English muffin pizza is a super fun and delicious way to encourage even the pickiest eater to eat their vegetables! And if you're looking for a safe and healthy baby pizza recipe, here it is!
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Easy English Muffin Pizzas
This English muffin pizza is an exhausted parent's dream, just like this naan pizza, pesto flatbread pizza, and pizza eggs.
It's super easy to whip up for lunch or dinner, versatile, and a great way to incorporate more veggies into your child's diet. It can also help reduce food waste as you seriously can add whatever random bits of food you have leftover in the refrigerator.
And if you can, enlist the help of your whole family and see what fun and unique personal pizzas everybody comes up with!
These mini pizzas are especially adorable and your kids will love it :).
Is your baby 6 months old and up?
Learn all the secrets to starting solids safely while optimizing nutrition!
Ingredients
English Muffins - Can use whole wheat or regular variety. Whatever your family loves!
PIzza Sauce - You can use store-bought or homemade pizza sauce! I HIGHLY encourage you to try my sugar free version It's so easy to make and has the perfect flavor and thickness.
Vegetables - You can use whatever you have on hand! That's the beauty of this recipe. If there's one that your child is learning to like, try adding it to these pizza muffins!
Pictured are finely chopped raw zucchini and red bell pepper and cooked broccoli and sweet potatoes. Butternut squash would be delish too!
Mozzarella cheese - You can add as much or as little as you wish. Cheddar cheese will also be yummy!
Variations
The best part about these quick, budget-friendly English muffin pizzas is that you really can add any of your favorite toppings! Some of our yummiest pizzas were made with the most random ingredients that were being neglected in the refrigerator.
- Pizza crust - instead of English muffins, you can use a hearty bread, pita bread, naan bread, tortillas, or bagels. Or make this 2 ingredient protein dough.
- Pizza sauce - instead of the usual tomato sauce, try with pesto, hummus, barbeque, yogurt, or Thai Peanut Sauce.
- Vegetables - Red onion, bell peppers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas....anything goes!
- Protein - such as chicken, beef, tofu, beans, and salmon.
- Fruit - You can do a sweet naan pizza with yogurt or ricotta as the “sauce“ and top with apples, berries, peaches, mangoes, etc.
- Fresh herbs
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Place English muffin halves onto a lined baking sheet cut side up. Brush with oil and lightly toast.
2. Spread pizza sauce.
3. Top with vegetables and cheese. Bake pizzas until the cheese melts.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy these versatile English muffin pizzas for a quick lunch or dinner, alongside some fruit and/or vegetables, or as an easy snack. You can also pack for school lunch boxes.
For babies
6-8 months old:
Cut into strips the width of two adult fingers pressed together. That way they can grab with their palms. Not much will make it into their belly during this age, but it will be great for them to suck on and to strengthen their jaw and tongue muscles.
For 9+ month old:
Once they start developing their pincer grasp, usually around 9-10 months, you can cut into bite-sized pieces. However, I do encourage you to keep the pieces large so they can practice tearing, taking bites, and chewing. If you have a shoveler like me, this will help them to slow down.
Related: Best finger foods for babies
For toddlers
Pro tip for picky eaters especially: Set up a toppings bar, and allow your child to choose and place on their own mini pizzas. Not only will this be fun to do together, it's a great pressure-free way of encouraging them to try foods they may not have otherwise.
Is your toddler becoming picky?
Arm yourself with these strategies that will transform your mealtimes!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just like bread, you just want to make sure it meets these criteria. You also want to toast it. Contrary to what you may think, soft is not good when it comes to breads as it can gum up in their mouth and get stuck to the roof of their mouth.
While you can serve bread as soon as your baby is ready, usually around 6 months, not much will make it into their belly. They will suck on it, which is still great for practicing fine and gross motor skills, strengthening jaw and tongue muscles, as well as providing exposure to textures.
Since there are a lot of nooks and crannies, there are a lot of places the sauce can get into. So be sure to toast the muffins first before adding the toppings.
Also, use a thick sauce, like my homemade sugar free pizza sauce!
Yes! There are two ways you can do this.
If you want to meal prep and freeze without baking: Place assembled pizzas out on a baking tray and freeze until frozen solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container.
For freezing baked pizzas: cool completely and follow the same process as above.
When ready to enjoy, reheat in the toaster oven or microwave for 1 minute.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a rating below and let me know how you liked the recipe! Your feedback means so much to me!
English muffin pizza (with vegetables)
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 6 English muffin halves
- ¾ cup pizza sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- Vegetables of choice
- Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use fork to split the muffins into halves. Place onto a lined baking sheet cut side up.
- Brush olive oil on each muffin. Toast in oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of tomato sauce onto each half.
- Top with vegetables (I used finely chopped raw zucchini and red bell pepper and cooked broccoli and sweet potatoes).
- Add as much cheese as you wish. For baby you can skip altogether or add a little.
- Return to oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted
Notes
- Vegetables: You can use whatever you have on hand!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, microwave briefly or in the oven at 350°F until heated through.
Jenny says
So good!! I didn't have any english muffins so I used pieces of our usual bread. It was still delicious! For veg I included cooked sweet potato and steamed spinach. The sweetness of the potato really makes this special. My 13 mo old loved his mini pizza (he seriously could of eaten a second), and so did I!
I am steadily making it through your recipes, Min, and am so appreciative for the wonderful variety of nutritious food you are enabling me to feed my little boy!
Min says
Thank you so much, Jenny, for leaving such thoughtful and encouraging comments! Truly motivates me to keep sharing :).
Laura says
Great idea to have children eat fun and healthy meals!
Sheena says
A big hit! My soon to be 14 months old LOVED it. I was surprised and was concern “what if he doesn’t like the mushie toppings or pizza sauce or it’s new?!”. But, he finished 1 half of it and I’m happy!
Thank you!
Min says
woohoo!! Thanks for sharing mama!
Jas says
Hi, why other vege added are raw but the broccoli
Is cooked for pizza topping?
Min says
Hi! You can add finely chopped broccoli if you want to serve raw. Otherwise you need to cook it, just like the sweet potatoes as shown here as well!