Jeff’s pizza bites are a great appetizer for game day or any day. With three kinds of sausage, pizza sauce and cheese they have big pizza flavor. Luckily they are easy to put together. The recipe makes a big batch, but they freeze well. Then you can have a savory snack at a moment’s notice later.
This fun appetizer recipe comes from Jeff, one of my coworkers. He said that they have been a favorite in his family for decades.
They made a recipe for their family dinner a few weeks ago. So, he shared the recipe while he had it out.
I am glad he did. These fun little two bite pizzas are such a great snack.
They remind me a lot of the party ryes my family makes, but this recipe is more overtly pizza flavored with the pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese. Of course, pizza inspired recipes are always a hit around here.
So, I am not surprised these were a hit as well. They would be great for game night, a holiday appetizer spread, or a tailgate snack.
Where do you find cocktail rye bread?
It can sometimes be a challenge to find the cocktail rye bread. In our grocery stores, it is usually by the deli case near the fancier cheeses and charcuterie items. You may have to look around a little bit for them, but they should be available because folks use them for a variety of canapes.
Carlee’s Tips and Tricks
You want to get the sausage broken up into pretty small pieces when you are browning it. That way you get a good mix of all of the sausages on every pizza bite.
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The cheese mixture might be a little bit loose when it is hot. You may find it easier to put on the bread once it has cooled a bit.
I used a small cookie scoop to put about 1 Tablespoon of the sausage mixture on each piece of bread. It is an easy way to evenly portion the mixture and easily transfer it.
Go ahead and bake whatever pizza bites you plan on eating right way. Put the rest on a sheet pan and freeze them for at least an hour before transferring them to a freezer container.
When you are ready, grab as many pizza bites as you want and bake them from frozen. Just add a couple of minutes to the bake time.
It is great to have some on hand for when you really need a snack. They also work great for unexpected guests.
You can never have too many easy snacks in the freezer for later. So, go ahead and make a batch now.
Jeff’s Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1 pound bulk pork sausage or ground beef
- 1 pound bulk hot sausage
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 16 oz jar Cheez Whiz
- 1 15 oz can pizza sauce
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 packages rye cocktail bread
Instructions
- Preheat you oven to 375℉.
- Put 1 pound bulk pork sausage, 1 pound bulk hot sausage, and 1 pound bulk Italian sausage, in a large skillet. Brown over medium to medium-high heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.
- Drain any excess grease from the pan.
- Stir in 1 16 oz jar Cheez Whiz and 1 15 oz can pizza sauce until you have a uniform mixture. Remove from the heat.
- Arrange slices of the cocktail rye bread on baking sheets. Transfer about 1 Tablespoon of the sausage mixture onto each slice of bread. (I find a small cookie scoop helpful for this step.)
- Sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella cheese on top of each pizza snack.
- Bake for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is bubble and browned to your liking.
Freezing instructions:
- Place the sheet pan filled with prepped pizza bite into the freezer for about an hour. Once they are firm, go ahead and stack them in a freezer container or freezer bags.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake, you can bake them from frozen. Just preheat the oven and arrange as many pizza snacks on a baking pan as you would like. Bake them for about 10 minutes or until cooked to your liking.
Video
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