Fill this homemade stromboli with your favorite meats and/or cheeses like pepperoni, ham, prosciutto, provolone, mozzarella, and so much more. I make it from my homemade pizza dough, a simple 6-ingredient dough that stays soft on the inside and develops a wonderfully crisp crust. There’s only 1 rise needed, which gives you enough time to prep any fillings. Stromboli makes a wonderful meal, but also works as an appetizer or game day snack.
Tell Me About This Homemade Stromboli
- Flavor: This recipe is more like a guideline because you can customize it with your favorite various fillings. Stromboli is a pizzeria menu staple where I grew up in Philly and I usually make it with Genoa salami, deli pepperoni, provolone, and mozzarella cheese. I love brushing the dough with melted butter, garlic, and fresh parsley for added flavor. Garlic powder, dried herbs, or even an Italian seasoning work wonderfully on the dough too. Or spread your favorite pizza sauce on top—see recipe note below. Flavoring/filling options are endless.
- Ease: Looking at the recipe below, you may be intimidated by its length. Don’t be nervous—I wrote the recipe in extreme detail in case you have questions along the way. I work well with visuals, so I include step-by-step photos and a video tutorial too. Overall, I’d say this is an intermediate recipe. The dough is pretty straightforward. Shaping/filling/rolling is easy, but take the time to review this post and directions before you start. No matter how your baked stromboli looks, you’re eating crust/cheese/meats/garlic/and maybe some sauce. It’ll be delicious, I promise.
- Time: There’s no arguing that homemade dough takes time, but the results are always worth the effort. Luckily this dough only requires 1 rise and you can prep your fillings as you wait. It will take you a little less than 3 hours to complete the full recipe.
Stromboli from Pizza Dough
You can make 1 stromboli with 1 pound of store-bought or homemade pizza dough. Even though store-bought dough is convenient, I encourage you to try this homemade dough. It requires just 6 basic ingredients and about 60-90 minutes of rise time.
2 Important Notes on my Pizza Dough:
- My pizza dough yields about 2 lbs of dough, which is enough for 2 strombolis or 1 stromboli + a batch of cheesy breadsticks, 1 pizza, or even 8 garlic knots.
- I don’t recommend halving this dough recipe. You can try, but for absolute best results, make the full recipe. If you only need 1 stromboli, freeze the other half of dough for another time. I promise you’ll want to make stromboli again.
It’s really handy to have 1 all-purpose dough that works in many different ways; you’ll appreciate its ease and versatility. I use this exact dough for ham & cheese pockets and pepperoni pizza rolls, too.
Stromboli Fillings
Options are endless. If it works as a pizza topping, it will probably work as a stromboli filling. You can’t really go wrong because if you’ve used too much filling, you won’t be able to roll the dough up.
- Base: Butter + garlic + parsley is a great spread for the dough before adding other fillings. Feel free to use more garlic and parsley or swap parsley for another herb or Italian seasoning. You can also use pizza sauce. See below.
- Meats & Cheeses: Make sure any meat you use is cooked. You can use 1/2 pound of various sliced meats per stromboli, this could be about 20 slices per stromboli but that depends on the thickness of the meat. Some meat suggestions are capicola, salami, soppressata, prosciutto, deli ham/turkey/roast beef, and/or pepperoni. Avoid using small pizza pepperoni slices. For best results (and flavor), use large pepperoni slices from the deli counter. You want about 1/2 pound of cheese per stromboli as well. If using shredded cheese, I recommend 1 and 1/2 cups per stromboli. If using sliced deli cheese, I recommend 10-12 slices per stromboli. You can also mix—I usually use 6-8 large slices provolone and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Only Cheese: If you want a meat-free stromboli, still use the recommended amount of cheese. If you add more, it may spill out the sides or be difficult to roll and slice. Feel free to add vegetables. See next.
- Veggies/Herbs: Other filling ideas, instead of or in addition to meats/cheeses, are a layer of cooked mushrooms, cooked chopped broccoli, or cooked sliced peppers (blot excess moisture if you can), spinach, or basil leaves (chopped or whole). For a meatless stromboli, 2 cups of vegetables per stromboli (plus your cheese) works well.
Want to add pizza sauce? You can add pizza/marinara/tomato sauce to the filling. Feel free to skip the melted butter and garlic (or leave it on, doesn’t matter) and spread 1/2 cup of sauce onto each rolled out dough before layering on the meats and cheeses in step 6.
Step-by-Step Photos
Make and knead the dough, referencing my How to Knead Dough tutorial as needed. After you punch down the dough, divide it in half to make 2 strombolis. You can freeze half for another time if desired.
Roll each out into a (roughly) 10×16-inch rectangle and spread with garlic butter.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley or desired herbs, then layer on meats and cheeses, leaving a 3-inch gap on top and 1-inch gap around the edges. Brush edges with egg wash, which helps keep everything sealed.
Roll up, tucking in the ends. Do this slowly and make sure the roll is tight.
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt, pepper, more herbs, or a little cheese. (Toppings are optional.) Cut 3-4 slits on top for air to escape.
Bake until golden brown, then cool for 5 minutes before slicing. It’s flaky and crisp when it’s warm—totally irresistible. Pizza or marinara sauce is great for dipping! If you ever need a homemade sauce to try, we really like Beth’s homemade pizza sauce.
Stromboli Vs. Calzone
And, finally, here’s a quick explanation if you’re interested. Stromboli and calzone are not the same, though they can be prepped with the same ingredients. The difference is their shape. Stromboli originated in Philadelphia by restaurant owner Nazzereno Romano and is rolled like a cinnamon roll, baked as 1 long log, then sliced. Italian calzones originated in Naples, are folded in half like a semi-circle or half moon, then baked and served individually. Both can be filled with the same ingredients, though a calzone usually includes ricotta (something a little too wet for stromboli) and both are usually brushed with an egg wash to help seal the edges and provide a golden crisp crust. Lots of love for both!
See Your Homemade Stromboli
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge!
PrintHomemade Stromboli (Yields 2)
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: two 16 inch strombolis (about 10-12 slices each)
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Use this dough recipe and the filling/toppings below to create 2 Homemade Strombolis. See all recipe notes before beginning because you can save half of the dough for another time or make other dishes with it (such as pizza or breadsticks). More filling suggestions, helpful step-by-step photos, and a video tutorial are included in the post.
Ingredients
Homemade Dough for 2
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (between 100-110°F, 38-43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active-dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 Tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 and 1/2 cups (about 450g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
Fillings for 2
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 pound thinly sliced meats such as Italian cold cuts, deli ham, or large pepperoni slices*
- 3/4 – 1 pound cheese (about 3 cups shredded or about 16-20 slices deli cheese)*
Egg Wash & Topping for 2
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon water
- optional: sprinkle of chopped fresh or dried parsley, sea salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and/or parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
- Add the olive oil, salt, and flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 60-90 minutes or until double in size. If using instant yeast, this takes about 1 hour. (Tip: For the warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Shape the dough: When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Divide in half. (If you aren’t making 2 strombolis, freeze the other half of dough. See freezing instructions below.) On a lightly floured work surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll each half of dough into a 10×16-inch rectangle. I like to use my hands to square off the edges, as shown in the video below. If the dough keeps shrinking as you try to shape it, cover it lightly and let the dough rest for 10 minutes before trying again. (The gluten just needs to settle.)
- Add fillings: Mix melted butter and garlic together. Spread all over each rectangle. Sprinkle each with parsley. When you start layering on meats and cheeses, leave a 1 inch border on the bottom and sides and a 3 inch border on top. (Basically you’ll have an empty 3×16-inch gap on top that only has butter/garlic on it. This is because when rolling, the fillings will be pushed forward. See photos and video below if you need a visual.) Arrange a layer sliced meats onto each dough, usually about 8-10 slices on each depending on size and thickness of slices. Add a layer of cheese. Repeat with more meat and cheese until all is used—about 1/2 pound meat and 1/2 pound cheese per stromboli. Brush all edges with egg wash, including 3 inch gap at the top. This helps the stromboli hold its rolled shape. Slowly roll each into a tight 16 inch log, folding in the two ends as you roll. See me do this in the video below. Dust your hands or the dough with flour if things become too sticky. Carefully transfer each to lined baking sheets. Pinch or tuck in ends to seal if they became unfolded.
- Brush each stromboli with egg wash and, if desired, optional toppings. Using a very sharp knife, cut 3-4 slits into the tops of each, which helps steam escape. At this point, you can cover shaped stromboli tightly and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown—if you have an instant read thermometer, the center of the stromboli should be at least 200ºF (93ºC). If meats are particularly greasy (like pepperoni), some grease will spill out the sides. Cheese may bubble out the sides or top slits, too. If baking both at the same time, rotate pans halfway through baking and extend bake time (if needed) by 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cutting board and slicing.
- Serve plain or with pizza/marinara sauce for dipping.
- Cover and store leftover stromboli (slices or whole) in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Dough: This dough recipe is the same as my pizza dough recipe. It yields 2 strombolis. After the dough rises and you divide the dough in half (step 5), you can freeze half of the dough. (If you want to freeze all of this dough, I recommend you still divide it in half and freeze separately.) Shape half or halves into a ball(s). Lightly coat all sides of the dough ball(s) with nonstick spray or olive oil. Place the dough ball(s) in a zipped-top bag and seal tightly, squeezing out all the air. Freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen pizza dough in the refrigerator for about 8 hours or overnight. When ready to make stromboli, remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest for 30 minutes on the counter. Continue with step 5, punching down the dough to release air if needed.
- Overnight Dough Instructions: To prevent these notes from getting too crowded, see pizza dough post for overnight dough instructions.
- Refrigerate Shaped Stromboli Ahead of Time: See end of step 7.
- Freezing Shaped Stromboli Before Baking: Instead of freezing the dough as a whole, you can freeze the shaped stromboli before baking. Fill and roll stromboli as directed in step 6. Do not cut slits or add egg wash (step 7). Carefully place filled/rolled stromboli on a piece of plastic wrap. Sprinkle with flour to help prevent sticking. Wrap up tightly. To preserve freshness, I recommend a layer of aluminum foil over the plastic wrap as well. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw, still wrapped, in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Brush with egg wash, add optional toppings, and cut steam slits. Place stromboli on a lined baking sheet and bake as directed. Since stromboli is pretty cold going into the oven, it will take a couple extra minutes to bake.
- Freezing Baked Stromboli: Allow baked stromboli to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil (or a layer of both), and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw, still wrapped, for just 1 hour at room temperature. Bake, lightly covered with aluminum foil, in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 30 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Dough Scraper | Rolling Pin | Pastry Brush | Instant Read Thermometer
- Amount of Dough/1 Stromboli: My homemade pizza dough, written in this recipe above, yields about 2 lbs of dough, which is enough for 2 strombolis. If you only want 1 stromboli, freeze half of the dough as noted in step 5 or make a pizza such as extra cheese pizza, margherita pizza, or BBQ chicken pizza or a batch of cheesy breadsticks. If you’re only making 1 stromboli, make sure you halve the filling ingredients. For the egg wash/topping ingredients, it’s difficult to halve the egg, so whisk 1 egg with 1 Tbsp water, use as directed, then discard any leftover. (You’ll have leftover egg wash even if you’re making 2 strombolis.)
- Fillings & Vegetable Stromboli: Butter + garlic + parsley is a great spread for the dough before adding the meats/cheeses. Feel free to use more garlic and parsley or swap parsley for another herb or Italian seasoning. You can also use pizza sauce. See next note. Use 1/2 pound of various sliced deli meats per stromboli, this could be about 20 slices per stromboli but that depends on the thickness of your meat. Avoid using small pizza pepperoni slices. For best results (and flavor), use large pepperoni slices from the deli counter. You want about 1/2 pound of cheese per stromboli as well. If using shredded cheese, I recommend 1 and 1/2 cups per stromboli. If using sliced deli cheese, I recommend 10-12 slices per stromboli. You can also mix—I usually use 6-8 large slices provolone and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. For a meatless option, you can add cooked mushrooms, cooked chopped broccoli, or cooked sliced peppers (blot excess moisture if you can), spinach, or basil leaves (chopped or whole)—2 cups of vegetables per stromboli (plus your cheese) works well. Options are endless here. You can’t really go wrong because if you’ve used too much filling, you won’t be able to roll it up.
- Want to add pizza sauce? You can add pizza/marinara/tomato sauce to the filling. Feel free to skip the melted butter and garlic (or leave it on, doesn’t matter) and spread 1/2 cup of sauce onto each rolled out dough before layering on the meats and cheeses in step 6. If you ever need a homemade sauce to try, we really like this homemade pizza sauce.
- Egg Free: Skip the egg wash if needed. You can brush each shaped stromboli with 1 Tablespoon melted butter instead.
I had fun making this for sure. My cheese oozed out so will have to work on that but will definitely make again. I made both just cheese. I want to add meat next time for sure.
I loved this recipe! I have been having some trouble with yeast lately but your tips and watching the video made me feel confident in giving it a shot, and it rose beautifully! I appreciated your advice on determining what fillings I wanted to use and how much of them would be appropriate. I also will say that I almost skipped the egg wash but I am so glad I bothered to do it. I will definitely make this again, and I am looking forward to using the leftover dough from this go-around to make a pizza.
This recipe was very delicious and fun to make. I will definitely use it again to try a vegetarian version.
I used low moisture cheese to help prevent the cheese from oozing out. The recipes great and the video is super helpful.
It’s giving me ideas for a thanksgiving style or dessert style stromboli.
My stromboli tasted so good! Definitely don’t rush the dough process like I did, because the stromboli fillings might try to escape and leak out, but at least it still tasted amazing! I grew up making calzones all the time, so this was a fun twist on a similar recipe.
This recipe is amazing! I will definitely be making it again. The directions are very straightforward and not difficult at all. We will be having Sally’s Stromboli on a regular basis!
This was really easy, fun, and delicious. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again to try out different combinations of ingredients!!
I was excited made the dough and didn’t get a chance to use it the first day. I put it in the fridge and got it out the next day and made half the dough with a pizza and the other half a Stromboli to bless a neighbor recently hospitalized and now home. I must have gotten carried away with the toppings because mine would not go together! It was deconstructed… I tasted it, it was amazing. I ended up blessing another busy mom who just got off work with it hot out of the oven! I will try again!! The butter and garlic made it out of this world!
Loved this recipe! Dough was super easy to make and work with. I made ham and Swiss cheese. Will definitely make again, can’t wait to try other fillings. 🙂
What a great start to the new year! This baking challenge was just what was needed after a holiday season and quarantine period filled with lots of sweets! I truly enjoyed making this Stromboli and my family enjoyed eating it. It is now a requested item in my dinner menu rotation. Your instructions were great and easy to follow every step of the way. I was intimated at first; however, after watching your video (many times over) and reading through the steps, I’m proud to say I did a great job and and it tasted so good!
Thanks Sally!!!
I have never made Stromboli so this was a new experience for me! It was a lot of fun even though I had no clue how it was going to taste. I made two and had a socially distanced dinner with a friend and we had them for dinner. They were fantastic! The cheese/pepperoni oozed a bit but didn’t change the flavor. The second one was a cheese and spinach combo and paired with pizza dipping sauce was super yummy! I had the windows open while cooking and you could smell the Stromboli cooking down the street :). Loved this month’s challenge. I will definitely make this again.
I also was a first timer with stromboli and it was a big hit! Will be in my…make it again…notebook.
The whole family loved this one! We each had our own with our own choice of filling. So I made 4 smaller ones. Worked perfectly and even my picky daughter who never finishes even her favorite meal at her entire stromboli!
Amazing recipe! I made two strombolis and most of it was gone for dinner, my family loved the recipe. One was pepperoni and mozzarella, the other was soppressata and mozzarella. I also made the homemade sauce recipe from Beth, I used San Marzano tomatoes. Everything turned out so delicious.
Loved it! For my vegetarian version I used spinach, mushrooms, red onions, pizza cheese blends and a layer of veggie pepperoni by Yves brand. They were the small shapes, but still worked wonderfully. I was so excited I forgot to add the pizza sauce I made (her linked suggestion came out wonderful), but it was still excellent for dipping externally. Rolled up pizza… who can complain? Followed every measurement exactly including time in oven and it came out perfect. Will definitely keep this option in regular rotation with different filling experiments.
Such a great pizza dough recipe and I loved how step by step it was with the steps and video. I’ve never made Stromboli before and now I’m totally ready to do it again.
The recipe is was easy to follow and the video really helped me understand how to set up the fillings and roll. The dough is very soft and easy to work with. I rolled my first Stromboli a little thin and it ended up breaking when I rolled the fillings. The second one I didn’t have this happen, so that one baked much better. Although both were delicious! I recommend using thin sliced meats (deli) for easy rolling and to cook any vegetables ahead of time to limit water. I used spinach and made sure to ring out extra water in them. The crust was soft but had a good chew and don’t skip the egg wash and herbs on top! It gives the Stromboli a great look 😉
This another great Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe. (Although, really, I’ve yet to meet a recipe from here that I didn’t love). The dough was better than my usual go-to pizza dough recipe and easy to make. We loaded it up with ham, pepperoni, onions, and mushrooms. The house smelled like a pizzeria while it was baking and we couldn’t wait to dig in. What a fun way to shake up our Friday pizza night! Delicious and easy! We will definitely be making it again.
My family gave this one a team effort. I made the dough in the morning, let it rise in the fridge all day and then my husband made the strombolis in the evening for dinner. The fridge rise worked great! Filled with ham, salami and olives and the kids enjoyed theirs just as much as we did ours!
This was so delicious!! I loved trying to make something new. My rolling skills need a bit of practice—I went a bit overboard on fillings on my first one and then went back to watch the video again so that my second turned out much better in appearance (they both tasted fantastic)! I appreciate all the thorough directions and demonstrations!
We loved the stromboli! I have made this recipe for pizza at least every other week for the past 3 years. Pizza, calzones, cheesy bread, and garlic knots…but I never thought to try stromboli. Thank you for the challenge this month and helping to add more variety to our “pizza” menu. ☺️
My family loved this recipe! This was my first time to make a Stromboli. The recipe was easy to follow along and loved the video demonstration that goes with it. I will be incorporating this one into our weeknight dinner rotation! Thank you for sharing!
This was AMAZING!!! We made it a few times!!!! It will be a part of our regular dinner rotation The dough was delicious! Yummy!!!!! And it’s fun choosing what goes inside
This was a total hit with my family and I will definitely make it again. I made one with pepperoni and salami, and one with mushroom and spinach (and clearly plenty and mozzarella). I didn’t quite seal them underneath so I did have a small amount of leakage but nobody minded and I will seal them a little tighter next time on the bottom.
I have never made Stromboli before so I was a little nervous, especially the dough part. My dough was sticky, I panicked, but then just added a little flour and all was good. I followed the recipe and it turned out wonderful. After getting it rolled, I ended up forgetting the egg wash and cutting the dough on the top, but it still came out great! My husband and I really loved it. It is definitely a keeper!
I made this on a weeknight for dinner. Got it started around 5:15 and on the table around 7:15. Dough rose quickly (used the oven method) and everything came together great!
I sauteed some onions and filled it with those, pepperoni, and mozzarella. I rolled it a bit too tight and it split a bit on the top, but it tasted amazing!!!
I made this for dinner tonight! It turned out delicious. This recipe seemed complex from its length, but it was super easy to follow! The dough was the best part.
My dough is super flour-y (granted I hand mixed everything because I don’t own a mixer). Can I just add more water or oil?
Hi Bekah! Try adding a little water just a few drops at a time. And make sure you spoon and level your flour when measuring to avoid too much flour in the dough next time. Hope this helps!
Great recipe and perfect to start off the new year!
This is my first time making stromboli and it was a hit for the whole family
I found the dough to be very easy to work with which was great,
Thanks again
This recipe was fairly easy to make. I made the dough one night and let is rise in the fridge to the next night when I made thf strombolis for dinner. One had ham and gruyère cheese. The other was breakfast themed with bacon, scrambled eggs, sweated onions and cheddar cheese. I look forward to making them again!!