You can quickly whip up this mini deep dish pizza recipe to enjoy all of the goodness of the Chicago classic! Made with a simple crust and layers of customizable pizza toppings, these pizza bites can be enjoyed as an appetizer, lunch, an after-school snack, or as everyone’s favorite weeknight dinner!
Why We Love This Mini Deep Dish Pizza
I’m always looking for more recipes that I know my kids will love and this mini deep dish pizza recipe is officially one of their absolute favorites! It’s portable pizza – what else could you want?
These mini deep dish bites are super easy to make, but you can make it even easier by using store-bought dough! Once you have the dough sorted out, all you need to do is fill your mini pizzas with whatever toppings you and your family enjoy the most.
They’re the perfect size to throw in my kids’ lunchboxes for school along with some chopped veggies and fruit. You could even make this a family affair by inviting everyone to come make their own pizzas. Have every member of the family make one pizza they would like, and one pizza they think someone else would like. It’s such a fun way to make dinnertime interactive!
Key Ingredients for Mini Deep Dish Pizzas
These deep dish pizzas are surprisingly easy to make. All you need is to whip up some dough for the pizza crust, and some toppings to fill it with. Let’s start with the crust!
Deep Dish Pizza Crust
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Sugar
- Salt
- Cold butter
- Milk
Pizza Toppings
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Spaghetti sauce (Try our homemade pizza sauce!)
- Mini pepperoni
- Optional: Feel free to make these pizzas with your favorite toppings. See some ideas below!
How to Make Deep Dish Pizza
Step 1: Preheat
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Step 2: Mix Dough
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry blender or by criss-crossing with two knives until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Finally, stir in the milk – at which point, the dough should be soft.
Step 3: Shape Pizza Crust
Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 equal portions. Pat each portion up the sides of a muffin tin, working it into an even layer.
Step 4: Fill Crust and Bake
Fill each muffin cup with one tablespoon of spaghetti sauce and evenly distribute the mozzarella cheese over it. Top the mini deep dish pizzas with mini pepperonis. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the biscuit is golden.
FAQs
The amount of time to cook a mini deep dish pizza varies on your oven and the size of your muffin tins. Typically, as I mentioned in this recipe, you’ll want to bake them for 15 minutes. However, it’s good to keep an eye on them and see when the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly – that’s when they’re done!
If you’d rather buy pizza dough and use that to create your mini deep-dish pizzas – go right ahead! I’m never one to shy away from a way to make a recipe simpler. Just buy any pre-made pizza dough and that’ll work. I use store-bought biscuits sometimes!
No! The crust is important in a deep dish pizza, but it’s not the only element that makes it so unique. Deep dish pizza is made with a high crust so that the inside of the pizza can be layered with tons of sauce, cheese, and toppings of your choice. It’s the thickness of the pizza in general that’s so special (and delicious!).
Store them in an airtight container in your refrigerator for about 3-4 days. To reheat, put them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes. You can also use the microwave in 30 second intervals, but keep in mind that the microwave may make them a little bit mushier than you’d like.
Variations of Deep Dish Pizza
Make these mini deep dish bites your own by adding your favorite pizza toppings! Sausage is one of the most popular toppings for Chicago deep dish, so you can slice up some of your favorite sausage (meat or veggie-based) to add to your mini pies. Some other meat-based options include anchovies, bacon, or ham.
If you’re more interested in veggies, you can load your mini pizza up with things like mushrooms, onions, spinach, olives, green peppers, or that ever-divisive pineapple!
Whatever you could possibly dream up as your ideal pizza is what you should add to your mini deep dish. Enjoy!
More Pizza Recipes To Try
- Homemade Three Cheese Pizza
- Pepperoni Pizza Sliders
- Easy Zucchini Pizza Bites
- Pepperoni Pizza Pockets
- French Bread Pizza
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Mini Deep Dish Pizzas
Ingredients
- Biscuit
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter cut into small pieces
- 3/4 cup milk
- Pizza Toppings
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce
- mini pepperoni
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender or by criss-crossing 2 knives, until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk (dough should be soft).
- Place dough on a work surface and divide into 12 equal portions. Pat each portion up the sides of a muffin tin working it in an even layer.
- Fill each muffin cup with 1 tablespoon of spaghetti sauce. Evenly distribute the mozzarella cheese and top with mini pepperonis. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and biscuit is golden.
That last picture… yum! Love how portable these are 🙂
Thank you!!!
LOVE these! I’d eat so many of them!
Thank you so much!! I did too 🙂