Why this works
The beef is cooked before it touches the dough — so it brings browned, caramelized flavor instead of releasing water onto the crust. Pickles go on after baking so they stay sharp and cold against the hot cheese. The burger sauce is a finish, not a flood. Everything behaves like a pizza should, but tastes like a burger did something ambitious.
Ingredients
- Pizza dough ball250–280g
- Burger-style tomato sauce70g
- Low-moisture mozzarella80g
- Ground beef90g
- Cheddar, grated35g
- Pickles, thinly sliced20g
- Red onion, thinly sliced15g
- Sesame seeds1 tsp
- Burger sauce, after baking1 tbsp
- Salt and black pepperto taste
- Shredded iceberg lettuce, after baking (optional)handful
Method
- Preheat the oven as hot as possible — ideally 250–300°C with a pizza steel or stone.
- Smash the beef thinly in a very hot dry pan. Cook until the edges are deeply browned and crisp. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool slightly.
- Stretch the dough into a thin round on a floured surface or peel.
- Spread a thin, even layer of burger-style tomato sauce. Thin means thin — no puddles.
- Add mozzarella, the crispy beef pieces, cheddar and red onion.
- Bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is bubbling and starting to color.
- Pull the pizza. Add pickles immediately after baking.
- Finish with sesame seeds and a light drizzle of burger sauce. Add iceberg lettuce if using.