We love pizza in our house – it’s one of the foods that all three kids will actually eat and enjoy, and it’s easy (which means a lot on a weeknight, amIright?)
Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have an alternative to an old standby, so we like to make what we call mini pizza pot pies as a fun twist on our typical fave.
I’ve shared this recipe several years ago, but thought it deserved to be resurfaced for Mini Chef Monday because it’s a perfect mini-sized meal for your mini chef to eat and to help make with you!
We made these when we had friends over for dinner one night – they have two kids, too, so it was the perfect dinner choice. My friend Kristi used two sizes of plastic cups to cut out rounds of pizza dough – a larger round went into the bottom of the muffin tin, and we used the smaller one to top it off. This is a great and easy way for you to let your kids help prep – you can cut the dough without any sharp knives needed!
Another thing that’s great about this recipe is that you can use a variety of combinations to fill the pizzas. You could do ground beef mixed with pasta sauce, spinach, pepperoni, or a mixture of the three, along with shredded mozzarella to add that cheesy goodness.
Once all the pizzas are filled, top off the dough and fold the tops and bottom together to get a nice seal. Use kitchen shears to snip a small slit in the top and allow steam to escape while baking.
Bake at 350 degrees until the dough on top is golden brown, let cool for a bit, and they should pop right out of your muffin tin. Don’t they look delicious?
And each one is filled with all sorts of flavor:
Perfect for adults & kiddos alike!
These would be great for grab & go dinners, because it would be incredibly easy to eat these while you’re out and about. They make nice leftovers, too – just pop a couple in your lunch bag and you’re all set at work the next day!
Is your mouth watering yet? Here’s the recipe so you can go home and make these tonight:
Ingredients:
- Pasta sauce
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- Mozzarella cheese
- Pizza dough, either store-bought or homemade
- Pepperoni
- Any other ingredients you’d like to add! Red peppers, onions, olives, and mushrooms could all be great additions.
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Using a plastic cup, cut out a round of pizza dough to press into the bottom of a well in your muffin tin – there should be a little dough overhanging the edges so you can crimp it with the top layer of dough to seal! Put dough out for as many of the pizzas as you’d like to make.
- Fill your pizzas with whatever combinations of ingredients sound best, making sure to include sauce and cheese either in between layers or on the top so you have flavor and so your pizza isn’t dry. Don’t pile your ingredients any higher than the top of the muffin tin.
- Use a smaller plastic cup to cut out a smaller round of pizza dough, and place this on top of your creation, and fold the edges from the bottom layer over, pressing to seal the two rounds of dough. Using kitchen shears, snip a small slit in the top of each one to allow steam to escape.
- Bake your pizzas about 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Enjoy!
As always, I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers! Read how Mini Chef Mondays started and how to link up!
Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts – and we would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts ( this can be a kid-friendly recipe, or a recipe you made with your kiddo) with us each week, too!
Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen.
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