These Pepperoni Pizza Pockets are the ultimate handheld snack! Cheesy, loaded with pepperoni and marinara sauce and sandwiched in a flaky puff pastry?! Yes please!
Now that game day is back in action, if you’re anything like me, you’re there more for the FOOD than the football, lol!
And while I love the classic buffalo chicken dips, wings and various crockpot cream cheese dips, I’m so excited to be sharing these Pepperoni Pizza Pockets with y’all!
Why You’ll Love These:
First of all, if you’ve never had the gloriousness that is puff pastry, that alone should make you try this recipe!
Puff pastry is a store bought ingredient that you can find at any grocery store. When baked, it literally transforms into this golden puffy (hence the name) pastry that is flaky, buttery and SO delicious.
And when you add in your favorite pizza ingredients into that delicious puffy pastry?! Sounds like a match made in heaven to me.
The combination of the spicy pepperoni, the freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and of course, the marinara sauce is the BEST!
I also loved adding freshly shredded parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning on top for extra goodness.
Each bite is cheesy, saucy and flaky thanks to the puff pastry!
I absolutely love the fact that these are SO easy to bake up too. You seriously just divide the sheet of puff pastry into little handheld “pies” and then add in the ingredients, be sure they are crimped and won’t burst out and voila!
These pockets are SO simple, so delicious and truly just the best to bring to any game day or party or heck, just to even whip up yourself for an easy weeknight dinner!
Ingredients You Need:
Puff Pastry – I’ve said this before, my favorite brand is Jus-Rol (not sponsored), but it’s in the refrigerated section and it’s so simple to use!
Marinara Sauce – I just used a simple store bought marinara sauce.
Pepperoni – of course the best pizza topping in my opinion!
Mozzarella Cheese – I like to use freshly shredded for this recipe!
Italian Seasoning + Parmesan Cheese – I used this as a garnish on the puff pastry before I baked them and it really took it up a notch when it came to flavor!
Egg Wash – you will make a simple egg wash for this to make sure the tops are golden brown!
How to Make Pizza Pockets in 5 Simple Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the puff pastry onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet (if you aren’t using Jus-rol), line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the puff pastry into 6 equal squares. Shred the cheese and slice the pepperoni slices into long thin slices.
- To each of the puff pastry squares, add 1.5 tbsp of marinara sauce, ¼ cup cheese and the a small handful of pepperoni slices.
- Gently fold over the pastry to make a triangle. Make sure that the edges line up and then crimp them with a fork to seal it. Make sure you crimp well to avoid the filling leaking! Use the fork to poke a few holes in the tops of the turnovers.
- Lightly beat an egg to make egg wash and brush it over top of the pastries with a pastry brush. Shred parmesan on top of each puff pastry square and a bit of the Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy while warm and serve with warm marinara sauce!
Best Tips on Making Pizza Pockets:
Like I recommended above, I really do like using Jus-Rol for the puff pastry. However, any store bought puff pastry will do, just be sure if it’s frozen that it’s thawed!
Be sure that you line up the puff pastry, crimp them WELL and poke a few holes in the top of the puff pastry in order to avoid the filling leaking out.
I really enjoy having both freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and freshly shredded parmesan cheese for this recipe – take the extra time! Makes it so tasty!
Don’t skip the egg wash, Italian seasoning and parm on top! It adds SO much flavor.
Eat these while warm! The cheese is extra melty and hot, highly recommended.
Speaking of, I would highly recommend serving these with warm marinara sauce. Or, if you’re more of a ranch person…dip in this homemade ranch dressing!
Ingredient Variation:
Feel free to add in veggies (like finely diced green bell pepper or onion) into these.
You can also switch cheeses if you want to make these spicy – add in pepper jack cheese instead of mozzarella!
You can use salami instead of pepperoni or cooked crumbled italian sausage.
Feel free to use homemade marinara sauce instead of store bought as well!
Storing Leftovers:
I personally think these are best eaten the day of while they’re extra fresh!
However, if you have leftovers, I would recommend heating them up in the oven, not the microwave! In the oven, they get toasty but in the microwave they’re more likely to be soggy. 
I hope you guys enjoy these!! Be sure to leave a 5 star review if you end up trying and loving them! Happy game day season! -Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizzas
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Pepperoni Pizza Pockets
These Pepperoni Pizza Pockets are the ultimate handheld snack! Cheesy, loaded with pepperoni and marinara sauce and sandwiched in a flaky puff pastry?! Yes please!
Ingredients
- 1 sheet (13.2 oz) puff pastry (thawed)
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 and 1/2 cups freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup pepperonis, sliced into long thin slices
- egg wash
- freshly shredded parmesan cheese + italian seasoning
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the puff pastry onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet (if you aren’t using Jus-rol), line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
Slice the puff pastry into 6 equal squares. Shred the cheese and slice the pepperoni slices into long thin slices.
-
To each of the puff pastry squares, add 1.5 tbsp of marinara sauce, ¼ cup cheese and then a small handful of pepperoni slices.
-
Gently fold over the pastry to make a triangle (see photos above in the blog post for reference!!!) Make sure that the edges line up and then crimp them with a fork to seal it. Make sure you crimp well to avoid the filling leaking! Use the fork to poke a few holes in the tops of the turnovers.
-
Lightly beat an egg to make egg wash and brush it over top of the pastries with a pastry brush. Shred parmesan on top of each puff pastry square and a bit of the Italian seasoning.
-
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy while warm and serve with the remaining marinara sauce, warmed up!
Recipe Notes
Be sure that you line up the puff pastry, crimp them WELL and poke a few holes in the top of the puff pastry in order to avoid the filling leaking out.