Love a thin and crispy pizza crust with all the meaty toppings? Then this BBQ Meat Lovers Pizza is for you.

We love making pizza from scratch at our house, especially on Fridays. Meatlovers is my hubbys regular order so this was the first one I posted here.

Using my super Easy Homemade Pizza Dough, you can make all your favourites from thin and crispy to thick crust and even calzone.

For all you serious pizza fans, click here for more pizza recipes.

An unsliced pizza on a wooden board with a glass of wine nearby.

Table of contents

A sliced pizza on a wooden board.

How many pizzas from one batch of dough?

A homemade pizza can be as gourmet (or not) as you want. The pizza dough can be as thick or thin as you want.

One batch of my pizza dough will make 2 very thin and crispy 12 inch pizzas or 2x 10 inch average thickness pizza. Or make them smaller and get thick soft pizza base. It’s your pizza, so it’s your call.

Ingredients for BBQ Meat Lovers Pizza

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

Once you’ve got your pizza dough made, the toppings are up to you. Use your favourites.

For Meat Lovers, you’ll want to add lots of meat – a minimum of 3 types, but you could add 5 or more. For this pizza we add;

  • Pizza sauce: We add our favourite store bought BBQ sauce but use your favourite or keep it simple with tomato paste.
  • Meats: I use a combination of 5 meats – chicken, ham (or bacon), beef mince (or sliced steak), Italian sausage and pepperoni.
  • Vegetables: We keep this simple with onion and mushroom. Sometimes we’ll add a bit of capsicum / bell pepper.
  • Cheese: I like a combination here too – mozzarella cheese for it’s glorious stringiness and a creamy cheddar cheese. Provolone has a strong but creamy lovely flavour too. I don’t tend to use parmesan cheese on pizza as I find the flavour a little too overpowering.

Feel free to add other favourite toppings too: basil or other herbs for freshness, or some dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) for a spicy kick. Olives always add a great saltiness too.

As long as you use ground or finely chopped meats, you can add the meat raw. This will mean they’ll be juicy and perfectly cooked rather than dried out. It will all cook in the time required to get that pizza crust baked through.

A sliced pizza on a wooden board.

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An unsliced pizza on a wooden board.

BBQ Meat Lovers Pizza Recipe

Yield: 8 serves
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
5 from 1 rating
Perfect homemade thin crust dough topped with lashings of meat and cheese make this BBQ Meat Lovers Pizza a serious crowd pleaser.
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Ingredients

Pizza Crust (Makes 2 x 10-12 inch bases)

  • 260 g (2 cups / 9.1oz) bread flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast (or active dry yeast)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons olive oil
  • ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon warm water

Toppings

  • ⅓ cup barbecue sauce (use your favourite)
  • ½ finely sliced onion
  • 4 button mushrooms, finely sliced
  • 100 g raw chicken breast, finely chopped
  • 100 g raw beef mince (ground beef)
  • 2 raw Italian sausages, skin removed (sweet or spicy sausage is up to you)
  • 2 bacon rashers, roughly chopped
  • 16 thin pepperoni slices
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella
  • 1 cup grated creamy cheddar
  • Salt & Pepper
  • handful of rocket (arugula), chopped

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Equipment

Instructions
 

FOR THE DOUGH

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached, combine the dough ingredients in this order – flour, yeast, sugar – give a quick stir – then salt, olive oil, warm water. See notes if using active dry yeast.
  • Mix on low-medium speed for 7-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. See notes for kneading by hand.
  • Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside, flipping until it's lightly oiled all over. Cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place until it has doubled in size – see notes.
  • After it has risen, remove the plastic wrap and gently turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces, shape each into a ball and cover with a dry tea towel. Allow them to sit for another 15 minutes to prove.

ASSEMBLE AND BAKE

  • Preheat oven to 230C / 450F / 210C fan forced.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll and gently stretch each ball of dough out into a circle roughly 12 inches in diameter (or thicker if you prefer). Transfer to a pizza tray.
  • Divide the barbecue sauce evenly between the two bases and spread out. Now scatter over half the mixed cheeses.
  • Now add the rest of the toppings divided evenly between each pizza – onions, mushrooms, chicken, beef mince, torn sausage, bacon and pepperoni. Top the whole lot with the rest of the mixed cheeses. Season with salt & pepper.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes until the edges and cheese are golden. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn.
  • Remove from the oven, throw a little fresh rocket over the top, cut into slices and devour.
  • Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.

Notes

  • FOR BEST RESULTS: you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop)
  • FLOUR: The bread flour can be swapped for plain / all purpose flour. Bread flour gives a slightly chewier texture to the baked pizza base.
  • YEAST: If you have 7g / 1/4oz packets of yeast, use just 1/2 of one envelope. If using active dry yeast, mix it with the warm water first, then let it sit for 10 minutes before adding it to the rest of the dough ingredients and proceeding.
  • KNEADING BY HAND: You can knead the dough by hand but it is a little sticky. Please resist the urge to add flour. It will eventually firm up and stop sticking to your hands and bench top. It should take around 10 minutes to get smooth and elastic.
  • RISING TIME: Normally half an hour will be enough for the dough to double in size (especially if you place it under a warm light or lamp) but it may take up to an hour or longer in winter. Just make sure it doubles in size.
  • SLOW RISE: For a more intense flavour to the pizza dough, leave it to rise overnight in the fridge.
  • FREEZING DOUGH: You can freeze pizza dough after the first rise. After turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into a ball, coat with a little oil all over and place in a zip lock bag. Place it straight in the freezer for up to 2 months.
  • TO THAW: Place in the fridge overnight. Take it out of the fridge ½ an hour before you’re ready to make pizza.
MORE PIZZA RECIPES!
Calories: 784kcal
Author: Marie Roffey
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.