I don’t think there’s ever been a time where pizza wasn’t in the running for one of my top three favorite foods. It really has everything going for it – it’s crisp, doughy, carb-y (♥), saucy, cheesy, meaty…I can go on.
Buuut I won’t. Instead I’ll introduce you to my latest favorite in the pizza game – meatball parm pizza!
Growing up in NJ we had the luxury of living super close to about a million and five amazing pizza places. A million and six if you count our own kitchen with the homemade pizza my mom whipped up. You’d think we’d have a go-to flavor or two, but there were so many delicious flavors we switched up our take-out pizza a lot. There were Sicilian pies, pizzas piled so high with onions that your car smelled for three days after bringing it home, white ULTRA garlicky potato pizzas, and cheesy meatball parm pizzas that combined so many of my favorite Italian flavors into one.
Since we have a few less than a million and five pizza places here in our neighborhood in Nashville, I decided to recreate the meatball parm pizza of my dreams here at home. So good! Crisp thin crust pizza with marinara sauce, garlic, onions, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and homemade meatballs sliced thin. You’ll want to give this one a try for your next pizza night!
For starters you’ll mix up some homemade meatballs, which are as simple as mixing, rolling, and baking. Because the dough requires about an hour of rise time, I started on that as soon as I put the meatballs in the oven. Kitchen multitasking for the win! The meatball recipe as written below will also yield a leftover meatball or two, which I’m happy to report have resulted in a few lunchtime meatball parm sandwiches. Built-in leftovers are the BEST.
This pizza is baked on a pizza stone, but you can also use a baking sheet, no problem. There are a few extra steps involved (such as preheating the stone) and you may face an anxious few seconds of transferring the dough to the stone without burning your fingers, but the effort is well worth it! Using the stone results in a crust that crisps up just right. I’d say it definitely earns its keep taking up scarce cabinet space in our tiny kitchen.
Pizza is one of Brian’s specialties, so he was more than willing to help out with preparing the dough while I snapped a few pictures. Maybe next time I’ll mention I’d like to take pictures of someone doing the dishes… 😉
Meatball Parm Pizza
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb. ground beef
For the Pizza Dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
- 2 1/4 tsp 1 pkg. active dry yeast
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup warm water about 110°F
- 1 tsp olive oil
For the Pizza Toppings:
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder to taste
- Approx. 1 cup marinara sauce
- Sprinkle of dried oregano optional
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 2-3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- Approx. 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese to taste
- 6-7 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped
- 4 or 5 meatballs cooked and sliced
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. In a bowl, mix together all meatball ingredients. Form mixture into six meatballs and evenly space on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through and internal temperature reaches 160°F. Once cooled, slice 3-4 meatballs and set aside.
For the dough:
- To a large bowl, add flour, yeast, and salt and stir together to combine. Add warm water and 1 tsp olive oil and mix until all ingredients are combined. If dough is too wet, add additional flour 1 tbsp at a time. If dough is too dry, add additional water 1 tbsp at a time. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and briefly knead. (10-15 kneads). Form dough in a ball and place in a greased, covered bowl set in a warm, dry place until doubled in size (approximately one hour).
- Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 375°F (you'll want the stone to heat with the oven to avoid sharp temperature fluxes). On a floured surface (and with floured hands), press out dough into a 12" x 12" circle.
- Once pizza stone and oven are fully heated, remove pizza stone from oven (using oven mitts!!) and slide dough round onto the pizza stone. You may need to carefully reshape dough if it gets a little misshapen in the transfer process.
- Brush dough with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Spread marinara sauce over top and sprinkle dried oregano. Add onion, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, basil, and meatball slices.
- Bake pizza (on the stone, if using) for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Izzy says
No matter how old I get I will never get sick of pizza!! It really is the best food ever!! We have a few good pizza places here but I love making my own and this one looks so good!!
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
Yep, pizza is definitely the best!! Love that you topped this one with meatballs. The crust looks so perfect, too. Now I need pizza…. 😉
Ashley says
Oh gosh, how I miss pizza in NJ!!! There were so many great places but here we have yet to find any that are as good. Homemade it is! This looks fantastic! I’m waiting for dinner to finish cooking and this is making me haaangrryyyy!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
Pizza is hands down my favorite food. I think I could eat it every day if my husband wouldn’t get sick of it! This meatball version sounds delicious! I love the flavors on here. Pinned!
[email protected] says
Gosh, I love me a good meatball pizza! This looks fabulous, my friend! I’m hungry!
marcie says
Pizza with meatball slices? My oldest son would be in heaven! What a great idea, Alyssa, and I love myself some pizza, too!
Annie @Maebells says
Um yes please!! I actually don’t have a pizza stone! How crazy is that! I need one asap!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes) says
Holy cow this looks fantastic!!!
Eileen says
Hi
Great idea for pi day Saturday!! Once in a century 3.14.15 and meatballs add more circles!
Perfectly delicious!!
❤️math nerds
Sues says
Yessss, I just made a meatball pizza a couple weeks ago because I realized that the two things I crave most are probably meatballs and pizza (weird, right?). Now I’m suddenly craving both of them again!! This looks awesome.
Alyssa says
Uhhh not weird at all!! I could eat meatballs and/or pizza most days of the week if a little thing called a balanced diet didn’t exist. 🙂 Thanks Sues!
Nostramomous says
This pizza is perfect! Meatballs gooey cheese, crisp crust. You photos rock!
Alyssa says
Why thank you! 🙂
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
I love that you sliced the meatballs thin! I’ve had meatballs on pizza before, but it was so hard to eat it with big, huge meatballs rolling off. This is great! Sounds delicious. Can’t wait to make it : )
Alyssa says
Haha! I have a feeling I would have ended up with tomato sauce all over my face if I tried to eat pizza with full size meatballs on it. This is definitely the easier way!
Ashley | The Recipe Rebel says
You’re blowing my mind. LOVE this pizza!
Alyssa says
Thanks Ashley! I think it’ll be a repeat in our pizza night rotation. 🙂