These Pizza Bites are everything you love about pizza - baked into handheld, cheesy, golden bites. Ready in under 30 minutes, they're the ultimate easy pizza appetizer recipe for game day, parties, or busy weeknights. Kid-friendly, freezer-friendly, and dangerously snackable.
Quick Look: Pizza Bites Recipe
- ⏱ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 25 minutes
- 🍽️ Servings: 12 regular muffins
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe: These Pizza Bites are everything you love about pizza - baked into handheld, cheesy, golden bites. Ready in under 30 minutes, they're the ultimate easy pizza appetizer recipe for game day, parties, or busy weeknights. Kid-friendly, freezer-friendly, and dangerously snackable.
- 🍪 Main Ingredients: Biscuits, mozzarella, parmesan, marinara
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy
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If you like this recipe, you're sure to love my grilled cheese sliders, my easy chicken pot pie with cream of chicken soup and premade pie dough, or my Old Fashioned Chicken and Rice casserole.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
- Uses simple pantry ingredients
- Bakes in under 20 minutes
- Perfect for parties or meal prep
- Portable + freezer friendly
- Customizable toppings
Unlike traditional pizza, these pizza muffins don't require rolling dough or long rise times. They're built for busy hosts who want something impressive without the stress.
As a Kansas City food stylist and entertaining expert, I love recipes like this that look elevated but are secretly effortless.
WHAT GOES INTO THIS RECIPE
Canned Biscuits - I use Pillsbury Grands canned biscuits to make this super quick and easy.
Mozzarella Cheese- Skip the pre-shredded cheese and shred your own if you want the ooey gooey cheese pull.
Jarred Marinara - I use Raos but use your favorite. Perfect for dipping.
Pizza Toppings- Add your favorites! Easily customizable and can be made vegetarian.
Photo by Recipe Critic
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- If using firm veggies like peppers or onions place them in the microwave to soften them before adding to the recipe.
- If using sausage or bacon, be sure to cook these ingredients first.
🗒 Variations
- Making it vegetarian, omit the meat and load up on veggies!
- You could even make this into a more elevated fancy dish. Use the biscuits, but add prosciutto, blue cheese and thyme. And use honey or hot honey as you're dipping sauce. Oh my gosh, so good.
- One of the great things about pizza muffins is that you can make them in a variety of sizes to suit your needs. For a mini pizza bites recipe try using a Mini Muffin Pan Perfect for parties or gatherings.
- Or use a Regular size muffin tin as shown above.
- And if you really want to impress your guests, why not go all out and make a large pizza pull-apart bundt pan? This impressive appetizer is sure to be the talk of the party, with its layers of dough, sauce, cheese, and toppings baked to perfection in a bundt pan.
FAQ
Airtight Container: Transfer cooled muffins to an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid or a zip-top bag. Store for 3-5 days. Reheat in microwave, air fryer or oven.
Can pizza muffins be made ahead
Yes. Bake fully, cool completely, and store in fridge up to 3 days.
Absolutely. Freeze in airtight container up to 2 months.
Grease generously or use silicone muffin liners.
Mozzarella shredded right from the block because it melts better than the pre-shredded cheese.
If you make these pizza muffins, tag me on Instagram @LaurenLaneCulinarian. I love seeing your entertaining spreads. Leave a comment below - are you team pepperoni or team veggie?
Pizza Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- 1 muffin tin
- 1 mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 16 ounces flaky Grands Biscuits or experiment with your favorite type
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- ½-1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese *grate your own for a meltier cheese
- ½ cup shredded parmesan or provolone cheese
- Pepperoni chopped. Or any favorite pizza ingredients (see note)
- ¼ salt
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes optional
- Marinara sauce for dipping
- 3 tablespoons of melted butter combined with ½ teaspoon garlic salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the wells of a 12-muffin tray with olive oil spray.
- Cut each biscuit into 6-8 bite-sized pieces. Add the chopped biscuits and olive oil to a large bowl and toss to coat.
- Place in a bowl and add all the other ingredients except the marinara.
- Toss to coat.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin wells.
- Bake until the pizza bites are puffed and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Top with garlic butter if using, and serve warm with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.
Pizza Bites Instructions
- Use a mini muffin tin and cut your biscuits into smaller pieces. The cooking time will be much shorter so start checking at 12 minutes.
Notes
- Cheese meltability: Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives like potato starch and natamycin, meant to keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag. That means the cheese won't melt well when used for cooking.
- If you want the classic Cheese Pull, grate your own.
- Use any sized muffin tin you like. For the pizza bites recipe use a mini muffin tin and cut your biscuits smaller. Mini muffins will cook through quicker than the larger bundt pan option.
- For a larger presentation, use a bundt pan, but remember to adjust the cooking time.
Bundt Pan Cooking Instructions: Double the recipe for the bundt pan option and use 2 cans of biscuits. Preheat oven to 350°. Cover your bundt pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. - Other Ingredient Ideas: You can toss in sliced black olives, chopped bell peppers, onion, sausage, bacon, diced ham, jalapenos, or your favorite topping combination.
- If you plan on making sausage pizza bites, pre-cook the sausage in a skillet before tossing it with the other ingredients - likewise with the bacon, bell peppers, and onions (until they are partially softened).
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