Just like the ones at the grocery store! Make your own Pizza Buns at home. They are easy and freezable, too!
I first published these Easy Homemade Pizza Buns way back in 2012! They continue to be in regular rotation around here. I thought it might be a great time to refresh this post, for those of you thinking school lunchboxes or after-school snacks. Or for the rest of us, just a tasty treat for any time :)
They always say not to shop when you’re hungry and I try to follow that rule, but don’t always succeed. That’s when anything remotely “ready-to-eat” holds special appeal and high on that list is the grocery store’s bakery made pizza buns. Even in a non-hungry moment, those lovely, cheesy buns seem to call my name every time I walk by them :)
I am not powerless to resist them though, because those suckers are expensive and I know how to make them easily and much more economically at home. Oh yes I do!
So with only 90 minutes and about $4 in ingredients, I can make 16 pizza buns that are guaranteed to make me immediately popular with my family, which will fill my freezer with ready-to-heat-and-eat snacks and may help you with those lunch boxes you need to fill.
Cook’s Notes for Easy Homemade Pizza Buns
I made smaller and thinner buns than the ones in the grocery store. I’m a thin-crust pizza kind of gal, so since I was in making the sizing decisions now, I went smaller and thinner. You can easily make them thicker and/or bigger if that’s the way you like ’em. Instead of dividing the dough in to 16 pieces, go with 8. You’ll just get fewer buns, of course. If you make thicker buns, be sure to increase the amount of sauce and cheese you put on each bun, to keep the topping to bun ratio in good order.
Baking at 375 F. will produce a crispy crust. If you prefer soft, bake at 350 F. instead (time may vary slightly).
And speaking of cheese, yes, I used cheddar, because that’s what the pizza buns in the store have on them. It’s good. Of course, you can always use mozzarella (or another cheese), if you like. That’s the great thing about making your own. You get to make all the decisions :)
Homemade Pizza Buns
These are just like the ones they sell in the grocery stores. Why pay too much for them, when you can make them easily at home for a fraction of the cost?
Ingredients
For the pizza bun dough:
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 tsp instant (Bread Machine or Rapid Rise) yeast
- 1 cup quite warm water (120-130° F.)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable, canola or other neutral oil
For the toppings:
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce (make your own or a good store-bought)
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
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For the dough: In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the kneading hook, mix together 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and instant yeast. In a measuring cup, combine the warm water with the oil. Add the water mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Knead by hand or with the mixer, add more flour in small increments, as needed, until the dough comes together into a smooth dough. It shouldn't stick to your hands or be dry and crumbly. Grease a bowl and place the dough ball into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 30 - 45 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
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Prepare two baking sheets by lining each with a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.
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Remove the dough to a floured cutting board. Cut the dough evenly in half. Cut each half in half again. Cut each piece in half again and then in half again, to make a total of 16 roughly equal sized pieces.
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Take a piece of dough. Form it in to a rough ball, then stretch in to a circle about 4-5 inches in diameter. (You don't need to stretch them completely at this point. Once the dough has rested a few minutes on the baking sheet, they will be easier to shape, so you will be going back and stretching them out a second time later.) Place the dough circle onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with each piece of dough, placing 8 on each on the prepared sheets (you can place them fairly close together as they don't spread much, but don't allow them to actually touch each other). Go back to the first pieces you formed and stretch them a little more, as needed.
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With all your rolled dough on the baking sheets, using a teaspoon from your cutlery drawer, top each piece of dough with two heaping teaspoon of pizza sauce, spreading it over the top, going as far to the edges as you can without it going over the sides. Top with a generous amount of shredded cheddar cheese. Repeat with all the buns. Let stand 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven.
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With racks in the upper and lower third of your oven, preheat oven to 375° F. with the rack in the centre of the oven. After buns have stood for 20 minutes or so (or until they look a little puffy around the outside edges), bake in preheated for 20-25 minutes , switching the pans from top to bottom half way through baking. Cook until well browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy immediately or cover and refrigerate. Or see below for freezing instructions!
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Freezing: These buns freeze really well. Freeze them on baking sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag. To enjoy straight from the freezer, no need to thaw. Just place the frozen buns on a baking sheet and warm in a preheated 400° oven for 7 or 8 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Be sure to read the "Cook's Notes" in the original post, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
This is a great recipe. I did find they were more like an actual pizza instead of the pizza buns…. what did I do wrong?
Hi Amanda, I’m not sure you did anything wrong. Maybe you were just expecting something different. These are “copycats” of the pizza buns that are sold at all the grocery stores here in Ontario, Canada. They call them pizza buns, so that’s what I call them. They are really just little pizzas.
Omg these are amazing and super easy to make. Thanks so much for the recipe.
So glad to hear, Tanya! Thanks :)
Made these today and served them with homemade ham and pea soup for supper. Huge hit with the family! Gobbled them up! Thanks for this easy and yummy recipe!
So glad to hear, Caron! Thanks :)
Amazing recipe!! I tripled the batch and added jalapenos or banana peppers to some of mine! Everyone was raving about them! Especially great, heated up over the camp fire! Thanks for the fool proof recipe! Officially your newest fan!
Thanks so much, Sammi :) So glad you are enjoying them!
I’m not sure, in the way it is written, which oven rack you should bake the homemade pizza buns on? Thank you for the recipe!!
Hi Nellie, if you are baking the two pans at the same time, you would put one rack in the bottom (2nd position from bottom, likely) and one rack in the top (2nd position down from the top). Then you would put one sheet on each rack and rotate them top to bottom about halfway through baking so they bake evenly. All that said, if you have a big pan and can get all of them on one pan, just bake on a rack in the center position all the way through baking. Hope that helps :)
Hi, just wondering how you would make the dough in a bread machine? Any tips would help thanks :-)
Hi Sarah, I don’t have a bread machine but from what I understand you could just dump all the dough ingredients in and run it through the dough only cycle. You would have to use bread machine or instant yeast of course. After that just shape, top and bake :)
These look like the perfect after school snack or fast weeknight dinner – I’d be in carb heaven! :)
Thanks Laura and yes, carb heaven for sure :)
Just discovered your site… I know what took me so long to find you – lol I found another great recipe actually it was the recipe I was looking for and than I came across this one – Pizza Buns yummmm – my question is – can the dough be made in a Bread Machine. Thanks and I subscribed to the group😋😋
Hi Germaine and thanks! And yes, you can absolutely make this dough in a bread machine :) As long as you start with bread machine (or instant) yeast, you can just combine all the ingredients and proceed as you normally would. Enjoy!
Packing school lunches is very difficult at our house. My daughters refuse to take anything that resembles a sandwich – peanut butter or turkey or anything. What makes it worse, they refuse to purchase the school lunch because apparently ‘that isn’t they kind of food that we eat.’
I’m always on the hunt for a good lunchbox idea, this is perfect! Thank you so much!
Hi Cali and I always had the same issue when it came to lunchboxes! These are a great option, as you can put them in the lunchbox frozen and they are thawed by lunchtime, too :) Enjoy!
OMG, Yaaass!! I know exactly what pizza buns you are talking about in the bakery section of some grocery stores!! I love those things! Sadly, none of our stores here sell them, so since we moved to NC I haven’t been able to get my fix. Clearly, that’s about to change, because I’m definitely going to make these.. and then proceed to devour them in record time! Gimme gimme!!!! Cheers, friend!
Thanks so much, Cheyanne and yes, they are always tempting at the grocery store, except when I have some in the freezer ;)
I would definitely be powerless to resist these Jennifer! I’m literally drooling all over my computer keyboard! These will be a hit for fall college football weekends!!
Thanks Chris and oh yes, perfect football food, too!
I am glad you re-posted these, I am back to trying to figure out what to make for school lunches. These cute pizza buns have the exact ingredients my son likes. I have a feeling that he will be a fan. Pinned!
Thanks Milena and I have a feeling he will be a fan, too :)
So happy you brought this recipe back! They look incredible! Such a fun weekend meal!!
Thanks so much, Annie :)
I totally missed these the first time around, I’m so glad you revived them ~ I’m not sure we have this kind of thing here in the States, but it sounds like a delicious snack, and all that crusty melty cheese looks insanely good :)
Thanks Sue and I wondered how far and wide these could be found :) They are in just about every grocery store’s bakery section here it seems.
Oh my word! Bring them on, they look amazing!! I love that you re-published these
Thanks so much, Chris :)
Geez Lousie Jennifer! How have I missed these my whole life? I cannot wait to try these amazing buns. They remind me of bialys but so much better! Outstanding recipe and thanks for bringing it back to the front. Sharing and pinned and wishing I had one now!
Thanks Tricia and yes, I make up a batch often just to have some in the freezer! They re-warm really quickly, even from frozen, so they are a great snack :)
You’re so right. I wonder how stores justify the price they charge for these. The directions you gave was so good and clear and they turned out so nice.
I know, Elaine! But I’m so glad they were so easy to recreate at home :) I love having these in my freezer for a quick snack. Glad you enjoyed them, too.
These are wonderful!! Just made them for the week. Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed them, Rosa! Thanks :)
My grocery store was out of pizza buns today, so I decided to make them. I Don’t eat cheese, but the look and smell amazing! My husband and boys will be delighted. They love them for a snack or as part of their lunch. Have you ever tried using wholewheat flour? I am curious if the quantities of ingredients would change at all.
Hi Keeley and yes, I think they will love these! You could certainly swap up to about 1/2 of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat. All whole wheat would probably end up like hockey pucks :) The amount of liquid may change a bit (you would need a bit more liquid, probably). A good compromise might be while whole wheat flour, which should work roughly the same as the original recipe.
Made these tonight and they were awesome! Planning to make them again for a church event on the weekend. Thank you so much for posting the recipe. I know I’ll be making these often.
So glad to hear! I make them often myself. Great to have in the freezer for snacking :)
Great recipe! Next time I will either bake for less time though or reduce heat, as bottoms got crunchy and I’d prefer a soft dough
So glad you enjoyed these Cheryl and yes, you can bake for less time, for sure. Another trick is to double-up your baking sheets underneath to reduce the bottom browning.
I’m so obsessed with all of your recipes especially the bread ones! So simple and delicious :)
Thanks so much, Ruosi :)
I just made them and they are perfect! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them! (I’m craving these now … may have to bake up a batch myself ;)
Hi Jennifer, my instant dry yeast is (two years) expired. Can I use active dry yeast in its place??
Hi Jaime. Absolutely. Just use a pinch more and proof it in the water (warmed) first.
Just made them….. Huge hit as my 6 year old always wants one when we go to the grocery store. I made the 8 but next time I’m going to roll them thinner and make 12. So excited as the whole store bought processed thing drives me insane.
So glad you enjoyed them, Jean :)
Great recipe. Better than the store bought. Thanks for posting.
Glad you enjoyed them, Jack :)
As an update, these truly are so easy to make and so deliciously, amazingly yummy. They dont last long around here :) I make 8 rather large thinner buns and bake at 350 for a nice soft crust..that’s the beauty of this recipe, it is so versatile and easy to personalize. Thank you again for sharing!!!!
They look beautiful, much nicer than those in the stores! I spend about $15 a week, for 8 buns for my son, so I am so excited to try this. I dont eat them because they are so expensive but now I can :) Thanks so much! And great to know they freeze so well! A must try this weekend for the upcoming week.
I’m sure you (and your son) will love them, Casey. And yes, they freeze perfectly. To re-warm, just place the frozen pizza buns (no need to thaw) on a baking sheet and pop them in to a 400 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes. (Not exactly sure of the time as it’s been a while since I warmed them from frozen, but it’s not long at all). They come out just like they were freshly baked!
I doubled this recipe no problem, and made these with whole wheat flour. I also used olive oil, onion powder, garlic salt and Italian seasoning, then topped with a homemade sauce packed with hidden veggies. Must say best easiest quickest recipe I’ve tried! All my Kids loved them, and I had lots for on the road to a fishing trip. Thank you so much for posting this!
Love your version and so glad you enjoyed them. They are great to have on hand!
These turned out perfect!
And there are endless combinations!
I used my bread machine on dough cycle but followed the recipe exactly otherwise and made 16 as suggested.
Finally something else for the lunchbox ;)
So glad you enjoyed them and good to hear the recipe translates to the bread machine, too!
Did u use bread machine yeast or quick yeast?
Hi Jennifer, I always use instant yeast. Bread machine would be a good substitute.
I’m making my own variation of these right now (used your recipe for inspiration, but I’m a ‘traditional yeast’ girl, so some steps are a little different). I’m making mini ones for Sunday school tomorrow (made 17 rounds), and then doubling the batch for some bigger ones for lunch/freezing for later. They look and smell awesome. I’m sure the kids will be thrilled to get pizza for snack :D
Sounds great and I’m sure they will enjoy their pizza snack! They freeze beautifully. I love to have some in the freezer and they warm up quickly and easily in the oven (from frozen), too. Enjoy!
Awesome recipe, I will be making these today. I happen to run out of bread, and thought what am I going to put in the boys lunch for school tomorrow, and thought hmmm pizza buns. Found this site and thought PERFECT!! They always think its a special treat when i give them the store bought ones…home made, even better!!
I think once you discover how easy they are to make at home, you’ll be doing it a lot :) Enjoy!
I am going to try these this week. I’m a Canadian ex-pat living in the States and they certainly don’t sell them in the grocery store here!
Really? Somehow I imagined them as universal. They are in every grocery store around here (in with the bulk buns and things). They are addictive little devils, but pricey, so I feel better making them myself.
I needed a quick pizza recipe tonight so that my daughter and I would have something to eat at a pizza party. I used this recipe with gluten-free flour, and it worked great! Thank you so much!
That’s great to know that gluten-free flour worked so well. Thanks for letting me know!
I love this! I do the math on things like this often… thinking… it would be more delicious AND cheaper if I made them myself! I’m sure these were much tastier than pre-made! And some frozen for later, too! Wonderful idea… sounds like a perfect lunch.
It was the perfect lunch that day, Sophie, even if I had to wait a bit for it. It’s been great having them in the freezer for snackage for the teenager in the house, too!
My kids love them too but I hate paying for them! Thanks for showing me how I can do it at home :)
Thanks Liz. I’ve bought them for my kids over the years as well, but always considered it a bit of a “treat” kind of thing because of the cost. That’s why I love these. No buyer’s remorse :)
My boys love pizza buns..great to know they are so easy to make at home! Thx for sharing!
You’re welcome, Asiya. Hope your boys enjoy these ones!