Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza
TacoBell Mexican Pizza are always a favorite and now you can make them right at home!
Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza lets you skip the drive thru and make this delicious favorite at home! I have the secret to making them taste just right!
Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza is the drive thru favorite you can now make at home!
So we have talked a little about my TacoBell obsession before, I love it, I will not lie lol. I do go there once a week, ain’t no shame in my drive thru game lol.
Ever since I was little I can remember my mom and my grandma always getting the Mexican Pizza. I was happy with my kids meal and cinnamon twists to explore the menu (remember when they had kids meals?)
Then I got older and decided it was time to be like the women in my family and try these Mexican Pizzas (sans tomatoes because bleh lol).
It was love at first bite. Everything went together perfectly and I get them all the time now, I might just have to pick one up on my next visit lol. I love them so much that I wanted to make them at home and set about figuring out how.
Then Taco Bell discontinued the Mexican pizza, it was a sad day! Everyone still wanted them so I figured I could make them at home and get my fix.
Now the ingredients are simple and there were some recipes on Pinterest for them but I could tell just by looking they weren’t going to stack up to the original.
See the thing that makes the Mexican Pizza so delicious is its crispy shell. All the other copycat recipes I have seen have you using a tortilla thats been baked till crunchy or those crunchy corn tortilla discs. Neither of these will give you that authentic taste.
In order to achieve true copycat perfection you need my secret ingredient and that is refrigerated taco salad shells.
They can be a little hard to find and you can certainly use the above methods, but if you can find these salad bowls they make all the difference! I included a picture to help.
You can keep the toppings simple with just some diced tomato and scallion (remember when TacoBell used to have green onions)
These are a great quick dinner, everyone loves them. They can be customized to anyone’s liking and are a great way to use up leftover taco meat.
So make a Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza for your dinner tonight and skip the drive thru!
HOW TO MAKE COPYCAT TACOBELL MEXICAN PIZZA
- FULL RECIPE BELOW
- This recipe makes 2 mexican pizzas
- Brown and drain hamburger and season with taco seasoning.
- Bake shells two at a time on cookie sheet till just golden
- Spread refried beans on 2 of the shells
- Divide the hamburger meat onto the beans
- On the remaining 2 shells spread taco sauce on each one
- Top with cheese and broil till melty
- Top with any toppings you like!
INGREDIENTS
- Ground Beef- I like to use lean ground beef for this recipe.
- Taco Seasoning- Use your favorite taco seasoning according to package directions.
- Taco Bowl Shells- See above for where to find.
- Refried beans- I like to use the Taco Bell brand.
- Taco Sauce- Make sure you are getting taco sauce and not the mild sauce.
- Shredded colby cheese- You can use your favorite cheese but Taco Bell usually uses a blend.
- Toppings- Use your favorites like tomatoes, sour cream, scallions
RECIPE FAQS
Can I skip the meat?
Of course! Just leave out the meat and these would make a fabulous Meatless Monday dinner!
I cannot find the shells anywhere?!?! What should I do!!??
Sadly since I first wrote this post a few years ago Walmart stopped carrying them. However quite a few other stores still do. You can go to the Azteca Foods website and use their store locator. You can also buy round crunchy corn tortilla shells that you can also use here. You can also fry soft flour tortillas and use those.
Can I spice this up?
Sure!! Use a pepperjack cheese on top, add a little heat to the meat seasoning or top with diced jalapenos.
Want more copycat recipes? Check these out!
- Slow Cooker Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa Beef
- Copycat Chick-Fil-A Nuggets
- Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Muffins
- Copycat Taco Bell Crunchwraps
- Copycat Cracker Barrel Double Fudge Coka Cola Cake
- Copycat Chic-Fil-a Sauce
Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza
Copycat TacoBell Mexican Pizza lets you skip the drive thru and make this delicious favorite at home! I have the secret to making them taste just right!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, browned, drained, seasoned with taco seasoning
- 8 taco bowl shells, see above for where to find
- 1 can refried beans
- 8 T taco sauce
- Shredded colby cheese
- Toppings, tomatoes, sour cream, scallions
Instructions
- Brown drain and season the ground beef with your favorite taco seasoning.
- Bake the shells flat in the oven till just golden brown.
- Spread 4 of the shells with refried beans.
- Split the ground beef between the 4 shells.
- Spread 2 T of taco sauce on each of the remaining 4 shells.
- Top with cheese.
- Lightly broil the cheese and sauced shells till melty.
- Place those on top of the beef and bean shells.
- Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Looks just like the real thing! But there’s no way I would share that with anyone – all mine!
Have to admit, when I want Taco Bell, the Mexican pizza is what I want! I didn’t know about these shells, I’ll have to look for them. Pinned to share and try. Thanks! (saw you at What’s Cookin’ Wednesday)
Virtually indistinguishable from the real thing! Such a great recipe. Thank you
I love these!! My experiments didn’t turn out well before, but they will now :) Thanks!!
This looks yummy. I’m not a Taco Bell person, but I want to try this.
Shannon ~ bohemianjunktion.com
Love me some Mexican pizza! It’s been so long since I’ve had one…I definitely need to do this soon! Thanks for the reminder.
This was my meal from taco bell, this and the nachos. I Almost cried when they stopped serving it.
I can’t wait to try this!
How do you keep flour tortillas from bubbling?They sometimes don’t come out flat.
I wish I wouldn’t have seen this post because now I’m in trouble. Looks wonderful!!!!
yes, yes, and yes. I’m following you. love copycat stuff. great taste, and you can control ingredients!
I HAVE TO ADMIT I LOVE TACO BELL SOMETIMES… THIS LOOKS GREAT AND MUCH BETTER FOR YOU! THANKS SO MUCH FOR LINKING UP AT OUR LINK IT OR LUMP IT PARTY!
AMY @ http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com
This looks DELICIOUS! I love their taco pizzas! I never tried to make them at home, but now I can! pinned
My kids would love these! thanks for linking up with what’s cookin’ wednesday!
Hi but for ME it’s the Mexican pizza sauce …something about those stewed/canned tomatoes got a girl drooling! I think this is something I just have to buck up and buy, it’ll never be *quite* the same at home!
Taco Bell will sell their taco salad shells!!!! You can buy two for less than a dollar!!
I had no idea!!! That is awesome! Thanks for the tip!
How did you get the salad bowls flat like a pizza?
Hi!! They are actually sold flat and come with formers that you bake them on to get the bowl shape.
I found you THrough the “hit me with your best shot” link up! I used to always get those mexican pizzas! I can’t wait to try this…gonna pin it! :)
-tahnee @ laneandalley.blogspot.com
Very fun. bet its even better than taco bell, no offense taco bell. thanks for linking up to snickerdoodle sunday. (sorry about the caps, not sure why that is happening)
Oh, I haven’t had a Taco Bell mexican pizza in years. Thanks for the recipe…can’t wait to make it.
I’m getting all caps on my comment, too.
of course this masterpiece was featured at Freedom FRidays!!! Oh yum!!
Hugs and thanks for sharing!!
MY kids would be so happy when I make this for them. We are vegetarians, so i would use refried beans all along. Bookmarking this recipe :)
what brand of taco sauce works best?
I think the kind I usually use is Old El Paso. Thanks for stopping by :)
Our local stores actually carry Taco Bell seasonings and taco shells, taco salad shells and soft tacos tortillas).
My Girlfriend tried to make it, Its Super Thanks for Sharing much love from New Mexico, You shared a lovely secret why shouldn’t I return the favor we recently won $500 Reward by taking tellthebell, Cheers
Sorry salsa. You want the slightly chuncky onion and pepper pieces.
Thank you so much
Thank you so much for the tip on Azteca shells!!!!! My boyfriend is Indian-American and he grew up vegetarian. He and most of his family have sentimental ties with Taco Bell food because they were one of the few fast food places that had tasty vegetarian options at the time. The pizzas with beans without beef were his favorite, and since they discontinued them in November 202o he’s missed them a lot. We just made our own Taco Bell pizzas with the help of your recipe and I’m so happy that he really liked them! <3
Oh that makes me so happy! I am so glad you guys liked them!
I made rhese last night snd this is the closest and best Mexican Pizza recipe! These shells are the only ones you’ll need.
Yay!! I am so glad you liked it! Those shells really are the key!
This is the best recipe I came across now that TB has taken the Mexican Pizza off the menu. It’s honestly the only thing I would get from there. So THANK YOU for having this recipe. :D
Yay! I am so glad you liked it! Thank you!!
Useing these shells are the BEST. Mines turned out better than TB. Thanks for this idea
We were happy to hear that Taco Bell was temporarily adding the Mexican Pizza back to the menu. After making this recipe tonight, we no longer care! This was so much better.!! We made our own refried beans and the extra step was more than worth it. We also found the suggested shells in our local supermarket. We’ll be adding this to our recipe repertoire.
Awesome!! I am so glad you guys like them!! :)
Found your post on Pinterest. THANK YOU SO MUCH for the Azteca tortilla tip & your recipe! You nailed it girl! Even though pizza is back at Taco Bell, the nearest to me is 1 hour round trip & since I cook for one, and sky high gas prices, not worth the trip. Who knew my podunk town grocery carries the Azteca. I bought the small fajita size because I thought the salad shell was too big – what was I thinking?! I put just enough oil in cast iron skillet to cover bottom & used cast iron grill press to keep tortilla from puffing up, canned refried beans & enchilada sauce. PERFECT Taco Bell clone! Don’t think I could have noticed a diff with a Taco Bell pizza side by side. Thanks again for a perfect recipe! 1000+
Yay!! I am so glad especially since Taco Bell took them away again lol!
See I liked cooking so much. I liked so much doing experiments. Thanks for sharing.
It’s definitely not just a post it’s a gold!:) Thx a bunch for that!