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 made a ham and cheese one for the challenge and it was so good.
I want to try a ham, cheese and egg one. What are tips for the egg? Scrambled hard or kinda runny?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Sheila, we’re glad you enjoyed this one! Although we haven’t tried it ourselves, we’d recommend scrambled eggs. Let us know if you give it a go.
This was my first homemade Stromboli! It was so good and delicious. I made one and froze the other half of the dough. Looking forward to making the other half and changing up the filling. Thank you for such detailed directions too!
I had so much fun with this one! I am eating the fruits of my labor as I type, and even though i am noticing it is under baked, it is still delicious! I am going to try this recipe again to perfect it. Thanks for this challenge!
This was so yummy; and not as difficult and I thought it would be.
This was such an amazing recipe!!!! The dough was super easy to work with, and the family is still raving about how delicious this is….keeper!!! I will be doing this again soon!!!
I had fun making this! I was a little intimidated by this, but no more! My first one stuck to the table a little and it made the rolling a little difficult. With the second one, I made sure to flour the table right before I put all the fillings on the dough. This made the rolling so much easier and faster and the stromboli looked nicer too. The garlic butter gives this such a nice flavor!
This was delicious and so easy to do! I made one with ham, turkey, provolone, and cheddar and another that had grilled peppers and onions with hamburger, somewhat like a Philly cheesesteak. Looking forward to trying other combinations!
I don’t really enjoy cooking but I really enjoyed making this recipe! The dough was delicious and I have the second half in my freezer for another day. It was also super simple and straightforward directions and the video was helpful! I think mine could have used more cheese but otherwise, delicious!
I enjoyed making this recipe. It was fun and so delicious.
Detailed instructions helped a lot and so glad that I attempted it.
We had so much fun making this recipe! This was the first my husband and I have ever made homemade dough – we ended up making extra and freezing it for later. I love that you can really make this recipe and add any ingredients you want inside. We will definitely be making this again!
Our family loves all things pizza, and this recipe did not disappoint. My husband is very particular about new recipes, and he sang it’s praises multiple times during the meal. I followed the instructions and watched the tutorial video, and everything turned out perfectly. I opted to follow the suggestion of grating parmesan cheese on the top before putting it in the oven, which really enhanced the flavor and crunch of the crust. I only made one this time and froze the other half of the dough, so I’m looking forward to making it again soon!
Great Friday Night Dinner!!! we made both with different variations of the cold cuts and I must say everyone loved them!! it was almost all gone, and the dough tasted perfect. Highly recommend will definitely be making this again! 🙂
I love, love, love this recipe and so does my family! I was inspired by my son, who made your Chicago style deep dish pizza recipe, which was amazing, and I thought, if he can make homemade pizza dough, so can I!! I love how you can make this recipe your own by adding any combination of your favourite ingredients. Thanks again Sally for providing endless inspiration and easy to follow instructions. Your recipes have become my favourite and most used! ❤️
Sally this is possibly one of the easiest doughs I have ever made!!! I normally use the dough hook but watched you use the paddle so I decided to do the same! It was so easy!!! I used Pepperoni, Sausage and Mozzarella Cheese inside and topped with Italian Seasoning and Shaved Parmesan Cheese and OH MY was this absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Definitely a great dish for a cocktail party or better yet something great for the Super Bowl!! Thanks for this AMAZING recipe; this will now be one of my GO TO Recipes! YUM!!!
Loved this recipe, as does my husband. I make the dough and freeze half so the second one is super easy. I’m just learning to work with yeast dough, and am grateful for a no-fail recipe. I live in France where the 00 flour is readily available so I used that instead of all purpose. Also make the garlic rolls with this recipe, and they were a HUGE hit. Thanks, Sally!
The recipe turned out wonderfully! It was my first time doing a challenge and my first time making homemade pizza dough, and it was super simple and so much tastier than store bought! Some of the cheese leaked out but I think I could have sealed the ends better. I love the fact that the recipe makes for 2 Stromboli so I can freeze the other one for another night. Thank you for the great recipe!
Made this a few weeks ago so I could enter the challenge and it was SO GOOD that I’m still thinking about it! I was nervous about the yeast because I’ve never worked with yeast before but it was honestly so easy. I used prosciutto, pepperoni, mozzarella, and Parmesan as my filling along with some fresh herbs and it was delicious. I think I’d like to try a veggie version next! My boyfriend absolutely loved this recipe too and said it reminded him of homemade hot pockets haha…I think that was supposed to be a compliment! Sally’s recipes always come through for me and this was no exception. 100% worth the effort! Thank you!!
Man these were delicious! The instructions and video were very helpful, and my Strombolis turned out great. One half of the dough went to a pepperoni / ham / mozzarella Stromboli that exploded a bit because I went well over the recommended pound of filling, but it was still delightful. The second half was adapted into a vegan version – vegan margarine instead of butter, no egg wash (I brushed water to help the roll stay together), and a filling of soy ground “beef”, cranberries, apple, and spices, along with a bit of tomato sauce to help with dryness. It ended up being a bit sweet, which really worked, and the leftovers are a great lunch option. Fantastic recipe, as always!
This dough is so great. I have made several batches and will use it from now on for pizza and Stromboli!
I made this with sausage and green olives. It was a huge hit! I strongly recommend the homemade sauce suggested. Delicious!
We loved this Stromboli recipe! You do an amazing job of breaking it down step by step. I’ll definitely be making it again. Thank you!!
So happy with this recipe! The dough is now my go-to. It was easy to work with and so delicious. I assembled 2 strombolis filled with salami, prosciutto, provolone, and mozzarella. We ate one tonight, with homemade pizza sauce, and froze one for later.
I’ve made this three times this month. It is delicious and so easy to make with the detailed instructions. My husband now prefers it to sandwiches. He doesn’t like pepperoni or salami, so I’ve made it philly style with shredded beef, cheese, onions and peppers, and I’ve made it with roast beef, cheddar and roasted red peppers. It’s always tasty!
Husband and kids are devouring it as I type. First time I’ve made a Stromboli and it’s a big hit. I will be making this again on a regular basis. Thank you!
Out of all your delicious recipes, this one is my favorite!! Everyone in my family absolutely LOVED IT!! I was worried I made to much, but it’s almost gone and it’s only been 24hrs. I made this yesterday, and they’ve already asked me to make more multiple times. I used red star platinum yeast, as recommended in all posts, and it is outstanding (I’ve been using Aldi yeast which is still good). I cannot find one thing to criticize about this recipe, so I’m looking forward to even more yeasted recipes! I know they’ll be as good as this one.
So delicious and the recipe was so easy to follow. One of my strombolis opened in the middle, so make sure that you seal it well when you roll it. I would love to try this again with different flavors! Yum!
This recipe is so much fun to prepare! Love that the options for the filling are endless! I chose to spread pesto on the dough instead of butter.
I wanted to make a veggie version so I used marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red pepper. Tried the Provolone and Mozzarella which Sally suggested in the recipe.
It is in the oven right now and it swells delicious!!!
Oh my goodness!!! The finished Stromboli was phenomenal and bonus there is another ball of dough waiting in the freezer!!
Thanks Sally for all the fabulous and detailed recipes you send out!!!
Such a great recipe! I made the dough for 2 but put one in the freezer. The first Stromboli was gone before I could get a picture. So I made a second one today and the dough was just as good.
Sent the picture this time!
This was my first time making stromboli, and I absolute loved it! Fabulous recipe with instructions that were easy to follow and spot on. I used a mix of salami and pepperoni with mozzarella and provolone…yum! I’ll be making this one time and time again! Thanks for the excellent recipe.
This recipe is downright amazing! It was my first time making pizza dough and everything turned out just the way it is described in the recipe.
I loved how creative you can get with the filling. My husband wanted a ham-mozzarella-Gouda filling and I tested a veggie filling in the second Stromboli. Both cooked perfectly and tasted great! Served them with village spice hot sauce mixed with a little mayo.