This Cheeseburger Pizza recipe turns everyone’s favorite burger into a pizza! A sesame seed pizza crust is topped with rich pizza sauce, plus ground beef, cheese, and pickles. A drizzle of creamy, flavorful burger sauce is the final delicious touch!

This crazy fun Cheeseburger Pizza recipe combines two classic dishes into one, and the math works:
Pizza + cheeseburger = AWESOME YUM!
Why We ❤️ Love This Burger Pizza Recipe
- Fun factor! Pizza, but with the flavors of a traditional cheeseburger, including a drizzle of burger sauce? Yes, please! One of our family’s favorite pizzas is Pickle Pizza, with its creamy ranch sauce. So this cheeseburger pizza with pickles and red sauce has been absolutely welcomed into the family!
- Classic cheeseburger ingredients. You’ll find all the familiar flavors and textures of a cheeseburger included in this cheeseburger pizza recipe, including ground beef, cheese, pickles, sesame seeds on the crust, and special burger sauce. Traditional pizza red sauce offers the perfect tomato-rich likeness to the ketchup on a burger.
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this cheeseburger pizza recipe – I’ll start with the ingredients for the pizza and then move onto the ingredients for a super simple burger sauce to drizzle over the top of the finished pizza! Find the exact ingredient amounts in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
For the pizza:
- Pizza dough – Use my recipe for Homemade Pizza Dough or your own favorite dough.
- Pizza sauce – My Homemade Pizza Sauce is perfect, or you can use your own favorite sauce.
- Olive oil –
- Onion & garlic – These add great flavor, plus enticing aroma.
- Ground beef – For that classic cheeseburger flavor and texture. I recommend using 80/20 ground chuck, which has a nice amount of fat to keep the meat tender and juicy (especially since the beef actually gets cooked twice – first on the stovetop, then on the pizza in the oven).
- Salt & pepper – Simple seasonings for the beef.
- Mozzarella cheese – Use shredded mozzarella for melty goodness. If possible, use whole-milk mozzarella for the creamiest texture and fullest flavor.
- Dill pickle chips – Grab a jar of pickles from the store, or use my Refrigerator Dill Pickles (cut them into rounds/chips rather than spears) or my Bread & Butter Pickles.
- Water – This adheres the sesame seeds to the crust.
- Sesame seeds – This gives the traditional cheeseburger’s sesame-seed-bun appearance, texture, and flavor to the pizza crust. Leave them off if you like.
For the burger sauce:
- Mayonnaise – This is what makes the burger sauce creamy. If you’re a fan of the Big Mac, just think “special sauce”!
- Ketchup – I love me some ketchup. It’s essential when we’re talking burgers and French Fries!
- Mustard – This gives the sauce another layer of classic burger flavor. Use classic yellow mustard or Dijon for a little more flavor depth.
How to Make Cheeseburger Pizza
Follow along with my photos below, where I show you how to make your own cheeseburger pizza! Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.
- Cook veggies. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil.
- Add beef. Add the ground beef to the skillet with the onion and garlic, season with salt & pepper, and brown until cooked through.
- Roll dough. Place pizza dough on a floured surface. Roll to a thickness of ⅛” to ¼”, in a round shape about 15″ in diameter.
- Add sauce. Place the dough round on a piece of parchment paper, for easy maneuverability and clean-up. Or place the dough round on a lightly greased pan. Then spread the pizza sauce evenly over the dough.
- Cover with cheese. Add shredded mozzarella over the sauce.
- Add beef. Top the cheese with the browned beef.
- Sprinkle with more cheese. Then add another layer of cheese!
- Add pickles. Scatter the pickle chips over the pizza – add more if you like!
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Brush the crust with a little water, then immediately sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake. Place assembled pizza (with parchment paper) on a pan. Bake at 450°F until crust is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 13 minutes or so. Place under the broiler to blister the cheese a bit, if desired.
- Make burger sauce. Combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
- Top. Drizzle the burger sauce over the top of the baked pizza. Then slice and serve!
Variations
Even though my Homemade Pizza Dough and Homemade Pizza Sauce definitely add a special touch to this recipe, it’s A-ok to use store-bought sauce and/or pre-made or packaged mix pizza dough. Here are some other ways you can switch up this recipe:
- More meat. I ❤️ a good bacon cheeseburger. Just chop up some cooked bacon and sprinkle it on the pizza!
- Add mushrooms. And I love a good bacon MUSHROOM cheeseburger even more! I just slice some fresh button mushrooms nice and thin and add them over the browned beef.
- Like onions? Slice up some red onions and arrange them over the top of the pizza.
- Other cheese. I stuck to classic pizza cheese here, using only mozzarella. But we often use half mozzarella, half medium cheddar. Parmesan is always good on pizza. For a kicked-up flavor, use pepper jack. You could really use any cheese that you like on a cheeseburger; just make sure that at least half of it is a cheese that melts easily.
- Different pickles. No need to still to classic hamburger dills here. Try sweeter Bread & Butter Pickles or Sweet & Spicy Pickles.
- MORE pickle flavor. Some burger sauces include pickle relish – go ahead, stir some in!
- Add all the spice. Throw on some Pickled Jalapenos. Sprinkle the pizza with dried red pepper flakes. Or add some spicy Kimchi.
- Use a different burger sauce. Swap out the burger sauce for a simple drizzle of mayo. Or separate drizzles of mayo, ketchup, and mustard. You could also try Barbecue Sauce instead. Or just use Thousand Island dressing. Or your favorite hot sauce.
- Add fresh toppings. After you pull the pizza from the oven, top it with fresh shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes.
Serving Suggestions
Cheeseburger pizza makes a meal on its own, but here are a few ideas for what to serve with this pizza:
- Salad. A cheesy cheeseburger pizza loves a side of fresh salad! Try a crisp Winter Apple Salad or fresh Cucumber Salad. Coleslaw would also be really good – such as traditional Creamy Coleslaw or this fabulous Jalapeno Coleslaw.
- Ranch. My family is big on ranch dip, and use it for most everything. Dipping pizza into ranch dressing is no exception! My homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing is awesome with this pizza.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
If you have leftover cheeseburger pizza, here’s what to do with it:
- Fridge – Wrap slices of pizza in plastic or foil, or just separate any layers with parchment paper, and place them in an airtight container or sealable bag. Store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat – Pizza tastes best when it’s reheated in the oven…although I remember Mom often eating cold pizza straight from the fridge! Unwrap the leftover slices of burger pizza, place them on a baking sheet, and reheat them in a preheated 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. You could also use a microwave, heating in 20-second intervals, until warmed.
More Burger Recipes To Try
Cheeseburger Pizza
Ingredients
Cheeseburger Pizza
- 1 recipe for homemade pizza dough (or use your own favorite dough)
- 1 cup homemade pizza sauce (or use your own favorite sauce)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (use whole milk mozzarella if possible)
- ½ cup drained dill pickle chips (use more if you like!)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Cheeseburger Sauce
- 2 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 3 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
Instructions
Cheeseburger Pizza
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté onion until just softened and a bit translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add ground beef to the skillet with onion and garlic, breaking the beef apart with a spatula. Season with salt & pepper, to ensure a nice amount of flavor, and stir to combine. Cook until beef is browned and fully cooked; drain away any excess fat. Remove skillet from heat and set aside to cool.
- On a floured surface, roll prepared pizza dough to a thickness of ⅛" to ¼", in a round shape about 15" in diameter.
- Place dough round onto a lightly greased large pizza pan, baking sheet, or the inverted backside of a baking pan. (If desired, place the dough round on a piece of parchment instead, then place the whole thing on your pan – no need to grease the pan first.)
- Spread pizza sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a small border.
- Sprinkle 2 cups of mozzarella over the pizza sauce. Add ground beef, followed by the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Then scatter pickle chips over the top.
- With a kitchen brush, lightly brush the edge of the pizza crust with water, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake pizza in preheated oven until crust is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 13 minutes or so. Place under the broiler to blister the cheese a bit, if desired.
Burger Sauce
- While pizza is baking, prepare the Burger Sauce by combining ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Mix well.
Finish
- After you remove the pizza from the oven, let the pizza rest for a few minutes to let the cheese and toppings settle in. Then drizzle the Burger Sauce over the top. Now slice, serve, and enjoy!
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