Kids and adults will both love pizza mac and cheese muffins — two of your favorite treats, macaroni and cheese and pizza, rolled into one cute package. What could be better? Serve with pizza sauce or marinara for dipping.
It’s obviously one of the best things ever. Macaroni and cheese….that you can eat with your hands. Are ya with me? Throw in the word “pizza” and I’m totally sold.
I’m on a pizza kick lately (pizza, mac and cheese, I’m the picture of healthy). Did you try my macaroni and cheese pizza? Over the top good!
A couple of weeks ago I made pizza lasagna rolls (Yum!) and my family loves these pizza quinoa stuffed peppers. Pizza stuffed spaghetti squash is really good, too. I often make one pot Pizza Pasta, only 6 ingredients and ready in 20 minutes. What can I say, I love pizza.
These mac and cheese muffins are really easy to eat….errr…I mean easy to make. (Eat too. Really easy to eat.)
I start with a package of Parmesan and butter spirals, prepared as directed on the package. If you want to use another boxed pasta dinner, no problem!
Stir in a couple of extras (pepperoni! mozzarella! herbs!), scoop into muffin tins, bake, let cool a bit, dip-dip-dip in pizza sauce and chow down.
Enjoy these! Pizza mac and cheese muffins are a super fun lunch or light dinner. Serve them with a bowl of soup or a green salad.
They also make a cool appetizer for a party. Arrange them on a platter with a bowl of pizza sauce for dipping. They are just fine at room temperature so don’t worry about keeping them warm. Perfect for game night!
Pizza Mac and Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- one 5.25 ounce package of spirals with butter and parmesan macaroni and cheese (I use Annie’s)
- milk and butter to prepare macaroni as directed on package (I used 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons skim milk)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded low moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 oz sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
- 1 cup pizza sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 12 muffin tins with nonstick spray.
- Prepare macaroni and cheese as directed on the box, except stir in oregano and garlic powder in addition to the cheese powder.
- Once prepared, remove from heat and stir in grated mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
- Spoon macaroni and cheese mixture evenly into prepared muffin tins.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tins. After I remove them, I usually place them on a sheet of paper towel just to remove some of the grease from the pepperoni.
- Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.
Notes
- Substitute other types of boxed mac and cheese dinners for the Annie’s Butter and Parmesan macaroni and cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Made these for a party and they were a hit! I followed the exact instructions but just doubled it and there were no leftovers. i believe the butter parm flavor is impt to ensure it doesn’t taste bland. Has anyone tried this w regular cheddar Mac and cheese?
Where can you purchase the package of Annie’s? Have never seen this brand. Is there something that could be used as a substitute? Thank you.
I find Annie’s at my local Kroger and I’ve seen it at lots of grocery stores. If you can’t find it, you can substitute with another boxed macaroni and cheese — look for parmesan if you can find it, or white cheddar.
My 6 year old will love these. I’ll be making a bunch of these next weekend, perfect lunch for school. Pinned.
I made these last night and my husband and I both loved the recipe. Question, though…my muffins didn’t hold their shape and were a big gooey mess (even after I popped them back in the oven for more time). Do you think it would help to add an egg as a binder or would that change the flavor? Regardless of the gooey pile, we loved the flavor. Thanks!
Did you let them cool a bit before eating? You need to do that to let the cheese kind of set back up. They are on the fragile side – but we were able to pick them up and eat them with our hands. I think the addition of an egg is a great idea if they aren’t holding together, though.
We let them cool the suggested 5 minutes but couldn’t stand to wait any longer. Lack of self control was probably my problem.
These are adorable, any kid would love them!!!
I enjoy reading food blogs. Lately I have read a lot of american ones, but start to wonder about american cooking. Every recipe contains a packet of this and a packet of that. A packet mac and cheese? the easiest thing in the world to cook. Apart from this love your idea
I do try to steer away from packaged food for the most part but I also have two little ones at home so sometimes I fall back on high-quality packaged foods such as Annie’s macaroni and cheese for convenience and speed reasons. All week I presented mac and cheese recipes though if you’re looking for something from scratch there is plenty to choose from! Thanks for reading!
Just saw these on FG. STUNNING images and what a super fun & cute idea! Pinned!
Thanks so much for sharing Averie!
I love that these bites are transportable and that it’s a combo of 2 things I love-pizza and mac n cheeeese!!!
A no-fork-required pizza mac and cheese? DONE AND DONE. You are my hero. Also, I want to steal your babe’s shirt. SOCUTE.
I could down 17 of these, no problem. LOVE these!!