What’s crispy on the outside, soft and cheesy on the inside, and ready to eat in roughly 30 minutes? Stromboli! One of our family’s favorite weeknight meals!
Stromboli is one of our family’s most favorite meals of all time.
The kids love anything that resembles pizza, I love that I can have this meal on the table in about 30 minutes, and it’s a great way to clean out the fridge with various leftover meats, cheeses, veggies, etc.
It’s also a really fun meal for kids to help with — even really little kids can do it! 🥰
You’ll Love Strombli
If the reasons I listed above aren’t enough for you, just take a look at all the gooey cheese and savory pizza toppings stuffed inside a soft doughy crust with your favorite seasonings sprinkled on top.
It looks fancy, but I promise, it is not difficult to make.
I almost always use my homemade whole-grain bread dough for the crust, but you can easily use frozen bread dough or refrigerated pizza dough from the store.
NOTE: You should not use pre-baked pizza crusts.
Ingredients for Stromboli
- pizza dough (12-20 ounces, depending on how large you want to make it)
- 1 c. cooked ground beef and/or ground sausage
- 1 c. pepperoni and/or salami and/or diced ham
- bacon crumbles
- chopped peppers, onions, olives, spinach, etc.
- any additional favorite pizza toppings
- 1 c. Shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 c. Shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
- (optional) Pizza sauce for dipping
Ingredient Substitutions
This recipe is so flexible — you can literally use any of your favorite pizza toppings, or whatever you have in the fridge and it will likely turn out!
Just remember that the meat should be pre-cooked.
And also, the more cheese, the better!
You can include sauce inside the Stromboli, but I’ve found that it sometimes makes it more soggy, so we always choose to serve the sauce on the side.
3. Roll the dough into a large rectangle on a cookie sheet (I use these sheet pans).
4. Spread meats, veggies, and cheese, evenly down the center of the dough — leave roughly 4″ on each side. NOTE: I always end with cheese so it melts down through the rest of the toppings.
5. Using a scissors or pizza cutter, slice the extra dough on the sides of the toppings into 1″ strips.
6. “Braid” the strips by bringing one strip to the center, then pulling a strip from the opposite side over the first strip. Continue on, pulling strips from every other side, until toppings are enclosed.
7. Brush top crust with melted butter or oil (optional) and sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasonings.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until crust is slightly brown.
9. Cut, serve, eat, and enjoy!
Stromboli Serving Suggestions
Just like pizza, stromboli can hold its own as a full meal… however, if you want to serve it up with a few sides, here are some we enjoy:
- any type of lettuce salad
- broccoli bacon salad
- shredded brussels sprout salad
- cold pasta salad
- raw veggies with dip
- fresh fruit
- chips (any type) with dips and/or salsas
How to Reheat Stromboli
Strobmoli is delicious as leftovers — but definitely tastes best when reheated in a toaster oven versus a microwave.
NOTE: This is our favorite toaster oven — we use it daily!
Stromboli
This easy weeknight meal is always a crowd pleaser! It's a great way to use up leftover meats and cheese you have on hand... all while getting dinner on the table in about 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- pizza dough (12-20 ounces, depending on how large you want to make it)
- 1 c. cooked ground beef and/or ground sausage
- 1 c. pepperoni and/or salami and/or diced ham
- bacon crumbles
- chopped peppers, onions, olives, spinach, etc.
- any additional favorite pizza toppings
- 1 c. Shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 c. Shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
- (optional) Pizza sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Prepare your dough (either make it, buy it, or defrost frozen dough).
- When you’re ready to assemble the Stromboli, preheat your oven to 375ºF.
- Roll the dough into a large rectangle on a cookie sheet.
- Spread meats, veggies, and cheese, evenly down the center of the dough — leave roughly 4″ on each side. NOTE: I always end with cheese so it melts down through the rest of the toppings.
- Using a scissors or pizza cutter, slice the extra dough on the sides of the toppings into 1″ strips.
- “Braid” the strips by bringing one strip to the center, then pulling a strip from the opposite side over the first strip. Continue on, pulling strips from every other side, until toppings are enclosed.
- Brush top crust with melted butter or oil (optional) and sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasonings.
- Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until crust is slightly brown.
- Cut, serve, eat, and enjoy!
Notes
You can make Stromboli in ANY shape or size -- you could even make these "Stromboli Bites" as a fun appetizer or after-school snack!
Here's my recipe for whole-grain bread dough (which I use for making Stromboli).
I've personally never frozen Stromboli, but my aunt regularly freezes it BEFORE she bakes it. Just defrost, pop in the oven, and enjoy.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 105Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 3gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 27mgSodium 129mgCarbohydrates 2gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 9g
Nutritional information is approximate and does not account for additional ingredients or added toppings.
Stromboli is such a delicious meal any time of year, and for almost any occasion.
If you’re looking for a super easy meal to add to your weeknight (or weekend) rotation, give Stromboli a try… and then let me know what you think.
What are your favorite Stromboli fillings?
Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family-friendly recipes!
Donna Marie says
You seem to have conquered quite a bit, with four kids and all! But my favorite tip may seem silly, but to use kraft paper for gift wrapping at Christmas is great!!! Also for year round! I don’t do presents so much anymore so there’s no need for wrapping paper, as I use sacks, but one roll of paper makes it much simpler, and they can be made to look adorable!!!
Kristen says
I can’t wait to try your version of Stromboli! And it’s looks so fancy. Can you tell me what the salad is pictured along side of it? Thanks!
Andrea says
Thanks Kristen,
Yes, the “braided” crust is SUPER easy but really makes it look fancy 🙂
The salad is just chopped romaine with a few scoops of our favorite Broccoslaw salad dumped on top.
JJ says
Looks amazing! Could I use pizza dough instead, or would that not be thick enough? Thanks!
Andrea says
yes, pizza dough could definitely work! I think your family would love this meal 😉
JJ says
Thanks, Andrea! I’m going to do this for our pizza night instead!!!
Chris says
I love stromboli. Someone told me once that they made it for company and they would have a build-your-own type of bar and then bake the individual ones. That sounds fun (but also much more complicated for simple me lol).
Andrea says
that does sound like a fun idea — but yes, too much “last-minute” work for my taste. I like having everything done ahead of time when we have company.
Amy says
I’ve been making a riff on your Stromboli recipe for about 2 years now. My kids are as obsessed today as they were they first time we had it.
We actually don’t put sauce on ours, but serve some marinara on the side for dipping which seems to boost the appeal even more! I cut mine into strips instead of wedges.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. We’ve been enjoying Friday Stromboli & movie night ever since I introduced the recipe. It’s created lasting memories for us 🙂
Andrea says
Love this Amy — we often serve it with marinara sauce too.
I’m thrilled you enjoy it with your movie night now 🙂
Tami says
Do you put a layer of pizza sauce on the bottom?
Donna says
This is one of our favorite favorites, too. We always use Italian sausage, mushrooms, spinach and cheese. I had just finished squeezing the water out of the spinach for tonight when I saw your post. We love this and it’s so quick and easy to make.
Jamie Slenk says
Is the top suppose to be brushed with the egg white or yolk? In the recipe it says yolk but on your post you mention white. Help! I’m making this tonight and I should probably be able to guess which is the typo but I’m really not a kitchen savvy girl. Thanks!
Andrea says
honestly, I usually don’t bother brushing it with anything! But if you want to do something, I’d use the white 🙂
Jan says
I found a way to defrost frozen bread dough on another site: (caramelpotatoes.com) She states, “To thaw in the microwave, open the package and place it in the microwave on defrost for approx. 8-10 minutes or until soft. {All microwaves are different – just check until it is soft and ready to roll out.} I will put all three loaves in at the same time if making multiple braids.” Sounds like a wonderful plan to put dinner on the table fast. Thanks for the recipe!
Christy L. says
We have a local Italian market and when I do pizzas on the grill I buy a ball of their frozen dough for $1.75 and let it thaw in a bowl on the counter brushed with olive oil and covered with a kitchen towel. It usually takes a few hours. So good & inexpensive! I will have to try making this next time!
Luba says
Thank you for the great recipe, Andrea! I am trying it today. 🙂
Andrea says
If you like pizza, you’ll LOVE this recipe!
Luba says
Yes, we both surely did. Thanks again!
Berni says
I’m gonna try to make this into individual serving. I make pepperoni rolls this is kinda similar.
KB says
I make stromboli’s a lot but have never tried the braiding (which I will do next time). I usually par bake my stromboli’s then freeze and take out when I’m ready to use them and finish the baking.
JV says
Just would like to say thank you for this recipe,
my girlfriend and I tried it out this afternoon and after a small issue with rolling our dough out, were able to mimic and add our own twist to the recipe, and it turned out perfect, if not better!
Definitely will be making this again next week!
Sasha says
I’ve been dying to try this recipe for ages! I’m finally going to go for it, but I have what is probably a stupid question – so please forgive me in advance. I love to cook but am NOT experienced with baking, bread dough, etc… Do I have to let the frozen bread dough rise before I roll it out to make the stromboli?
Andrea says
nope, you don’t need to let it rise. I usually just defrost the frozen dough in the refrigerator and once it’s defrosted, I roll it out. I will take a bit to roll out though — because it’s very “elastic” so just keep rolling 🙂
Lora says
Hey there
I know in this post you said you wouldn’t necessarily freeze the stromboli but it sounds like you’re referring to the already baked leftovers. Have you ever made this as a freezer meal and frozen it unbaked?
Looking for a meal for my monthly freezer meal exchange and in the mood to make stromboli 🙂
Andrea says
Hmmm… this is one of the very few recipes I’ve never ever frozen so I honestly don’t know. The fact that it starts with frozen (defrosted) breda dough makes me think that I wouldn’t want to re-freeze it… but you could always give it a try with a smaller batch.
If you do freeze it, I guess I would try it before you back it… and then you’d probably have to let it defrost before backing it.
But again, I’ve never tried it so I don’t know for sure.
Jamie says
HI! Just wanted to say that I tried these on a whim for our annual family holiday party and they were a BIG HIT! Very easy to make and I”m already getting requests to make it again next year. I did a meat and cheese one (pepperoni, sausage, ham, provolone, mozz cheese), a roasted veggie one, and a plain cheese one (mozz and ricotta). The braiding of the dough added a special touch. Thanks again for posting this!
Suzanne says
Oops…I meant:
dragonflyofblue.blogspot.com
🙂
Suzanne says
I’ve been waiting to making this, finally doing it tonight, and YUM! What was fun was making 1/3 of it suitable for an almost 4-year-old, with just pepperoni, sausage, and cheese, and filling up the other side with toppings for my hubby and me. I even did the spices on “our” side, and just parm. cheese for my son. I recommend simple Prego All Natural Traditional Spaghetti Sauce, just heated up too.
Also, if you ever want to peek at my original, family blog, it is at:
dr*************@***oo.com
I haven’t been successful at keeping up it and the personal one for some time. 🙂
Thanks for all your great postings!
When is your due date?
Andrea says
So glad you and your family liked the stromboli! Isn’t is just SOOO good!
oh, and my due date has been changed a few times, but the baby should be here sometime within the next 3 weeks for sure!
Molly Cooper says
I made this last Friday for dinner! I was so inspired by the ease of your recipe, and especially happy with how fancy the end result looks with the braided dough pattern. I went the chicken pesto route, and added portobella mushrooms, artichokes, and spinach. So delicious! Thank you for the great idea!
I mentioned you as my inspiration in my blog post, in case you’d like to see 🙂
http://mollyandaustin.blogspot.com/2011/10/sunsets-stromboli.html
Abbie says
I made this for my husband this evening. He says it is definitely a keeper. Thanks for a great recipe.
Michele says
Hello Andrea,
we’ll try this recipe tomorrow, it looks so delicious. I have a question. The sheet you bake the Stromboli on, is it a reusable baking sheet? If yes, where did you get it? I noticed the made in france print on it. I’m all for cutting waste in our household, and would love some reusable baking sheets, especially before Christmas baking starts.
Thank you very much, M.
Andrea says
These reusable baking mats are just called “Silicone Mats” and you can actually get them at Meijer, Target, and Walmart to name a few locations. You can also get them at any gourmet food/cooking stores.
I LOVE them and they are totally non-stick!
Michele says
thank you for your quick reply, I’ll check on the mats next time I go shopping.
Mikki says
That looks delicious.
I LOVE a good calzone. Would and could probably make them at home but than that means my hubby doesn’t have to take me out to get one.. LOL.
I’ll stick to keeping that a restaurant only meal.. LOL
Robin says
Just had stromboli for dinner, and it was a huge hit! I made a large batch of pizza dough and rolled out 2 crusts. I filled one with provoline, ham, salami and a smidge of tomato sauce for the 3 boys; filled the other with sautéed garlic, spinach and goat cheese for me and DH. And there’s even enough left over for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the idea, it’s definitely been added to my repertoire!
sarah says
I’ve never made Stromboli, never thought to make it either, so I’m excited to see that it is super easy and perhaps a refreshing change from homemade pizza on our pizza night. Thanks for sharing.
sarah says
I made this last night for my family, everyone loved it! Thanks for a starting point – I always adapt recipes for personal preference or just whats on hand.
FYI I had left over taco meat from taco night and used that for the filling. It was a great change from Friday night homemade pizza
Jennifer says
What’s a good bread/pizza dough recipe? I have been trying a few but they always taste flour-ie.
Kari says
This is similar to my stromboli recipe. I’ve never cut the sides before wrapping them up though. I like the look and will have to try that next time!
I have frozen this. I bake it and then wrap in foil and freeze. When you are ready to eat, just put it in the oven and bake until warm. I will admit it tastes best fresh and with as easy as it is to assemble, I don’t freeze it very often.
I think the hardest part of making this is remembering to set the frozen bread dough out in the morning! 🙂
Andrea says
yes, I’ve often forgot to take the dough out of the freezer — so then I just shift our meal plan around and have the Stromboli the next day! Good to know that you have experience freezing it too!