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Hot Italian Stromboli – made at home! This is so much better than your local pizzeria. Pizza dough rolled up with basil pesto, marinara sauce, Italian chilies, roasted red peppers, lots of melty Italian cheese, and spicy pepperoni. As soon as the stromboli comes out of the oven serve it while all that cheese is hot and bubbly. Trust me, this is a deliciously fun change from the everyday pizza night. We sure love this easy dinner!
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Ohh, I hope you all love this as much as we do, I’m so excited about this recipe! It’s no secret that we love pizza. If I wasn’t cooking for the site every day, we’d definitely be having pizza at least once a week. And back when my dad did the cooking, we definitely did!
Of course, dad used a store-bought, pre-baked pizza crust, but even with the so, so crust, we’ve always enjoyed pizza at home! It was very, very rare we ever ordered it out.
But when we went out to dinner on vacation, often someone would order a stromboli for the table. To no one’s surprise, the stromboli was 9 times out of 10 the crowd favorite. It’s a fun change from pizza.
I’ve only made stromboli at home a handful of times. But I was feeling the need to switch up pizza night, so here we are with the most delicious recipe!
I used my dad’s pizza as inspiration for the flavors. He always cooks with a lot of basil, chilies, cheese, and to be honest, he’d top a ton of dishes, Italian or not, with thinly sliced pepperoni. He didn’t have any food “do’s or dont’s”.
My stromboli is layered with pesto, marinara sauce, Italian chilies, Italian seasoning, and plenty of cheese (provolone is my fav here). Then I add in a combination of thinly sliced pepperoni with thinly sliced Spanish deli chorizo too.
Details On This Hot Italian Stromboli
Start with the dough. I like to use my homemade pizza dough recipe. I usually make my recipe from the HBH Every Day Cookbook. If you can think a few hours ahead of time, I’d recommend making your own dough. If not, store-bought pizza dough works great too. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s both have great options that I love!
The rest is assembly and baking. We’re using 1 pound of dough, so I divide it in half to make 2 strombolis. Roll each dough round out into a rectangle. I make mine a little larger than say a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Now, transfer the rolled out dough to a piece of parchment. Don’t skip this. The stromboli will be too hard to move once it’s all assembled and ready to bake.
Layer the dough with basil pesto, then marinara sauce, and sprinkle on some chili flakes. Or try using the Calabrian chili paste I’ve been loving. Then add lots of roasted red peppers, and now cheese!
I love a mix of mozzarella and provolone. They melt perfectly and are delicious when paired with these flavors.
For the meats, I LOVE pepperoni. For me, it’s a must. I also like to use deli-style Spanish chorizo, it adds a lot of flavor and spice. We find it to be unique and delicious!
Tuck in the dough and wrap and roll, just as if you were making cinnamon rolls.
Now that the stromboli is formed, brush each with a beaten egg and then sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake. You’ll have a very cheesy stromboli that will smell incredible. Like your favorite pizzeria, but at home!
Looking for more Italian recipes? Here are a few to try:
Calabrian Chili Roasted Red Pepper Pizza
Pull Apart Italian Sub Sliders
Creamy Roasted Tomato Ricotta Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto
One Pot Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta with Whipped Ricotta
Lastly, if you make this Hot Italian Stromboli, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Hot Italian Stromboli
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough
- 1/2 cup basil pesto
- 2/3 cup marinara sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1-3 tablespoons crushed Calabrian chili paste, or chili flakes, to taste
- 1 jar (16 ounce) roasted red peppers, drained and sliced
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded provolone cheese
- 6 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni
- 2-4 ounces thinly sliced deli chorizo
- 1 cup baby arugula
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Divide the pizza dough into 2 balls. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, around 9×13 inches. Transfer to the baking sheet. 3. Spread each piece of dough with pesto, marinara, and then sprinkle on the chilies and Italian seasoning. Arrange the peppers over the sauce. Top with equal amounts of mozzarella and provolone. Pepperoni, then chorizo. Finish with arugula, if desired. 4. Tuck in two sides of the dough, then roll up into a log (like a cinnamon roll), pinch to seal. Place seam side down.5. Brush the tops of the stromboli with the beaten egg, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Take a sharp knife and cut 2 small slits on the top of the dough.6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Not a cook in ANY way nor do I pretend to be. Liked this as it’s a twist on a pizza – kinda.
Store bought pizza dough (700 grams) which is 3/4 pound each half. Rolled as instructed and added canned pizza sauce; bacon bits; cut up provolone slices; garlic powder; oregeno; crushed red pepper; 4-yr old aged cheddar, (no mozza), and followed the great comments of brushing edges w the egg wash during the ‘wrap’ stage – PERFECT – thank you for that!
BRUSHED bottom with egg wash and turned it over and did same to top and sprinkled with Italian seasoning and parm. Cooked till it looked cooked, (~ 25+ minutes), the turned broil on – watched it sizzle and brought it out. Sat for 5 minutes and was told it was AMAZING!
Tieghan your site offers options and ideas that are solid and can be built on or done as noted – both make a difference to those trying to make a delish meal – you rock!
Hey Anna,
Happy Monday!!🌴 I appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your comment, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! Thanks for your kind message! xT
I saw that you will add a video on Instagram. I am not on social media. Could you kindly add the video on your website. Thank you.
We try to get the videos up quickly, but sometimes it takes a little time:)
I would have given this 5 stars but the instructions were incomplete. It would be very helpful to have a video to visually see the assembly when working with the dough. It was delicious. Video please.
Hi Theresa,
Happy Sunday! 😃 Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xx
Is this really 1576 calories PER SERVING??
Hi Sally,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
For being effectively pizza, this had a very non pizza vibe. We loved it!
I used your dough recipe (a favorite around here) and made basically the recipe for my husband. I don’t eat meat so I added some mushrooms in with the peppers for mine. I tossed the mariana sauce with some ricotta and pesto for both and used a little extra cheese (because why not?).
They were a little different but both absolutely amazing. Again, we loved them! This will be made again and I can see many different versions happening as well.
One of the things I love most about your recipes is that they give me such great inspiration for dishes of “my own”. This is a great example of that!
Hey Kristen,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe, I’m so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great weekend:)
No mention of the pepperoni or chorizo in the instructions Did I miss something?
Add them after the cheeses.
Hi Allyson,
It’s listed in step 3. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
One word. Delicious.
Hi Tammy,
Wonderful!! I appreciate you making this recipe, I’m so glad it turned out well for you! Have a great weekend:)
Looking at trying this recipe tomorrow , but don’t have bread flour for the dough — can I use 3 cups of all-purposed flour instead of half & half?
Hi Katie,
Sure, that will be just fine for you to do! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
Is there a way to make Stromboli for a crowd? Ideally, I’d like to do the prep and assembly several days ahead, and bake right before serving. Hope this is possible for a casual, but large, family gathering. Thanks for any advice!
Hi Camille,
You could do the dough a few days in advance and keep it in the fridge then fill and prep them the morning of and bake when you are ready to serve. I hope this helps! Happy Friday! xx
Camille,
Just adding my 2 cents here…I keep Stromboli bread like this in my freezer all the time. This is one of the best things to make/freeze/defrost/reheat for any size crowd. I make at LEAST 6 breads at a time to freeze. Sometimes I make them all the same, sometimes I make several different. Use whatever cheeses and deli meat you prefer. I also use left over cooked chicken cutlets (the breaded kind) with cheeses and peppers, etc. I find that provolone cheese is great for the flavor and mozzarella cheese is good for the stringy pull goodness. The key is I cook them completely. COOL them on a wire rack completely. Wrap each individually in PARCHMENT PAPER first. Then wrap that into HEAVY DUTY ALUMINUM FOIL. Then straight to the freezer. It gets really solid in the freezer. When I want to serve one bread (or more) I defrost in the refrigerator 1-2 days just the way I wrapped it. If you feel the bread, it should not be solid any longer. DO NOT UNWRAP IT – leave both the parchment and foil on. Take it out of the fridge about 1 hour to get to room temperature. You can preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You will reheat that bread wrapped just like that in the oven at 350 degrees for at least 45 minutes. Unwrap and slice it up in the size pieces that you want.
I just made stromboli last night, which was very similar to your recipe. Just a few things to point out for those who haven’t made it before: pepperoni that is “sandwich” size or large is best to use, rather than the small discs. Also, after stretching out your dough, if you use your egg wash to brush the perimeter of your dough, it will help you seal the edges of your dough. 1/2 cup of pizza sauce is tasty spread on the dough if you don’t have pesto. Once your ingredients are on the dough, fold the short edges in, roll the dough like a jelly roll, and crimp the long edge closed by pinching with your fingers. Then your cheese won’t leak out. As shown in the video, brush the top with egg wash BEFORE you cut your slits in the top of the rolled stromboli, otherwise, you’ll seal the slits closed with the egg wash if done after the slits are cut. You can also sprinkle a little Italian seasoning on top with or without the sesame seeds.
Thanks so much for sharing your tips Darlene! Let me know if you give this one a try! xx
I’m going to try your recipe tomorrow!
When I’ve made this before I added mushrooms and spinach!
I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
Such a great idea Donna! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Photo`s of assembly would be helpful,looks delicious.
Thanks so much! I will be sharing a video on IG tomorrow and there’s a few photos above that you can refer to as well:) xx
This looks great! When do you add the pepperoni and chorizo? I didn’t see that included in the instructions.
Hey Brie,
You will add those in step 3:) I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
My hubby and daughter love calzone, so they’ll love this too! Yum. Xx
Thanks Kelly-Jane!! Let me know how this recipe turns out, I hope your daughter loves it! xx
Can one be part cooked and then frozen for a later date?
I haven’t tried this recipe although I plan to, it looks delish!! – but I have been making stromboli for years and often freeze one formed but completely uncooked. Then just let it thaw before cooking.
I have also had good results fully cooking, then wrapping well and freezing.
Wouldn’t recommend partially cooking as I don’t think you would have good results with the dough this way. Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for sharing Brenda!!
Hey Karen,
Totally, that will work well for you! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx