January 18, 2021

Cheeseburger Pizza

Name: Cheeseburger Pizza
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 33 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 ball of pizza dough, store-bought or homemade; 3/4 pound ground beef; 1/4 small white onion, finely chopped; Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 4 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese; 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds; 1 Roma tomato, chopped; 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce; 1/3 cup bread and butter pickles; 2 tablespoons ketchup; 2 tablespoons yellow mustard

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This Cheeseburger Pizza recipe has it all! Ground beef, onion, cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard, on a sesame seed crust.

Overhead photo of cheeseburger pizza cut into eight slices, on blue background, with extra condiments nearby.

All of Jeff’s friends love pizza, burgers, barbecue, and beer. He’s no different . . . he just like to class them up a bit.

He brews his own beer, makes his own pizza (you’ve read about many of them), smokes his own root beer ribs, and tries every joint in the greater Detroit area claiming “voted best burger”.

With this pizza, he decided to do a fusion (just like my fusion gyro pizza and taco mac and cheese recipes). Behold the cheeseburger pizza.

Overheat photo of cut cheeseburger pizza, missing one slice, on blue background.

The inspiration behind this cheeseburger pizza recipe:

If you are like him, you like classic burgers. I am talking about the ones made at bowling alleys and little holes-in-the-wall.

These are places where handmade patties are caramelized and sesame seed buns are toasted on a large flat-top griddle.

They usually come with only the basics – cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and onions.

And while sometimes a turkey burger salad hits the spot when we want to eat a little lighter, there’s really nothing like combining the two comfort classics of cheeseburgers and pizza.

What is on a cheeseburger pizza?

This is really up to you, and what you normally like to eat on your cheeseburgers!

Here, we took the toppings from our favorite bar burger, and added some lettuce and tomatoes for freshness:

ground beef
onion
sharp cheddar cheese
lettuce
tomato
pickles
mayonnaise
ketchup
mustard
sesame seeds

Blue tabletop with small bowls of pizza toppings like ground beef, shredded yellow cheese, diced tomatoes, pickles, sesame seeds, shredded lettuce, ketchup and mustard.

If you can, use a pizza stone for this hamburger pizza!

Pizza stones are a wonderful product because they help to achieve that wood-fired oven crispy crust without spending a couple grand on an actual pizza oven. I LOVE a crispy crust for Brussels sprouts pizza.

You simply throw the pizza stone in the oven as it preheats (usually to a high temperature like 450 degrees F) and once the oven comes up to temp you put the freshly stretched dough down on the stone and stick the stone back in the oven to crisp up.

How to make cheeseburger pizza:

We achieved the toasted sesame seed bun feel by using a pizza stone to brown off the pizza crust.

Once the crust was a little bit browned, we spread it with a thin layer of mayonnaise and sprinkled the outside edge with sesame seeds. Think deconstructed Big Mac bun.

The thin layer of mayonnaise also helps the toppings stick to the crust, since we’re not using a traditional pizza sauce here.

Then, we sprinkled the crust with cooked ground beef (with onions) and shredded cheddar cheese and returned it to the oven to melt the cheese.

After that, we simply topped it with lettuce, tomato and pickles, and then drizzled it with ketchup and mustard right before serving!

Overhead photo of pizza topped with burger toppings, with two beers nearby.

What sauce for hamburger pizza?

You actually have a couple of options here. The first time we made this pizza, we made a riff on a Big Mac sauce by mixing equal parts ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise with a little splash of hot sauce.

It was tasty, but it’s honestly just as yummy (and easier and less dishes) to simply squirt the finished pizza with ketchup and mustard!

How to make a bacon cheeseburger pizza:

Well, make it a BACON Cheeseburger pizza by adding bacon, of course!

Before you start your pizza, use my “how to cook bacon in the oven” post to make perfect, crispy bacon strips just like the way I learned in culinary school.

Then, chop up the bacon and sprinkle it over the pizza at the same time you add the ground beef and cheese.

Overhead photo of savory burger flatbread cut into eight slices, missing one piece.

Other ideas to make this pizza your own:

top with avocado or red pepper guacamole to give it a California feel.
add mushrooms, because they are a great burger topping.
make it spicy by adding pickled jalapeños.
get really adventurous and add a few fried eggs to the top!

What to serve with cheeseburger pizza:

Honestly, this is a whole meal on a pizza, and I really don’t think you need a side dish.

So, how about a great drink? I recommend a honey old fashioned for the bourbon lover(s) in the family (or possibly a brandy old fashioned) and strawberry ginger lemonade for everybody else.

We hope you enjoy combining our favorite foods and indulging in this creation.

More great pizza recipes:

Meaty or vegetarian, summer or winter, pizza is a weeknight staple for my family, because it’s so versatile.

Grilled Chicken Pizza – we make this one all summer long.
Loaded Baked Potato Pizza – cheese and bacon goodness!
Lox Pizza – one of Lori’s personal favorites.
Detroit Style Pizza Recipe – with pickled tomatoes!
Filthy Animal Pizza – an ode to Home Alone.
Italian Grandma Pizza – so comforting, just like grandma!
Roasted Cauliflower Pizza – a reader favorite.
Rustic Pizza – a complete meal on a pizza!
No Yeast Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Homemade In The Kitchen
Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs from A Couple Cooks

For even more pizza creations, check out our pizza archive!

Yield: 4 servings