Quick and Easy Pizza Buns – Quick Weeknight Dinner Recipe

Make these Quick and Easy Pizza Buns in minutes or make them ahead, freeze them and then put them in the oven frozen. You’ll be thankful for these kid-friendly pizza burgers on nights you need a no-fuss dinner that comes together quickly.

Whether it’s a game night or a fall harvest field dinner, some nights you need a meal, and you need it fast.  It’s on nights like these when it’s important to have simple meal ideas ready to go.  And let’s face it, I do not have time every single night to make a four star, gourmet dinner.  I’m guessing you don’t either!

Quick and Easy Pizza Buns Recipe

This recipe actually has two preparation options.

1. Prepare and serve immediately.
2. Prepare and cook, and then freeze for later.

With option two, you can actually cook the open faced pizza buns from frozen in the oven. Scroll down for the specifics on this process.

While the most important factor may be time, the second most important is how well my kids will eat a particular meal.  My kids love pizza which means these pizza bun burgers are right up their alley.

Easy Pizza Buns Ingredients

• Ground Beef or Ground Pork
• Pizza Sauce
• Hamburger Buns or Kaiser Rolls
• Mozzarella Cheese Slices
• Dried Oregano

Feel free to add some variety to these pizza burgers if you desire.  Here’s some easy toppings to try:

• Black Olives
• Chopped Ham or Canadian Bacon
• Pepperoni
• Green Peppers
• Mushrooms

How to Make Homemade Pizza Buns

Step by Step Instructions

1. Brown ground pork sausage or ground beef (your choice). Drain excess grease if needed.
2. Pour in pizza sauce and warm in the skillet.
3. Arrange open hamburger or Kaiser buns on a cookie sheet, baking sheet or broiler pan, open side up.
4. Spoon pizza sauce mixture over each bun. Top with a slice of mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
6. Optional step: Sprinkle with ground oregano, Italian seasoning, grated Parmesan cheese, or red pepper flakes before serving.

For the full instructions for oven pizza burgers, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Substitutions

• Use English muffins instead of hamburger buns.
• Shredded cheese works just as well as cheese slices.
• Use pepperonis instead of ground meat.
• Use any of your favorite pizza toppings.
• Top with fresh basil.

How to Freeze Open Faced Pizza Burgers:

1. Prepare and cook quick pizza buns per the instructions above; let cool completely.
2. Wrap individually in foil. Put wrapped burgers in an air-tight resealable bag.
3. Label the bag with date and name of food.
4. Lay flat in freezer, and freeze until ready to use.

How to Prepare Frozen Pizza Buns:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pull frozen pizza buns from freezer.
3. Unwrap and place on a cookie sheet while still frozen.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated all the way to the center.
5. Enjoy!

Recipe FAQs

• These pizza burgers are great with either ground beef or ground pork sausage; use your favorite one.
• Drain any excess grease from the browning process, if needed.
• Feel free to add more of your favorite pizza burger ingredients including pepperoni or black olives.
• Shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted for mozzarella slices.
• I used Kaiser buns, and it makes 6 open faced pizza buns. If you use regular-sized hamburger buns, you should get 8 open faced pizza burgers.
• If you feel like going above and beyond, butter the buns and broil so that they get lightly golden brown before topping with the pizza sauce.
• I love to top my finished pizza buns with dried oregano or red pepper flakes. This is optional but tasty.
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