Prep
Cook
Serves
15 mins.
15 mins.
4
Are you a loaded baked potato lover? Is pizza one of your favorite meals? If so, then you have to try this Potato Pizza. I’m a pizza lover and if I’m ever asked the question, “What meal would you choose if you had to eat the same thing for the rest of your life?” I always answer, “Pizza!”
This Potato Pizza is based off of my family’s love of the Potato Pizza at a restaurant named Stevie B’s that we used to frequent a lot when our kids were younger. We don’t live near the few remaining Stevie B’s so it’s now up to me to recreate their unique pizzas at home.
I use sour cream as part of the base for this Potato Pizza, but if you’ve got plain Greek yogurt hanging out in the fridge I’m sure that it would work well too. I always make the pizza with potatoes that I slice by hand extremely thin, but if you have a mandolin definitely put it to use. As for the variety of potatoes that I usually choose, I always reach for Russet or Golden potatoes.
Once the potatoes are sliced toss them into a microwave safe bowl with a few tablespoons of water and cook them for 5 – 6 minutes, stirring halfway through. I always sample the potatoes as they cook, to make sure that they’re slightly softened. If you overcook the potatoes it’s not a big deal, but since they continue cooking in the oven I don’t want the potatoes completely cooked through.
The key to this Potato Pizza is to load it up with flavor, so I never skip the step of spreading softened or melted butter around the edge of the dough and sprinkling the edge of the crust with garlic powder.
Use whatever ranch dressing that you have in the refrigerator. I used Wishbone Ranch dressing and it was delicious. Serve ranch dressing on the side if you enjoy dipping your pizza. If you only have dry ranch powder you can use it as well but you may need to add a little milk to the sour cream to thin it so it has a spreadable pizza sauce consistency.
Before cooking the Potato Pizza, I top it with cooked diced bacon and sliced green onions, and when it comes out of the oven I sprinkle a few more raw green onions over the surface. I like the cooked and raw combination.
To make this a fast weeknight meal, I have purchased pizza dough that I bought in the bakery section of my local Publix grocery store. Their dough baked up amazingly, but make sure to leave enough time for allowing the dough to rest outside of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to an hour, and for any extra time that’s needed if it keeps shrinking back up as you stretch it out.
I hope that you’ll try this recipe today and that you’ll leave a comment below. Also for daily updates follow @lifeabovethecafe on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest using the social media icons found on this page.
Note – if using homemade dough you will only use half of the dough for this pizza. I bought the fresh pizza dough that Publix sells in the bakery department in a small refrigerator. Many grocery stores sell it there or in the frozen section. Allow enough time for it to come to room temperature for stretching.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I used a large rectangular baking sheet that I lined with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the surface of the parchment paper with cornmeal.
Fry the bacon until crisp, remove it to drain on a paper towel, and then once cooled dice it into small pieces.
Slice the potatoes and microwave them with 2 – 3 Tbsp. of water in a microwave safe bowl for 5 – 6 minutes stirring halfway through. They should be slightly softened. Dice the green onions (I usually dice 2 – 3 bulb fulls).
Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and begin to stretch it out into a thin rectangle or circular shape if you have a pizza pan. If the dough is fighting trying to stretch out, allow it to rest for 15 more minutes and then try to stretch it again. Place the shaped dough on the parchment paper that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the dough so that it doesn’t puff up. Spread a layer of melted or softened butter along the outer ring of the dough and sprinkle it with garlic powder. I also sprinkle a little garlic powder and dried parsley flakes over the center of the dough. Place the prepped pizza dough in the oven and bake it for 5 minutes.
While the dough bakes, mix the sour cream and ranch dressing together. After 5 minutes, remove the pizza dough from the oven and spread the ranch dressing mixture over the surface, while leaving an edge for the crust. Shingle the potato slices over the top of the ranch dressing, top the potatoes with the two different types of cheese (I’m not shy with the cheese), and finally top the cheese with the bacon pieces and the green onion slices (reserving about 1/3 of the uncooked green onions to top the cooked pizza with).
Place the pizza back into the oven and bake it for 8 – 12 more minutes or until the toppings are golden and the crust is browned. We like a crispy crust so I baked our pizza for about 10 more minutes but all ovens are different so monitor your pizza so that it doesn’t burn. Also note that if you’re dough wasn’t stretched out thinly it may take a little more time to completely cook a thicker pizza.
Once your pizza is cooked, remove it from the oven, top it with the rest of the green onions and allow it to cool for 2 – 3 minutes before slicing. We eat our pizza with a little extra ranch dressing drizzled over the top.
