Last updated March 20th, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. As Amazon Associates and through other affiliate programs, we earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a link – at no extra cost to you. We only promote products we actually use and truly love!
Bacon, pepperoni, and Italian sausage come together on a focaccia like pizza dough to create our version of the classic comfort food meat lover’s pizza.
This meat lover’s pizza was one of the first recipes we made after deciding we wanted to get really good at making pizza at home. We were sick of not being able to find good pizza on the west coast and figured we could do better. It turns out we can, and so can you!
With the help of one of our favorite cookbooks, Mastering Pizza, we tried making a new dough: Al Taglio at 80% hydration (page 80 if you have the cookbook). Al Taglio dough creates a super thick yet fluffy, sturdy crust, so it’s a great base for lots of heavy toppings. And just so you know, this dough turned out amazing on our very first try. So if you want to get into making pizza at home, or already do but want to start exploring making your own dough, we can’t recommend Mastering Pizza enough.
What This Recipe Entails
We highly recommend making your own thick crust pizza dough for this recipe, but if that isn’t possible, regular store-bought dough works as well!
- Time to make dough: 1 day
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
If you aren’t planning on making your own dough, then this recipe takes just over a half an hour to make, bake, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- Pizza dough – Again we recommend making Al Taglio dough, or another thick crust recipe, however store-bought dough works very well too!
- Meat – Bacon, sausage, and pepperoni make up the meat lover’s part of our recipe. Feel free to add or substitute your favorite meats.
- Pizza sauce – Make our easy homemade pizza sauce or use your favorite store-bought brand. We love to make large batches of pizza sauce to keep in the freezer to make pizza nights easier. If you don’t have them already, Souper Cubes make this much easier!
- Cheese – We keep it simple and use shredded mozzarella cheese for this pizza. You can also use an Italian blend or create your own blend. A sharp cheddar would compliment the mozzarella very well.
How To Make Meat Lover’s Pizza
- Make your dough – If you are making dough from scratch you’ll likely need to start a day in advance depending on what recipe you use.
- Prep your toppings – Cook the bacon and sausage or use leftovers if available. If you’re making pizza sauce from scratch now would also be the time to do that.
- Top the pizza – Add a healthy layer of sauce (a thick crust pizza can take a lot of sauce if you like). Sprinkle on the cheese. And then evenly top with an assortment of meats.
- Bake – Cook the pizza until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is fully melted.
- Cool – A thick crust pizza with lots of sauce and toppings really holds onto its heat. Give it a minute or two to cool before slicing if you want to avoid a complete mess.
Equipment Spotlight: Dreamfarm Scizza Pizza Scissors
While the name Scizza might seem odd, these nifty little scissors are nothing short of amazing. Our Scizza makes cutting all sorts of pizza (and focaccia) a breeze, and they can’t be beat for cutting a pizza like this thick crusted meat lover’s pie.
Storing and Reheating
Because this pizza is so filling, you’ll likely have some leftovers. Simply wrap any leftovers up in some aluminum foil or other sealed container and store in the fridge for up to a week.
When you’re looking to heat up your leftovers, you’ll want to give them a little extra time than most pizzas because of the thicker crust. We generally heat leftovers up in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes at 350 F.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some of our favorite reasons to make and enjoy a meat lover’s pizza:
- Indulgent dinner: Enjoy a decadent comforting dinner of meat lover’s pizza for a pizza date night in with a movie. Complete the meal with some air fryer buffalo wings and a nice cocktail.
- Game day feast: Serve smaller, appetizer sized slices to go along with other game day snacks. Can we recommend some cheeseburger egg rolls or carne asada nachos?
- Lunch for the week: Make a pizza on Sunday and you have easy, delicious lunches ready for the whole week! But good luck not eating any right when it comes out of the oven…
No matter what occasion you choose to enjoy this delicious pizza, we know you’ll love making and eating it! We’d love to hear what you think of the recipe by rating, commenting and sharing below.
Expert Tips
- Ingredient prep: Cook the sausage and bacon first (ideally you can make this pizza with leftovers for a super easy dinner).
- Pizza dough: If you are making the Al Taglio dough, remember to prepare it the day before you want pizza! We use less yeast and let it ferment at room temperature for 12-36 hours (the cookbook explains this in detail). But beware, it takes about 2 hours to mix and knead this dough before letting it ferment, since you have to let it rest a few times for about 30 minutes at a time.
- Pizza sauce: Prepare our homemade pizza sauce ahead of time to make this dinner even easier. We love to make large batches of our pizza sauce and then store it in the freezer for later use (our half-cup Souper Cubes help us store and defrost perfect portions for pizza night).
- Baking: Bake the pizza on the middle rack of the oven, keeping an eye on it to make sure the crust browns and the cheese is bubbly but not burnt or over-cooked.
- Fair warning: This is a heavy, greasy, and meaty pizza; it will absolutely make you feel stuffed 🙂
Love this recipe? You may also enjoy these great pizza recipes, too:
To browse more of our latest recipes and seasonal dishes, visit our homepage here.
Like this recipe? Don’t forget to share it and follow us on Pinterest!
Meat Lover’s Pizza
Equipment
- Sheet pan large
Ingredients
- ⅓ pound ground Italian pork sausage
- 8 slices bacon
- 10 pieces pepperoni
- 920 grams Al Taglio pizza dough or store-bought
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Flour for dusting
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- ⅔ pound shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- First, prepare the toppings. Add ground sausage to a skillet, and cook over medium-high heat until browned; then drain and set aside. In the meantime, fry bacon over medium-high heat until crisped on both sides; then drain, chop into small pieces, and set aside. If using large pepperoni slices, cut into halves or quarters.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over a large sheet pan, then dust your work surface and your hands lightly with flour. Stretch out the dough on the floured surface into a large rectangle that's the same size as the sheet pan. Then transfer the dough to the sheet pan and adjust shape as needed to bring the edges of the dough to meet the edges of the pan.
- Top the dough with an even layer of pizza sauce, leaving about a half-inch crust around the edge. Then sprinkle shredded mozzarella evenly over the pizza. Top with ground sausage, bacon bits, and pepperoni.
- Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the pizza and bake until edges are crisped and cheese is browned and bubbly, about 18 to 20 minutes.
- Let cool for about 2 minutes before slicing with pizza wheel or large scissors. Slice into 12 squares and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
Looking for kitchen inspiration? Head over to our shop to see what we cook with every day, plus recommendations for foodie gifts and eco-friendly products.