looking for ways to salvage disasters.
This looks delicious. I love new topping combinations and look forward to trying this one!