These Freezer-Friendly Homemade Pizza Pockets are SO easy to make using store-bought pizza dough and your favourite pizza toppings.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Store-bought pizza dough – you can use homemade pizza dough, but store-bought pizza dough will cut down on prep time.
- Pizza sauce – tomato sauce would also work.
- Mozzarella cheese – freshly grated pizza mozzarella is best, but you can use a pre-shredded blend if it’s all you have on hand.
- Pepperoni – substitute for another protein of your choice like sausage, bacon or chicken, or leave the meat off altogether.
- Mushrooms, green peppers and red onion – use any combination of veggies of your choice.
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How to make pizza pockets
Step 1: Roll out the dough.
Roll out pizza dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
Step 2: Cut the dough.
Cut into rectangles that will easily fold over.
Step 3: Add on the toppings.
On one half of the rectangle, spread a bit of sauce, cheese and toppings, leaving space around the edges for the dough to touch together. NOTE: you only want about 1 tbsp per topping (eg 1 tbsp mushrooms, 1 tbsp green pepper, etc.)
Step 4: Fold the pizza pockets.
Seal all edges, using a bit of water if necessary.
Step 5: Bake in the oven.
Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20 minutes until dough is crisp and golden. Wait 5 minutes before eating – they will be hot!
Step 6: Serve or freeze for later!
Making homemade pizza dough
Once you learn to make your own pizza dough from scratch, you can use it for any kind of recipe, including these homemade hot pockets.
To make homemade pizza dough, you only need flour, water, salt, olive oil, sugar and yeast. You can use regular flour, but bread flour will produce a crisp crust. The yeast is also what makes the dough rise to the fluffy crust – you’ll need to keep it at a warm temperature to activate the yeast.
Here’s how to make homemade pizza dough:
- Some people proof the yeast before adding it to the dough. This means you dissolve the yeast in warm water to activate it.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a stand mixer with a dough attachment. You can adjust the consistency during this step. If it is too sticky, add flour. If it is too dry, add a touch of water.
- Knead the dough and shape it into a ball. Let it sit in a warm dry place for about an hour until it has doubled in size.
- Roll it out to the shape you need to use it for pizza or pizza pockets.
Frequently Asked Questions
One of my favourite things about this pizza pocket recipe is that you can change up the toppings and try out different combinations. Any standard pizza topping will work great, but you can try other combinations too! Some ingredient ideas include chicken, sundried tomatoes, broccoli, ham, olives, spinach, bacon, alfredo sauce and pesto.
These homemade hot pockets get crispy by baking in the oven for 20 minutes at 425° Fahrenheit. There’s no deep frying required, so they’re much healthier than the frozen variety from the grocery store!
I prefer my pizza pockets to be oozing with melted cheese. If that’s what you are going for, use fresh mozzarella cheese. Cheese that is purchased already shredded is covered in potato starch to keep it fresh, which prevents it from fully melting and becoming that ooey gooey cheese you're going for. In order to get the cheesiness, you'll want to use a ball of pizza mozzarella for best results. You can also try using gouda, cheddar, goat, ricotta, Swiss or provolone for a different flavour.
Storing and reheating
Homemade hot pockets will last in the fridge for up to 5 days in airtight glass containers and are a great option for an easy and quick lunch. You can heat them up in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes or stick them in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 375° Fahrenheit to get that nice crispy finish.
Freezing this recipe
This pizza pocket recipe is definitely freezer-friendly. After they’ve baked and cooled, wrap each pizza pocket in plastic wrap then freeze them in a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. You can reheat them right from frozen in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes, or in the oven for about 20 minutes at 425° Fahrenheit.
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Freezer-Friendly Homemade Pizza Pockets
Ingredients
- 1 ball store bought pizza dough
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
- 1/2 cup pepperoni I used turkey pepperoni
- 1/2 cup mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 green pepper diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Roll out pizza dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rectangles that will easily fold over. On one half of the rectangle, spread a bit of sauce, cheese and toppings, leaving space around the edges for the dough to touch together. NOTE: you only want about 1 tbsp per topping (eg 1 tbsp mushrooms, 1 tbsp green pepper, etc.)
- Seal all edges, using a bit of water if necessary. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20 minutes until dough is crisp and golden. Wait 5 minutes before eating – they will be hot!
- TO FREEZE: You can also freeze pizza pockets for up to 3 months. If freezing, make sure to freeze them after you have baked them in separate freezer bags, and then microwave for 1-2 minutes to thaw. Place paper towel over pizza pocket and then microwave another 1-2 min to completely heat through. You can also freeze raw, then bake for 30-40 minutes from frozen for fresh pizza pockets.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Sarah says
If I freeze them, can I stick them straight into the oven or do they need to thaw first?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Sarah! You should be fine to stick them straight into the oven 🙂
Megan says
My kids love it when i make pizza pockets. They’re really great for packing in lunches. These ones look so good!
I love Cards Against Humanity, the grown ups in our family like to play that one too.
Cassie @ Crumb Kitchen says
Oh. My. God. I saw this, and my first thought was that my boyfriend is going to go crazy for these. These look SO GOOD. I have a no-fail recipe for basil beer pizza dough that I’m going to try out with these. Thanks Taylor!
Karly Campbell says
What is it about a little pouch of pizza that makes us all go crazy? Whatever it is, I ain’t mad about it at all. I’ve gotta try these out for on-the-go lunches and dinners!
Laura @ The Bluenose Baker says
These look yummy! They’d be great to stick in the freezer for my husband to heat up for lunch.
Natalie says
I don’t think I could bring myself to play CAH with my parents, but with my brother/sister-in-laws, it’s always so hilarious. And offside, always so offside, lol. These pizza pockets look super tasty. The perfect party snack to go alongside a fun game night.
Brittany says
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them out.
Taylor Stinson says
Thank you!
Mel @ The Refreshanista says
Yummy!!! These remind me of the Hot Pockets I used to love when I was a kid. Definitely going to give these a try and experiment a bit with the fillings 🙂
Taylor Stinson says
Thanks Mel!! I seriously miss those Hot Pockets omg!
Dana says
Oh my gosh–these look like perfection!! I can’t wait to try these. Also–CAH, beers, and family? Best. Nick and I play CAH with our parents, too. LOL. It just makes it that much funnier. The highest of fives for sick and twisted families o/
😀
Taylor Stinson says
LOL totally agree Dana, there’s just something about that game that brings out the best (and worst) in people hahahaha
My Dish is Bomb says
These homemade pizza pockets look like the PERFECT snack for game night: salty, meaty, filling, but also fun to eat! I can tell you from working at a pizza place with a woodfire oven that you know EXACTLY the right way to make crust…maybe send some over my way? 😉
Taylor Stinson says
Hahaha thanks Katy!! A restauranteur in Toronto recently gave me that tip and it forever changed pizza making for me! I’ll be on my way over soon! 😉