Perfect homemade convenience food, I adapted this recipe from my friend Kate. Feel free to use whatever pizza toppings suit your tastebuds, and fill your freezer with these handy heat-em-and-eat-em pockets.
Pizza Pockets
Dough
- 2 packages yeast
- 2 c. warm water
- 1 t. salt
- 4 t olive oil
- 2 t. Italian Seasoning
- 3 c. whole wheat flour
- 2-3 c. unbleached white flour
Filling
- 1 jar pizza sauce
- 1 lb. hamburger
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 c. sliced or chopped mushrooms
- 4 oz. pepperoni (diced in quarters)
- 3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Topping
- softened butter
- Parmesan cheese
- Italian seasoning
1. (I use my electric mixer.) Mix yeast and water. Let set a few minutes until bubbly. Add salt, oil, and Italian seasoning. Mix well. Add 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Slowly stir in (I use my dough hook) the rest of the flour. Knead. Place in a clean bowl with a bit of oil in the bottom. Flip dough to coat. Cover and let rise until double.
2. Brown hamburger with onion and green pepper. Add mushrooms. Stir in pepperoni and pizza sauce.
3. Once dough has risen, pinch off balls of dough. Roll out (6-8 inches). Top with filling mixture (leave room on the edges) and shredded cheese. Fold over and seal well. *** Larger balls of dough and more filling will result in hearty calzones. Smaller balls and less filling will make nice hand-held pockets. Both are delish!***
4. Place pockets on an ungreased cookie sheet. Spread each with a little butter and sprinkle on toppings. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes. *** I didn’t let mine get too “done,” because I want to be able to warm them in the oven from the freezer without too much browning.
Depending on the size of your pockets, you should end up with about 18-24.
Linked to
Ooo, yum; these look tasty! I love anything ‘pizza’ (I think its the Italian seasoning I love the most) and these look great for lunches!
~Aubree Cherie
Thank you, thank you! I’d been looking for this recipe… what a great thing to keep on hand in the freezer.
This looks delicious! I think anyone is my family would love this. You should check out our linkup tomorrow!
http://blog.foodonthetable.com/2010/06/introducing-no-whine-wednesday-with-chef-tracy/
Yum! I so need to clean out my itty bitty little fridge freezer so I can do a freezer day. I want a little chest freezer so I c an do a lot of freezer cooking.
Haha! I just wrote about a similar recipe yesterday! Except…I used pizza dough from a can.
And I talked about how these things can be called so many different things. I included Hot Pocket, but didn’t think of pizza pocket! The one my husband made recently (that I featured in my blog) was a bbq-flavored one, but I love the traditional pizza flavor, too. Yum!
I love all things bbq! Great idea!
Can these be warmed up from the freezer in the microwave? I was looking for a recipe like this…thanks so much!
Absolutely. If you’re using the microwave, I’d suggest baking them a little longer before you freeze them. I kept my dough pretty light so I could “finish them off” in the oven later.
Yum! I have made a similar “hot pocket” type dish. I used shredded cheese w/ turkey & ham lunchmeat. The bbq idea is awesome! I have the makings for this recipe and I think I just figured out what i’m going to make for lunch. I have been thinking about making some up w/ turkey, broccoli and cheese. (I’m getting hungry now!) Thanks for the inspiration ladies!
The turkey/broccoli/cheese is a great idea. I might have to try that next time!
Yumm. I do love broccoli! Now that I have the dough recipe, I can think of all kinds of fillings! Even sweet ones, like fried pies for dessert. Or would you call that un-fried fried pies?
Thanks! Simmering the filling now and then I will make the dough and bake them tomorrow. These are perfect for when there are no leftovers for my husband to take to lunch.
You don’t mess around! How’d they turn out?
My kids will love these. We are trying to avoid all things pizza right now because we were in a major rut. Still, I’m tucking this recipe away for the future. Yum!
That looks great!!
I’ve been using your recipe for pizza braid to make homemade hot pockets for a few months now. I love the dough for your pizza braid and use it for many things. If I’m making pizza hot pockets I throw some garlic and italian herbs in the dough, or a little rosemary if I’m doing turkey or chicken ones, etc.
Oooo, great idea! Never thought of using that dough.
@Amy, eek, that dough? :>) Might have to try it again. Either way, I’m not sure I can wait long enough for the dough to rise… I’m starvin’ right now! Linked this on my weekly roundup – thanks!
Ha! Oh, the dough…
I have this recipe and haven’t tried it yet. Good to know it’s a keeper! I’ll have to try it soon!
These would be right up our alley! Thank you for sharing, Amy!
This looks like a recipe I would want to try. Thanks for sharing it!
Elisabeth @ Treasuring the Moments
I can’t wait to make some of these. (Shhh don’t tell, but we don’t have children in school.) I may have to share some with the grandchildren though. We have, umm, 15. But who’s counting? The more the merrier!
They’d be great to have on hand for surprise visits from the grandkids!
True! Especially since we have so many! =)
Sooo glad you shared this recipe this week! I do a lot of freezer cooking, but don’t have anything like this! Can’t wait to make it!
Love your blog!
Thanks, Melanie! Hope you like the pizza pockets!
hello, im a new reader referred from moneysavingmom to this recipe for her freezer challenge. we’re on lunches next week, and this pizza recipe looks delicious, do you think i could use my regular pizza dough recipe and setting on the bread machine in order to have the similar affect of a pocket? thanks, katie
I say if you already have a dough recipe you like, use what works! I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Have fun! (The difference may be in how much it makes, but you can always adjust for that.)
Two of my friends came over before baby #4 was born to help cook and fill my freezer. We made a batch of these and they smelled awesome while cooking. I am pulling some out for dinner tonight and I cannot wait to try them. We love pizza pockets in my house but I try to avoid buying premade meals as often as possible. These should fill that void.
How nice to have friends come BEFORE baby to help! Yay!