Homemade Meat Lovers Pizza: A Carnivore's Delight

If you and your family are lovers of meat, you’ll adore this pizza! This homemade meat lovers pizza is unbelievably delicious! Fluffy pizza crust topped with yummy homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, pepperoni slices and crumbled bacon and sausage!

Every time I order a pizza, I get meat lovers so I just HAD to make my own homemade version. I’m back with another homemade pizza recipe. I just love making pizza from scratch now, because it’s so easy and you can top it with whatever your heart desires!

Easy Meat Lover's Pizza at Home | SAM THE COOKING GUY 4K

This Meat Lover's Pizza has a perfectly chewy crust, tons of melty cheese, and is topped with plenty of juicy sausage crumbles, crispy bacon, and spicy pepperoni! YUM!

Key Ingredients for the Perfect Meat Lovers Pizza

A meat lover’s pizza is just what it sounds like: a pizza topped with a bunch of hearty meat. A meat lover’s pizza topping will vary from place to place. For my version, I’m using my favorite pepperoni cups, chopped bacon, and Italian sausage. They sit atop the perfect amount of pizza sauce and lots of melty mozzarella cheese.

Pizza Dough: As with all of my homemade pizza recipes, this recipe begins with my all-time favourite pizza dough. Sure it’ll take about 2 hours in prep time, but it’s super easy to make and tastes a lot better than store bought. My pizza dough recipe makes 2 crusts.
Pizza Sauce: One of the biggest contributors to the perfect homemade pizza is a perfect sauce. Now my homemade pizza sauce is super easy to put together, but if you don’t want to go through the troubles of an extra step and additional ingredients, you can use store bought. My pizza sauce recipe makes enough for up to 2-4 pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like.
Cheeses: On top of my super flavourful pizza sauce, I piled on some shredded mozzarella, parmesan. Use a cheese that’s flavorful and melts well, but that won’t waterlog the dough. I use either a block of whole milk, low moisture mozzarella (which you can usually find in the refrigerated cheese section of your grocery store) or the pre-shredded mozzarella.
Meats: Loads of pepperoni, hot Italian sausage and crispy bacon. Heaps of pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, and pancetta mean you’ll never have a topping-less bite, and that’s the just way I like it.
Oil: To add a supple fat to the crust.
Italian seasoning: Another optional ingredient. Italian seasoning is usually a mix of dried oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary.
Red pepper flakes: Similar to the Italian seasoning, this is just for extra flavor!
Cornmeal: This is an optional ingredient. Another thing that’ll give you a super crispy crust is cornmeal! Dust your pan with a bit of cornmeal before adding your dough.

Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Meat Lovers Pizza

Let’s rewind for a second so I can share some homemade pizza tips and tricks. Before rolling out your pizza dough, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 475° and allow it go heat up for about 30 minutes. You read that right, 30 minutes! For the pizza pan, I like to use a pan with holes in the bottom (like this one) because it makes the crust extra crispy.

Preparing the Dough

Prepare one recipe of my Homemade Pizza Dough and my Homemade Pizza Sauce. Alternatively, you could use store-bought. Allow the prepared pizza dough to sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes if the dough was refrigerated. This step is only required if you’re working with a refrigerated dough.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® Instant Yeast, sugar, and salt and add the warm water and corn oil and mix until well blended. You should be able to form the dough into a ball. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it until it’s smooth.

Next, you’ll roll out the dough until it’s a nice and even 12-inch round. Roll out the pizza dough until it’s in an even layer (about a 12-inch round) and form the rim or outer crust by pinching the edges of the dough about a half-inch all around. Alternatively, you can use your fingers to gently press your dough out into a circular shape leaving about a half-inch of dough unpressed around the edges.

Then you’ll lift up the round from the edge and let it hang down while rotating the dough as you go to stretch it out to about 12-inches. If you prefer a thin crust, roll out dough into a circle using a rolling pin. If you want a thicker crust, flatten and stretch on prepared pizza pan or hold the dough up on one side and quickly move your hands around the edges to stretch it out. Use your fingers to push up the edges to create a crust.

Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes before topping.

Preparing the Toppings

Prepare the toppings: fry the bacon, cook the sausage, shred the cheese using a GoodCook Grater, and measure out the rest. Cook the Sausage: Preheat your oven to 500°F. If you have a pizza stone, warm it up for about 30 minutes. Cook 8 ounces of mild or hot Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it turns light brown and is no longer pink. This takes around 3 minutes. Break it into pieces as it cooks.

Cook the Pancetta: In the same skillet, cook 4 ounces of diced pancetta (or bacon) until it’s golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Assembling the Pizza

Grease a pizza pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Dust the bottom of the baking sheet liberally with cornmeal or corn flour. Place the pizza dough atop the bottom of the baking sheet and then assemble.

Brush the crust with olive oil, top with about ½ cup to 1 cup of pizza sauce, shredded cheeses, pepperoni slices, cooked sausage and crumbled bacon. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough, followed by the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon, and sausage. Evenly spread the pizza sauce over the surface of the dough, leaving the outer half-inch untouched. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese in an even layer followed by a few rounds of freshly ground pepper. Evenly distribute the pepperoni, sausage, and bacon.

Brush olive oil on the edges to make the crust crispier when baked. You really want to sprinkle the parmesan cheese on the outer edges of your crust. Brush the edges of the pizza crust with olive oil then sprinkle the parmesan around the edges of the pizza as well as on the toppings.

Baking the Pizza

Preheat oven to 475°F and allow to heat for at least 30 minutes. Place a pizza stone or baking steel in the oven. I like to allow mine to preheat for at least 20 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden brown.

Using the baking sheet like a pizza peel, swiftly slide the pizza off the baking sheet and onto the baking steel/pizza stone. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes and until the edges of the pizza crust are lightly golden brown. If you prefer a darker crust, move pan to the top rack and bake for another 1-2 minutes.

Start checking the pizza for doneness at about 10 minutes. Allow pizza to cool for about 3-5 minutes. Serve it with chili or garlic oil if you like.

Tips for a Crispy Crust

If you prefer a little more texture on the bottom of your pizza, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of cornmeal on the bottom of the pan. Using the bottom side of a clean baking sheet that has been well dusted with cornmeal, you can slide your pizza onto a preheated baking steal or pizza stone with ease. Making direct contact with the hot surface helps to ensure that you get that amazing crispy bottom on your pizza.

Brushing your crust with melted butter and sprinkling it with shredded parmesan also adds that desirable crisp crunch to the top of your crust.

Troubleshooting

Help! My dough isn't rising! What's wrong? Yeast has a "use by" date. As it moves beyond that time, it loses its oomph. Check the date printed on the package to make sure it's within its usable life.

If your yeast hasn't expired, then you likely accidentally killed it by adding liquids that were too hot.

Help! My pizza tastes doughy and underdone! What did I do wrong? If your toppings are cooked but your dough is still raw, that indicates that there has been enough heat coming from the top but not from the bottom. To remedy this, you can lower the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven, which will allow you to cook longer without burning the top.

Cooking your pizza on a pre-heated pizza stone or steel can also ensure a good base temperature. If you’re halfway through cooking and need a fix for right now. Reduce your oven temperature by 70ºF (20ºC) and lower your oven shelf by one rack.

Storing and Reheating Leftover Pizza

Store leftover meat lovers pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Freeze meat lovers pizza slices in a single layer on a lined baking sheet until solid, about 1-2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container or resealable bag to store for up to 3 months.

Refrigerated pizza can be reheated on a pizza pan in a conventional oven set to 350 degrees or toaster oven set to 400 degrees.

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. Nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons.

Meet Sabine Venier

Originally from Austria and currently residing in the UK, Sabine Venier infuses her passion for homemade cooking into The Cookie Rookie. As the former proprietor of a successful food blog, her culinary expertise spans a broad spectrum. Sabine’s culinary journey was rooted in the cherished family recipes taught by her mother, nurturing a profound appreciation for fresh, homemade ingredients.

Sabine has gained recognition as a recipe developer and food photographer, with her work featured in various magazines and online platforms. Her innovative recipes have appeared in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Parade, and Rachael Ray Everyday. As a published cookbook author (The Chocolate Addict’s Baking Book), she is excited to share her practical and easy-to-follow recipes with The Cookie Rookie community.