Mini Pizzas with a Muffin Pan

What’s one of your favorite foods? Let me guess……..pizza? If so, I’d have to agree with you there. A nice meaty pizza is usually on our rotation of weeknight dinners and it’s best enjoyed with a good movie or show. When we’re not having it as our complete meal, we’ve found a quick way to enjoy mini pizzas as a snack. It makes for the most delicious appetizer and only uses a few ingredients!  Here’s the super easy recipe for mini pizzas using a muffin pan.

It all started when I was trying to find good appetizer ideas for Super Bowl. I came across this incredible idea on Pinterest years ago and have been whipping these up every football season since. Donny especially loves them. The best part about this mini pizza recipe is that it only requires four ingredients and 15 minutes of your time.

How to Make Mini Pizzas with a Muffin Pan

You start with a muffin pan, Pillsbury pizza dough (in the can), and the oven preheated to 400F (as the directions on the pizza dough call for). Before I get into the pizza-making, I make sure to grease the pan with cooking spray and set it aside. Then the real fun begins!

Pop open the dough and roll it out on a cutting board. You should have a nice rectangle of dough in front you.

You’re going to cut the dough in small circles that will fit into the circles of the muffin pan. You can use a cookie cutter (check out this set) or you can be like me and find a drinking glass to do the trick. If you decide to use a glass as well, just pick one with an opening around the size of the muffin pan circles. I press the top of the glass into the dough until I get a perfect cutout circle that will serve as my mini crust. I place the dough circles into the pan and do this until the pan is filled.

 

 

Now it’s time to sauce our mini pizzas. You can use any basic pizza sauce you like. I usually go with Classico Traditional Pizza Sauce because it seems to have the best flavor, in my opinion. You’ll only need to buy a 14 oz jar of it and you’ll use a hefty spoonful for each pizza. Spread it out over the dough before moving onto the next step. You’ll only use half of the jar doing this, so you’ll have leftover sauce for another batch later.

Tip: Like white sauce better? Try Classico White Sauce instead!

Next, the toppings. This is obviously the best part! I keep it simple with cheese and pepperoni but you can add as many toppings as you desire, even choosing different topping combos for each mini pizza if you want. For cheese, I prefer to use a blend of Parmesan and mozzarella shredded cheese. A generous pinch or two will suffice. Then, mini pepperonis like this are preferred as they’re the ideal size for these mini pizzas, but I can’t always find them in the store. So instead, I’ll buy regular-sized pepperoni and cut each slice into quarters. It only takes a little more time to do it this way but it works out great.

After dressing up your pizzas with toppings, it’s time to pop the pan in the oven. I just go by the recommended time on the pizza dough can, which is 8 minutes, and they turn out just right.

Now you have a super easy snack you can make whether you’re enjoying a movie, entertaining a crowd for game day, or you’re just craving something a little savory.

Want to make it Gluten Free?

You’ll need to go with a different dough. Unfortunately, there is not a current gluten free equivalent to the Pillsbury Pizza Dough (come on Pillsbury!). Sometimes you can find ready-made GF pizza dough at certain grocery stores, but it doesn’t seem to be a common product. If you can find it, great! Otherwise, you’ll need to make it yourself. It’s a few extra steps and will add more time to this recipe, but still worth it! All you need, is the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix. You’ll need to follow the instructions for making it. It requires a few ingredients and yes, it does involve working with yeast (which is included in the package). I have successfully done this and it wasn’t too difficult. It turned out great too!

 

Quick tips

• Try different sauces for different flavors (you can usually find white sauce at the store too)
• Add as many toppings as you’d like – each mini pizza can have a different combo of toppings!
• If you can’t find mini pepperonis, just use regular ones and cut them into quarters
• Kids will love making these – great for sleepovers too
• Perfect appetizer for game day or fun get togethers

What do you think of this recipe for mini pizzas? Lets us know if you’ve tried it in the comments below!

Don’t miss another post! We’ll send great ideas like this right to your inbox!

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

First Name

Email Address *

/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things – do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

More to check out

Super Simple Summer Salad

7 Benefits of Weekly Meal Planning