Ground meat pizza: homemade recipe and cooking
To make a successful ground meat pizza, first brown the meat in a pan, drain it well and season it before spreading it over a dough brushed with tomato sauce. Finish with mozzarella, peppers and onion, then bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a very hot oven at 250°C. Pre-cooking the meat keeps it tender, prevents the dough from becoming soggy and ensures every slice tastes the same.
Here is the recipe for a large pizza, the answer to the most frequently asked question (should the meat be cooked beforehand?), the choice of meat and some toppings that offer a change from the classic version. To mince the meat yourself just before cooking, our manual and electric meat mincers provide the desired texture.
Ground meat pizza recipe
You will first find the ingredients for a large pizza, enough to serve 2 to 3 people, then the steps to follow in order to prepare it at home.
Ingredients for 1 large pizza (2 to 3 people)
- 1 pizza dough, approximately 400 g, homemade or store-bought
- 250 g of 15% fat beef mince
- 150 g of tomato sauce or thick tomato purée
- 125 g of mozzarella, plus 40 g of grated emmental or cheddar if you like stretchy cheese
- 1 green or red pepper, 1 red onion, 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of mild paprika
- Salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Steps
- Preheat the oven to 250°C, preferably with fan heating, with the baking tray inside.
- Finely slice the onion and pepper, and chop the garlic.
- Brown the meat in the oil over high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon, with the garlic, paprika, salt and pepper. It should lose all its red colour.
- Drain the meat in a colander to remove the fat and cooking juices.
- Roll out the dough on a sheet of baking paper, brush it with tomato sauce leaving a 2 cm border, and sprinkle with oregano.
- Spread the meat, then the pepper, onion and finally the chopped mozzarella.
- Slide the pizza onto the hot tray and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cheese is bubbling.
If you have some leftover sauce from the day before, a well-reduced homemade bolognese replaces both the tomato sauce and the meat: it's a bolognese pizza, ready in fifteen minutes.
Should ground meat be cooked before making a pizza?
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. A pizza only stays in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, and raw meat placed under the cheese does not always reach the recommended 70°C at its core for ground beef. It also releases water and fat onto the dough, making it soggy in the centre.
| Method | Advantages | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-cooked meat in a pan | Safe cooking, browned and flavourful meat, crispy dough | One more pan to wash |
| Raw meat in small pieces | Faster, very juicy meat | Uncertain core cooking, soggy dough, fat on the surface |
| Meat sauce (bolognese) | Richest flavour, ideal for using up leftovers | Requires a well-reduced sauce, otherwise the dough becomes soggy |
Raw meat is only feasible if it is finely crumbled, in a thin layer, in an oven that reaches 280°C or more. For a family pizza in a domestic oven, pre-cooking remains the most reliable method. Our ground meat cooking times provide details on core temperatures.
Which ground meat to choose for a pizza
Not all ground meats behave the same way in the oven. Here are the most common options, with what each brings to your pizza and how to place it.
- Beef with 15% fat: the most common and most balanced. It remains tender in the oven without leaving a pool of fat.
- Beef with 5% fat: leaner, it dries out quickly. Add it at the end of the toppings, under the cheese, to protect it.
- Lamb or a beef and lamb mix: more character, very good with cumin, onion and a drizzle of cream. This is the base of the oriental pizza.
- Ground veal or poultry: milder, to be enhanced with smoked paprika and herbs.
Mincing your own meat just before cooking makes a big difference to the result: a cut such as chuck or top round, passed through a 6 to 8 mm grid, produces crumbles that retain their juices instead of clumping together. Our electric meat mincer collection brings together the appliances that do this job in a few minutes.
Toppings and variations that make all the difference
Ground meat pizza comes in many varieties. Three versions often appear on tables:
- The Campagnola pizza, the best known in France: tomato sauce, ground beef, sliced button mushrooms, mozzarella and sometimes an egg cracked in the centre at the end of cooking.
- The Texan pizza: barbecue sauce base instead of tomato, ground meat, red onion, pepper, corn and cheddar.
- The oriental pizza: crème fraîche base, ground meat browned with cumin and ras el hanout, melted onions, pepper and black olives.
To save time on the vegetables, a bowl chopper reduces the onion and pepper into small, even cubes in a few pulses: see the models in the electric chopper collection.
What are the ingredients of a bolognese pizza?
It is the simplest variation when you have leftover sauce from the day before. A bolognese pizza combines pizza dough, reduced bolognese sauce (ground meat, tomato, onion, carrot, celery), mozzarella and often Parmesan. Oregano or basil is sometimes added when it comes out of the oven. The sauce must be thick so as not to soften the dough.
A ground meat pizza that is tender and crispy
For a successful pizza, remember three things: pre-cooked and well-drained meat, a thin layer of sauce that lets the dough breathe, and an oven preheated to its maximum with the tray inside. If you can, mince the beef yourself just before cooking: the crumbles stay juicy instead of clumping together. To use up the rest of your meat, browse our ideas for recipes with ground meat.
All our meat and topping mincers are available on Hachoir Cuisine.