Stuffed Pizza Bites With Garlic Butter
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Whether you serve them as a fun dinner entrée or a game-day appetizer, these cheesy stuffed pizza bites are guaranteed to be a hit! They’re brushed with garlic butter and paired with marinara for dipping, making them extra delicious.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: An upgraded version of frozen pizza snacks, these stuffed pizza bites are easy to make and will disappear fast.
How long it takes: 15 minutes of hands-on time, 30 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: Baking dish and brush
Servings: 16 pizza bites
- 1 Recipe Overview
- 2 Reasons to Love Pizza Bites
- 3 Ingredients You’ll need
- 4 Cooking Tip
- 5 How to make it
- 6 FAQs
- 7 What to Serve With Pizza Bites
- 8 How to make these Pizza Bites your own
- 9 Make Ahead Ideas
- 10 Storage & Reheating Tips
- 11 More Pizza Recipes
- 12 Get the Recipe: Stuffed Pizza Bites with Garlic Butter
Anything pizza-inspired is bound to be a winner. Zucchini pizza bites? Yes. Pizza burgers? Of course! Pizza baked pasta? Oh heck yeah! These stuffed pizza bites are also impossible to resist.
They’re a great snack for parties (you’ll want to double the recipe because they will be devoured), but I’m more likely to make a batch for an easy, kid-friendly weeknight dinner. English muffin pizzas are another big hit with kids.
The pizza bites are made from regular pizza dough, divided into 16 parts and rolled flat. You don’t have be fancy with this; they can be pretty rustic looking. My husband, who says he could eat these every day, calls them pizza “balls” if that gives you a picture of how fancy they are.
Simply place a tablespoon of filling onto each round of dough and fold it over. Pop them in the oven until they’re nice and toasty brown—oh, and don’t forget that garlic butter, which takes this cheesy app to the next level!
Reasons to Love Pizza Bites
- They’re quick and easy to make. Using store-bought dough makes these baked pizza bites practically effortless. The hardest part is done for you! From start to finish, you can get this recipe on the table in under an hour.
- There are endless possibilities. While I went with the ever-popular combo of mozzarella and pepperoni, you can switch things up and make this recipe with your favorite pizza toppings. Sometimes I make a vegetarian version with spinach, ricotta, and Parmesan; try swapping the pepperoni for sausage or add diced green peppers and onions. Anything goes!
- A crowd-pleaser! Kids flip for this recipe, adults go wild for it at a party, and no one will realize how easy it was to make these homemade pizza bites!
Ingredients You’ll need
- Frozen Pizza Dough: Fresh pizza dough is great, too, if your grocery store or local pizzeria sells it. Another option is to make your own with my easy pizza dough recipe. (I like to double or even triple the recipe and freeze some for later!)
- Mozzarella Cheese: If you have time, I recommend shredding your own, as it melts more smoothly. Of course, if you don’t have time, a bag of shredded mozzarella is just fine too!
- Pepperoni: You’ll need to chop the slices so the pepperoni mixes with the cheese and can be portioned by the tablespoonful.
- Butter: Melt the butter in the microwave or a saucepan.
- Italian Seasoning: Just a bit for the garlic butter topping.
- Garlic Powder: Garlic powder adds lots of garlic flavor to the butter without the bite of freshly crushed garlic cloves.
- Parmesan Cheese: Again, freshly shredded is best here because it melts better, but store-bought shreds will also work.
- Marinara Sauce: Or use a batch of my homemade pizza sauce.
Cooking Tip
If the pizza dough doesn’t hold its shape when you try to press it into 3-inch circles, let it sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes. Sometimes it needs to rest a bit before shaping.
How to make it
Preheat your oven to 375ºF and coat a baking dish with non-stick spray.
Cut the pizza dough into 16 pieces, roughly equal in size.
In a small bowl, combine the mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
In a second bowl, whisk together the melted butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
Stretch a piece of dough into a 3-inch round (roughly) and place a heaping tablespoon of the filling in the middle. Bring the dough around the filling and press the edges to seal. You don’t have to fuss with these; just make sure the edges are sealed well so the filling doesn’t leak out.
Place the finished roll in the pan with the seam side down and repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
Brush the tops of the mini pizza rolls with the butter mixture, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes, then serve the pizza bites with marinara sauce.
FAQs
These pizza bites take about 30 minutes to bake in the oven, assuming they are all roughly the same size.
While I haven’t tested this recipe in the air fryer, I think it would work well. Reduce the cooking time and be sure to give the pizza bites ample room in the air fryer basket.
What to Serve With Pizza Bites
- Other Appetizers: When I make these for a party, I like to pair them with an appetizer option that can be made in advance like edamame dip or seven layer dip. That way, I’m not juggling two recipes at once! Cheese and pesto stuffed zucchini can be baked in the oven with the pizza bites.
- Salads: If you’re serving cheesy pizza bites for dinner, pair them with a simple side salad like arugula salad or an easy vegetable. Try roasted green beans or roasted sugar snap peas. They can bake at the same time as the pizza bites.
- Soups: Pizza bites go well with soup, too, like smoky roasted tomato soup or easy hamburger soup.
How to make these Pizza Bites your own
- Add pesto: Skip the pepperoni and add a quarter teaspoon of pesto to each pizza bite before wrapping them up. Pesto adds bright flavor and gives your pizza bites gourmet flair.
- Make it gluten-free: Swap in your favorite gluten-free pizza dough and you’ve got gluten-free pizza bites!
- Go plant-based: Use vegan cheese, pepperoni, and butter to make these pizza bites plant-based. (You can also use regular cheese and swap in veg pepperoni for vegetarian pizza bites.)
- Make dessert pizza bites: Follow the overall blueprint of this recipe with a second batch of pizza dough, but fill them with a teaspoon of Nutella and diced bananas or strawberries. Brush the dessert pizza bites with butter and sprinkle them with coarse sugar.
Make Ahead Ideas
Make a batch of pizza bites, cover the pan tightly, and refrigerate them to bake later. They’ll keep in the fridge up to 24 hours. Take them out of the fridge while you’re preheating the oven. Add 5 minutes extra baking time since they are chilled.
Unbaked pizza bites can be frozen, too. After forming the rolls, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze them until they’re solid, then transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag. Let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight, then bake them according to the recipe instructions.
Storage & Reheating Tips
- Refrigerate: Store these pizza bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can also freeze leftover pizza bites. Store them in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months and thaw them at room temperature before reheating. (Thawing them first allows them to reheat more evenly.)
- Reheat: For best results, reheat pizza bites in 350ºF oven (preheat oven first) or air fryer until warmed through. They can be reheated in the microwave but they won’t be as good.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen pizza dough, thawed and at room temperature
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 oz. pepperoni, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- marinara or pizza sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Cut pizza dough into equally-sized 16 pieces.
- In a small bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. In another small dish, combine melted butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
- Stretch a piece of dough into a 3 inch round (it doesn’t have to be perfect!). Fill with one heaping tablespoon of the mozzarella cheese mixture and bring dough around the filling, pressing edges firmly to seal. Place in pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and cheese.
- Brush tops with butter mixture. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
- Use whole wheat pizza dough or make your own pizza dough if you like.
- Be creative with the filling. For vegetarian pizza bites, omit the pepperoni and substitute spinach, olives, diced bell pepper, etc.
- Try making your own pizza sauce. It’s easy and can be made ahead.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
30AEATS (@fromagechick) says
If this was a live instead of virtual shower you wouldn’t have any left to share with other guests! WOW! These look amazing!Wise advise too! :)
EA-The Spicy RD says
Love your marriage advice Rachael! And these pizza spinach bites are to die for! Seriously yummy-I need to try and make a gluten-free version of these. So happy to celebrate Nelly’s Big Day with you :-)
Bev Weidner says
Yeah, that whole “don’t go to bed mad” RIIIIIGHT. Ain’t possible sometimes.
These bites? o.m.g.
Julie @ Table for Two says
These look like a healthy alternative to pizza bites!! Hmm, I’m not sure I’m in the position to give advice on marriage yet, but I’d say enjoy each other as much as you can and don’t let the hardships get you down!
Jenni says
Great advice–marriage is about real life, and as much as we’d like ti to be, it isn’t like the fairy tales. Love the pizza bites, too–I def need one or two of these to cut all the sweets I’m virtually eating this morning:)
juniakk @ mis pensamientos says
these look fabulous! i call little appetizers “bites” too – totally gives it more of a classy name hehe. i love using pizza dough, pie crust, puff pastry, phyllo dough and stuffing them with different savory flavors.
Nelly Rodriguez says
Oh Murray would LOVE these, he is such a pizza addict! Thank you for the great advice…Love it that when it’s not even an option, it’s not going to happen. Love love! Thank you!
Laura @ A Healthy Jalapeno says
This is so sweet. I love the idea of a virtual shower and what a sweet idea for her. plus, these spinach pizza bites look like breakfast to me, I defiantly want one. lol
Have a great day Nelly, and you too Rachael :)
Mackenzie says
These look fantastic!! I have family in town tonight, I just might have to make these as a starter!!
Deeba Rajpal (@vindee) says
Oh forgot to say…thank you for the commentary on the way the tweet-event unfurled. I missed it as I was away…but your post got me teary eyed too. I saw a grab of the picture on someone elses blog…wonderful!
Deeba Rajpal (@vindee) says
These are right up my street. Love how you dressed up the names for the shower. Ricotta and spinach in pizza dough? YES PLEASE!! What great bites to get to the shower…yum!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This sounds lovely!
Sanjeeta kk says
Thanks for joining the fun, and being a wonderful support. Glad to have worked together to make this virtual party a success. Three cheers to this on-line friendship…:)
Oh…and these mini Pizzas are just right to kick start any party, Rachael!
Love and hugs.
Baker Street says
Oh this is totally my kind of treat! Lets ride together for the big day and I’ll trade some of my cake for your cheesy spinach bites. :)
Jessie says
I love your advice. So true! I always shamefully roll my eyes when I hear people give the advice “don’t go to bed mad.” Sometimes it’s much easier to just sleep on it.