Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza

If you love a strong dill presence, you are going to devour this Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza! Prepared with a dill flavoured crust, and topped with fresh dill and dill pickles, this pizza is a dill lovers dream and then some!

It never fails, whenever I prepare anything with dill, I always think of my friend, Vera. She loves dill! I remember when we worked together, she would load up her salad at lunchtime with fresh dill and it always looked and smelled so good!

Come to think of it, I think she’s responsible for introducing me to fresh dill in potato salad. Speaking of potato salad, have you tried my Dill Pickle Potato Salad? I also have a Dill Pickle Ranch Pasta Salad that is so creamy and dilly.

Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza is loaded with all kinds of dill. I have prepared the pizza crust from scratch and incorporated dried dill into the flour mixture. I placed a few small sprigs of fresh dill on top of the sauce and under the cheese. Then, once the pizza was ready, I topped it with more fresh dill and sliced dill pickles. I told you there’s a lot of dill flavour!

MAKING DOUGH FROM SCRATCH VS STORE BOUGHT

There are a few ways that you can prepare this pizza. First, you can follow the directions in the recipe card below and prepare the pizza dough from scratch. It’s my favourite pizza dough! It’s light, but not to airy. And, if falls somewhere in the middle so that it’s not a thick or pan crust, but it’s not thin either.

Secondly, you can purchase raw pizza dough in most grocery stores. It’s usually found in the deli section and comes in a plastic bag. If you go this route, you can sprinkle the raw dough with some dried dill and get that dill-infused crust that I spoke of earlier.

Thirdly, you have the option of buying one of those pre-baked pizza crusts. I have purchased them in the past and have always had a good experience with them. Usually, the comes with a packet of pizza sauce too. If you use these crusts, you will not be able to get dill baked into the crust. But, you’ll still have a great pizza in the end!

Lastly, you can make this pizza on a flour tortilla! Yes! It’s a great way to get a super thin and crispy crust. We make them often when we’re in a hurry. I just shared a recipe recently on how to make one using leftover turkey and stuffing! So, you have now have plenty of crust options.

BEWARE OF SALT!

This pizza can get really salty way too fast and way too easily. Dill pickles have a high sodium content, so be aware of that. If you use store-bought pizza dough, a pre-baked crust, or even a tortilla, they all have salt. The bacon is loaded with salt, and so is the cheese. So, here are some tips on how to limit the salt.

I always use low sodium bacon. Even if I am just having some bacon on it’s own, I find regular bacon is just too salty. You can also buy low sodium dill pickles. Please note that I did not use salt in my pizza dough recipe in this particular instance.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about salt or sodium levels in this post. But, I did want to bring it to your attention just in case that’s something you worry about. Think carefully about the ingredients you’re pulling together and if low sodium options are available to you. Now, let’s talk about what you will need and how to make this Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza!

INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED:

1. Pizza Dough – If you’re following my recipe, you will make the dough from scratch. You can skip that part and buy dough or a pre-made crust from your local grocery store. Read above for further clarification.
2. Pizza Sauce – You can use store bought pizza sauce, but I have a really great Homemade Pizza Sauce that you can make very quickly and very easily.
3. Bacon – Choose a low-sodium bacon. Cut the slices into one inch pieces and fry to your liking. Keep in mind that the bacon will cook further on the pizza, so don’t go full-on crispy mode right off the bat.
4. Cheese – Any cheese will do. I used a mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend.
5. Dill Pickles – Like the bacon, try to get low sodium pickles. Slice them about 1/4 inch thick. Lay the slices between sheets of paper towel and push down on each slice to rid the slices of some of the pickle juice. You don’t want a wet pizza!
6. Dill – You will need a little bit of dried dill and some fresh dill. If you can’t get fresh dill, you can use dried, but not in equal amounts. Dried dill has a very strong, condensed dill flavour.

HOW TO MAKE BACON DILL PICKLE PIZZA:

Let’s make the dough first!

Let’s start with preparing the dough. If you have purchased dough from the grocer, follow the instructions on the package. Otherwise, make the dough from scratch by following these simple instructions.

Fill a mixing bowl with hot tap water. This will temper the bowl which is important to yeast activation and growth. Measure out 3/4 cup of water that’s 110 degrees F. Pour the water out of the bowl. Place one teaspoon of sugar into the bottom of the bowl and pour over the 3/4 cup of water. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and let sit for two minutes.

Next, whisk in the olive oil. Add the flour, and dried dill. Use a wooden spoon to stir the flour into the water and oil. Use your hand to knead the dough until it forms a smooth ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside to rise. (Be sure to keep away from drafts or an open window.)

Now, the fun part! Let’s assemble the pizza!

Once the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F, and lightly spray a pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place the dough onto the pan and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. Then, push the dough outward with flat hand hands until the dough reaches the perimeter of the entire pan.

Next, sauce the dough, leaving 3/4 inch around the edge without sauce. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of small fresh dill sprigs over the sauce and top with cheese. Top with prepared bacon. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, top pizza with dill pickle slices and the rest of the fresh dill sprigs.

LET’S TIE IT ALL UP!

There you have it, Dear Reader – a Bacon Dill Pickle Pizza for every dill pickle lover out there. Slice the pizza into 8 equal slices and dig in! Get ready for a major dill flavour explosion. Enjoy!

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