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.
Loved it! First Stromboli I’ve done and after watching the video and reading the recipe throughly I was able to make it without worrying that I wasn’t doing it right, and it turned out great! I just used what I had on hand so I made a rotisserie chicken and shredded cheddar Stromboli with the butter sauce in the recipe – delicious! Mine took longer then 25 minutes (more like 30 minutes), but I tested with an instant read like the recipe suggested so knew it needed a little longer. Thank you for the great recipe!
Have you ever tried filling this with bacon, egg and cheese?? Do you think you could fill with these ingredients and make ahead of time?
Hi Jenn! We haven’t tried it, but other bakers have had success filling their Stromboli with egg and other ingredients. I’m a little concerned the eggs would be too wet to make that version ahead of time. Perhaps if you made sure to line the dough with cheese so the egg wasn’t in direct contact with the dough it wouldn’t get soggy. Would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
This is such a great recipe for a novice bread dough baker. It was so easy! The recipe provided opportunities to experiment with different fillings. I am not one to waste food and I had leftover meatballs with sauce. So, I made one with meatballs and provolone and the other pepperoni and mozzarella. The house smelled so good as they were baking in the oven. They both came out delicious! I could eat just the bread by itself!
I loved this recipe! The instructions were so easy to follow so it turned out really well! My family loved it. Will definitely be making it again; maybe as an appetizer for the Super Bowl.
I must say this was the easiest stromboli recipe I came across. I was very nervous when I read the recipe but as I made it, I found it was easier than I thought. Thank you Sally for making the recipes easier for us. I really enjoyed making this for my family and look forward to more recipes.
This recipe makes a very reliable stromboli and easy to modify for personal tastes! I used double-smoked ham, onions, mushrooms, spinach and roasted red peppers. It was delicious.
My first ever dough experiment went fairly well. I had no language for when gluten needs to test, when I should keep rolling/kneading but this recipe was super easy to follow. I had a ham and swiss stromboli with one half then a Rao’s pizza sauce and fresh mozzarella with the other. I kinda forgot I had to roll after spreading the pizza toppings so it wasn’t egg washed and spaced out as nicely. But – messy still tastes good!
I really enjoyed making this and it was a great intro into dough. My 2021 goal though was to start baking new things, so I found Sally’s baking challenge and dove right in.
I live at nearly 7,000 feet and it is winter, so I was a bit nervous about proofing. I appreciate that Sally included the directions for the oven if you are in a cold place. I still had to turn the oven back on and proof for an additional 30 minutes to get the rise I needed, but I got there!
I put fresh grated parmesan, salt, pepper, and a little Italian seasoning on the top of mine before cutting and baking, and man, was it tasty!! Definitely don’t skip this step.
I would like to try this recipe again with a stronger cheese on the inside. I only used Mozzarella.
Sally, I have never made anything using yeast. I made this Stromboli and it was not only easy, it was perfect and delicious. I used salami, pepperoni, provolone and mozzarella. My husband raved about it. I also made the pizza sauce from your link (for dipping), and we loved that too. Froze the leftovers, and froze the other half of the dough as well. I am now a pizza crust baker because of you! Thank you so much! And I entered the challenge, woohoo!
Really good! I may have messed up weighing the dough because mine was too sticky and I had to add some, but it ended up PERFECT! We made two different styles and finally found a recipe to please my parents who moved away from the greater NYC area 25 years ago and have been missing good stromboli since. Try it!
Hello Sally!
So i made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious. However, i followed the dough recipe to a T and when it had finished kneading in the mixer it was very gloopy. I made sure i did the amount of flour that the recipe called for. i ended up turning it out and kneading about a cup more flour into it by hand. Afterwards it was fine however. Any thoughts as to what i did wrong? The end result was delicious nonetheless! The dough was, surprisingly, flaky and delicious. I filled it with, pepperoni, salami, provolone, and shredded mozz. And we dipped the slices in pizza sauce. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for this amazing recipe! Happy baking!
Such a fun baking challenge, the Stromboli were absolutely delicious and detailed instructions made it easy to follow!
I used a few variations of fillings: ham and pineapple; pepperoni, salami and ham; pulled chicken, cilantro and red peppers. All with shredded mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese.
I made the recommended marinara sauce to use as a dipping sauce and added a bit of sauce to the ham and pineapple one, but would skip it next time (it made the filling a bit wet) and just use it as a dipping sauce.
I’m excited to try a breakfast version of this soon!
This was a fun recipe to try. It was a huge hit with everyone and definitely one to add into the rotation. Thanks for the video – it helped to see how to roll it nicely.
This was delicious! I made 2 strombolis with salami, turkey, onions, bell peppers, provolone and mozzarella.
Delicious! First time making anything like this – fun project! The instructions and video were so helpful. I used a mixture of half sliced provolone and shredded mozzarella and baby spinach leaves. Then i pat cooked portobello mushrooms on one side and bell peppers on the other – big family hit – and froze the rest of the dough for another day. I only didn’t realize the butter/garlic mixture was for two and used the entire amount – so it was extra good!
A definite winner in our household. I did it “Pandemic Style” which means I used what we had on-hand, in our pantry. I used marinated artichoke hearts, pepperoni, sautéed onions, Greek olives, mozzarella, and provolone. Yum!
This was dinner tonight, and I wish that I had a bigger stomach do that I could eat more! I had a minor issue with the dough sticking to the counter when I tried to move it to the pan, but that was my fault for not using enough flour. I was afraid the dough would tear, but it was very pliable and forgiving. The other half of the dough is in the freezer… can’t wait to get it out when I decide what use it for!
This was SO good!! I made mine with broccoli, cheese, and the tomato sauce you linked to. I highly recommend Whole Foods’ “pizza cheese” to anyone who shops there – it was delish! Thank you so much, Sally!
When I first saw this recipe I was excited. I love hot pockets but have never attempted to make anything similar. I loved how the recipe was so easy and quick to make. Thank you Sally for another great recipe!!
This Stromboli is perfection!
I made two strombolis last night for dinner for my family and we all loved them. Just a warning, you will use a lot of meat and cheese for these, especially if you make 2. But in my opinion, it’s a perfectly fair sacrifice to get the end result. Which, by the way, is absolute DELICIOUSNESS! I’ve been doing the monthly baking challenges since August and I really enjoy it (not to mention my parents and siblings who are more than happy to be my taste-testers). Looking forward to the February challenge already!
This recipe was so easy and fun to make! I’ve never had success with homemade pizza dough before, but Sally’s easy to follow instructions changed that! Delicious stromboli! 5 stars!
Made your stromboli today, and although mine exploded in the middle, it was still delicious! I’m thinking I used too much cheese as I rolled it tightly and it looked like it was going to be ok. I used sliced cheese and next time I plan to try grated cheese so I can control the amount more easily. Thank you for an easy, family pleasing recipe, Sally!
This was a huge hit with my picky family. We will definitely be making this again. Thank you so much for the thorough directions.
Love how simple the dough recipe is! I will definitely be using it in the future. The stromboli turned out great and I can’t wait to make more with different filling combinations.
This Stromboli was a big hit with my family. My oldest daughter has already asked that it be part of our regular menu rotation. My husband loved the crispy crust, but soft inside. I made one with pepperoni, salami, bacon and provolone. The other was pesto, spinach, mozzarella and parmesan. Yum!! I had a friend make Stromboli years ago and I’ve always had a plan to make it but never did. Thanks for the encouragement.
The rolling was a little intimidating, but this turned out fabulous! We thought it was as good as an Italian restaurant. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers 🙂
This was a winner in our household! I used large slices of pepperoni, ham, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Both of my kids asked for seconds. Leftovers were just as delicious!
This is our go-to pizza dough and a great recipe. We use for stromboli, pizzas (even grilled!), breadsticks, and even thinner, I’ve used for flatbreads. It comes out great every time. I love making stromboli for the kids because their choices are different and this allows me to customize!
I made the stromboli last night. I made 2…one with meatballs and cheese and the other with sausage, peppers and cheese. Both were delicious! The recipe was so easy to follow…the dough was a cinch to make! Great step by step directions on how to roll the stromboli. Watching the tutorial was a great help in learning how to roll and tuck the stromboli. I cannot wait to make them again. Thank you for your recipes and your excellent directions!