Pizza burgers bring together a juicy, tender beef patty, melty cheese, zesty pizza sauce, crisp pepperoni, and your favourite pizza toppings, all stacked inside a soft burger bun. It is a fun, flavour-packed way to enjoy the best parts of pizza and burgers in one satisfying meal.
If you love pizza and you love burgers, this easy pizza burger recipe is made for you. It takes the familiar comfort of a classic hamburger and gives it all the bold, savoury flavour of a loaded pizza.
The patty is not just plain ground beef. It is mixed with Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, oregano, chili flakes, and a spoonful of pizza sauce, making it tender, juicy, and full of Italian-inspired flavour. Think of it as a big, delicious meatball shaped into a burger.
Once the patties are seared until browned and topped with thick slices of mozzarella, the pizza theme continues with crispy-edged pepperoni, warm tomato sauce, fresh spinach, onion slices, and basil. Everything is layered onto a toasted bun brushed with olive oil for extra richness and flavour.
The result is messy in the best possible way: saucy, cheesy, juicy, and packed with the toppings you would normally enjoy on a slice of pizza. You can keep the toppings simple or customize each burger with mushrooms, roasted peppers, spicy pickles, extra cheese, or anything else you enjoy on pizza.
What You’ll Need
The key ingredients in these homemade pizza burgers are lean ground beef, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, marinara sauce, oregano, garlic, pepperoni, and burger buns. The sauce is made quickly by seasoning a good-quality marinara sauce with oregano and garlic powder, giving it a stronger pizza-style flavour.
Use your favourite hamburger buns for this recipe. Brioche buns work especially well because they are soft, slightly rich, and toast beautifully in olive oil. If needed, choose gluten-free buns and gluten-free bread crumbs so the pizza burgers fit your dietary needs.
The pepperoni is quickly fried before assembling the burgers. This small step makes a big difference because it brings out the savoury flavour and gives the slices lightly crisp edges while keeping them chewy enough to stack neatly on the bun.
Let’s Make Pizza Burgers!
Start by preparing the pizza sauce. Stir together marinara sauce, dried oregano, and garlic powder, then set it aside while you make the patties. This gives the flavours a little time to blend and creates a simple sauce that tastes bright, savoury, and ready for layering.
Next, mix the ground beef with egg, Parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, salt, chili flakes, and a little of the prepared pizza sauce. Mix gently but thoroughly, then shape the mixture into four large patties. Press a shallow indent into the centre of each patty to help keep it from puffing up as it cooks.
Cook the patties in a little olive oil over medium heat until browned on one side. Flip them, top each patty with two slices of mozzarella, and continue cooking until the beef is cooked through and the cheese is melted. If the cheese needs help melting, cover the skillet briefly during the final minute.
While the patties cook, fry the pepperoni slices in a separate skillet until they are lightly browned and just starting to crisp around the edges. Do not overcook them; they will firm up slightly as they rest.
After the pepperoni is finished, add a little more olive oil to the skillet and toast the buns, cut-side down, until golden. This gives the buns a better texture and helps them stand up to the sauce and toppings.
To build the burgers, drizzle the bottom buns with a little olive oil, spread on pizza sauce, and add a layer of fresh spinach leaves. Place a mozzarella-topped burger patty on each bun, then pile on the warm pepperoni slices.
Finish each pizza burger with onion slices and fresh basil. Spread more pizza sauce on the top bun, place it over the stack, and serve immediately. Have plenty of napkins ready, because these burgers are wonderfully saucy and full of melted cheese.
These pizza burgers are hearty enough for dinner, fun enough for a weekend meal, and easy to adapt for different tastes. Serve them with fries, wedges, salad, or any simple side you enjoy with burgers.
A Few Other Favourite Burgers
Any time can be burger time. If you enjoy creative burgers, try ideas such as lamb burgers, venison burgers, crispy fried oyster burgers, bison burgers, wine and cheese burgers, or Mexican burgers with smoky chipotle sauce.
For extra flavour, serve burgers with sauces such as secret burger sauce, blueberry mayonnaise, homemade red wine barbecue sauce, or healthy homemade ketchup.
Good side dishes include lentil fries, roasted parsnip fries, sweet potato wedges, poutine, or stubby fries with bacon.
Guten Appetit!
Pizza Burgers
Margaret Bose Johnson
Ingredients
For the pizza sauce:
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) good-quality marinara sauce, purchased or homemade
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
For the burger patties:
- 1 lb (454 g) lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup (25 g) fine dry bread crumbs, gluten-free if necessary
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes or red pepper flakes, or ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup pizza sauce from the recipe above
- 8 thick slices pizza mozzarella cheese or fresh mozzarella cheese
- Olive oil
To assemble the burgers:
- 16 slices pepperoni (150 g)
- 4 hamburger buns, gluten-free if necessary
- 1 cup pizza sauce from the recipe above
- Fresh baby spinach leaves
- Thinly sliced onions, fresh or sautéed
- 4 sprigs fresh basil, or 12 to 16 leaves, optional
Instructions
Make the pizza sauce:
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Stir together the marinara sauce, ½ teaspoon oregano, and garlic powder. Set the sauce aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Make the pizza burger patties:
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Place the ground beef, egg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, oregano, salt, and chili flakes in a large bowl. Add ¼ cup of the prepared pizza sauce. Mix with your hands until evenly combined. Shape into 4 large patties about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, then press a shallow indent into the centre of each patty.
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Heat a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom. Flip them, top each patty with two slices of mozzarella, and continue cooking until the burgers are cooked through and the cheese has melted. Cover the skillet for the final minute if needed to help melt the cheese.
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While the patties cook, heat a second skillet with a little olive oil. Fry the pepperoni slices in batches until lightly browned and just crisping at the edges. Remove and keep warm.
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Add a little more olive oil to the skillet and toast the buns, cut-side down, until lightly golden.
Assemble the pizza burgers:
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Drizzle a little olive oil onto the bottom half of each toasted bun. Spread each with about 2 tablespoons of the remaining pizza sauce.
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Remove any long stems from the spinach leaves and layer a small handful over the sauce.
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Place one cheese-topped burger patty on top of the spinach.
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Add 4 slices of sautéed pepperoni to each burger.
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Top with onion slices and a sprig of basil, or a few fresh basil leaves.
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Spread the cut side of each top bun with another 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce, then place it on top of the burger stack.
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Serve immediately with plenty of napkins.
Notes
For more heat, increase the dried chili flakes in the burger mixture to suit your taste.
Customize the toppings with sliced sautéed mushrooms, roasted peppers, anchovies, fresh tomato slices, lettuce, spicy pepperoncini pickles, capers, or different melting cheeses such as fontina, havarti, or Monterey Jack.