Meatball Pizza Recipe

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword best-meatball-pizza, meatball-pizza-recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 38

Total Time 58

Servings servings

Calories 349kcal

Ingredients

Meatballs:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs Italian seasoned
1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
1 largr egg lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp dry Italian seasoning
1 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
Pizzas:
2 16 oz premade balls of pizza dough
olive oil
1 cup pizza sauce
4 cups low moisture shredded mozzarella cheese
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp dry Italian seasoning
chopped fresh parsley for garnishing

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper, set aside. (You could also make the meatballs on a broiler pan.)
Add the ground beef, Italian sausage, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, onion, egg, granulated garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dry Italian seasoning in a large bowl. Use a rubber spatula or your hands to combine.
Roll meat mixture and roll it in your hands to form a 1 inch ball. Place on the prepared sheet tray, not touching. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture.
Bake meatballs for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown, and they reach 165°F internal temperature. Let cool on the pan while you prepare the crust. (This can be done up to 2 days in advance to save time.)
Pizza Crust: Lightly spray two 14-inch pizza pans with cooking spray. Stretch and pat the pizza dough even thickness onto the pans. Dock the crust using a fork, then drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (about 1 Tablespoon on each) and brush all over.
Place into the oven and bake for 8 minutes or just until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, cut the meatballs in half and set aside.
Assemble the Pizzas: Remove the par baked crust from the oven and spread each pizza with ½ cup pizza sauce. Spread evenly leaving a 1/2-inch border along the edge.
Sprinkle each crust with 1 cup mozzarella cheese, then arrange the meatball halves on top.
Season both pizzas with granulated garlic and Italian seasoning, topping with the remaining (1 cup each) shredded cheese. Sprinkle each pizza with 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan
Place back into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown along the crust and the cheese has melted and browned.
Let stand for 3-5 minutes, then slice and enjoy.

Notes

Homemade Pizza Dough - Make your own pizza dough for this recipe using my Pizza Dough recipe. One batch can be divided in half to make two pizzas.
Refrigerated Crust - If you choose to use a tube of refrigerated pizza dough like Pillsbury classic, you won’t need to parbake the crust. Assemble the pizza per the recipe and follow the instructions on the back for baking according to their recommendation.
Frozen Pizza Dough - You can also use frozen pizza dough. Follow the package instructions of how to safely thaw the dough.
Meatball Shortcut - If you don’t want to make your own meatballs, you can use frozen. Prepare them as directed on the back of the packaging and cut them into halves or fourths, depending on the size.
Veggies - Add Green bell pepper, thinly sliced onion, black olives, mushrooms or any of your favorite vegetables.
Optional Meat Topping - If you don’t want to bake off the meatballs, you can just cook and crumble the meatball mix in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until no pink remains, about 10 minutes. Then, add half of this mixture over the pizza instead of cutting whole meatballs. When doing this, omit the egg and breadcrumbs.
Chop Meatballs - You can also cut the baked meatballs into smaller pieces or chop them up finely to add to the top.
Pizza Sauce - Use your favorite brand of store-bought pizza sauce or checkout my recipe for homemade pizza sauce. Our favorite store-bought pizza sauce is Classico.
Spices - If you want to spice it up, add another ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes or ¼ teaspoon cayenne to the meatball mix. You can also top the pizza with red pepper flakes while you are adding the oregano and garlic powder on top.

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