Lunch time around here can be a hectic time…
These Pizza Pockets are a perfect treat that you can make ahead put in the freezer…then throw in the oven at lunchtime.
Here’s how I made these:
I used my regular pizza recipe…
Crust
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teasoon sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
Stir ingredients together until thoroughly mixed. You can make these pockets right away, or you can allow this dough to soak for 12-24 hours in order to break down the phytates and make the grain more easily digestible.
Pizza Sauce
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon basil
Stir together and simmer for a few minutes.
Pizza Pocket Fillings
Grated mozzarella or white cheddar cheese, cooked hamburger, pepperoni, olives, peppers, mushrooms
To form a Pizza Pocket
Roll a small ball of dough into a circle. Place one tablespoon of pizza sauce in the center. Put in a small amount of your choice of toppings. Fold the dough in half. Use a fork to pinch the edges together.
Lay Pizza Pockets on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for about one hour. Pop them off the cookie sheet and put them into a freezer bag…and back into the freezer.
Bake your Pizza Pockets
For frozen Pizza Pockets, bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. If the Pizza Pockets are thawed, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
I love the convenience of this nutritious “fast food”! Serve them with fruit and veggies(God’s fast food!)…and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy lunchtime treat!!
You’ll find more healthy treat recipes here.
Those look like fun! I’m going to print this out and try my hand at it. I actually tried to bake bread yesterday. I thought it came out too doughy and heavy…but everyone in my family raved about it. Not too bad for a first attempt. (I don’t have a bread machine, but I did use my Kitchenaid for the kneading!)
Yummy!!!
I make these too! Usually I just use some canned biscuits…flatten the biscuit and then add fillings. When I make pizza dough, my family thinks they actually need a big round pizza! LOL
Wow looks really yummy and not too difficult either! THX
Yummy… I may wait until next week to make these, because I’m sore from making 46 berocks last night, and making crust and rolling dough doesn’t sound fun today! LOL
Thanks for always sharing such great, yummy recipes!
Great idea!
I was hoping you would share this recipe. :)
What a great idea for a fast lunch!
These look like something we would really enjoy! Thanks for the all the great recipes you share! Have you thought about putting together a cookbook and submitting it to a publisher?
Okay- what did I do wrong? My dough was sooo flaky/crumbly, it wouldn’t roll out, and could not make pockets out of it…
How many pockets does one recipe make? Thanks.
I made these last night and they were yummy! I froze half for some quick and tasty meals. Great idea!
I made these and got about 20 nice sized pockets. The dough mixes up very well and is easy to work with. I used 1/2 cup olive oil/1/2 cup butter, as that seemed a little healthier. The finshed product tasted very good! We’ll see if the kiddos agree tomorrow!!
I’m doing a spin on these for dinner tonight. Barbecue chicken pockets. I chopped the chicken and added some barbeque sauce and chipotle seasoning.
What about freezing them? Do they work in the microwave for re-heating (thinking school lunch!)
I freeze them all the time. I’m not a big fan of microwaves so I haven’t personally warmed one this way, but if you bake them first, then re-warm them in the microwave, I’m sure they’d do fine!
DO you soak your grain for this?
I am thinking about making these but my son is gluten ree…can I soak the grain to make easier to digest. or should I just use gluten free flour?
thanks
Tara McMillan
I do soak my grain for this and it works great!
thank you!! i have been looking for make ahead and freeze meals! these look so yummy and are surely better for you than the store bought pizza pockets! YUMMY!
Sounds great! I love that you put directions for heating from frozen and unfrozen. I also like that the recipe doesn’t call for cooking, freezing, then heating in the microwave. We got rid of ours due to health concerns, so when I see recipes like that, I’m thinking…”okay, how do I reheat it without a microwave? Will it be overcooked if I try it in the oven?”
So thank you!
I also had trouble with the dough being flaky and crumbly and difficult to roll out. The ones I did get together are in the oven baking at the moment, so we’ll see how they come out…they smell good!
I love this idea, though I may use the breadmaker pizza dough recipe I usually use for our pizza & movie nights, as I didn’t have much success with this dough recipe (perhaps it is my flour? My flour tends to be on the grainy side…)
Might have been the grainy flour. I know that I usually have to work my dough (like playdough) for a while sometimes to make it nice enough to roll. Hope yours tasted good anyway!
If I used a yeast dough for the crust do you know if it would freeze and work as well?
Yes, I think it would work perfectly!
Just a tip I’ve found when making mass amounts of pizza pockets: You can roll out a huge amount of dough and cut it with a pizza cutter into desired size squares. Then top the dough and fold over or pull up edges and tuck all the ends under sorta like a bread roll with the filling in the middle.
Love looking over your recipes and can’t wait to actually get busy and make some!
I read above that you said you soaked the flour. Do you soak it before you add the other ingredients or do you just mix all the ingredients and let it sit? If you soak it before what do you soak it with?
Thanks, I am trying to soak my grains and learning how to convert recipes so this is helpful. I can’t wait to try these!
I mix all the ingredients together and let it soak. You don’t have to add anything because the cultures in the yogurt break down the phytates!
Wow, I just found your site…I’ve been skimming through and saving tons of recipes and links! Love it, thanks so much!
Sorry to have you repeat yourself, but when you freeze them how do you reheat them?
For frozen Pizza Pockets, bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. If the Pizza Pockets are thawed, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
I bake these off and THEN freeze them so I can give them to my husband for lunch. Works well for us!
These are a hit in our house! My dough also was crumbly and fell apart the first time I made these. I think it’s because my butter was not completely melted. However, I just kept kneading it and working it, and it softened right up after about 5 minutes.
I now use this concept to make pasties. I can get 5-6 out of the dough recipe. Instead of pizza fillings, just fill with ground beef, carrots, onions, potatoes, spices and 1 T. of butter. Serve with gravy.
I made these last night with pizza toppings. Was thinking to make some with breakfast items, eggs, cheese, sausage…for breakfast pockets. Also, apples with butter and cinnamon for a desert or breakfast pocket. Can’t wait to make batches of them for the freezer.
I have a batch of the mini pizzas ready for the oven. A genius tip occurred to me late last night: roll the dough out as one piece and use a jar mouth to cut each piece. I’m sure someone else is smarter than I and already thought of that ;)
I tried making these last night and it was a flop! But that’s because I am not the best cook! :) The dough turned out mushy and totally hard to work with. I’m going to try again this week – maybe I incorrectly measured the butter or something.
I do have one question. How large are your circles that you cut out to fold?
Hmm, you may have needed more flour? I usually cut my circles with a wide mouth jar, then flatten it a bit more.
I don’t see it in the instructions so how long do you normally let the batter sit and soak? Is it the same amount of time for all recipes using nothing but whole wheat flour?
Does the soaking make the flour/batter easier to work with?
Thanks!
I usually mix it up and leave it on the counter overnight (or a few hours longer).
Soaking does make the batter a little bit easier to work with.
How many pockets should you get from the one batch of dough?
Depending on the size of your pockets, about 15-20.
I’m assuming the answer to my question is no, but do you think that this recipe would work with rice flour?
I really have no idea. :( I don’t have any experience with rice flour. I’d love to know the answer to this myself so that I could pass it along to others!
I make a very similar thing for breakfast. I just put in ground sausage and cheese. My kids love them. I’ve tried the pizza but they don’t like it as well.
I’m off to make some more of these. They are fun to make and such a great thing to have on hand for an easy meal!
Whoops. I forgot to check the temp before putting them in the oven. I’ve got them in at 350 instead of 400, plus with an egg wash. Can’t wait to see how they come out!!! My older son’s idea of the perfect lunch is a couple of Amy’s Organic Pizza Pockets, so this might fill the niche, and for a lot less money.
A couple leaked, but they’re very pretty. My husband is “testing” a couple and the rest will go into the fridge for the kids’ lunches tomorrow.
We are trying to convert to whole wheat flour, so I made these with part whole wheat flour and part white flour. But they came out tasting… well… too much like grainy whole wheat crust. I tried to roll them out thin enough, so the crust wouldn’t be too thick but it didn’t work well. Is it my whole wheat flour or do we just need to get used to the whole wheat taste?
I’m not sure if you read my “Switching to Whole Wheat” post, but that might answer the question. I’d try using whole wheat flour from WHITE wheat to see if that makes a difference: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/switching-to-whole-wheat-flour-making-the-transitions-easier
I hate to add my blooper. I made them but I substituted heavy cream for the yogurt as I didn’t have any (its a dairy, right?). I suppose I was supposed to roll out the dough? I just squished it flat (sorta) with my hand. So, here’s the question: I put the sauce on first and it made a WHOLE…as in oozed out especially as I folded it over, right in the top center. Was this due to my changes mentioned above? I haven’t given up; I was just hoping for some tips….Thanks! I ended up putting pepperoni down first to make a “barrier” and then the sauce on top and I also kept the dough pretty thick…
Hmmm…yes, it could have been that the cream changed the dough. Sometimes I have sauce that oozes out, but it doesn’t make a hole in my dough. I wonder if the yogurt would have held the dough together better?
What kind of tomato sauce do you use??
Thanks!
I use my home canned tomato sauce: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/canning-tomato-juice-and-tomato-sauce
Also,
Can you subsstitute buttermilk for the yogurt?
Thanks
Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem!
I forgot about the dough and left it out for 2 days. Do you know if it’s still good?
I’m late in replying to this, sorry about that! I’ve also forgotten my soaking dough for longer than I was supposed to. As long as it isn’t stinky or moldy…it’s fine. It’s gonna smell a little sour no matter what, because it becomes a type of sourdough…but by stinky I mean that if it sends you running and screaming from the room…I wouldn’t use it. :)
I just made some of these for lunch, and they were wonderful!! The kids ate them up! I used what I had on hand- Prego, black olives, shredded cheese, and a little cottage cheese w/ parmesan, garlic salt, and oregano mixed in. I’m excited to try these next time we have leftover pot roast or chicken!
I have the dough sitting on my counter soaking right now, alongside the frozen breakfast sausage that I will be using to make breakfast pizza pockets. I am so excited to see how these turn out!
Wondering how to make this w/o dairy… I always use coconut oil in place of butter or shortening, but I’m at a loss for substituting yogurt.
I *think* you could sub rice or coconut milk for the yogurt and be okay.
They also make coconut milk yogurt. Cultures for health should have a
recipe for coconut milk yogurt!
Made these for lunch today. Kids could not get enough of them. I am so glad they are so easy to make. I will be making a double batch next time so we have some in the freezer for another day. Husband loved them too!
These are excellent! Thanks! We used 1/2 c. olive oil and 1/2 c. butter as one commenter suggested.
Made these for the kids in my home daycare today. I love the healthy food ideas from your site. I also made the blueberry strussel muffins for them this morning and they all said they were “delicious.” Thanks for all the great ideas!
I made these today for the freezer and heated one up. OMG it was delish. Some turned out to be somewhat messy but it is for me and hubs so I really do not care. :)) Do you know approximetly how many calories these would be?
Sorry, I have no idea! Glad you liked them!
What is 1t. is that 1 tablespoon or 1 teaspoon?
Sorry – 1 t. is teaspoon. I need to go edit that for clarity!
Have you tried this crust in quiche?
No, but what a great idea!
I did try it and it works great.
am i able to substitute in greek yogurt? thank ya.
Yes, I think this will work, although I can’t say for sure since I’ve not tried it.
My family tried these last night and they were great! I was worried since I always have trouble with making things with homemade dough, but I just added a little extra dough like you suggested and it came out just right! We didn’t have any pepperoni, so I just used browned hamburger seasoned with garlic powder and salt and pepper then used store bought pizza sauce (organic) and cheese and it was yummy even that way! Can’t wait to try them with pepperoni! Even my picky husband liked them =)
I meant extra yogurt not dough sorry =)
That seems like a LOT of butter for 3 1/2 cups of flour. Not a typo? I put 3/4 cup of butter in 6 loaves of bread, and my regular pizza crust recipe (1 extra large crust) has a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
Right, that’s the correct amount. This is more of a flaky crust, not a yeast bread crust, which is why it has more butter. :)
I made this today with a friend- we are both expecting soon & wanted to put some things in the freezer. (We 4x the recipe.) We tried one- in a word: yum!
Thank you!
I used pizza sauce recipe for last night’s spaghetti. The oregano is a nice touch; I could really taste it. I was told that I was a good cook… ;)
I’d like to pack these in my son’s lunch for school, they can microwave items if need be. Wondering how they cook in a microwave if thawed?
Thank you!
You’d need to bake them first if doing it this way, but I’d say they will only take a few seconds in a microwave once thawed.
so in order to soak the grains for this particular recipe i just put the yogurt, butter, flour & salt in a bowl, mix them, and allow them to sit for 24 hours on the counter? or do i use just yogurt and do it? or do i use additional yogurt to soak the grains and then add the normal ingredients tomorrow when i actually make the crust?
Thanks so much for your website! it has opened new doors for me:)
For this recipe, you can mix ALL of the ingredients together and leave them to sit for 24 hours. After the soaking, just make the pizza pockets with the dough.
Thought this was such a good idea, but my kids hated them :( I may try it using my regular homemade organic whole wheat crust as they are more used to that… Trying to come up with some good homemade lunches that I can freeze like this.
I want to make these for my kids lunches too. I was wondering if I could bake them first, THEN freeze them? Then maybe it would only take a microwave to heat them up or maybe only 10 min. at 400. What are your thoughts on this??
Yes, I like this idea. I’d probably go with a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. :)
Looks so good! About how many does one batch make?
I can’t remember exactly, but depending on the size, probably around 18-22.
I made a triple batch and only got an avg of 11 pockets per batch. :( I’m not sure what I am doing wrong. The lay out of my pockets looked similar to yours above so I don’t think that I am mkaing them too large. I tried to roll them pretty thin but then the crust would break a lot when I was trying to fold them over the filling. Do you have any suggestions? My kids love these and I have a hard time keeping up with their demand! In addition, do you roll the crust between parchment paper? My dough is also really sticky…just curious. I’d love to get more out of this recipe if possible.
Thanks!
Laura uses parchment paper to roll them out. The only thing that I can
think of is that hers are probably a little bit smaller.
If i were to use this recipe for an actual pizza, how would i do that? Would this make one or two 13×9 pans? How long and at what temp do i cook this as a pizza crust? Thanks so much!
It would probably make two 9×13 pans – I’d do 375 for about 10-15 minutes and go from there depending on how the crust looks.
Hi! Does the dough taste better if you let it soak?
Eh, we think it tastes about the same either way.
I made these for lunch today and they were soooooooo delicious!!!!! Thank you so much. I could not get over how good the dough turned out. I didn’t freeze them, I just baked them for 15 min. @ 400 degrees and they were done on my stone. When I ran out of pizza toppings, I put sliced apples in one with 1 T butter and some cinnamon and sugar and it was awesome, too! They were quite filling, too. My batch made 7 pockets, 2 of which were a little bigger (for me, the nursing mom!). I have forever made PB sammies for lunch or served leftovers from the previous dinner or quick things, and today I turned over a new leaf. After reading through one of your menu plans, you’ve inspired me that I can cook up something for lunch, too! Again, thank you for the inspiration and the delicious recipe! I can use that dough for lots of stuff – it is so versatile.
Oops, forgot to mention I halved the dough recipe!
Oh, I can’t wait to make these! This should be fun to make with the kids…and they can create their own with what ever they want in them, like ham & cheese :)
We’ve been making pizza at home for a few years now. With varying success, always edible, sometimes great, sometimes not-so-great. My 3 little children & husband say this is The Best Pizza Ever. Nice to hear from a 6 year old boy! Thank you Laura! (We used crust recipe for regular flat pizzas…will try pockets soon!) (:
how many calories are in the final product?
Do you have a “better” for you pepperoni? I’ve avoided it for yrs, but would LOVE to have some I could at least feel ok about. All the ones I saw at my grocery were not even refrigerated, looked scary to me!
Here is a link to Laura’s pepperoni/summer sausage. :)
https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-beef-summer-sausage
Kristina,
I use turkey pepperoni (in the same place as the bacon and reg. pepperoni). It freezes really well, too, so if you don’t use a whole pack you can freeze some.
Can I make this pizza crust without the yogurt?
Yes, you could maybe sub coconut milk? Or, here’s my new favorite pizza crust: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/easiest-tastiest-healthy-pizza-crust-freezable
Have you ever tried putting sloppy joes into these pockets? I saw a commercial for grands biscuits making sloppy joe pockets using rolled out grands biscuit dough. Planning on trying this soon!
I was wondering if you ever tried to make this with non dairy yogurt and butter? My daughter has an allergy to milk. I have made them before with the recipe as is, and loved them.
I haven’t, glad to know it works!
What is the difference between your pizza pockets and your calzones? The names seem interchangeable, but the baking times are definitely different…
One is with yeast, and one is without.
I’ve made these a few times and my family really likes them. What I haven’t liked, however, is making them. I’m sort of a perfectionist and I spend too much time trying to get pockets that stay together and don’t leak. Now I roll out 1/2 the dough onto a jelly roll pan, add filling, then top with remaining dough. I bake them, cut them in squares and freeze them. Much less stressful for me!
I made larger ones, got about 6 per batch. Perhaps that will be too much crust — we shall see. I was having trouble getting them much smaller and still rolling them out without it flaking off. I made some with pot pie filling and some with pizza filling — I’m excited :) Thanks!
My boys are loving these! They are very picky eaters and I’m trying to wean them off of processed foods. We have been enjoying these with different fillings with ham and cheese being at the top. I also have found that we love this dough to make drop dumplings.
Has anyone else’s kids commented the crust was too dry? My 9 year old liked them but had the critique that she thought the crust dry. Anyone know of a fix for this? Thanks! :)
I would just add a bit more yogurt to the mix and that should take care of it. :)