Fluffy Pizza Bites are a seriously delicious lunch or dinner option—and you can customize the filling to please your kids! We like these with a little side of warmed marinara sauce for dipping. (Holy moly, they’re so yummy.)
Pizza Bites
Wrapping up pizza toppings inside the dough is such a fun take on pizza—and it’s a much more convenient way to pack up pizza for lunch. (They also work as a snack or appetizer.) These little bites are super versatile and store so well.
We like to fill them with broccoli, carrots, and pepperoni, but you could use any pizza topping your kids like—including sausage, peppers, or chicken—to customize them for your family.
You can make them right before serving or you can make them ahead and warm them up. They’re so good dipped in warmed pizza sauce. I love them as much as my kiddos do!
(You may also like my Pizza Rolls, which are made in a muffin tin, and my Greek Yogurt Pizza Dough.)
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Ingredients You Need
To make this pizza recipe, you’ll need to have the following ingredients on hand and ready to go.
- Pizza dough: You can use homemade dough or purchased pizza dough according to what you prefer.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: Buy it already shredded or shred it yourself for the classic flavor and texture of pizza.
- Broccoli, carrots, and/or pepperoni: You can use one filling or a mix. The veggies are raw.
- Parmesan cheese: I typically buy grated Parmesan, but shredded works, too.
- Pizza or Italian seasoning: This adds classic pizza flavor and should be available in the spice aisle.
- Pizza sauce or marinara sauce: This is optional for dipping and tastes best if you warm it before serving.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make this recipe. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full information.
- Break up your dough into pieces.
- Flatten into rounds.
- Add your chosen filling and cheese.
- Tuck the dough around the filling and press to seal. Place into the pan, seam-side down, and bake.
TIP: You can brush the tops of the bites with olive oil, pizza seasoning, and Parmesan cheese for a little extra flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use homemade pizza dough, like this Whole-Wheat Dough recipe, or you can buy a ball of dough from the supermarket. Either work!
Make the recipe and let them cool. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-5 days. (You can also freeze them in a sealed freezer bag for up to 3 months.) Warm in a 375 degree oven for 5-8 minutes or in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warmed through.
We like to make them with broccoli, grated carrot, and chopped up pepperoni, but you can use pretty much any favorite pizza topping.
How to Store
To make ahead (or to store): Make the recipe and let them cool. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or transfer the bites to an airtight container. You can store in the fridge for 3-5 days (or in the freezer for up to 3 months).
Best Tips for Success
- To reheat, warm in a 375-degree-F oven for 5-8 minutes or in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warmed through.
- Use homemade pizza dough or a purchased ball of dough from the supermarket in these mini pizza bites.
- Use any other pizza topping you prefer in place of the ones I used. You can also just use cheese for the filling.
- Try variations including pepperoni pizza bites, or adding ham or cooked bell peppers to the filling.
- Serve with warmed pizza sauce or marinara, if desired, for dipping.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe, so please comment below!
Favorite Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough (homemade or purchased; 16 ounces)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets, shredded carrots, or chopped pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon pizza seasoning (or Italian seasoning)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce (slightly warmed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease a 9-inch pie plate (or 9×9-inch square baking pan) with nonstick spray.
- Divide the dough into 16 pieces.
- Flatten each dough piece into a round circle. Add about 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese and broccoli, carrot, OR pepperoni. (Do one option per bite.)
- Fold the dough around the filling, making a little ball. Place, seam sides down, into the prepared baking dish. Repeat to make the rest of the bites. They should fit tightly into the dish.
- Brush the tops of the bites with olive oil. Sprinkle on the Parmesan and pizza seasoning (or Italian seasoning). Let rest for 10 minutes. Poke the top of each bite with a fork. (This allows steam to escape and helps prevent the cheese from running out.)
- Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes, and serve warm with slightly warmed pizza sauce, if desired.
Video
Notes
- To make ahead: Make the recipe and let them cool. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-5 days. Warm in a 375-degree-F oven for 5-8 minutes or in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warmed through.
- You can also freeze them in a sealed freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- Use homemade pizza dough or a purchased ball of dough from the supermarket.
- Use any other pizza topping you prefer in place of the ones I used. You can also just use cheese for the filling.
- Serve with warmed pizza sauce or marinara, if desired, for dipping.
Nutrition
This post was first published May 2020.
I did this recipe in a bread machine on the dough setting to use the same day. It worked well. I added 1 1/4 cups of water which made the dough moist enough in the machine.
I used the dough for the pizza bites recipe. Next time I would add the seasoning straight into the dough for more flavor. I plan to use the recipe again!
This was such a fun recipe! I used cauliflower instead of broccoli and it turned out great! My picky eater quietly scarfed them down, a win all around!
Is there a brand of store bought pizza dough you would recommend? I’ve never purchased it before and not suer what to look for. 🙂
The best option is to look near cheese or fresh pasta to see if there’s a refrigerated ball of fresh dough. Many store brands sell their own. (The one from Trader Joe’s is great but I know not everyone has that so it’s not the only option!)
Hi. Would this work with your Greek yogurt pizza dough recipe? I don’t have yeast on hand to make the whole wheat dough. Thank you!
I haven’t tried it but I think so!
I absolutely love this idea!! My son will love these in his lunch. Just wondering – instead of serving the pizza sauce on the side, could you put it inside the pizza bite?
You could put about 1 teaspoon inside each! I’d start with that lower amount to ensure it’s not too moist/it doesn’t leak out.
Amazing.
Excited to try this with my 2 yr old. Would it work to put the pizza sauce inside with the cheese and veggies?
Sure you could add a little!
Made this for my family tonight. Our toddler loved it so much! Thank you for the delicious recipe Amy!
Just want to say these have become a regular in our house – so yummy! We do some veggie, some pepperoni. Spinach works great. My 2 year old and husband love them!
Love this with pepperoni. I want to try it with veggies, but do the veggies stay crunchy? Or do they soften while cooking? The last time I snuck carrots in something, my 2 year old didn’t like the crunchy texture.
In my experience, if you start with shredded carrots, they steam inside as the bites cook. If you’re worried that might not work for your kiddo, you could precook them a little to soften them. I’m glad the pepperoni ones went well!
I love this recipe! I normally add in spinach and turkey pepperoni. A weekly staple for us!
Easy to make! I made only 12 and they were too thick. Next time I will stretch to 16. I used whole foods whole wheat dough and a glass cup bottom with flour to flatten worked really well
This came out really tasty and so fun to eat, even for myself! I added garlic powder, a bit of salt and pepper, and used mostly cheddar with the broccoli. Outside I just used oregano and Parmesan cheese. I used the Trader Joe’s marinara sauce without added salt. My only issue is that pizza dough is hard to work with, in my opinion. Any tips or videos for spreading each piece out? It took me forever and I ended up with more dough on the bottom. Thanks for the recipe and ideas!
I’ll try to do a video soon. It can help to coat your fingers in flour if it sticks a little and gently move the dough in a circle to spread it thin. But you are right that it would be easier to see that than explain it in words!
I find when I use the TJs dough to make regular pizza it helps for it to be at room temp for an hour not the 20 minutes recommended, so I would try to increase the out of the fridge time before working with it.
Thanks for adding that!
Made these yesterday. I enjoyed them and my 1 y.o tried them. 🙂 Any tips on the folding technique to distribute the filling to dough ratio more evenly? I found that the seam areas were very doughy haha
Maybe either try to spread the dough out a little thinner or bake for 2 minutes more? Either or both would likely solve that. Glad the little tried them!
I love these! We make pizza roll-ups a lot in our house, but we like to try any and all variations because I generally find just mentioning pizza and it’s pretty much guaranteed my daughter will eat any vegetable I throw in there <3
Totally agree with that!