This Papa John's Cheeseburger Pizza copycat recipe has a special sauce spread on a crispy pizza crust then topped with ground beef, mozzarella, pickles, and onion. It's a fun and unique pizza flavor that everyone loves!
Cheeseburger Pizza; thought no… but wow, yes.
Cheeseburger Pizza; thought no… but wow, yes.I had serious doubts when Jeff insisted ordering Papa John's Cheeseburger Pizza one weekend, but it ended up being the surprise favorite, and is included in our homemade pizza nights rotation now. (We're obsessed with our Ooni pizza oven, and make all of these pizza recipes). The combination of the burger sauce, crumbled meat, cheese and pickle on a crispy pizza crust is just so satisfying!
Don't miss my other copycat recipes like Olive Garden Breadsticks and Zuppa Toscana Soup, P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps, or my Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich!
How to make Cheeseburger Pizza:
Assemble: Pre-bake homemade pizza crust for 6 minutes. Cook ground beef in a skillet breaking up into small pieces with a meat chopper. Mix the sauce ingredients and spread on pre-baked pizza crust. Sprinkle cheese then ground beef, onion, pickle slices, and more cheese! Bake for 8-12 minutes or melty cheese and golden crust.
More of my favorite Pizza Recipes:
- Wheat Pizza Dough
- Pepperoni Pizza
- Burrata Pizza
- Detroit-Style Pizza
- Thai Chicken Pizza
- White Pizza
- Easy Grilled Pizza
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Recipe
Cheeseburger Pizza
Equipment
- Ooni Pizza Oven , optional
Ingredients
- 1 recipe pizza dough
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 5-6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (622g)
- 2/3 cup sliced dill pickle (95g)
- 1/3 cup chopped onion (47g)
Cheeseburger Pizza Sauce:
- 2/3 cup ketchup (157g)
- 1/3 cup yellow mustard (77g)
- 1.5 Tablespoons mayonnaise
Instructions
- Make pizza dough.1 recipe pizza dough
- Pre-bake dough: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Roll out/stretch pizza dough and pre-bake the dough for 6 minutes.
- Cook ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, browning and breaking up into small pieces until it's cooked through. Remove grease.1 lb lean ground beef
- Combine pizza sauce ingredients in a small bowl.2/3 cup ketchup, ⅓ cup yellow mustard, 1.5 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- Assemble: Spread sauce on pre-baked pizza crust. Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the sauce. Sprinkle ground beef and onion on top of the cheese and spread desired number of pickle slices on the pizza. Top with additional cheese.5-6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 2/3 cup sliced dill pickle, ⅓ cup chopped onion
- Bake for 8-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
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- Add French fries: top the pizza with precooked french fries before baking. Don't judge until you've tried it!
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- Add hot sauce to sauce: sprinkle hot sauce on the final product or mix some in with the sauce before spreading on the pizza.
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- Add other “burger” toppings: cooked bacon pieces, peppers, different cheeses, onion rings.
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe April 2021. Updated May 2025.
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I’ve been making this for years . Must admit never tried it with mayo and the sauce definitely gonna give that a shot,but I also add mushrooms and crispy bacon bits. I have also added pineapple chunks at times.My granddaughter has started to add banana slices. on hers.When I make them, I let everyone put on their on toppings.
It’s okay. Next time I make it I will use the sauce sparingly and just brush the crust with it. The pickles were just not needed for our taste.
Made this last night and my family devoured it! It took some time, only because I made the dough, but I plan on making up a few dough recipes, throwing them in the freezer, which will make this a super quick, delicious weeknight dinner! Thank you again for a great recipe.
We made this for dinner tonight and my kids DEVOURED IT! They said it tasted like a cheeseburger from one our their favorite fast food places. This will definitely be added to our dinner rotation.
The recipe is pretty good. I used about 4 oz. of chopped hamburger meat and worked on the sauce balance based on not using a pound of ground beef. I did not use onion.
Honestly I’ve never had cheeseburger pizza before and I was a bit skeptical, but this is delicious! The sauce is super yummy and totally makes the pizza, I didn’t have any pickles to add but next time I will try it with pickles! And this was super simple to put together, I keep browned ground beef with onions in my freezer so having that prepped ahead made this an easy peasy dinner tonight!! Will be making it again thanks!
Very yummy! I added a splash of pickle juice to the condiments as well.
Loved it. Assembled faster than I thought. I spiced up the ground beef with salt.pepper and a generous shake of garlic powder. For the cheese I did not skimp. I used the recommended Mozzarella and a colby,chedder mix.
This just took our Friday night, pizza night to a whole new level. My kids love cheeseburger pizza (it’s not my favorite) so I don’t make it very often. I honestly haven’t found a recipe that’s worth keeping. I’ve had great success with your recipes, so I thought I would give it a try. I swear to you, my kids thought it was take out. It was so good! For me, it was the sauce. I followed your advice and added a little hot sauce and OMG! We all loved it!