Love a good fusion meal? Look no further than this delicious birria pizza to satisfy your Italian-Mexican cravings. This mouthwatering pizza features slow-cooked birria meat, gooey cheese, and spicy jalapenos.
Birria is having its moment right now, and I am LIVING for it.
Sure, classic slow-cooked birria meat is delicious in its own right, but it’s the creative way it’s also used that makes it shine. If you’ve tried my birria quesadilla, birria ramen, or quesabirria tacos before, you’ll love the addition of birria meat on pizza!
Recipe highlights
- It is so flavorful. The birria meat and stew pack heaps of flavor. It is sweet, spicy, tangy, and savory, and once you add cheese and a pizza crust, it’s pretty much perfect.
- Quick. If you have birria meat leftovers or a frozen batch, you can enjoy this pizza within minutes.
- Versatile. I love how versatile this pizza is. You can also use any crust you like, including a cauliflower pizza crust, eggplant crust, cast iron pizza, or even French bread!
- Ultimate fusion recipe. If you love experimenting with exciting flavors and cuisines (like my Mexican pizza), this one is for you!
Ingredients Needed
You can never have too much birria meat, especially when there are so many tasty dishes to use it in. Let’s see what else you need:
- Pizza dough. Get your trusted store-bought dough, or make your pizza dough from scratch.
- Birria cooking liquid and meat. You’ll need this flavorful stew to sauce up the pizza, along with the meat.
- Cheese. No pizza is complete without a generous layer of shredded cheese. Use Mexican Oaxaca cheese or your favorite cheese for this pizza.
- Jalapenos. Clean and slice one jalapeno pepper to spice up your pizza.
How to make birria pizza
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1 – Roll the dough
Dust the surface and roll the dough out into a circular pizza base. Transfer it to the baking sheet and create raised borders to hold the toppings.
Step 2 – Assemble the pizza
Add the birria liquid, spread the shredded meat, layer the cheese, and evenly arrange the jalapenos on the pizza.
Step 3 – Bake, slice, and serve
Bake the pizza in a preheated oven at 250°C for 12 minutes until the cheese melts.
Recipe tips and variations
- Make your pizza dough. I like to use a simple 2 ingredient pizza dough. You can customize the dough to your liking and even make it gluten-free.
- Thicken the birria cooking liquid. Reduce a cup of birria stew to half a cup by heating it in a saucepan to make a thick, silky sauce. Alternatively, you can fold in some pomodoro or sugo for a tomato-flavored sauce.
- Bake the pizza in a hot oven. Do not forget to preheat the oven to the required temperature. The instant and sustained high heat helps to bake a light, crusty, and chewy crust.
- Make a calzone. Instead of a pizza, wrap the juicy meat in the dough, shape it into a calzone, and bake it as indicated.
- Garnish with fresh herbs. Add chopped cilantro, parsley, or chives to garnish this pizza. It’ll elevate the dish with its refreshing crunch.
- Use other Mexican-style meat. Any flavorful Mexican meat works, including carnitas, beef barbacoa, or something hearty like al pastor or chicken al pastor. All of these proteins come in some form of broth too, which can work like a sauce.
Storage instructions
To store: I rarely have any birria pizza leftovers. But if you end up with a few extra slices, refrigerate them for 4-5 days in a sealed container.
To freeze: Freezing leftover pizza is not a great idea because the crust crumbles upon thawing.
To reheat: I prefer heating my pizza in the air fryer, but a microwave or oven works just as well.
Frequently asked questions
Which cheese works best in birria pizza?
Which pizza crusts work with this recipe?
Can I add more toppings to the pizza?
Birria Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough * See notes
- 1/2 cup birria broth
- 1 cup birria meat
- 1 cup oaxaca cheese shredded
- 1 small jalapeno sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250C.
- Roll out the pizza dough to the 28cm diameter circle using some flour for dusting.
- Place it on the baking sheet and flatten the inside part of the dough, creating higher edges of the dough (2cm width) so you reserve the liquid inside.
- Pour the Birria broth on the dough and spread it using the ladle in the circle. Sprinkle the Birria meat evenly, followed by the cheese. Top with some jalapeno pepper slices.
- Bake for 12 min in the oven until the cheese melts and begins to go golden.
- Slice the pizza and serve warm with some hot sauce or more Birria liquid.