Mexican Deep Dish Pizza

Well, we use the term “pizza” liberally. It isn’t really a pizza in a traditional sense, but it is built much like a pizza & we don’t really know what else to call it.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures of this recipe today. We’ll post some next time we make it. This is a great recipe for camping because it is easy, hearty, and feeds 6-8 people pretty well (depending upon how much hiking you did in the day). The ingredients are flexible- add anything you want; delete anything you want. When you give this recipe a shot, let us know what you used for toppings. We’d love to see what others come up with.

Mexican Deep Dish Pizza
12" Dutch Oven
18 coals on top, 12 coals on bottom

2 8.5 oz boxes cornbread mix
2 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter (or cooking oil)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 lb ground beef (or ground turkey, pork, venison)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 package taco seasoning, plus water as called for in the directions
2 cups cheddar cheese
Jalapeno slices (from a jar)
Black olives
Lettuce
Taco Sauce


Melt 1-2 tablespoons butter in a 12" Dutch oven.  Combine the cornbread mixes, eggs, melted butter (or oil), and milk.  Pour the batter into the hot Dutch oven.  Do not stir, the melted butter will keep the cornbread from sticking and will make the edges nice and crispy.  Cook with 18 coals on top and 12 on the bottom.  We added two more coals to the top because we have a deeper D.O.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the bottom clockwise a quarter-turn and rotating the top counter clockwise a quarter-turn partway through.

Meanwhile, Brown the ground beef and onion (We use the leanest meat we can buy so that we don't have to worry about draining a bunch of fat off while at the campground).  Add taco seasoning and water per the directions on the package.  Stir in the drained black beans.

Rotate the bottm and top of the D.O. again (after the 12-15 minutes is up).  When the cornbread is almost, but not quite, done, layer the grown beef/bean mixture, cheese, taco sauce, jalapenos, and black olives.  Bake another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with lettuce, cut, and serve.