I have a pre-teen in my household.
He is also a boy.
And he is hungry all.the.time.
And while I would love for him to grab an apple, peel an orange, or munch on some carrots, because he is a pre-teen boy, he is drawn to foods with weird names like Takis, Sour Patch, and Protein Packs.
My compromise, these Homemade Pizza Pockets.
They are snack sized, so they are super easy to throw a couple in the microwave to have as an after-school snack. And they are equally as versatile as a “pack-from-home” school lunch item.
Two great things about this recipe.
- You can double or triple it EASILY. Which is awesome for large families or ravenous pre-teen boys.
- It freezes like a dream. So if you do decide to double or triple batch it, you can stick them in a freezer gallon-sized Ziploc bag and munch on them for the next 2-3 months. (Unless, you are a pre-teen boy and then it will take you exactly six days to eat a single batch.)
Say GOOD-BYE to snacks with names you can’t pronounce and ingredients equally as weird and make this homemade pizza pickets freezer meal recipe instead.
Homemade Pizza Pockets Freezer Meal Recipe
Need a after school snack or lunch option for ravenous kiddos? This Homemade Pizza Pockets Freezer Meal Recipe is easy to make, freezes well, and can be doubled for large crowds.
Recipe Yields: 24 Pockets
Dough Ingredients
1 teaspoon chicken bullion (I use Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base)
1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1.25 cups milk
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon rosemary, dried
1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
1/4 teaspoon basil, dried
1/2 cup butter, cold (one stick)
Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
Other optional ingredients: diced black olives, turkey pepperoni, diced green pepper, onion, and/or diced mushrooms.
Crust Treatment Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted (one stick)
parsley, dried
Instructions
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together chicken bullion, garlic, milk, and egg. Set aside.
3. In another small bowl, mix ricotta and marinara sauce together. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine flour, parmesan, baking powder, salt, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and basil. Stir to thoroughly combine.
5. Cut the cold butter into 4 or 5 chunks. Use a fork to blend the butter into the flour until the mixture looks crumbly and the butter is evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture and there are no large clumps remaining. This step will take about 3- 5 minutes.
The easiest way is to press the fork into the side of the bowl and “shred” it between the fork tines.
6. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until dough comes together into a loose ball. It should be dry enough to handle and not so wet as to appear shiny.
7. Place the dough on a lightly floured countertop. Knead the dough a approximately 10 times, turning it over onto itself and then turning another 90 degrees.
8. Use rolling pin, roll out dough in a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
9. Using 2-1/2 inch round cookie/biscuit cutter or a large glass, cut the dough into circles.
10. After you cut out all the dough into circles, press in the center of each circle with your fingers to thin out the dough to approximately 1/4 inch. This will enlarge the circle a little and leave the outside edge a little thicker.
11. Place the crust circles on a greased cookie sheet. Spoon 1 rounded tablespoon of filling onto the center of each crust and sprinkle with mozzarella.
12. Fold the crust in half and press together the edges. You can use a fork or your fingers. Your goal is to seal the edges so the filling stays in.
13. Bake for 13 – 15 minutes until crust is lightly browned.
14. Remove pouches from oven and brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately
To freeze: Cool completely and store in an airtight ziptop freezer bag for up to 2-3 months.
To reheat: Remove desired number of pizza pockets from the freezer and warm them individually in the microwave for about two minutes or until heated throw. Or, warm on a cookie sheet in a 350-degrees oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through. Also, makes for a great school lunch by removing pizza pockets from freezer and placing into lunch box. Pizza pockets should be thawed by lunch time.
Looking for more School Lunch Inspiration? Follow my School Lunch Ideas Board on Pinterest for recipes just like this.
Follow Kelly Snyder’s board School Lunch Ideas on Pinterest.
LOVE this recipe? Make sure to check out all of our tried and true recipes in the Redefined Mom Recipe Index.
Has anyone tried this recipe? I’m trying it right now, and I have to say this is the biggest recipe failure I have ever experienced. I am not a new to cooking or baking. But this dough is totally unworkable. It is so so sticky. I am certain I measured ingredients properly. I’ve added additional flour to get the dough to come together. The counter was HEAVILY floured, more flour added as I kneaded. Even more flour added as I rolled it out. Cut a couple circles out and still incredibly difficult to work with, tried putting them together on floured parchment, still sticking. Such a bummer. These sounded so good. I’m not giving up just yet. I’ve returned the dough to a bowl to stir in more flour, and it’s chilling in the fridge to chill the butter down again.
Oh, no. I’m sorry it isn’t working. Let us know how it works…it sounds like chilling down the butter might do the trick.
Oh yeah it was bad. I followed the recipe exactly. A sticky, gooey unworkable mess. It’s not you. I’m a very experienced baker and this was awful. I chucked the lot in the trash. What a waste of ingredients.