Simple Tortilla Pizzas
Hungry now? Learn how to make a great tortilla pizza. It's much faster and healthier than ordering out!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 2, 2024
Itās about time I talked to you all about tortilla pizzas. Iāve been making these babies since elementary school when my mom would make something that my picky younger self refused to try. They are perfect for days when the thought of cooking a full-fledged meal is too much to bear and even lifting up the phone to order out seems too hard, or when youāre alone and downright hangryā¦ like me on most days.
Honestly, I havenāt ordered pizza for myself in years because tortillas are always on call. Greasy, cheesy delivery pizza beckons from afar, but tortillas shout from my fridge, āHey, I cost less! Iām better for you! And Iām already here!ā The concept of the tortilla pizza itself is so simple, but there are a few tricks to getting a perfectly crispy, flaky crust and bubbly cheese, so be sure to read the recipe below for my time-proven method for perfect tortilla pizzas.
Topping ideas:
- Barbecue pineapple (as shown): barbecue sauce, mozzarella and sharp cheddar cheese, chopped red onion, sliced fresh jalapeƱo, fresh or defrosted frozen pineapple (canned pineapple is not as good).
- Greek: Basil pesto, feta, fresh or roasted bell peppers (jarred is fine), sliced kalamata olives, chopped red onion, sliced cherry tomatoes.
- Green: Arugula pesto or basil pesto and mozzarella, top with fresh arugula and parmesan shavings after baking.
- Anything you want! Look for more pizza inspiration here.
Tortilla Pizzas
So easy. So good. Everyone needs this tortilla pizza recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 whole wheat tortilla (or whole wheat pita bread)
- Ā¼ cup sauce (marinara, pesto, olive oil and garlic, barbecue sauce)
- ā cup or less shredded/crumbled cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, goat, feta)
- Toppings (go wild!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the tortilla in a 12-inch cast iron pan or baking sheet (max crispiness option: place the tortilla on a stainless steel, oven-safe cooling rack, and place that on the baking sheet).
- Spread sauce evenly across the tortilla, leaving Ā½ inch around the edges. Sprinkle with cheese and toppings.
- Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbling (no sooner!) and the edges of the tortilla are lightly browned, about 10 to 14 minutes. Let the pizza cool for a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
Toaster oven option: Bake the pizza directly on the rack of your toaster oven at 400 degrees for 8 to 11 minutes.
Tortilla note: Make sure to check the ingredients list on the whole wheat tortillas. It should list about 5 ingredients, not 25. I buy mine at health food stores and store them in the fridge or freezer and they almost never go bad.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistās advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This is so easy, I love it! Iām always left with old tortillasā¦and never came to this conclusion myself. Weird! haha
i used a cookie sheet === preheated to 425, sprayed pan and bottom of tortilla with olive oilā
baked 5-8 min ā turned heat down to 350
baked 10-15 min
very crispy and nice brown cheese
Glad your tortilla pizza turned out well, Danielle!
Can you use a baking stone?
Yes! I think that would work great, but youāll need to watch the pizzas closely so they donāt burn. I bet they will cook much faster on the stone.
Do you bake the tortilla first?
How perfect, I love this idea. Iāve used pitas and naan bread for pizza, but never tried a tortilla.
Hangry! That is the perfect word to describe myself at about 7:00pm, after a long day at work and coming home from a workout and I still have to cook because all the leftovers were eaten for lunchā¦ yes HANGRY! At this point, I donāt even care what I eat, all I want is food and I want it now and if I donāt get it now, I;m gonna go crazy. Youāre probably a better person than I am and wonāt go too crazy like that, but that is me when tired and hungry. This is indeed an awesome idea for a fast and easy meal!
I am absolutely not a better person than that, Margarita! My mother will confirm that I am at my worst when Iām hungryā¦ I turn into a hangry monster! Roarrrr!!!
I LOVE tortilla pizzas! I need to get a cast iron skillet but for now they work wonderfully on a stone. :) Yours looks especially delicious! Iāve made dozens of tortillas in the last few weeks and now I regret not making one of these.
I would use a pizza stone if I had one! My cast iron skillet is so great for baking that Iām not sure I need one, though. I donāt know how you cook without one!
This and a skillet chocolate chip cookie recipe I saw today have inspired me to buy one. Thanks for the kick. :)
Hooray! Seriously, the uses for cast iron skillets are endless. Cook with it, bake with it, itās the best.
I use my cast iron skillet and dutch oven regularly; havenāt done cornbread yet, but itās nextā¦
Sounds like you perfected this ā love the cast iron pan idea. Good note on the ww tortilla ingredients list.
Thanks for this wonderful suggestion. I had all of the ingredients right on hand. I put my cast iron skillet on my gas grillāit worked wonderfully. I didnāt want to heat up the kitchen. Just the thing for a Friday night.
Kim, Iām amazed that you tried the tortilla pizza already! I love posting recipes like this, simple recipes that call for super basic ingredients so readers can make them right away. Thanks for commenting to let me know, and great tip about the gas grill! I will add that to my notes.
Love this! Done this a million times but never tried the cast iron skillet. I bet it would be even better if you preheated the skillet, too ā have you tried that? And Iām really obsessing over this pineapple/jalapeno combo.
No, I havenāt! I will try it next time. The crust can get a little too crispy when using a baking rack, and Iād say itās just right with the skillet at room temp so weāll see if itās an improvement. Seriously, you have to try fresh pineapple/jalapeno/barbecue sauce on a pizzaā¦ itās sweet, spicy and salty all at once.
I love making tortilla pizzas for a quick lunch for myself. Yours looks great! Iāll have to try using barbecue sauce sometime. :)
My sister and I did this for lunch today! We used round flatbreads and put on bbq sauce, sauteed peppers and onions, fresh pineapple, and cheddar cheese. They were delicous and so easy!
Thatās great, Sarah! Iām really happy to hear that you and your sister enjoyed your flatbread pizzas. Theyāre one of those āback pocketā mealsā¦ when all else fails, thereās always tortilla pizzas!
We love tortilla pizzas and make them on the grill a lot in the summertime, loving the smoky flavor it gives them. We sort of ODād on them, and I havenāt revisited this simple and perfect summer meal in quite some time. Thank you for the reminder. And yours look ravishing, by the way. :-)
loving pizzaās lately :)
xoxo
whenever I have ready-to-use ingredients for real food in the house, I canāt bear to order in either. (a) it makes me feel guilty and (b) it never tastes as good as something homemade does. Love how quick and easy these are! And MAJORLY healthy!
What a beautiful and nice blog you have. So many healthy and lovely recepies. Have a Nice Day!
I donāt often buy tortillas, but I specifically bought some this week to make pizzas like this for my kids. Canāt wait to try it out. Weāve used pitas in the past and theyāre good, but I like this idea better. Also, bbq sauce on pizza is like, the best! :D
Thatās great, Heidi! Please let me know what you (and your kids) think of the pizzas!
Ah yes, the tortilla pizza. I am trying to get my 11 year old to start making these for himself for snacks. How can it go wrong;)
I think your eleven-year-old can handle tortilla pizzas, I know I could at that age. Stove-top popcorn, on the other hadā¦ I almost burned down the house in fifth grade. Maybe wait a while on that one. :)
Iām with you 100%. I always make these pizzas when I donāt want to think about what to make!
Wow, this is such a delicious idea. I love tortillas, and I love pizza, so why not combine the two. I love that they are so easy to make. Great for busy days.
HaāI totally do this with pita bread all the time. Itās perfect last-minute pizza dinner! I canāt say Iāve ever tried it with tortillas, thoughāprobably because we go through tortillas faster than lightning. :)
Oh yeah! Iām a total tortilla or pita pizza girl too. Such fast, easy, comfort food. Iāve never tried baking them in a cast iron skillet, though. Thanks for the tip!
YUM!! Looks right up our alley!
I alternate between tortilla and pita bread pizzas on the nights I need something quick and simple. Yours look fantastic!
I donāt have a cast-iron frying pan, but a dutch oven would work, right?
I would think so! Iāve never placed my dutch oven in the oven without its lid, but it should be fine without it, right?
I love this idea, going to make this for lunch right this instant with some fresh basil from our garden :)
What a great idea! I love pizza, but often I donāt have the energy to pick up the phone and order one. I think I might try this recipe with some naan instead of tortillas. What can I say? Iāve been on an Indian kick lately!
Have a great day!
What a brilliant idea! I love pizza and using tortillas seems quick and easy.
By the way nice blog, it has easy to make recipes.
I got my cast iron skillet in the mail yesterday and this was the first thing I made with it! Yummy yummy yummy. :) Do you think itād be quicker to just put the pan in the oven while it heats up, and then place the pizza on the pan once itās preheated? I think Iāll try that next time and let you know!
Thatās a good question, Erin! I think the crust is just crispy enough with a non-preheated skillet so I wonder if it would get too crispy on a preheated skillet. Gotta give that cheese enough time to bubble up! Please let me know if you try it, Iām curious!
I just figured out that the bottom heating element of my oven isnāt heating at all and the oven wasnāt really heating to the temperature it said it was. So thatās why mine took forever to get crispy (although it never got crispy in the middle). Thatās why I wanted to preheat the pan. Iāll give it another try once I have a working oven again!
Oh, that would explain it! In the meantime, maybe you could pre-heat the pan on the stove and finish baking it on one of the top racks in your oven. Hope you can get that fixed soon, what a pain!
Try it with corn tortillas!
Delicious! Pregnant and constantly craving pizza, peeked in the pantry whipped up some homemade marinara and am enjoying this light alternative that meets my craving!! Thank you for making my lunch time!
Glad to help, Sasha!
I use an electric fry pan turned to high. A little sauce goes on the tortilla, diced onions and peppers, mozzarella if Iām in the mood, a sprinkle of basil and oregano. 10-12 minutes in the frypan and itās done.
Since I have to watch my blood sugar these are great, as they have lower carbs than pizza shells. Those shells are 3 for 5 bucks, while tortillas are 10 for 3 dollars. Plus these make better pizza than I can get in almost any restaurant.
you can do this stovetop as well! i make mine breakfast style with salsa as sauce, a chopped scrambled egg, onions, green peppers, some sliced ham and of course cheese!!! the cheese still gets bubbly stovetop on medium in a non stick pan! im a college student so this is super easy in the morning and for my tight budget!
I love this recipe! Itās so simple and easy. I will definitely utilize this recipe to create my own personal pizza. FYI, I mentioned this post and your blog in my personal blog site. Hereās the link: http://chilajem.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/menu-plan-monday-week-of-january-7/. Thank you!
Great! Whole family loved them: āI like pizza, mama,ā from my two-year-old
Thanks, Lisa! Iām so glad you and your family enjoyed the tortilla pizzas. Theyāre a great, quick recipe to have in your back pocket.
I preheated my tortillas on a baking sheet for 4 minutes without any toppings, then topped, cooked for 14 minutes (my oven is not well insulated) and they were juuuuust perfect. (really, 30 seconds more would have burned the edges). I did use small tortillasā¦possibly 6 inch. they were really tiny, I have no idea what they would be made for that they need to be that small. :-/
I made English muffin pizzas, then had the idea for tortilla pizzas. I googled it and found your fabulous site. Such great recipes! My almost 3 year old loves these healthy pizzas and so do I!
Thank you, Melinda! I havenāt made English muffin pizzas in a very long time, thanks for the reminder. Glad you and your son are enjoying my recipes!
Iāve made tortilla, english muffin, and bagel pizzas numerous times, but this is my first time using a cast iron skillet in the oven (I do have a pizza stone, though)ā¦ Delicious! I will try to get the skillet preheated next time, for a crispier bottom, but this worked out really well. I put some EVOO on the crust, followed by organic tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and onionā¦ Baked for about 13-14 minutes, followed by 1 min under the broiler, and topped w/ fresh basil after removing from oven.
Perfect!!! Quick, easy and delicious ā whole family loved this
Glad to hear it! Thank you for commenting, Deborah.
Used a whole wheat tortilla today to make these. I used salsa as my sauce (I know, weird, right? Itās the only thing I had in the house), grated Greek graviera as my cheese (so delicious) and topped it with a little olive oil and some basil. The best thing Iāve ever had. Iām gonna make my own pizza sauce and use pita bread next time I try this and see how it comes out.
Thanks for commenting, Marikel! Iām going to try salsa as my sauce next time around. I canāt believe I hadnāt thought of that on my own! Great idea.
Love this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. We absolutely loved it. I changed it up a bit and you can see my version here: http://adayinthelifeofjennay.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/jennays-homemade-tortilla-pizzas-for-2/
Thanks again for sharing! Love your other topping ideas!!
So glad I found this. It was ridiculously easy and way cheaper than takeout. I used a baking sheet and it still came out crispy. Unfortunately the only thing I had on hand was canned spaghetti sauce & canned grated parmesan/romano but it just made me excited to plan out my next pizza. Iām determined to always have tortillas on hand now.
Thanks for this.
Youāre welcome! Glad you enjoyed the pizza. Itās a handy recipe to have in your back pocket.
How about a Reuben pizza, use Thousand Island dressing, corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese? Yumā¦
Go for it!
Have you ever used corn tortillas? Thatās all I have right now and would love to use this with this recipe!
Kate, Iām so sorry I didnāt answer your recipe sooner. I bet they would be tasty with corn tortillas. You could use two corn tortillas instead of one larger wheat tortilla, although Iāve found that the two-tortilla quesadillas are more difficult to manage.
I started making these a few months back and have been addicted since. I work 50 hours a week and take a class 3 days a week. Perfect meal for the few minutes I get between work / class / sleep / repeat. For a little more āpizza-ishā crust, I use 2 tortillas layered with a thin sprinkling of cheese between, olive oil on top. The bottom crust gets nice and crispy, top stays al dente, the cheese holds them together without being obtrusive, and between the layers you tend to get those wonderful air bubbles that we all love in an authentic thin crust. So far, shredded deli ham and crushed pineapple with cilantro is my favorite combo so far!
Also, my local grocer carries 12ā³ āsuper-burritoā size tortillas. Perfect size for a few slices for dinner and a few to eat cold for next dayās lunch at work.
Derrick, thanks for your comment! I read it while I was hungry tonight and got right up to make your version for dinner. Amazing!!! Thank you for sharing! So glad youāre enjoying the tortilla pizza. Iāve never tried cilantro on pizza but obviously that needs to change soon.
I stumbled across the tortilla pizza idea a few months back when I was craving pizza one night after the local pizza shops had all closed. Had to make do with what I had at home for ingredients, and I always have tortillas on hand. I just recently realized Iām not the first to think of this lol. As for the cilantro, I tend to use cilantro with most of my dishes that have acidic or citrusy fruits in them. I think the herb and the acid each enhance the other. I also use it on other dishes youād likely find surprising, such as buffalo chicken dip, as it lightens up the heaviness of the blue cheese dressing and cream cheese. Iām so glad you enjoyed my version of the tortilla crust. Take care, and Eat Sweet!
I use enchilada sauce, shredded chicken from the rotisserie chicken I always buy, and tomatoes because I have enough to give away. Mixed shredded Mexican cheese.
Your Mexican spin sounds great! Thanks, Carolyn!
I whipped this up tonight, and it was good, but I think user error kept it from being great. I preheated the oven to 425 and used a cast iron skillet for 12 minutes, but it wasnāt very crispy. Should I have left it in longer? Thanks
Hey Billy, Iām sorry your tortilla pizza wasnāt crispy enough. Definitely leave it in there longer next time, until the tortilla is golden around the edges and the cheese on top is golden and bubbly.
I was delighted to find your blog because I had ended up with some Ortega soft taco shells that I didnāt want to use for tacos and thought that perhaps they might make the kind of thin pizza crust that I canāt find easily. Not having a cast iron pan, I simply used the oven rack and they came out fine, except that the crust was just not as crispy as I would have liked. It was okay, but not perfecto. Would this be due to the kind of shell that I was using? Would whole wheat (or some other kind) give me a crispier crust? Would a cast iron pan do better? The shells were 6-1/2 inches in diameter and were just a perfect size. I used some Ragu pizza sauce, packaged shredded mozzarella cheese, some Dietz & Watson skinny pepperoni (hot dog size) and onions. Pre-heated oven to 400, used the center rack, and waited until the cheese bubbled and the edges were golden brown. Delicious!
Hey Arthur! These are all good questions. I have never made tortilla pizzas with corn taco shells. I suspect that those are probably the root of the problem. I think you would have better luck with flour tortillas. Baking on the rack should produce crispy crusts. Hope youāll give them another try!
Thanks for the tips! We had always tried to make tortilla pizzas but they were soggy:( No cast iron skillet so I used our pizza stone & they were perfect! I have 3 very happy kids right now!
Perfect! Thanks, Kristin!
Kate, I hope you have seen the pizza wars Regina Canada best in chow they used 2 flour tortillas to fuse it together to make like. A real crust. Itās on serious eats too under pizzadilla. Youāll love it
I just tried something like that on the suggestion of another commenter! Itās so good!
I made this quesadilla type thing, but coated the one side of the tortilla with the basil that comes in a little squeeze tube then grated three types of cheese (parmesan, coastal cheddar, and monterey jack), then sliced tomatoes and topped it with another basil coated tortilla. I had it like three times the first week I made it. So good. and we pre-toasted the tortilla on the griddle. I bet youād love it!
That sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing, Marie. Itās about time I tried those squeeze tubes of herbs.
I read your comment about them not crisping properly and I donāt have a cast iron pot unfortunately so I put the tortillas in the oven for 5 minutes at 400 then let them crisp a bit first. Then I yook them out, sauced and topped them and put it back in for another 4 minutes and it was crispy and yummy. My husband are 5 of them! Thanks for the recipe it was delish.
Great idea! Thanks, Dani.
Wow ā thanks for the inspiration! You just turned what-have-I-got-in-the-fridge into the best thing I tasted all week! Homemade (low-sugar) BBQ sauce, homemade sausage, black-pepper-mozzarella, and diced red bell pepper. Crazy good!
And for those without an iron skilletā¦ I used a stoneware pie pan, preheated it in the oven, and sprayed the tortilla with olive oil. 12 minutes at 400 was perfect.
Hooray, thanks Jana!