I’ve been making what I call copycat recipes for years and I’ve already tackled at least one pizza inspired by Sidewall Pizza Co. in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. This time, instead of only posting the finished recipe, I thought it would be fun to break down how I reverse-engineer a dish especially one I may or may not have actually eaten at the restaurant.
Let’s say a post like this comes across my social feed:👇
The first thing I do is take a really close look at the photo. Then I check the restaurant’s menu to see if there’s an ingredient list. In this case, I hit the jackpot: a great image and a clear list of ingredients.
From there, I break the pizza down component by component and figure out how to recreate each element at home so that, when it all comes together, it’s as close as possible to the restaurant version. Sometimes I’ll tweak things based on personal preference or who I’m cooking for but honestly, this one looks and sounds pretty perfect as-is. So why mess with it?
Digging a Little Deeper on a Copycat Recipe
Based on the image and ingredient list, this potato pizza includes:
Pizza dough, roasted garlic sauce, potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions, toasted walnuts, mozzarella, blue cheese and chives.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Pizza Dough✔️
I’ve said this in previous pizza posts, but I stopped making my own pizza dough when our local grocery store (Publix) started doing it better than me. We keep a few in the freezer at all time, it’s convenient and consistently good.
Roasted Garlic Sauce✔️
I’ve already made this exact sauce when I recreated Sidewall’s Bacon Bliss Pizza, so I felt ahead of the game here. Creamy, garlicky and just rich enough It works beautifully as a base for this pizza.
Potatoes✔️
From the photo, it’s clear the potatoes are sliced very thin. I also know from experience that if you want them tender and nicely browned, they need to be par-cooked before hitting the pizza. Otherwise, you end up with undercooked potatoes or an overcooked crust.
Chopped Bacon✔️
This one I know well. When I made the Bacon Bliss pizza, I learned that par-cooking the bacon is key especially when using a home oven and pizza stone. Sidewall can probably toss raw bacon straight onto the pie thanks to their high-temp ovens, but my setup needs a little help. Par-cooking lets the bacon render most of its fat without burning while the pizza finishes in the oven.
Caramelized Onions✔️
Normally, “caramelized onions” makes me think of slowly cooking onions for an hour or more. But looking closely at the photo, these onions don’t appear fully broken down. That tells me they were likely sautéed fairly quickly and finished cooking on the pizza in the oven. A similar approach to the bacon.
Toasted Walnuts✔️
We almost always have walnuts in the house. Sometimes they’re raw, sometimes already toasted. Looking at the photo, there aren’t that many on the pizza, so I decided to use toasted walnuts and keep this step simple.
Mozzarella Cheese✔️
I’ve used all kinds of cheese on pizza over the years, but I’ve moved away from fresh mozzarella and toward low-moisture shredded cheese. It just melts better and more evenly. When it goes on sale, I grab a few bags and toss them in the freezer.
Blue Cheese✔️
Blue cheese on pizza might sound questionable to some people but don’t knock it until you try it. I’ve made a Buffalo Chicken, Bacon and Bleu Cheese Pizza and it was fantastic. We also always have blue cheese in the fridge. Clemson Blue Cheese is a favorite and happens to be made locally.
Chives✔️
This is a small but important finishing touch. Chives add color, freshness and just a little pop of herbaceous flavor that balances the richness of the pizza.
And there you have it, my approach to reverse-engineering a copycat recipe.
A Quick Note on This Pizza
This potato pizza is a seasonal offering at Sidewall Pizza Co. and if it’s on the menu when you’re there, you should absolutely order it from the source. Their ovens, ingredients and execution are hard to beat.
That said, when it rotates off the menu, this copycat version does a pretty solid job of scratching that itch until it makes its way back.
Ingredients for a Potato Pizza
1 pizza dough
Roasted Garlic Sauce
- 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 cup cream (we used almond creamer)
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano, 1/2 for sauce and half for pizza topping
- Salt and pepper to taste
Pizza Toppings
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella (or Italian blend) cheese
- 1 Yukon gold potato
- 6-8 strips apple wood smoked bacon
- 1/2 onion, caramelized
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup blue cheese
- Chives, minced for garnish
How to make a Potato Pizza
- Preheat the oven
Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to the highest setting (mine goes to 550°F). If you don’t have a pizza stone yet, trust me, it’s worth getting one. - Make the garlic white sauce:
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add olive oil and garlic; cook until fragrant.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes.
- Slowly whisk in the cream until smooth and thickened.
- Stir in half of the pecorino Romano. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Prep the potato
Par-cook the potato in the oven or microwave until slightly softened. - Prep the bacon
Par-cook the bacon in the oven or microwave until just starting to render. Don’t crisp it fully, it’ll finish cooking on the pizza. - Prep the caramelized onion
Heat a medium sauce pan of medium heat. Add olive oil to coat the pan. Add onion and gently sauté until almost transparent. Remove from the heat and set aside. - Shape the dough
Stretch your pizza dough to your preferred size. I stretch mine to fit the pizza stone and like it thin and crispy, so I give the crust a quick par-bake before topping. - Assemble the pizza
Spread the garlic white sauce evenly over the crust. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, then add some of the potato slices. Top with chopped bacon, onion, toasted walnuts and blue cheese. - Bake
Transfer the pizza to the hot stone and bake until the cheese is melted, the bacon and potato is crispy and the sauce is bubbling with golden spots. - Finish & serve
Remove from the oven and dust with the remaining pecorino Romano and garnish with the chives. Slice and enjoy!
one foodie 