Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast pizza is pizza in the loosest sense of the word, in the same part of the vast pizza universe as dessert pizza. But don’t let your previously held beliefs about pizza prevent you from trying this recipe, which is ultimately a tasty vehicle for delivering carbs, scrambled eggs, and bacon to your mouth in an efficient, but also very fun, way.

How Do You Make Breakfast Pizza?

To make breakfast pizza, you stretch out a store-bought dough into a baking pan, par bake it, then top it with cheese, any toppings you want, lightly scrambled eggs, and crumbled crisp bacon before baking it a second time to help the cheese melt and all the flavors meld together.

The whole process only takes about 30 minutes of hands-on time, and you can cut that down even further by cooking and crumbling the bacon ahead of time. Keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to use it, up to a couple days.

How To Top Your Breakfast Pizza

For our breakfast pizza, we add sautéed onions and bell peppers for more flavor and color, but you can go in a lot of different directions. Think about your favorite pizza toppings and try them out here. Mushrooms, spinach, canned artichokes, olives, sliced jalapeños, or even dollops of ricotta or pesto would all work well. Instead of bacon, try cooked crumbled breakfast sausage, Mexican chorizo, or veggie sausage.

How To Serve Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast pizza is really the ultimate all-in-one breakfast that doesn’t need much of an accompaniment, except for maybe a glass of orange juice or some fruit salad. While people of all ages love breakfast pizza, this is the perfect breakfast to serve to kids in the morning after a sleepover, maybe minus the onions and peppers if you’re dealing with picky eaters.

Tips for Making Breakfast Pizza

Cooking the bacon in the oven is less messy than cooking it on the stovetop, and you can cook more slices at a time. However, if you prefer you can cook the bacon in a skillet instead.
This recipe was developed for thick-cut bacon. If using thin slices, start checking them for doneness at 14 minutes.
Par-baking the pizza crust is key to getting a perfectly baked crust without overcooking the eggs and bacon.
When scrambling the eggs, it's ok to leave them a little bit underdone. They will finish cooking on top of the pizza in the oven.

Ingredients

6 slices (9 ounces) thick-cut bacon
1 (13 4/5 ounce) tube refrigerated pizza crust (such as Pillsbury)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (from 1 small onion)
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (from 1 small bell pepper)
3/4 teaspoon fine salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
Sliced scallions

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 425 F.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top. Lay bacon slices on the rack (do not overlap).

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through and crisp, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Let cool for 5 minutes. Chop bacon into large bite-size pieces and set aside.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Unroll pizza crust onto a 15- x 10-inch jelly roll pan or large sheet pan, gently stretching it to fit all the way to the edges.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Bake the crust in the preheated oven until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
While the crust is baking, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, peppers, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer onion mixture to a small bowl and set aside. Do not wipe skillet clean.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Whisk together the eggs, cream, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper until well combined.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the same skillet over low heat. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs just begin to set and hold their shape, about 5 minutes (eggs should not be fully cooked through, they will continue to cook in the oven).

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Sprinkle the cheddar and mozzarella evenly over the par-baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Scatter the onion and pepper mixture over the cheese. Spoon the eggs evenly over the onion and pepper mixture, and sprinkle with chopped bacon.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and garnish with the sliced scallions, if desired. Serve hot.

The Spruce Eats / Photographer: Fred Hardy, Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

How To Store Leftover Breakfast Pizza

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat slices in the microwave or toaster oven until heated through.

Recipe Variations

Meat Lovers Breakfast Pizza: add 1 cup cooked, crumbled pork breakfast sausage (add on top of cheese, under the eggs) and 1/2 cup chopped ham or smoked sausage.
Veggie Breakfast Pizza: omit bacon and increase bell peppers to 1 cup. Add 2 cups sliced mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms with the onions and peppers and then add 5 ounces fresh baby spinach or chopped kale and cook just until wilted.
Spicy Breakfast Pizza: Drizzle with hot sauce before serving for a little kick. Or for extra spicy, also add 1 chopped jalapeño to the onion-pepper mixture and substitute mozzarella with pepper Jack cheese.
Drizzle with sausage gravy before serving.