Skip takeout and make these Pizza Burgers topped with melty mozzarella, crispy tiny cup pepperoni, and homemade pizza sauce over a juicy burger sandwiched between toasted brioche buns.
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What do you get when you combine a pepperoni pizza with a hamburger? You get the most unique recipe ever! And sure anything pizza-related like our Big Mac Pizza or burger-related like our Homemade Big Mac are high on the list, but this Pizza Burger recipe may be our best fusion recipe yet.
Each bite reveals stringy and melty mozzarella cheese over a homemade pizza sauce loaded with crispy tiny cup pepperoni over a juicy ground beef burger sandwiched between a brioche bun dipped in garlic butter and fried to crispy perfection. Did we mention the tiny cup pepperoni?
Tiny cup pepperoni is unlike traditional pepperoni. Thicker yet smaller coins that curl as they cook into a bowl shape housing greasy goodness, tiny cup pepperoni have super crispy and crunchy edges with a subtle spiciness. Together with the juicy ground beef patty, this pizza burger recipe is like eating a meat lover’s pizza on a bun.
Perfect for Friday nights, Super Bowl parties, or moments when you can't decide on pizza or a burger, this incredible mashup is an adult and kid-friendly recipe sure to have you never picking sides again.
Serve our Pizza Burgers with our Oven Baked Fries, House Salad, or Burrata Caprese Salad as the perfect accompaniment.
Ingredient List
- Buns: brioche or potato buns are our favorite buns for hamburgers, but feel free to use whatever your favorite hamburger bun is.
- Butter: salted butter is what we use in all of our recipes.
- Olive oil: we use extra virgin olive oil for cooking, if you prefer, you can use a lighter oil.
- Garlic: fresh garlic is best for this recipe. The clove is used to flavor the buns and the sauce.
- Red pepper flakes: used to add heat to the sauce. Use more or less depending on your heat preference.
- Tomato sauce: we use passata, which is simply puréed, strained uncooked tomatoes. Alternatively, we use whole canned tomatoes and crush them ourselves.
- Basil: fresh basil for flavoring the sauce.
- Salt: sea salt or kosher salt.
- Ground beef: regular ground beef, the best quality available.
- Pepperoni: small pizzeria-style pepperoni. It crisps up nicely and curls when you fry it, making for amazing texture.
- Mozzarella Cheese: standard dry pizza mozzarella is best for melting. Fresh can work but can be a little liquidy.
- Parmesan: Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated. A little goes a long way so we prefer the real deal in all our recipes.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Recipe Steps: How to Make Pumpkin Crème Brûlée
1. Heat the garlic butter.
Place a small saucepan over medium heat and add the butter, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, until the butter is fully melted and the garlic and pepper flakes begin to sizzle. Then remove from the heat.
2. Toast the brioche buns.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Quickly dip the cut sides of the buns in the butter, ensuring they are completely coated, then place on the skillet to toast until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Make homemade pizza sauce.
While the buns are toasting, return the garlic butter to medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, basil, and salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
4. Cook the beef patties and pepperoni.
Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Shape the beef into ½-inch thick patties and season generously with salt. Place on the skillet and press them down firmly with a spatula so that the meat just begins to spread. Arrange the pepperoni in the open spaces of the pan, to fry until crisp. Cook the burgers and pepperoni for 6-8 minutes, tossing the pepperoni occasionally and flipping the burgers halfway through.
5. Top the burger like a pizza.
With the burgers still on the skillet, spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce on each hamburger, then top with a small handful of cheese. Top with equal portions of the cooked pepperoni.
6. Assemble the pizza burger.
Spread a tablespoon of tomato sauce onto the bottom bun. Use a spatula to transfer a burger to the bun. Top with any pepperoni that fell off while cooking then sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese. Give it a squeeze and eat your heart out!
Chef's Tips
Cooking the perfect burger on a skillet: Use cold meat; this causes the fat to render out slower vs less cold meat, which allows the meat to get brown and crisp. When cooking burgers on the skillet, ensure that the skillet is very hot before placing the patties to cook. You can either sprinkle a few drops of water on the pan, it should almost immediately evaporate, or wait until the skillet just begins to smoke.
Skillet size: If you don’t have a large enough skillet, or are making more than 4 burgers, then work in batches. For step 4, cook the pepperoni first and set aside in a bowl, then cook the burgers as instructed, then continue with step 5.
Melting the cheese: The heat from the pepperoni and the sauce should melt the cheese quickly. If it is not melting, then place an inverted frying pan over the skillet to trap the heat and melt the cheese.
Cooking a pizza burger on the barbecue: While we prefer the texture of a skillet-cooked burger for this recipe along with the ease of using less pans, you can use the barbecue to cook the burgers. Simply barbecue the burgers to your liking and cook the pepperoni in a skillet in step 4, then continue with step 5.
Variations
- Hawaiian: Instead of frying pepperoni in step 4, cook small cubes of ham and pineapple, and continue with step 5 as per the recipe.
- Deluxe/supreme: Add thinly sliced red onions and bell peppers to the pepperoni when frying in step 4.Margherita: Skip the pepperoni and top the burger with tomato sauce and mozzarella, then sprinkle with fresh basil during assembly.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 hamburger buns brioche or potato
- 2 tablespoon butter salted
- 2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups tomato sauce passata or pizza sauce
- 2 tablespoon basil fresh chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 1 lb ground beef medium
- 6 oz pepperoni pizzeria style, thinly sliced (see notes)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
- ½ cup parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- Place a small saucepan over medium heat and add the butter, olive oil, a pinch of salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes, until the butter is fully melted and the garlic and pepper flakes begin to sizzle. Then remove from the heat.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Quickly dip the cut sides of the buns in the butter, ensuring they are completely coated, then place on the skillet to toast until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
- While the buns are toasting, return the garlic butter to medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, basil, and salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat. Shape the beef into ½-inch thick patties and season generously with salt. Place on the skillet and press them down firmly with a spatula so that the meat just begins to spread. Arrange the pepperoni in the open spaces of the pan, to fry until crisp. Cook the burgers and pepperoni for 6-8 minutes, tossing the pepperoni occasionally and flipping the burgers halfway through.
- With the burgers still on the skillet, spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce on each hamburger, then top with a small handful of cheese. Top with equal portions of the cooked pepperoni.
- Spread a tablespoon of tomato sauce onto the bottom bun. Use a spatula to transfer a burger to the bun. Top with any pepperoni that fell off while cooking then sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese. Give it a squeeze and eat your heart out!
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