Hot pockets were always such a convenient and yummy snack. Just grab them from the freezer and you’re good to go! Today, I’m recreating that delicious convenience in the form of a homemade Vegan Cheeseburger Hot Pocket. These little freezer-friendly snacks are filled with plant-based meat, cheddar cheese, and diced pickles.
Why’ll You’ll Love These Vegan Hot Pockets
If you love vegan burgers or other vegan sandwiches like Philly Cheesesteaks, then you’ll love these vegan hot pockets! Here are just couple of reasons why I love these hot pockets, and you will too!
- Homemade freezer friendly snack
- Savory, salty, cheesy, and ‘meaty’
- Tastes just like a cheeseburger in hot pocket form
The Main Ingredients
These hot pockets are made with my easy homemade pizza dough. If you’d like to simplify the recipe even more, you can use store-bought pizza dough.
You could also try using crescent roll dough or puff pastry dough– although both of these will puff up more during baking.
To make these easy vegan pizza pockets you only need a few ingredients.
- 1 recipe of this Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
- Store-bought Pizza Sauce
- Onion
- Garlic
- Meatless Crumbles, I’m using Gardein
- Shredded Vegan Cheddar Cheese
- Olive Oil
- Minced Sweet Pickles, these are optional but I highly recommend!
The best vegan cheese
Over the past 10 years, I’ve tried out many different kinds of vegan cheese. Below are some of the ones that I feel work best in this recipe:
Violife Just Like Cheddar Shreds: Violife’s cheddar melts beautifully and has a creamy texture without having an overpowering taste. It’s saltier than some other brands I’ve tried, so keep that in mind when adding seasoning to recipes.
Trader Joe’s Vegan Mozzarella Cheese Shreds: I love Trader Joe’s vegan cheese. It’s affordable and works great in dishes where the cheese will be melted.
Field Roast Chao Cheese Shreds: Chao just came out with their shredded vegan cheese and I’m all about it! It’s on the pricier side, but for good reason because this is one of my favorite vegan cheese brands.
Daiya Cutting Board Cheddar Shreds: Daiya is the brand that often goes on sale the most at my local big-box grocery store making it the most affordable option for me.
Substitutions
- Pizza Crust: if you don’t have time to make your own crust, you can use your favorite storebought version!
- Pizza Sauce: no pizza sauce? No worries! You can sub in a little tomato paste, tomato sauce or marinara sauce.
- Olive Oil: if you don’t have olive oil you can sub in coconut oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, or melted vegan butter
Add Ins
- Red Pepper Flakes: add a dash of red pepper flakes for a little spice
- Dehydrated Garlic, Garlic Powder or Onion Powder: for extra flavor adjust the seasonings as needed
- Red Bell Peppers or Other Veggies
Helpful Equipment
- Oven or Toaster Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Rolling Pin
How to Make the Vegan Hot Pockets
STEP 1: The first step in making these DIY hot pockets is to make the homemade dough.
STEP 2: Once the dough has risen, lightly flour your rolling surface. You’ll want to roll the pizza dough out into a rectangle about 8” tall by 15” wide (and ⅛” thick).
STEP 3: Then, cut the dough into equal-sized rectangles about 3” long by 2” wide with a sharp knife. You should be able to get about 10-12 rectangles (to make about 5-6 pockets) out of the dough.
Cut off any jagged edges and re-roll the scraps into another rectangle. You should be able to get 6-8 pockets out of all the dough and filling.
filling the hot pockets
STEP 4: After you cook all of the filling, spread 1-2 tsp of pizza sauce onto one rectangle of dough, leaving a border of dough around the edges. Then, spoon 1-2 tbsp of the hamburger mixture on top of the sauce. If you’re using pickles, you can sprinkle them on now.
STEP 5: To close up the pocket, stretch another rectangle of dough out so it’s slightly larger in size than the first rectangle of dough. Then, place it on top of the hamburger mixture, and press the edges of the two rectangles together.
STEP 6: If you’d like, you can also use a fork to crimp the edges of the dough together. Be sure to brush the tops with olive oil so they brown up nicely in the oven.
STEP 7: You’ll want to bake them for 20 minutes at 400F until golden brown on top.
Serving the Vegan Pizza Pockets
I love serving these vegan cheeseburger hot pockets with some extra marinara sauce for dipping. Feel free to top them with black pepper and sea salt as needed.
Enjoy them warm or at room temperature. This veggie hot pocket recipe is savory, salty, cheesy, meaty and tastes just like a cheeseburger in hot pocket form!
Storage
These vegan hot pockets are great as an after-school snack during the school season. You can make a large batch ahead of time, then tightly wrap them in plastic and freeze them for a convenient snack later.
To store them in the fridge, place the pockets in an airtight container. Keep them in the fridge for 2-3 days.
To reheat them, place the pocket in the microwave on a medium power level for 30 seconds – 1 minute.
Tips & Tricks
This recipe is cheeseburger flavored, but you could also fill these with vegan pepperoni and plant based mozzarella for pizza flavored hot pockets! If you’d like breakfast hot pockets, you could fill them wit Just Egg, peppers, or tofu scramble.
The pizza dough will puff up a bit in the oven, so a good rule of thumb is to roll the dough out thinner than you think it needs to be. I found that 1/8th of an inch was a good thickness that didn’t get soggy but also didn’t puff up too much in the oven.
Putting pizza sauce (or even a thick marinara sauce) in the pockets helps keep them moist! If you plan on freezing these pockets, having sauce inside is important for when you go to reheat them.
Yes! There are many store bought vegan hot pockets available now. Your local grocery store or Whole Foods should carry quite a few. My favorites that I’ve tried so far are the Gardein Meatless Pepperoni Pizza Pockets and the Morningstar Veggitizer Pizza Bites,
Looking for more vegan comfort food? Check out these recipes!
Did you make This Vegan Hot Pocket recipe?
I’d love to know! Leave a star rating and comment below!
Vegan Cheeseburger Hot Pockets
These little freezer-friendly vegan cheeseburger hot pockets are filled with plant-based meat, cheddar cheese, and diced pickles.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe homemade easy pizza dough
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cup frozen Gardein meatless crumbles
- 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- Optional- minced sweet pickles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Prep the pizza dough according to this recipe’s instructions.
- After the dough has risen roll it out into a rectangle, about 8” tall by 15” wide (and ⅛” thick).
- Cut the dough into equal-sized rectangles about 3” long by 2” wide. You should be able to get about 10-12 rectangles (for 5-6 pockets) out of the dough. Cut off any jagged edges and re-roll into a rectangle. You should be able to get 6-8 pockets out of all the dough and filling.
- In a small non-stick skillet saute the onion and garlic with 1 tsp of olive oil until translucent (about 4 minutes). Add in the meatless crumbles and cook until thawed, about 3 more minutes.
- Stir in the vegan cheddar cheese and cook until it becomes melted (another 3 minutes).
- Spread 1-2 tsp of pizza sauce onto one rectangle of dough, leaving a border of dough around the edges. Top with 1-2 tbsp of the hamburger mixture. Add pickles on top, if using.
- Stretch another rectangle of dough out so it’s slightly larger in size than the first rectangle of dough.
- Place it on top of the hamburger mixture, and press the edges of the two rectangles together. Use a fork if you’d like to crimp the edges of the dough together.
- Poke a few holes in the top of the pocket with a fork. Brush olive oil on to the top.
- Place the pockets on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 400F until golden brown on top.
Notes
- Wrap the hot pockets well with plastic to freeze them.
- Serve with marinara sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 350Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gSodium: 244mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 5g
Nutritional info is an estimate.
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