Using canned biscuits and your favorite pizza toppings, you’ll have puffy golden pull-apart pizza poppers with only 6 ingredients and 15 minutes in the oven!
Why this recipe works
These pepperoni pizza poppers come together with canned biscuits which makes this process a whole lot easier than prepping the dough yourself, though you can certainly make them with homemade pizza dough as well. You simply slice each biscuit dough into six sections and toss them with olive oil, pepperoni, cheese, and basil then divide the mixture into a muffin tin to pop into the oven and bake. They’re basically little pizza muffins!
Pizza poppers make an awesome appetizer for football games or parties but also hit the spot when you get a late night pizza craving! Serve them up with marinara on the side for dipping.
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions
BISCUITS – We used Grands Southern Homestyle Biscuits but feel free to use a different flavor of biscuits as well! Store-brand canned biscuits will work perfectly fine here.
TOPPINGS – We used mini pepperonis on our pizza poppers but you can easily add any of your favorite toppings like cooked Italian sausage, bell peppers, onions, jalapeno, diced ham, or black olives. If you can’t find mini pepperoni, you can use 5 ounces of regular pepperoni. Just chop it so the pieces are smaller. I would recommend giving the bell peppers and onions a quick sautee (you don’t have to fully cook them) before adding them to the mix if you plan on incorporating them.
CHEESE – Mozzarella cheese is a classic when it comes to anything pizza related, but you can definitely use your preferred cheese here. I always suggest grating cheese straight from the block instead of pre-bagged cheeses (which still works in a pinch) as it melts nicer.
How to Make Pizza Poppers
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the wells of a 12-muffin tray with olive oil spray.
- Cut each biscuit into 6 equal pieces. Add the chopped biscuits and olive oil to a large bowl and toss to coat.
- Add the pepperoni, cheese, and basil, and toss to combine.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin wells.
- Bake until the pizza poppers are puffed and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool for a couple of minutes in the pan, then run a paring knife along the outside and pop them out.
- Serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.
Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips
During the cooking process, the pizza poppers will start to look oily – that’s normal! They will absorb most of the oil by the time they’re done cooking. This wasn’t an issue for me, but if you’re concerned about grease dripping onto the bottom of your oven, you can place a piece of foil on the rack under the muffin tray to catch any drips as these cook. And if you want to remove the excess grease, after they’re cooked transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate.
Yes, absolutely! You can toss in sliced black olives, chopped bell peppers, onion, sausage, bacon, diced ham, jalapenos, and just about any kind of pizza topping you like the most. If you plan on doing sausage pizza poppers, pre-cook the sausage in a skillet before tossing with the other ingredients – likewise with the bacon, bell peppers, and onions (at least cook until they are partially softened). That way, everything is nicely cooked through and nothing is raw.
Serving Suggestions
Though marinara or pizza sauce is the obvious choice to serve alongside pizza poppers, you can also offer them up with garlic butter or ranch for dipping. Mix and match your toppings of choice and serve warm from the oven as an appetizer, snack, or dinner. Enjoy!
We originally saw this idea for these pizzas from Oscar Perez @oscarins_kitchen on TikTok, go check him out for more fun, delicious content!
More Pizza Recipes
- Pizza Dip
- Pizza Sliders
- Air Fryer Pizza
- French Bread Pizza
- Mini Zucchini Pizzas
- Pepperoni Pizza Puffs
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Pizza Poppers
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- olive oil spray for the muffin pan
- 16 ounces Grands Southern Homestyle Biscuits 1 tube, or other canned biscuits
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 ounces mini pepperonis
- 1 ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- â…“ cup fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce for dipping
Things You’ll Need
- Muffin pan 12 cavity, regular size
Before You Begin
- Feel free to experiment and use any type of Grands Biscuits that you like!
- If you can’t find mini pepperoni, you can use 5 ounces of regular pepperoni. Just chop it so the pieces are smaller.
- During the cooking process, these pizza poppers will start to look oily – that’s normal! They will absorb most of the oil by the time they’re done cooking. This wasn’t an issue for me, but if you’re concerned about grease dripping onto the bottom of your oven, you can place a piece of foil on the rack under the muffin tray to catch any drips as these cook. And if you want to remove the excess grease, after they’re cooked transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate.
- You can toss in sliced black olives, chopped bell peppers, onion, sausage, bacon, diced ham, jalapenos, and just about any kind of pizza topping you like the most. If you plan on doing sausage pizza poppers, pre-cook the sausage in a skillet before tossing with the other ingredients – likewise with the bacon, bell peppers, and onions (at least cook until they are partially softened). That way, everything is nicely cooked through and nothing is raw.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the wells of a 12-muffin tray with olive oil spray.
- Cut each biscuit into 6 equal pieces. Add the chopped biscuits and olive oil to a large bowl and toss to coat. Add the pepperoni, cheese, and basil, and toss to combine.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 12 muffin wells.
- Bake until the pizza poppers are puffed and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool for a couple of minutes in the pan, then run a paring knife along the outside and pop them out.
- Serve warm with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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Gloria Avino says
Can you freeze these?
Amanda Davis says
While we haven’t tested that with this specific recipe, it should be totally fine!
Darlene Graham says
Made these again for the second Christmas luncheon in a row. Made one batch but split it into six and six. Half a batch from my brother, using chopped up pepperoni, and the other batch of six for my sister-in-law and niece with sautéed and chopped mushrooms and onions. They were a big hit last year, so I decided why not do it again!
Cynthia says
Can you bake smaller bites in the mini cupcake pan?
How many minutes do you recommend?
Amanda Davis says
It’s important to note that we have not tested this in a mini muffin pan. If I were to try it, I would use the same oven temp and start checking them after ten minutes.
Cynthia says
Can you do these with the buttermilk biscuits? Or will it not taste right?
Amanda Davis says
Again, we haven’t tested this recipe with buttermilk biscuits, but I would think any canned biscuit should be fine.
Lous says
Would it be OK TO add a raw scrambled gg to each one and make it breakfast?
Amanda Davis says
We have not tested that with this recipe. However, should you decide to experiment we would love to hear your results!
Nancy says
I made 2 batches of these Pizza Bites. The first batch with the mini pepperoni and pre-cooked Italian sausage. The second batch with both hard and dry salami plus the rest of the pre-cooked Italian sausage. Both batches turned out great and I will make them again. The only problem I had was the grease from the meats dripping from the muffin tin to the bottom of my oven! What a smoky mess!!!
Nancy says
I just gave a question at this time…can these Pizza Bites be baked and then frozen to be eaten at a later date? I have 2 cans of biscuits that I need to use before they expire and 24 Pizza Bites for 2 elderly people are too much at one time. Thank you for your time.
Amanda Formaro says
Yes that should be fine
Sandra says
Delish, just couldn’t get them out of pan.
Any secrets?
Amanda Formaro says
Did the spray the muffin pan with non-stick spray?
Kim says
Absolutely delicious and so easy! We made these tonight for dinner and sautéed pepperoni’s with finely chopped onions, mushrooms, banana peppers and green bell peppers and served with pizza sauce for dipping. This is definitely a do-over! Thank you!!