SHEET PAN: 4 WAYS – PHUIIS BLOG

Description
Looking for easy sheet pan dinner ideas the whole family will love? This sheet pan recipe roundup includes four simple meals made in one pan: rectangle pizza, taco pizza, cheesy quesadillas, and baked tacos. Perfect for busy weeknights, meal prep, or feeding a crowd, these oven-baked sheet pan meals are easy to customize and require minimal cleanup. Save this for quick dinner inspiration, family-friendly recipes, and easy comfort food ideas made on a sheet pan.

1.Rectangle School Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided in half
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons salt
2½ tablespoons granulated sugar
0.25 ounce quick-rise yeast (2½ teaspoons), also known as instant yeast
1⅔-2 cups warm water (105°F)

Topping

½ pound lean ground beef
½ pound mild Italian sausage
1¾ cups pizza sauce
4 cups freshly shredded mozzarella
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Instructions

Pizza Crust

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Coat the entire surface of an 18×13 rimmed baking sheet (also known as a half sheet tray) with 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil then sprinkle the surface with the cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking to the tray once baked. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the all-purpose flour, instant nonfat dry milk, salt, granulated sugar, quick-rise yeast and the remaining 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the warm water to your dry ingredients. Start with the 1⅔ cups, then you may need to add a tablespoon at a time, but no more than the 2 cups, to get a pourable consistency to your dough. My dough took a tablespoon or so more than the 1⅔ but did not take the entire 2 cups.
Continue to mix on low for 2 to 3 minutes or until you have a smooth, pourable dough. A few small lumps are fine. It should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared rimmed baking sheet and gently spread the dough into an even layer that covers the entire surface of the baking sheet. Allow the dough to rest in the pan for 10 minutes.
Bake the pizza crust for 10 to 12 minutes, or just until starting to get golden, on the lower rack of your oven.
While your pizza crust is baking, you can prepare your toppings.

Topping

In a large 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and mild Italian sausage for 7 to 8 minutes or until no pink remains. Be sure to break the meat up as it cooks. (That way it looks more like the topping on school pizzas)
Transfer the cooked meats to a paper towel-lined plate and set it aside.
Once the crust has baked for 10 to 12 minutes, remove from the oven and evenly spread the pizza sauce over the top of the crust.
Sprinkle 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella cheese over the sauce.
Next, evenly sprinkle the cooked meat topping over the cheese.
Top the meat with the remaining 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Lastly, sprinkle the dried Italian seasoning over the cheese.
Return the pizza to the oven and bake, on the middle oven rack, for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Carefully slice the pizza into 12 rectangular pieces.

Notes

It’s really important to make sure your water is the right temperature (105°F) so that the yeast is activated.
If you do not have rapid rise (also known as instant) yeast, you can substitute it with a packet of active dry yeast instead. This is a standard yeast that can easily be found at your local grocery store in the baking aisle. You will not add the active dry yeast directly to your bowl of dry ingredients, instead, you will add it to your warm water along with the granulated sugar and allow it to sit for 3 to 4 minutes or until it gets foamy. You will then proceed with the recipe at step 3 for the pizza crust.
Instant nonfat dry milk powder is used for this recipe because it adds richness, and tenderness, to the pizza crust without adding additional liquid to the recipe. The milk also helps with the browning of the crust. The crust for this recipe is meant to be soft and tender, not chewy like a traditional pizza. The instant nonfat dry milk powder is shelf-stable so bakers can keep it as a pantry staple when they want to make tender loaves of white sandwich bread, chewy cookies, or this pourable pizza crust.
To get that authentic look you remember so well from school, spread the sauce almost right to the edge of the crust.
If you have really small children, you can slice the pizza into smaller squares to make it more manageable.

Nutrition

2.Taco Pizza

Ingredients

16 ounces crescent dough sheets
1½ pounds lean ground beef
2 ounces taco seasoning (I chose mild seasoning)
¾ cup water
3½ cups Colby and Monterey jack cheese, freshly shredded
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
⅓ cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, optional garnish
Sour cream, optional garnish
Hot sauce, optional garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. You’ll use a standard 13×18 baking sheet.
Unroll the first canister of crescent dough sheets. Gently stretch it to cover ½ of an ungreased baking sheet. Unroll the second canister and gently stretch it to cover the other ½ of the baking sheet. (There will be overlap, but that’s ok. It gives you more dough to cover the baking sheet) Press the seams together to seal the dough, and carefully pierce the dough with a fork. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it is golden brown.
While the crust is baking, add the ground beef to a 2 to 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir the ground beef often until the ground beef is no longer pink. This should take 5 to 6 minutes.
Lower the heat to medium. Add both packages of taco seasoning and the water. Cook for 5 minutes and remove from the heat.
When the crust has finished baking, remove it from the oven and evenly spread the taco meat over the crust.
Evenly sprinkle the freshly shredded cheese over the taco meat layer. Return the pizza to the oven and cook for 4 to 5 more minutes until the cheese is completely melted.
Sprinkle the quartered grape tomatoes, thinly sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro. Drizzle sour cream and hot sauce over the pizza, if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your crust as the suggested baking time approaches.
Ground beef can be batch cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer to save time when preparing your recipe.
Keep a close eye on the cheese, so it doesn’t become too browned during this final bake.

Nutrition

3.Sheet Pan Quesadillas

Ingredients

1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1½ teaspoons chili powder
1½ teaspoons cumin
1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
15 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed
2.25 ounces sliced black olives, drained and rinsed
½ cup your favorite salsa
8 large flour tortillas (burrito size)
3 cups Colby and Monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 green onions, sliced thin
sour cream, to top quesadillas (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Get out two 18×13-inch sheet pans and very lightly spray just one of them with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large skillet, over medium heat, add olive oil, bell peppers and yellow onion. Cook for 5 minutes. Stirring often to ensure evenly cooked vegetables.
Add ground beef and minced garlic to the bell peppers and onions. Cook until completely browned.
Remove from the heat and drain the excess fat.
Return the meat mixture to the skillet. Add chili powder, cumin, paprika, kosher salt, black pepper, black beans, black olives and salsa. Stir well after adding each ingredient.
Place 6 of the flour tortillas around the edges of the lightly sprayed sheet pan. Make sure the tortillas overlap and are hanging halfway over the edge of the pan, leaving a gap in the center.
Place 1 tortilla over the bottom center gap of the sheet pan.
Evenly spread the meat mixture over the tortillas.
Sprinkle cheese on top of meat, then top with sliced green onions.
Place the final tortilla over the top center of the mixture.
Starting at either side of the sheet pan, carefully but tightly begin folding the tortillas towards the middle.
When all sides are folded, place the second sheet pan on top of the folded tortillas. This is to ensure edges do not come apart during baking.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove pans from the oven. Remove the top sheet pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the quesadilla to slightly cool before cutting into servings.
Serve with sour cream, if desired.

Notes

The ground beef and veggies could be cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to assemble your quesadillas.
A pizza cutter makes cutting the quesadillas into individual portions easy.

Nutrition

4.Sheet Pan Tacos

Ingredients

5 tablespoons canola oil, divided into 2 tablespoons, 1 tablespoon, and 2 tablespoons
2 cups yellow onion, chopped
3 pounds ground beef, I used a ground chuck 80%-20% blend
2 ounces original taco seasoning, I used Old El Paso brand (two 1-ounce packets)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
16 soft taco flour tortillas (8-inch)
4 cups shredded Colby jack cheese (two 8-ounce blocks)
1½ cups store-bought pico de gallo

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a pastry brush, brush 2 tablespoons of canola oil onto the inside bottom and sides of a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet tray. You will need a second rimmed sheet tray for the baking process. Set aside.
In a large skillet, on medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add the 2 cups chopped yellow onions and saute them for 2 to 3 minutes or until they are translucent and soft. Transfer the cooked onions to a plate and set them aside.
Add half of the ground beef and one of the 1-ounce taco seasoning packets, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper to the same large skillet on medium-high heat. Cook the ground beef for 4 to 5 minutes, breaking it up into crumbles until there is no longer any pink and the ground beef is completely coated with the taco seasoning spice blend. Transfer the cooked ground beef to a large bowl or large shallow dish, and repeat with the second half of the ground beef and the second 1-ounce packet of taco seasoning, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper until all the ground beef is cooked. Transfer the rest of the cooked ground beef to the bowl with the first batch of cooked ground beef.
Add the cooked yellow onions to the cooked ground beef in the bowl, and stir to incorporate.
On the prepared rimmed baking sheet tray, you will lay out 10 of the flour tortillas. You will need to make sure that they are overhanging all sides of the sheet tray by at least 2 to 3 inches. You will also want to make sure that there are no gaps or open spaces between the flour tortillas. It should look like a solid layer of flour tortillas with all the sides overhanging. The part of the flour tortillas that are overhanging will be used to fold over and seal the sheet pan tacos once assembled.
Using a large slotted spoon, spoon the ground beef mixture evenly over the flour tortillas. Make sure to allow as much of the fat from the ground beef mixture to drip off through the slotted spoon before placing the meat onto the tortillas. This ensures that you don’t have soggy tortillas when baked.
Sprinkle the shredded Colby jack cheese evenly over the top of the ground beef layer.
Finally, using a slotted spoon, spoon 1½ cups of the pico de gallo over the top of the cheese. You will want to make sure that you allow as much of the juices from the pico de gallo to drain out before layering it onto your cheese.
Place your final 6 flour tortillas, overlapping each other in the center of your sheet tray, onto the top of the meat and cheese. Fold the overhanging flour tortillas over the top six tortillas so that you are enclosing all the meat and cheese.
Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons of canola oil evenly over the tops of all the flour tortillas. You can use the oil to help the top overhanging pieces stick to each other.
Place the second 13×18-inch rimmed sheet baking tray onto the top of the sheet pan taco making sure that all the folded-over tortillas stay in place. Place 1 or 2 oven-safe heavy skillets, like cast iron, onto the sheet tray to weigh it down. This will create a nice sealed sheet pan taco. It also helps to ensure that the flour tortillas become crisp and golden brown. Bake for 30 minutes.Carefully remove the heavy skillet(s) and the top sheet tray. Continue to bake the sheet pan taco for an additional 30 minutes or until the top is golden and crisp. You may want to tent your 4 sides with long strips of aluminum foil (like you would a pie crust when baking) to ensure that the edges do not get too dark before the center of your sheet pan tacos gets nice and golden.
Allow the sheet pan taco to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

I used a standard-size flour tortilla for this sheet pan taco; however, the burrito or extra large-sized flour tortillas would also work. Note that you will not need to use as many extra-large flour tortillas. I do not suggest using anything smaller than the 8-inch size soft flour tortillas as it may make it very hard to keep the smaller tortillas to stay together when assembling the top of the sheet pan taco.
The part of the flour tortillas that are overhanging will be used to fold over and seal the sheet pan tacos once assembled.
If you have little ones that are sensitive to the fresh jalapeño or cilantro in the pico de gallo, you can cover only half of the cheese with the pico de gallo and leave the other half plain before covering your layers with the top flour tortillas.
If you have an excess amount of fat that has cooked out of your ground beef mixture while your sheet pan taco was baking, then you can very carefully tilt your pan and pour out the excess grease into a separate container. Once that grease has cooled, you can dispose of it. This will make sure that your sheet pan tacos are not sitting in any excess grease. You really want to make sure you use a slotted spoon to drip off as much excess fat before placing the ground beef onto the flour tortillas. If you use leaner ground beef, you will not have as much excess fat to worry about.

Inspiration for this recipe from Leite’s Culinaria

Nutrition

1.Rectangle School Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

Topping

Instructions

Pizza Crust

Topping

Notes

Nutrition

2.Taco Pizza

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

3.Sheet Pan Quesadillas

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

4.Sheet Pan Tacos

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

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