We thought it would be fun to recreate this classic, but with our own taste and style. This hot pocket is loaded up with vegan meatballs, marinara sauce, and vegan mozzarella cheese. We used the Gardein meatballs for them, but you can also make your own. We have a recipe for 
Description
A veganized version of a popular frozen dish, minus all the weird stuff. You really only need FOUR ingredients for this recipe—store-bought dough, meatballs, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. These are perfect for school or work, kids will love them AND they will take you right back to your childhood.
Ingredients
- 8 vegan meatballs, crumbled (we used about 1/2 bag Gardein but you can opt for homemade here)
- 2 cups vegan mozzarella cheese shreds (we used So Delicious)
- 3/4 cup marinara sauce of choice
- 16 oz. pizza dough OR opt for homemade (below)
Homemade Hot Pocket Dough
- 1 and 1/3 cups warm water, about 110°F (43°C)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) Red Star Platinum active dry yeast
- 3 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Almond milk, for brushing
Instructions
If you are using store-bought dough, skip to step 4.
- In a medium bowl or cup, combine the sugar and warm water. Mix together until uniform, then add in the yeast. Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes until the mixture is foamy.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt until uniform. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil, and then mix together until a nice dough forms, adding more flour or water as needed. Slowly knead the dough for 7 minutes by hand until it is smooth and elastic.
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a large greased mixing bowl. Turn it over to coat all sides. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm environment for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Once risen, punch the dough down to release the air. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, slice dough into 8 equal parts. Roll each piece of dough into 8 rectangles and place them on the baking sheet. They don’t have to be perfect rectangles but you can trim them with a knife if you desire. Refer to our video here.
- Load up one side of the dough with meatballs, cheese, and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of marinara, then fold the other half of the dough over top. Pinch the edges to seal as best you can, then use a fork to crimp the edges. Brush the tops and sides of each pocket with almond milk, then using a sharp knife, slice 2-3 slits in the tops for air vents.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Remove pockets from the oven and allow to cool on the pan until ready to handle and serve.
Notes
- The homemade dough does rise quite a bit when baking, so we suggest rolling it as thin as you can while trying your best to avoid tears. We had the best results using store-bought pizza dough.
- You can also freeze these after baking to enjoy them at a future time. Cool the pockets completely and then pop them into a freezer safe bag. To reheat them from frozen, you can either cover them in a paper towel and pop them in the microwave for about 2 minutes OR you can bake them in the oven at 350F for about 10-15 minutes. Just keep an eye on it in the oven!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
Oh my word, this looks amazing. Who says you have to “give things up” to be vegan? 😛
Can this be oil free?
Hi Shelby,
I think that you can do it! you will definitely have to modify the recipe, but here are my suggestions.
For the dough: we only used a tad bit of oil for the whole recipe, but if you would prefer to go without it I have seen oil-free dough recipes such as this one that uses beans: https://frommybowl.com/vegan-corn-empanadas/
For the meatballs, you can make homemade meatballs such as our eggplant meatballs: https://sweetsimplevegan.com/2017/01/eggplant-meatballs/
For the cheese, you can try to make this oil-free with our homemade mozzarella: https://sweetsimplevegan.com/2018/03/stretchy-vegan-mozzarella-cheese/
We just cannot guarantee results as we haven’t tried it, but I expect it would work! 🙂
I want to make this recipe and freeze them for a Friendsgiving. What temperature would I use to heat them and for how long?
Hi Krystal! We would place them frozen in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until they are toasted and warmed through.
I’ve made this twice so far, one with refrigerated pizza dough, and one with your home made dough recipe. The store bought dough makes a thinner crust and smaller pockets, the home made dough makes a more bread like crust and larger pockets. They come out great either way. My family loved both, so I am making them AGAIN!
★★★★★