Mouthwatering Taco Braid With Pizza Crust
on Feb 21, 2023, Updated Feb 09, 2024
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Make a taco braid with pizza crust for a delicious twist on traditional tacos. All you need is pizza dough that’s rolled into a rectangle and filled with a tasty taco filling.
Braid the dough over the filling to create a beautiful and delicious taco braid.
This recipe is easy to customize with your favorite toppings and can be served as a main dish or as an appetizer.
What to Love about this Taco Braid Recipe
- Budget friendly meal
- Uses pre-made refrigerated pizza dough
- Versatile in how you fill up the bread
- Bakes quickly in the oven
- Family favorite and kid approved
- Easy dinner idea
Try out my taco salad or fajita chicken stuffed peppers for more taco night ideas.
Ingredients
This braided pizza dough is a must for your next Taco Tuesday.
Here’s what you need:
- Pizza Dough – Refrigerated pre-made dough or homemade pizza dough
- Oil – Olive oil or avocado oil work great
- Onion – Yellow, finely chopped
- Beef – Ground beef, cooked and drained of grease
- Taco Seasoning – Store bought or homemade taco seasoning
- Water – Filtered, to disperse taco seasoning in meat
- Cheese – Mexican shredded cheese or your favorite variety
- Tomatoes – Diced
- Romaine – Chopped
- Toppings – Sour cream, taco sauce and salsa, optional
How to Make it
Full directions on how to make this easy taco braid recipe are in the printable recipe card. This is a quick walk through.
Line baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven.
In a large skillet, add your oil and saute onion on medium heat until softened.
Add ground beef and cook until it is browned all the way through. Drain off any excess grease.
Stir in taco seasoning and water and reduce the ground beef mixture to a simmer for around 5 minutes.
Unroll pizza dough and roll to create a 10×15 size. Then with a pizza cutter or sharp knife cut the edges about 1 1/2 inch thick down each side into wide strips.
Fill the center of the dough with the cooked ground beef, and top with shredded cheese and tomatoes.
Then start to close up and braid the dough. Fold one end of the dough over and begin to criss cross the strips of dough.
Once you get to the other side, fold the bottom over the meat and criss-cross the last two strips.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until golden brown.
Slice and serve with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and other taco toppers.
Tips and Tricks
- Use a good quality pizza dough: You can use store-bought or homemade pizza dough for this recipe. Make sure the dough is at room temperature before rolling it out to prevent it from shrinking back.
- Super lean ground beef: Reduce the grease and use a super lean ground beef.
- Let it cool: Let the braid cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving to prevent the filling from spilling out.
- Use egg wash: Brushing the top of the braid with egg wash will give it a nice golden color and a crispy texture.
- Add your favorite toppings: Feel free to add your favorite taco toppings, such as diced onions, jalapeños, or bell peppers. You can also add some beans or corn to the filling for added texture.
- Don’t overfill the braid: It’s important not to overfill the braid to prevent the dough from breaking or tearing. Leave a border of about an inch around the edges to make it easier to seal the braid.
Taco Braid Variations
Vegetarian Braid:
Instead of ground beef or turkey, use a plant-based protein like crumbled tofu or tempeh. Add veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers, or zucchini for added flavor and texture.
Or try black beans. They are a great way to add more protein without meat. Refried beans are another option.
Crescent Roll Dough:
Skip the pizza bread dough and use one to two cans of crescent roll dough.
Press the seams together and then cut the edges the same and bake for 10-14 minutes or until the dough is baked through.
Chicken or Turkey:
Swap the ground beef with ground turkey or cooked and shredded chicken. Add some diced onions, green chilies, and shredded cheese for a delicious dinner.
Breakfast Taco Braid:
Use breakfast sausage or bacon instead of ground beef and add scrambled eggs and shredded cheese for a delicious breakfast taco braid.
Storing
For leftovers, simply allow the taco braid to cool and then place in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave or the oven.
To freeze, place the cooked taco braid in a freezer container and freeze for 2-3 months.
Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating the leftovers. The pizza crust will be a bit softer or chewy once it is reheated from being frozen so I recommend using an air-fryer if you have one.
What to do with Leftover taco meat?
There are many ways to repurpose leftover taco meat!
Try making simple quesadillas, easy empanadas, salads, stuffed peppers or use it on nachos. Yum!
Print the Recipe
Easy Taco Braid with Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3 TBSP Taco Seasoning
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup Mexican style shredded cheese or cheddar cheese
- 1 tomato, diced
- 2 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
- Optional: Salsa and sour cream for serving
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and chopped onion over medium heat and cook until soft. Add in the ground beef and cook until brown. Add in ½ cup of water and the taco seasoning, and mix until well combined. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Place pizza dough onto the parchment paper and roll it out so it measures approximately 10×15. Using a pizza cutter, makes slices that are about 1 ½ inches thick down each side of the dough.
- Place the cooked ground beef down the center of the dough and top with ¾ cup of cheese and tomato.
- Start to close up the dough by braiding it at one end of the dough. Fold the end up and wrap the first two slices over to seal up the end. Repeat the braiding with opposite slices until 2 remain and then wrap the last slices up to secure the other end.
- Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the dough.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool a few minutes. Before serving, cover with chopped lettuce, and additional tomato if desired. Optional: Top with sour cream and salsa and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
