Breakfast Pizza: The Ultimate Brinner
In elementary school, I remember having a school lunch where the usual sheet pan pizza was topped with gravy, eggs, and sausage. It was so good! That was my introduction to the concept of breakfast pizza.
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Breakfast Pizza Tastes of Nostalgia
Even though, as kids, we complained about school lunch, I sometimes find that I crave those foods. The fact that Lunch Lady Brownies is constantly trending proves I’m not alone.
It just makes sense that on a terrible day, I might want to eat the same thing I ate in simpler times. When things seem rough, it’s natural to retreat into childhood memories. So, naturally, after a bad day, I was craving breakfast pizza.
But, do you know how sells breakfast pizza? Pretty much no one. So I had to make it myself. And honestly, if someone did sell it, when I first made this breakfast pizza recipe, there was no way I was going shopping or waiting for a delivery.
What’s with the Turkey Bacon?
But on top of that, I was new to Weight Watchers and trying desperately not to break my points budget. Because of that, you’ll see the healthier choices made.
That’s not to say you can’t use the standard pork versions of the toppings. It’s just that if you need comfort food and a lot of it, maybe it’s better to avoid the potential heartburn afterward.
Serendipity and Maple Syrup
My husband mistakenly thought I’d eaten my portion with maple syrup when he finally got home to his own dinner. He was smelling the fall candle I had on, but turns out breakfast pizza is awesome with maple syrup.
On the one hand, the pizza was good by itself, but on the other hand… if you drizzle a little bit of maple syrup on it, it just takes it to a completely different level. You have to try it!
Just a Couple of Pro Tips
• I used chicken sausage and turkey bacon to save some calories. If you prefer the flavors of pork, go for it. Just be sure to drain off the fat.
• The first time I made this pizza I used a Country Gravy packet from the seasoning section of the grocery store. It actually tasted a little better than when I made my own gravy.
• The first time I used 2 eggs, and while that was tasty, the second time around I used Egg Beaters to save the calories. Either way works quite well. Make sure you season your eggs though.
• Cheddar definitely tastes better than mozzarella as this pizza calls for a sharper note in the cheese. Colby Jack would also be nice.
• TRY IT WITH MAPLE SYRUP! I’m not even kidding… it’s so worth it.
Making a Few Updates
This recipe starts out with a batch of pizza dough. When I made it the first time, I did not give this dough that much time to rise (just 1 hour). The result was a slightly underdeveloped crust. No one was complaining. In fact, it somehow came out cracker-crisp with the floury taste of biscuits.
However, last night, I used my standard pizza dough recipe. I let it rise for only 3 hours. This resulted in the same crispy crust with a slightly more developed flavor. What I would officially recommend, though, is that you follow the recipe for pizza dough through the link here.
How to Address the Sauce
Then, as I didn’t feel like making gravy, I used a gravy packet mixed with water and spooned that onto the crust. In the past, I’ve used the meager drippings from the turkey bacon and chicken sausage to make a little gravy.
Obviously, neither renders that much fat. So, the result is kind of flat and not that flavorful. That’s why in the card below, I’ve noted to use a gravy packet. This is an easy way to get a flavorful and lower-calorie sauce. Plus, it is a lot easier.
The Toppings Make it a Breakfast Pizza
As mentioned, I used chicken and turkey to reduce the fat and calories. However, the other benefit is that you don’t have rendered fat soaking into the crust and making it mushy.
So, what I do, is I cook up the turkey bacon and cut it into largish bite-sized pieces. It’s easy as can be. You can either cut it before or after you cook it. This step is relatively fool-proof. From the pictures, you can see that I let mine get crispy in the pan, and then it charred a little in the oven.
For the sausage, this may be where your pizza varies most from mine. Chicken sausages come in a wide variety. There are flavors, to start, but then there are also links or patties.
I like Jones Chicken Sausage links because I can get a great big bag of links at Costco for cheap. However, Applegate makes a really yummy one flavored with sage. Just choose your favorite, and cut it into bite-sized chunks.
Cooking Your Eggs Just Enough
Before we get to the recipe, I want to talk about scrambling eggs specifically for Breakfast Pizza. You’re going to stop at a point where you think, “This needs to cook just a minute longer.” Remember that your eggs will be subjected to the high heat needed to cook a pizza.
So, I start by scrambling my eggs in a bowl and heating my pan to low-medium heat. Then, with a heatproof, non-wire whisk (like silicone), I whisk my eggs in the pan until they’re a creamy, small-curd texture. When no liquid egg remains, I turn off the heat and remove the pan to a cool burner.
The eggs will still glisten as they are just barely cooked. Truly, they could use a bit longer. This is when they are perfect for your pizza.
Building Your Breakfast Pizza, Finally
Start once your oven has preheated to the highest temperature it will go. Dust your peel or pan with cornmeal, then roll and stretch your dough into a nice sized round. The dough will be quite thin which is ideal.
Then, spread a layer of gravy or alfredo over the surface. Sprinkle, then, with a hefty handful of cheddar or colby jack cheese. Top with the cooked turkey bacon and chicken sausage. Then bake it for between 8 and 10 minutes.
If you’re using a peel, remember to confidently jerk and pull the peel to slide the pie onto your preheated stone. There is a link to the video within the pizza dough post.
Finally, I suggest you warm up a little dish of maple syrup for dipping. It’s a real treat that my husband discovered this addition. Now, we can’t even make breakfast pizza if we’re out of syrup.
Comment below if you’ve tried my breakfast pizza recipe, and definitely let me know if you dipped it in syrup! I love hearing from you. And please subscribe for weekly updates sent right to your inbox!
Updated: This post was originally published on March 16, 2020, but was updated on October 13, 2020, for conciseness and photos.
Breakfast Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 batch pizza dough
Breakfast Pizza Toppings
- 1 packet country gravy mix (or ½ cup homemade gravy, or alfredo sauce)
- 1 cup water for gravy
- 4 slices turkey bacon
- 4 links chicken breakfast sausage
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Cut 4 slices of turkey bacon into bitesized pieces and fry them in a skillet. Remove the pieces to a paper towel leaving the fat (there won’t be much). Cut up the sausage into bitesized pieces, and fry them in the same fat. Remove those pieces also to a paper towel leaving behind the fat. Stir the packet of country gravy mix into the fats, and slowly whisk in a cup of water. Once thick, remove to a glass measuring cup. Refrigerate the sausage, bacon, and gravy.
- Prepare one batch of pizza dough. Once ready to make your pizza, dust the peel with cornmeal and stretch or roll out your dough into a 14-inch round. Lay the dough out and cover as the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 500ºF.
- Scramble the 2 eggs over low-medium heat until they are almost done but not fully cooked.
- Spread the gravy over the pizza crust. Lay down half of the turkey bacon and sausage. Sprinkle most of the cheese over the pizza. Plop down 1/2 tsp sized dollops of scrambled eggs sporadically over the pizza. Lay down the rest of the turkey sausage and turkey bacon. Top with the remainder of the cheese.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Cut into 8 even slices. Let it cool for a couple minutes before you dig in to save yourself from burning the roof of your mouth.
