Stromboli Recipe: Crunchy Outside, Oozing Cheese Inside - Comfortable Food (2024)

This easy Stromboli recipe is a delicious appetizer that you will enjoy making. Crunchy outside with beautiful layers of oozing cheese, pizza topping, and seasonings inside will make you fall in love with this appetizer.

⭐ Homemade Stromboli with Ham, Salami, and Cheese

This fantastic recipe was the culmination of Italian-Americans in the United States. Loaded with Italian cheeses and cold cuts like salami, capocollo, and bresaola.

The best of everything rolled into an amazing appetizer, lunch, or dinner. Easy to reheat, and perfect for meal planning, parties, and more.

Think next level pizza with a perfectly browned crust with a nice crunchy texture. yet still soft and oozing with mozzarella cheese. Followed by a savory Italian meat that is a little tangy, spicy, and just makes the entire Stromboli come to life.

This is the ultimately hot pocket! It is relatively easy to make, super easy to store and reheat, and KIDS and adults alike can't stop drooling. Heck, even, your kids can even help make this!

You could just as easily make a pizza or calzone, and both have nearly identical ingredients. But at the end of the day, Stromboli is just checks all of the boxes.

Stromboli is easy to make, even if you make it entirely from scratch with my super easy homemade dough with no yeast and no waiting.

The flavors are layered perfectly from the crunch of the dough to the soft inside oozing with cheese and perfectly umami filling.

Affordable and budget friendly, this Stromboli recipe won't set you back. And given how easy it is to store and reheat, it'll never go to waste.

Create your own filling combinations using various Italian cold cuts, marinara sauce, dough recipe, and hormel peppero. You can create unlimited stromboli recipes in the comfort of your home.

Without further ado, let's learn the tips and tricks to prepare this classic Italian Stromboli recipe!

🍽 What you need

Stromboli, while easy to make with the instructions below, requires a few ingredients, a skillet and large baking pan. And for this recipe, you’ll need my homemade dough for the best Stromboli!

Equipment:

• Baking sheet or pizza stone
• 1 large skillet
• 1 small mixing bowl
• Chef's knife
• Whisk
• Cooking brush
• Serving platter

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion sliced into thin strips
• 2 peppers various colors, sliced into thin strips
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• use very generously salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 large pizza dough about 1 pound (500 grams)
• 6 ounces ham sliced
• 4 ounces salami sliced (hormel pepperoni)
• ⅔ cup parmesan finely shredded
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• Italian pasta sauce (for dipping) or marinara sauce

🔪 How to make

Stromboli isn't difficult to make when you follow step-by-step instructions. All you need is patience to roll the dough beautifully.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Also for this recipe make my homemade dough you'll need 1 large ball for this stromboli recipe.

Filling Preparation

1. Prep your vegetables! Slice your onion and peppers into thin strips.
2. Grab your garlic cloves and mince.

Cooking the Filling

1. Add a touch of olive oil and preheat a large skillet or heavy bottomed pan.
2. Add the onion and peppers and cook over medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes till the onions soften.
3. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook for another minute or two. Turn off the flame and allow the ingredients to cool on a plate.

Preparing the Stromboli

Grab the dough you made in advance and lets get started!

1. It's time to roll the dough into a large rectangle of about 9"x13" size. So, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet.
2. Sprinkle half of the fresh mozzarella cheese down the middle of the rectangle. Add pepperoni over the cheese.
3. Then spread the prepared onions mix over the pepperoni and put another layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. Afterward, lay the salami slices. Lastly, sprinkle the parmesan over salami.
4. Cut strips into the dough on either side of the filling using a sharp knife. Make sure you make them about 1 ½" wide. (Note: The small slits on the dough will work as air vents to let steam release out, and pepperoni and salami cook well.)
5. Fold the dough tightly in a criss-cross pattern giving it a braided shape till the end. It will give your snack an eye-pleasing look too.
6. Lastly, fold up the last strip of dough and cross over it to seal tightly.
7. Whisk the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to make egg wash. Brush with egg wash over the sides and top of your pizza bread.

Baking Instructions

1. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake it for about 30 - 40 minutes, until golden brown.
2. Dunk the Stromboli into Italian pasta sauce and enjoy your snack of the day!

Cooking Tips

• If you cut the dough all the way, the filling will drip out.
• Is braiding dough pattern hard to follow? Alternatively, you can fold and seal the dough sides over tightly while slitting about 1 ½" across the top. Another way to make Stromboli dough is by rolling it like a cinnamon roll.
• Don't forget to line the parchment paper or non-stick cooking spray to save your Stromboli from sticking on the cookie sheet. Also, allow it to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before slicing and serving them.
• Bake the dough in the lower half of your oven to get golden Stromboli crust with pepperoni and salami fillings cooked textbook perfect.
• You can remove the extra grease from deli ham or other meats by tapping it with a paper towel before layering it inside frozen dough. This way, the crust won't become soggy during baking.

📖 Stromboli Variations

Try one of these fantastic variations! Use one of these unique and delicious fillings to stuff your stromboli.

Pepperoni Pizza Loaf

For a quick and easy dinner, make this delicious stromboli. Cheese, ham, mushrooms, peppers, and olives are all stuffed into the golden loaf. A few slices of ham are sometimes added as well. It's nice with hot pizza sauce.

Stromboli Sloppy Joes

If you like sloppy joes, this stromboli recipe stuffed with ground beef is amazing. Although I've made them dozens of times, I never tire of eating or serving them.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Stromboli

Take things in a different direction with shredded chicken, swiss cheese, and deli ham. Then top with a classic alfredo sauce or mornay sauce.

🙋 Frequently Asked Questions

Can stromboli be made in advance?

You can make your stromboli up to 24 hours ahead of time and keep them tightly wrapped on a baking sheet in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Allow the stromboli to sit at room temperature while the oven preheats.

Which is best calzone or stromboli?

Strombolis are more customizable than calzones, allowing you to make everything in one go and saving time with food preparation. Strombolis also use mozzarella chees while calzones use ricotta. Calzones leave the sauce on the side for dipping while stromboli has sauce baked in. For these reasons, Strombolis are the best!

Why is my stromboli soggy?

Here are 3 easy ways to avoid soggy stromboli!

1. Avoid overstuffing and overcrowding.
2. Use low-moisture mozzarella.
3. Add 2-3 slits to the top of the pastry for ventilation.

🥗 What to serve with

Stromboli pairs well with salads, soups, dips, sauces or can easily shine as the main dish. Here are a few great side-dish ideas to help you out!

Classic Soups

Don't forget to serve piping hot roasted tomato, ultimate mushroom, or spicy corn soup with your freshly baked Stromboli. These soups are easy to make and you can prep and cook them while your Stromboli is in the oven.

Fresh Salads

You can enjoy this Stromboli recipe with various salads, including Caesar salad, potato salad, Greed wedge salad, and pasta salad.

Dips and Sauces

Satisfy your tastebuds by eating this pizza roll with a choice of dipping sauce, such as cheese dip, Italian marinara sauce, pizza sauce, or spinach artichoke dip.

🧊 Storing and ♨️ Reheating

Do you want to store the Stromboli for a longer period? Or planning to complete the prep beforehand to serve the Italian appetizer at a party? Here's how you can enjoy the taste anytime you want.

Freezer

You can keep unbaked Stromboli dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. However, don't forget to thaw the frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator. Also, let frozen bread dough rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature before baking.

You can also freeze the par-baked Stromboli and bake them straight from the freezer.

Fridge

You can store the leftover Stromboli in the fridge too. Or you can complete the Stromboli recipe prep with all the fillings in the morning and leave it in the fridge to bake later for your dinner party.

Check out my italian recipes collection for your next meal. And my easy and quick stuffed pork chops filled with delicious pesto sauce and mozzarella cheese!

Check out my phyllo dough recipes collection with the easiest recipes to make for your family.

👪 Serving size

This easy stromboli recipe serves 6. If you are a pizza lover, you'll equally love this delicious recipe too. You and your fam will love Stromboli and lick off their fingers! Baked goods with oodles of shredded cheese, you can't neglect this recipe.

What are you waiting for? Grab all the ingredients from the grocery store and enjoy the flavorful Italian snack for lunch, dinner or a great snack.

📋 Recipe