These pizza muffins are cheesy, bite sized, and easy to make with refrigerated dough, mozzarella, sauce, and mini pepperoni making them perfect for snacks or weeknights.
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Shortcut Pizza Muffins Recipe
If your family loves pizza, these tasty pizza muffins will be a hit. They taste like classic pepperoni pizza in a fun, handheld bite that is gooey, cheesy, and pull apart to eat.
Just like our crescent roll pizza and homemade pizza bagels, this shortcut recipe uses refrigerated pizza dough, so they are quick to assemble and bake. Perfect for snacks, weeknights, or lunch boxes, and kids love them.
Why You’ll Them
- Ready in about 20 minutes: Quick to prep and bake for hungry kids or a game day appetizer.
- Customizable: Use your favorite pizza toppings like pepperoni, sausage or veggies!
Ingredients Notes
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Refrigerated pizza dough: The shortcut that makes these muffins so easy.
- Pizza sauce: Use your favorite jarred or homemade pizza sauce for dipping and filling.
- Mozzarella cheese: Shredded mozzarella gives that classic gooey, melty texture.
- Mini pepperoni: Adds salty, savory flavor and makes the muffins taste just like pizza. Regular pepperoni can be used, I would just cut them in half to fit the cups better.
- Parmesan cheese: A sprinkle on top adds extra flavor and helps them bake up golden.
How to Make Pizza Muffins
Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease a muffin tin. Roll out the refrigerated pizza dough and cut it into 12 squares. Press each square into the muffin tin, letting the edges come up the sides to form a little cup.
Bake the empty dough cups for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Add a small spoonful of pizza sauce to each, sprinkle on mozzarella, and add a few mini pepperoni. Top with a little more mozzarella and a pinch of parmesan.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Let them cool a couple minutes, then lift them out with a fork and serve warm with extra pizza sauce for dunking.
Recipe Tips
- Homemade pizza dough works too, although baking time and temperature may change. Refer to the recipe directions.
- To prevent sticking, lightly grease the muffin tin or use a silicone muffin pan which makes it easy to pop the muffins out after baking.
- Add a sprinkle of pizza seasoning, Italian seasoning or dried oregano on top before baking for extra flavor.
- Garnish with fresh basil and a light sprinkle of sea salt before serving.
More fun pizza recipes include pepperoni pizza sliders, pizza pasta casserole and puff pastry pizza!
More Pizza Recipes
Pizza Muffins
Video
Ingredients
- 1 package refrigerated pizza dough , 13.8 ounces
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella cheese , shredded
- ½ cup mini pepperoni
- ¼ cup grated parmesan , optional
Instructions
- Prepare and preheat: Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake pizza dough: Pop open pizza dough package and unroll into a rectangle. Cut pizza dough into 12 squares. Stretch each square to fit into each muffin cup and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add toppings: Add 1 Tablespoon sauce, 1 Tablespoon mini pepperonis, 2 Tablespoons mozzarella, more pepperoni (if you like a lot of pepperoni), and sprinkle the top with a teaspoon of parmesan.
- Cook pizza muffins: Bake for another 10 minutes.
Last step: Please leave a comment and rating after you make the recipe.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Substitutions and Variations
- Biscuit version: Swap the refrigerated pizza dough for a can of regular biscuits (not flaky). Flatten each biscuit slightly, fill, press into the muffin cup, and bake until golden.
- Veggie: Add finely diced bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, or spinach before baking.
- Meat lovers: Swap or combine the mini pepperoni with cooked Italian sausage, bacon bits, or ham.
- Cheesy: Mix a little Parmesan into the mozzarella for extra flavor or sprinkle more on top before baking.
- Make them mild: Skip the pepperoni and add more mozzarella for simple pizza muffins.
Recipe FAQs
Let them cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Yes. Place the cooled muffins in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to 2 months. For the best texture, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Warm them in the microwave in 20–30 second increments until heated through, or bake in a 350°F oven for 5–8 minutes to crisp the edges again.
Serve them on their own as a snack or appetizer, or turn them into a full dinner with a Olive Garden salad and breadsticks.
