Easy Cheesy Pepperoni Stromboli with Store-Bought Pizza Dough
Pepperoni stromboli is one of those things I put off making for years because I assumed the dough was the hard part. It isn’t. I love Whole Foods pizza, and they sell their premade raw pizza dough by the pound. It’s to die for. One ball makes two strombolis, and the rest is layering cheese and pepperoni and rolling it up.
My kids like it more than pizza, which I didn’t see coming. It slices into rounds, every piece has cheese pulling out of it, and a bowl of warm marinara on the side turns it into dinner.
The whole thing costs a few dollars to make. That’s the part I keep coming back to.
What Is a Stromboli
A stromboli is pizza dough rolled around cheese and meat, sealed, and baked until golden. You slice it crosswise so every piece shows the spiral inside.
It gets confused with calzone, but they’re built differently. A calzone is folded in half like a turnover and usually has ricotta in it. A stromboli is rolled like a log and the sauce stays on the side for dipping rather than going inside.
It’s not fried. It’s baked, the same as a pizza. And you can stuff it with your favorite veggies, and cold cuts.
What You’ll Need
The dough
- Premade pizza dough, half of a 1 lb ball (I buy the Whole Foods raw dough and it’s so good. Any store-bought dough works, and your grocery store’s pizza counter will usually sell you one)
The garlic butter
- Butter, lightly melted
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dried oregano (Italian seasoning works if that’s what’s open)
- Ground white pepper, a pinch
The filling
- Presliced low moisture mozzarella (low moisture matters here, fresh mozzarella puts water into the dough)
- Large pepperoni (go for a larger thinner slice, it cuts more cleanly than the small thick kind. Sliced ham, gabagool, soppressata or salami works the same way)
- Shredded low moisture mozzarella
The egg wash and the top
- Egg, beaten with a splash of water
- Fresh parsley or fresh basil, chopped
- Sea salt crystals
Why the Cheese Has to Be Low Moisture
Fresh mozzarella is sitting in water, and all of that water has to go somewhere once the stromboli is in a hot oven. It goes into the dough, and you end up with a soggy middle under a browned outside.
Low moisture mozzarella melts without releasing much liquid, which is why pizzerias use it. Presliced goes down in an even layer and the shredded fills the gaps.
If You Don’t Have a Marble Board
If you don’t have a marble pastry board like me, use a large sheet pan or flip it over and work on the back of it. That’s what I use, and it gives you a flat cool surface that’s easy to wipe down after.
I also skip the rolling pin. Pizza dough pulls much more easily than any other dough, the same way you’d stretch a pizza pie, so I just pull it out into a rectangle by hand.
How to Make Stromboli
Start the oven at 405 and melt the butter in a small bowl, then stir the dry seasonings into it, white pepper included.
Stretch half the dough ball into a rectangle with your hands. If it keeps springing back, leave it alone for ten minutes and come back to it. Dough at room temperature stretches and cold dough fights you.
Brush the garlic butter across the dough, then layer the presliced mozzarella, the pepperoni, and the shredded mozzarella over the top. Leave a border along the edges so there’s something to seal with.
Tuck the sides in and roll it up, finishing seam-side down. That tight seal is what keeps the cheese inside instead of on your baking sheet.
Make the egg wash in the same bowl you mixed the butter in, beating the egg with a little water. Brush it over the outside, then scatter the parsley or chopped fresh basil and a light pinch of sea salt crystals on top.
It bakes 22 to 25 minutes, until the whole thing is golden brown. Let it rest five or ten minutes before you slice it, or the cheese runs out the second the knife goes in.
Check the recipe card below for full instructions and amounts.
The Seam
Every stromboli that leaks does it at the seam. Tuck the short sides in before you roll, keep the roll snug, and set it on the baking sheet seam-side down so the weight of it holds the seal shut.
A few of mine have split anyway and they still tasted good. The cheese on the pan goes crisp, which nobody has ever complained about.
How to Slice It
Use a really sharp chef knife. A dull one drags through the dough and pulls the filling out sideways, where a sharp blade goes straight down and leaves the spiral intact.
I cut mine about an inch and a half to two inches thick, depending on how many people I’m feeding. A larger thinner pepperoni or cold cut makes this part easier too, since you’re slicing through one clean layer instead of a stack of thick little rounds.
What to Serve With Stromboli
Warm marinara for dipping, always. Pizza sauce works, and so does a jar of whatever you’d put on pasta. If i’m out of premade marinara, i use tomato sauce, add dried oregano, farlic and onion powder, and cook it for a quick 10-minutes, while the stromboli is in the oven.
Past that it only needs something green. A simple salad, or garlic bread if you’re feeding a crowd and one stromboli won’t stretch.
Stromboli FAQs
What are strombolis made of? Pizza dough, cheese, and sliced meat, rolled up and baked. Mine is pepperoni and low moisture mozzarella with garlic butter brushed on the dough. Ham and salami work the same way.
Are strombolis baked or fried? Baked. Mine goes in at 405 for 22 to 25 minutes until it’s golden.
Can you freeze stromboli? Yes. Freeze it after baking, wrapped tight, then reheat in the oven rather than the microwave so the outside crisps back up.
Can stromboli be made ahead of time? You can roll it and keep it in the fridge, then bake it when you want it. I would not leave it assembled more than a few hours, since the dough starts taking on moisture from the filling.
Are strombolis hard to make? No, and that’s why I recommend using premade dough. If you can roll a towel you can roll a stromboli. It’s so simple.
If You Like This You’ll Love These
Here are a few others I’ve made and loved:
Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Thins 4-Ingredient Pizza for the fastest pizza in the house.
22 Lazy One Pan Meals for the Nights You Can’t for the rest of the low effort dinners.
45 Easy Recipes with Dinner Shortcuts for Busy Moms for more store-bought shortcuts like this one.
If you make this stromboli, leave a comment. I love reading your comments and will try to get back to every single one.
Easy Cheesy Pepperoni Stromboli with Store-Bought Pizza Dough
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 405.
- Make the garlic butter. Lightly melt the butter in a small bowl, then stir in the garlic powder, onion powder, oregano and a pinch of white pepper.
- Stretch the dough. Take half the dough ball and stretch it into a rectangle with your hands, no rolling pin needed. If it springs back, let it rest ten minutes and try again.
- Brush and layer. Brush the garlic butter over the dough. Layer on the presliced mozzarella, then the pepperoni, then the shredded mozzarella. Leave a border at the edges.
- Roll it. Tuck the sides in, roll it up, and set it seam-side down on the baking sheet.
- Egg wash. Beat the egg with a splash of water in the same bowl the butter mix was in, and brush it over the outside.
- Finish the top. Scatter chopped parsley and a light pinch of sea salt crystals.
- Bake 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Rest 5 to 10 minutes, then slice with a sharp chef knife into rounds about 1.5 to 2 inches thick. Serve with warm marinara.
