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