It’s a dark dreary day here in New Orleans, so I won’t be doing any cooking today. Instead, I’m going to share this fun little freezer-ready snack that I made this week. I looooove stocking my freezer with quick meals and snacks that I can just grab and reheat on a whim because it really cuts down on the temptation to go out to eat or pick up “to go” food. These Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas really hit the spot on rainy weekends like this when I just want to sit around being all cozy and watching movies. ☺️
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Why Use English Muffins For Pizza?
English muffins are the perfect base for these Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas because they bake up all nice and crisp around the edges, but stay soft in the center. Plus, they’re just the right size and are super cheap if you buy generic. One thing to look for when buying your English muffins is the shape. I noticed that some brands were a bit more spherical, while others were flat and round. Flat and round definitely works best for this application.
Hit The Salad Bar for Pizza Toppings
One thing that makes these Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas so easy to make is utilizing the salad bar for toppings. Because the pizzas are so small, you really don’t need a lot of toppings for each, which would make it difficult if you were to buy each topping individually. If you grab a small handful of each topping from the salad bar you pay only for what you need and have no leftovers. One rule of thumb for buying toppings on a salad bar: you always need less than you think, so go small.
How Long Do These Freezer Pizzas Last?
Just as with most prepared food, I suggest trying to cook and eat your freezer mini pizzas within three months of freezing. Frozen food experiences a slow loss in quality over time, so for the best quality, bake and eat your mini pizzas within a few months. But honestly, they’ll probably be gone within a few weeks. ;)
Do I Need to Thaw My Frozen Pizza Before Baking?
Because these mini English muffin pizzas are so small, they can go straight from the freezer to the oven without issue. I usually do let them sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes as the oven preheats, but it’s not required.
Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas
Servings 12 pizzasIngredients
- 6 English Muffins ($1.99)
- 3/4 cup pizza sauce ($0.65)
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella ($1.50)
- Salad Bar Vegetables* ($1.17)
Instructions
- Line two small baking sheets with foil or parchment paper (or do one sheet at a time, preparing the second batch the second day). Open the English muffins and line them up on the baking sheets with cut sides facing up.
- Spread about 1 Tbsp pizza sauce over the surface of each muffin, then top with about 2 Tbsp shredded mozzarella.
- Chop the salad bar vegetables into very small pieces, then divide them evenly among the pizzas. Press down lightly on top of each pizza to help compact the toppings and keep them in place as they freeze. Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and freeze for about 8 hours, or until the pizzas are solid.
- Once the pizzas are frozen solid, carefully transfer them to a gallon sized freezer bag for long term storage (you may need two bags). For the best results, the pizzas should be cooked and eaten within 3 months.
- To bake the pizzas, take out the number you wish to bake, place them on a baking sheet, and let them partially thaw as you preheat the oven to 400ºF (about 7 minutes). Once the oven is fully preheated, bake the pizzas for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is melted. Baking time will vary depending on your oven and the amount of toppings on the pizzas.
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love homemade pizza? Check out my Pizza Category for sauce recipes, dough recipes, and some of my favorite pizza creations! And if you’re extra crafty, try making your own English Muffins with my Homemade English Muffins recipe!
How to Make Homemade Frozen Mini Pizzas – Step by Step Photos
Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment or foil. Open the English muffins and line them up on the sheet with cut sides up. This recipe is for 6 English muffins, or 12 pizzas total. You can assemble them all at once if there is room in your freezer for two baking sheets, or just make one sheet full at a time, preparing the second batch the next day (that’s what I did).
Top each English muffin with about 1 Tbsp pizza sauce (I used a generic jar of pizza sauce) and about 2 Tbsp shredded mozzarella.
For my pizza toppings, I grabbed a few things off the salad bar at the grocery store. I picked up some black olives, mushrooms, spinach, red onion, and red bell pepper. I get toppings for pizza from salad bars fairly often and one piece of advice I can offer is that you always need less than you think. So, only grab a very small amount of each item.
These Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas are just that–MINI. So, we need to chop the toppings into really small pieces to make sure they stick.
Divide the chopped toppings among the pizzas. Press down on each pizza slightly to help compact the toppings so that they stick together better once frozen.
Cover the baking sheet(s) with plastic wrap and freezer for about 8 hours, or until the pizzas are frozen solid.
At that point, transfer them to a gallon-sized freezer bag for long-term storage. The freezer bag is air-tight and will help prevent freezer burn and maintain the quality. You’ll still want to cook up your pizzas within a few months, though, as they may begin to dry out if stored longer.
When you’re ready to eat your cute little Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas, simply preheat the oven to 400ºF. Take the pizzas (any number that you want) out of the freezer and place them on a baking sheet to thaw a bit as the oven preheats. Once the oven is fully up to temp, bake the pizzas for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned and crispy, and the cheese is melted. Baking time will vary a bit from oven to oven and depending on what you’ve topped your pizzas with, so keep an eye on them as they bake.
This really makes me want to get a toaster oven. :P
Beth, I’ve followed your blog since it first launched, but this might be the first time I’m commenting. My kid recently showed an interest in cooking meals within a budget, and when I told her about your site she was excited. This was the first recipe we tried together, and it was the perfect afternoon snack. All your recipes continue to be well written, easy to follow, and the step-by-step photos are great! This one was accessible for her, and we used our air fry oven at a lower temp. Can’t wait to see what other recipes she’ll try from your site!
Thank you, Sheila! And hello after all this time! :)
I made these with mini pepperonis which were especially cute. My boyfriend always has pizza cravings so this is the perfect snack.
This was such a fun project for my dad an I to make together. He has dementia an your instructions are easy to understand so much so that he can help as well. It makes him feel good about himself. These pizzas were great-just like the Greek meatballs.
Aw, that makes me so happy to hear!! Thank you for sharing that lovely moment with me. :)
No problem Beth. It’s really nice that you make things easy to understand. It’s greatly appreciated.
I use my toaster oven for muffins….on a metal tray to just toast the top, or on the rack for extra crispy. Toaster ovens heat up much faster that regular ovens.
The English muffin is *topped* without cooking the muffin first so that the
middle of the muffin is actually still *raw* when cooking with the toppings.
How does the middle of the muffin get cooked? You say the edges get brown,
but how does the middle cook? to get rid of the raw-ness of the muffin?
The whole muffin usually gets browned so it seems unusual to leave the
middle of the muffin (under the toppings) – raw. Is this right????? Hope you’ll
clear this up for me. Thanks.
English muffins are already baked, so they’re not raw when you buy them. You can further toast them to brown them, but they are not raw if not toasted. You can certainly toast the muffins before you build the sandwiches, if you like.
I am going to make them pizza . For quick lunch and dinner for my husband and I . I like how I can freeze them. Because I am having a baby girl in 9 weeks . And I was not prepared for when I had my son in 2019 and know I want to be prepared because I will have a toddler and newborn and not being able to stand very long since I am having surgery.
“I’ve been trying to pull up the eggs florentine pizza recipe, but not having any luck. Would you please email it to me – I would like to try it on an English muffin.
Thank you.
How long should I bake the pizzas if I do not plan to freeze them? Can’t wait to make the mini Pizzas.
Baking from fresh will probably only be a few minutes less. I’d start with ten minutes and just keep an eye on it from there. They’re ready when the cheese is all melty and the edges are crisp. :)
we make these regularly for our residents, from fresh we only cook them for 6-7 min at 180 oc (360 ish F) and they turn out gr8 every time
Kurt
This looks great but I want to make these for my husband who is not real good at being patient. Can I microwave these and how long.
Well, they might turn out kind of soft and mushy in the microwave. I’d just start with 30 seconds and add more until they’re hot.
I’ve made personal size pizzas using Ezekiel tortillas. Yummy!
I haven’t thought of English muffin pizzas in forever, and this brings back such a wonderful memory for me! The last time I made them was probably in middle school, and they were to take to a Yankee game my dad brought me to. We ate them while we watched the game and we had a great meal and a great time. I’m making these today to have with my dad sometime in the next few weeks. :) Thanks!!!
I’ve made something like this with bagels for years. Quick, easy and tasty. Can’t beat that.
Love mini pizzas! We make them with protein heavy burritos for the diabetics.
Why why WHY have I never thought of this?? It would be so nice for those days we get home to late to actually cook. Also, thanks for the salad bar tip! I’m the only one in my family who enjoys anything besides cheese on my pizza and buying toppings for just me isn’t exactly an option. Thanks!
I make mini pizzas out of English muffins all the time for my kids, never put it in the freezer though. Wondering if the freezer makes the middle section of the muffin mushy from the moisture, does it?!
Mine weren’t. :)
Good stuff , I didnt know that I could do this at home
So simple and a great thing to have ready for a quick snack or an easy dinner. Not sure why I hadn’t thought of this before!
I used to make English Muffin Pizzas all the time as a kid! I would toast the muffin, put on the sauce, slap a slice of american cheese on top, and microwave until the cheese was melted. Good times..
I’ll have to try your version with actual shredded (vegan) cheese and toppings done properly in the oven. I look forward to it!
I do this with french bread sliced in half but this sounds faster and easier and more proportioned. One thing I’ve found helpful is to slightly broil the tops before freezing to melt the cheese a little to hold the toppings together in the freezer bag.
Yay mini pizzas! So fun and easy but these also look delicious! And super cute too :)
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I do the same but instead of English muffins, I use eggplant! It cuts down on carbs and I pretend that I’m super healthy haha.
Thanks for this! I came to the comments looking for a low carb swap out
This just became my new favorite recipe!! I remember making pizza on bread as a child, and never got the recipe right. Now I can have this at will! Thank you so much!!!! Made it last night, and it was FANTASTIC!! In a couple of days I will try the frozen ones :)
This is brilliant. My little girl loves pizza but making a whole pie is too much. These are the perfect size and so convenient use to their freezer readiness. Thanks.
Any idea how these would taste if baked first then frozen? Thinking about school lunches (already!). This is a great blog!
Hmm, not sure! You should make a batch and bake one first, then freeze it to test it out (freeze the rest pre-baking). The rest of them can be used as after school snacks and that way you don’t have to ruin a whole batch if it doesn’t work out. :)
Another way I like to make “easy” pizzas is using naan bread. I have to give credit to Nigella Lawson for that idea. I usually have naan bread in the freezer because I eat a lot of Indian/Middle Eastern food. It’s relatively inexpensive if you buy it at an Indian food store.
ITA! I started making naan pizzas after reading about it in a local food magazine from one of our big grocery stores, Wegmans. If you buy the frozen naan at Trader Joes, it’s really cheap… around $2.50 a package. Love it!
Yes I buy naan at costco and keep it in the freezer to make pizza on the grill when it is too hot outside to use the oven
You can use WW-Pita’s or Flatbread too … only 6-7 WW Smart Points, we eat them all the time. Use some fat-free motz or other low fat option, turkey pepperoni or Canadian bacon, any other topping. Back for 8-9 minutes, fresh on the spot. I make pizza sauce and store it frig, we do these couple times a week.
I make English Muffin Pizzas all the time, but never thought of making a batch and freezing them. Definitely doing this!
We have homemade pizza night every Friday, I have no idea why I never thought to get small amounts of veggies from the salad bar, that is GENIUS! You rock!
I used to make these all the time when I was in grad school and I loved them! It is super convenient (and inexpensive) to have a bag in the freezer and pull a few out when I want a pizza fix. Thanks so much for reminding me! I’m going to the store for English muffins now.