2 Ingredient Pizza Chips

Pizza chips are basically what happens when you take all the best parts of pizza—cheese and pepperoni—and bake them into crispy little rounds that you can eat by the handful without feeling guilty about eating an entire pizza. You press shredded mozzarella into a greased mini muffin pan, top each one with three mini pepperonis, bake for eight minutes, and somehow end up with these addictive little snacks that taste like pizza without all the carbs from crust. The whole process takes eighteen minutes from start to finish, and while these are technically keto-friendly, you definitely don't need to be on a diet to appreciate how satisfying they are when you're craving pizza but don't want to order delivery or heat up your oven for a whole pie. I started making these when my husband decided to try low-carb eating and kept complaining about how much he missed pizza, acting like giving up bread was this huge personal tragedy. I threw these together one afternoon, and when he tried them he stopped mid-chew and asked why we'd been ordering pizza when these existed. Now he makes them himself constantly, which has freed me from listening to pizza-related complaints and accidentally made him learn to use the oven for the first time in our marriage.

My coworker Jessica is one of those people who acts like cooking is this impossible skill she could never master because she "doesn't have the gene for it." She came to a potluck where I'd brought these pizza chips, ate probably ten of them, then asked which store sold them. When I told her they were literally just cheese and pepperoni baked in a muffin pan, she looked genuinely offended like I was mocking her inability to cook. I had to show her the recipe on my phone and walk her through each step before she believed it was actually that simple. Now she makes them for her kids as after-school snacks and acts like she's become this amazing mom who makes homemade snacks, conveniently leaving out the part where the "recipe" is pressing cheese into a pan and adding meat on top.

What Goes Into Them

• Low-moisture shredded mozzarella: Two-thirds cup is enough for sixteen chips with about two teaspoons of cheese per cup. Low-moisture is crucial because regular fresh mozzarella has too much water and won't crisp up properly.
• Mini pepperoni slices: Forty-eight slices total, which is three per chip. You can use regular pepperoni and just use one slice per chip, but mini pepperoni looks cuter and distributes better.

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Making These Chips

Getting everything ready:

Turn your oven to 350 degrees and let it heat completely while you prep the muffin pan. Get out a mini muffin pan and use cooking spray, butter, or oil to thoroughly grease sixteen of the cups, making sure to coat the bottoms and sides so the cheese won't stick when you try to remove these later. You don't need to grease the whole pan if you're only making sixteen chips, just the cups you'll actually use. Set the greased pan aside on your counter where you can reach it easily.

Filling the cups:

Measure two teaspoons of shredded mozzarella cheese and add it to one of the greased mini muffin cups. Use your fingers to gently pat the cheese down into the cup, spreading it across the bottom and slightly up the sides to create an even layer. Don't pack it down too hard or press it aggressively, just distribute it so it covers the bottom of the cup relatively uniformly. Repeat this process with all sixteen cups, adding two teaspoons of cheese to each one and patting it down gently. Place three mini pepperoni slices on top of the cheese in each cup, arranging them in whatever pattern looks good to you—some people do a triangle, others just scatter them randomly. If you're using regular-sized pepperoni instead of mini, just place one slice on top of each cheese cup. If you want extra flavor, sprinkle a tiny pinch of Italian seasoning over each chip at this point, though this is completely optional and the chips taste great plain.

Baking until golden:

Carefully slide your filled muffin pan into the preheated oven and set a timer for 8 minutes. Watch through the oven window if you can because seeing the cheese melt and bubble is oddly satisfying. At 8 minutes, check to see if the edges of the cheese have turned a dark golden brown color. If they still look pale or only lightly golden, give them another minute or two and check again. You want those edges nice and brown because that's what creates texture instead of just having floppy melted cheese. When the edges look properly browned and the cheese is bubbling enthusiastically, take the pan out of the oven and set it on a wire rack or heat-safe surface.

Cooling and removing:

Let the chips cool right in the muffin pan until they're cool enough to touch without burning your fingers, which takes about 5 to 10 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. Don't try to remove them while they're still super hot because they'll be too soft and floppy, falling apart when you try to lift them out. As they cool, the cheese will firm up and the chips will release more easily from the pan. Once they're cool enough to handle, use a small spoon or your fingers to gently pop each chip out of its cup. Some might stick slightly, so you may need to run a knife around the edge to loosen them. Place the removed chips on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil that renders out from the cheese and pepperoni during baking. Serve them while they're still warm for the best texture and flavor.

Things You Should Know

Low-moisture mozzarella is essential because regular fresh mozzarella is too wet and will just create a pool of watery cheese instead of chips that hold their shape. The texture of mozzarella chips is more chewy than crunchy—if you want actual crispy chips, use shredded parmesan cheese and bake at 400 degrees instead. Letting them cool in the pan before removing is crucial because hot melted cheese is too soft and floppy to maintain its shape when you try to lift it out.

The first time I made these, I grabbed regular shredded mozzarella without paying attention to the low-moisture specification on the recipe. When they baked, they released so much water that the cups were swimming in liquid and the cheese never crisped up at all. The chips were soggy and weird, more like poached cheese than baked chips. Now I specifically look for the words "low-moisture" on the bag and have never had that problem again.

I tried making these with parmesan once because I'd heard it made them crispier, and while it definitely worked for crunch, the chips were so hard and brittle they shattered when I tried to remove them from the muffin pan. Several broke into pieces, and I had to scrape cheese shards out of the cups with a butter knife. If you make the parmesan version, definitely bake them on a flat sheet lined with parchment paper instead of in a muffin pan so you can peel them off easily without breaking them.

The first batch I made, I tried taking them out of the pan while they were still really hot because I was impatient and hungry. They were so soft they just folded in half and stuck to themselves, creating cheese tacos instead of chips. Waiting those few minutes for them to cool and firm up makes removal so much easier and prevents you from destroying half your batch through impatience.

I used regular-sized pepperoni once because that's all I had, and while it worked fine with one slice per chip, the mini pepperoni definitely looks better and creates more even pepperoni distribution across the surface. With regular pepperoni, you get one big piece of meat in the center and plain cheese around the edges, whereas mini pepperoni spreads the flavor around more.

Greasing the muffin pan really well matters more than you'd think. I barely greased mine once, thinking the cheese itself was oily enough that it wouldn't stick. Wrong. The chips glued themselves to the pan and I had to basically destroy them trying to pry them loose. Now I'm generous with the cooking spray and haven't had sticking issues since.

Serving These Chips

Arrange these pizza chips on a serving platter while they're still warm, when the cheese has that perfect texture between melted and firm. They work great as an appetizer at parties, a low-carb snack when you're watching a movie, or even a weird breakfast if you're into that sort of thing. Set out a bowl of warm marinara sauce on the side for dipping, which makes these taste even more like actual pizza. These sixteen chips are probably enough for two to four people depending on whether you're serving them as a main snack or alongside other food. Kids love these because they're basically eating cheese and pepperoni, which are universally approved foods. Adults on low-carb diets appreciate having a satisfying pizza alternative that doesn't involve cauliflower crust or other vegetable-based substitutes they're pretending to enjoy.

For parties, make multiple batches and keep them warm in a low oven until ready to serve. The crispy edges and chewy centers make these more interesting than just setting out a cheese and meat plate, and the individual portions mean people can grab exactly how many they want without needing to cut or portion anything. The pepperoni gets slightly crispy on the edges too, adding texture contrast against the cheese.

These are substantial enough that a few chips actually satisfy pizza cravings instead of just making you want real pizza more. The concentrated cheese and meat flavor without any bread or sauce diluting it means you're getting intense pizza taste in every bite. Some people eat them plain, others dip every single one in marinara like they're nuggets.

The warm cheese pulls slightly when you bite into them, giving you that cheese stretch you expect from pizza without needing the crust underneath. The edges that touch the muffin pan get extra crispy and golden, creating textural variety in each chip instead of being uniformly soft or hard throughout.

Different Ways to Try Them

• Use different cheeses like cheddar for sharper flavor, pepper jack for spice, or parmesan for crunchier chips that are more like cheese crisps.
• Try different toppings beyond pepperoni like cooked sausage crumbles, diced bell peppers, or sliced olives.
• Add a sprinkle of garlic powder or Italian seasoning to the cheese before baking for more flavor complexity.
• Use turkey pepperoni instead of regular for a slightly lighter version.
• Top with a tiny dollop of pizza sauce before adding pepperoni for more pizza-like flavor.
• Mix in some red pepper flakes with the cheese for spicy chips.
• Try salami or prosciutto instead of pepperoni for different meat flavors.
• Make them with just cheese and no meat for a vegetarian version that's still satisfying.

Keeping Them Fresh

These are definitely best eaten fresh when they're still warm from the oven and the cheese has that perfect texture. Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container, though the texture changes as they cool completely and the cheese firms up more. Reheat leftover chips in a 300-degree oven for about 5 minutes to soften the cheese and warm them through, or microwave for 15 to 20 seconds if you don't mind slightly different texture. Don't try to freeze these because the cheese gets weird and grainy when thawed, and they lose their appealing texture completely. For best results, just make what you'll eat right away since they come together so fast there's no reason to make them in advance.

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I've made these two-ingredient pizza chips probably hundreds of times since discovering how stupidly easy they are to throw together when you're craving pizza but don't want to commit to ordering or making an actual pie. There's something really satisfying about a snack that's this simple but still tastes genuinely good instead of just being "good for how easy it is." The fact that they're only two ingredients means I can make them even when my kitchen is basically empty, as long as I have cheese and some kind of cured meat hanging around. My husband makes these himself now, which might not sound impressive except he previously claimed the oven was "too complicated" and only ate things that could be microwaved or came from restaurants. Watching him successfully operate kitchen equipment to make his own snacks has been genuinely shocking and has improved our household dynamic significantly since I'm no longer responsible for all food production. These have become a regular in our house during football season, movie nights, or any time someone's hungry and impatient, joining that small group of recipes that are so easy they barely count as cooking but still make you feel accomplished when they turn out well!

Frequently Asked Questions

→ Why aren't my chips crunchy?

Mozzarella makes them more chewy than crunchy. For crispy chips, use shredded Parmesan instead and bake at 400°F. They'll come out hard and crunchy.

→ Can I use regular pepperoni?

Absolutely! Just use one regular pepperoni slice per chip instead of three mini ones. It works just as well.

→ What kind of mozzarella should I use?

Low-moisture shredded mozzarella is key. Fresh mozzarella or regular mozzarella has too much water and won't crisp up right.

→ Do I have to use a mini muffin pan?

The muffin pan helps shape them into perfect cups. You could try a regular baking sheet with parchment paper, but they'll be flatter and might spread more.

→ Can I make these ahead of time?

They're definitely best fresh and warm. They get a bit rubbery once cold. If you need to make ahead, reheat them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes to crisp them back up.

→ Are these really only 2 ingredients?

Yep! Just cheese and pepperoni. The Italian seasoning is totally optional. That's what makes them so easy and perfect for a quick snack.