What’s better than pizza? Pizza in a different shape! 😆 Okay, so stromboli isn’t exactly like pizza, but it’s definitely in the pizza family. It’s like a sauce-less pizza rolled up into a delicious sliceable roll… and I have to admit, the roll makes it really fun to eat. You can eat it plain (like I do) or dip each slice into sauce. It’s a great party appetizer or something to snack on for movie night!
What’s In Stromboli
Traditionally, stromboli would be filled with a variety of cheese, cured meat like salami, and maybe some vegetables, but really it’s up to you! I say go for whatever toppings you like to add to your pizza. Just try to avoid anything super watery, like fresh tomatoes.
I used pepperoni, sautéed mushrooms, provolone, and mozzarella in my stromboli, but here are some other great ingredients to add to stromboli:
- Olives
- Banana peppers
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Crumbled bacon
- Onions
Keep it in Budget
To keep the cost of your stromboli in check, try making your own pizza dough and homemade pizza sauce for dipping! If you don’t have time to make your own dough, a store-bought pizza dough will also work.
Keep a close eye on the price of your filling ingredients, making sure to use a light hand with higher-priced items like meat and cheese. A little bit often goes a long way with those higher-priced items!
What to Serve with Stromboli
Stromboli is a bit heavy with all that meat and cheese, so make sure to lighten up your plate with a simple side salad, or if you’re feeling ambitious, go all out with an Antipasto Salad. You can even use some of the ingredients in the Antipasto inside of your stromboli!
Stromboli
Servings 10 slicesIngredients
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced ($1.69)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.11)
- 1 pinch salt and pepper ($0.05)
- 1 large pizza dough* ($0.62)
- 6 slices provolone ($1.50)
- 2 oz. pepperoni slices ($1.00)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.00)
Seasoned Oil Topping (optional)
- 1.5 Tbsp olive oil ($0.24)
- 1.5 Tbsp grated Parmesan ($0.17)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Slice the mushrooms and mince the garlic.
- Add the mushrooms, butter, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a skillet. Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they begin to release their water. Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté until all of the liquid in the skillet has evaporated. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Roll the pizza dough out to a 10×14 inch rectangle. Top the pizza dough with the sliced provolone, sautéed mushrooms, pepperoni, and mozzarella, leaving about an inch of space around three of the edges and 2-3 inches on one long side.
- Roll the dough up starting on one long side rolling toward the opposite long side. After rolling, keep the seam side down and tuck the ends under to keep the sides closed. Transfer the rolled stromboli to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, Parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Pour the mixture over the stromboli, then spread it to cover the surface. Use a sharp knife to cut slits in the top of the stromboli about an inch apart.
- Bake the stromboli for about 25 minutes, or until well browned and the cheese is bubbling through the slits.
- Let the stromboli cool slightly before slicing and serving!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Stromboli – Step By Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Slice 8 oz. mushrooms, then add them to a skillet with 1 Tbsp butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they begin to release their water. Add the minced garlic and continue to sauté until all of the liquid in the skillet has evaporated from the skillet.
Roll one large pizza dough out into a rectangle about 10×14 inches.
Top the dough with sliced provolone (I used six slices) and the sautéed mushrooms. You’ll want to leave about one inch around three of the sides, and slightly more room on one of the long sides. That will be the last side to roll so you’ll need some extra empty space to keep it closed.
Add any remaining toppings. I added about 2oz. pepperoni and one cup shredded mozzarella, again, staying about one inch away from the edges.
Begin to roll the stromboli, starting on one of the long edges and rolling toward the edge that had extra empty space. Make sure the seam is facing down when you finish rolling. Tuck both ends of the roll under to keep the ends closed.
Make the seasoned oil for topping the stromboli by stirring together 1.5 Tbsp olive oil, 1.5 Tbsp grated Parmesan, ½ tsp Italian seasoning, and ¼ tsp garlic powder.
Place the rolled stromboli on a parchment-lined baking sheet with the seam sides down. Pour the seasoned oil over top then spread it over the surface of the stromboli. Use a sharp knife to slice some slits in the top of the stromboli, about an inch apart. This is where you’ll cut it into slices after baking.
Bake the stromboli in the preheated 400ºF oven for about 25 minutes or until it’s well browned on the surface and cheese is bubbling through the slits.
Let the stromboli cool until it can be easily handled, then slice and serve!
This was the bomb! I made it yesterday, and I love it. was looking for stuff to snack on for lunch during the week, and this fit the bill. I made mine a supreme and used both provolone and fresh mozzarella. I used about half of all the ingredients for it, and luckily got a 2nd pizza dough so I will be making another one in a couple of days.
I wonder, would this keep well if I assemble the Stromboli and then freeze it, uncooked?
Hi Liona, We haven’t tested freezing it uncooked. But seeing as how you can freeze uncooked pizza, I don’t see why not. XOXO -Monti
Hey I’d love to know how it went freezing it? Wondering about having this on hand for the xmas holidays! x
Thanks for this recipe. My daughter shared it with me several years ago and it’s a family favorite! Now that it’s cooler I don’t mind turning the oven on and we can’t wait to haven’t for dinner again!
Hey Beth,
unrelated to the recipe, but congratulations on the website overhaul! It does look amazing :)
Been a loyal fan of your blog for at least 5 years now, and so far, not a single recipe of yours failed. You basically taught me how to cook!
Thank you for everything,
Rene
I have made this several times in the last two weeks for my family. It has become a successful alternative to pizza. Impressive looking and tasty to boot! Love it
Strombolis are very popular in the northeast, US, but not so well known in the west or down south. There is no reason not to include some pizza sauce inside the stromboli, or at least to serve it separately for dipping. Both vegetarian strombolis and cheese steak strombolis are among my favorites and are very popular in general as well. Strombolis can be made any size and it is good to use a very sharp knife to cut a number of diagonal slits in the top of the stromboli just prior to baking for the release of steam. The dough at the ends should be folded under to prevent leaking during baking. When knocking on the top surface with a knuckle like knocking on a door produces a hollow sound, it means that it is probably done. I like to bake in a thoroughly heated 500 degree F oven on a pizza stone if available. Swiss cheese is a delicious way to go, particularly when combined with provolone and or mozarrella.
My introduction to stromboli was in Texas about 40 years ago–don’t know why it isn’t more popular country wide, as it’s certainly one of my fave pizza formats! All of your tips are great. I don’t see it often here in NC, but it was common in TX. I also bake on a pizza stone at high temp. While I don’t much care for pepperoni, I do love to include speck or prosciutto–even cooked diced bacon is delicious. I always brush the dough with some sauce before rolling. I haven’t tried Swiss cheese, but plan to do so re your recommendation.
I usually make stromboli with pop-can dough, but I’ve recently decided to make all my breads, doughs, and baked goods from scratch. I found this amazing recipe and thought to give it a try. It went perfectly (proofing, kneading, rises, filling, shaping, oil, topping, and all) until the very end when I took it out of the oven and saw the top had split lengthwise down the middle. It still tasted wonderful (more like an open stromboli), but do you have any ideas about what went wrong?
Did you remember to slash the dough as shown in the recipe pictures? That’s a really necessary step to allow the steam buildup that occurs during baking to escape, and not just cosmetic. I make those slashes deep–down through a couple of layers. You might also allow the dough to raise a little more before baking to so it becomes more elastic. So glad to read about your experiences making your own dough–I’d gotten away from it in recent years but started doing it during the past couple of years of lockdowns and supply shortages. So cheap and easy!
Can this be frozen?
It would probably freeze decently.
Hi,
When you say, “turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about five minutes, adding more flour as you go” are you flouring the surface and then adding additional 1/2 cup of flour when needing? Or are you just adding flour to the surface? I do not have a perforated pan or a cookie sheet ( with no sides), can I use a baking sheet?
You’re sprinkling flour on the work surface as you knead to prevent sticking and to work additional flour into the dough. Between the first one cup flour in the bowl, the extra that you stir in with a spoon (1/2 cup at a time), and the flour used to dust the surface as you knead, you’ll use about 3 cups total. The total flour amount can vary, though, depending on the moisture content of the flour and the ambient humidity.
Just made this today and it came out perfect, looked just like your picture. The dough is fantastic. I had salami that I needed to eat up and so glad I found this recipe. Thank you!!!
Your recipe looks great! Although you appear to be an experienced bread baker I just wanted to mention that salt often inhibits the growth of yeast – your stromboli may have risen higher if you added the yeast with the flour, rather than directly into the yeast mixture. Just a suggestion – I love to make bread and experiment with different methods.
Thanks for an outstanding blog – I enjoyed reading through your SNAP challenge series and can’t wait to try some of your recipes.
I started making your recipe two years ago, My family absolutely loves it and requests it quite often! For the insides I use provolone, ham, salami, and pepperoni. Since I have to make my husband his very own roll i use banana peppers, pepper jack cheese, and if i have them on hand diced olives along with the other toppings i listed.
I just made this and it was soooo good. I now have a signature dish to bring to any potluck party in the near future!
I’ve been making stromboli for years! I’ve always used rhodes bread, found in the frozen section. Let it thaw and rise. I also dice up the meat and cheese.
Had pinned this ages ago and made tonight–no changes except subbing a ball of Trader Joe’s pizza dough for the homemade. So good!
Mine didn’t turn out, I don’t think the 1 tsp. of active dry yeast was enough…for some reason it didn’t get real foamy to form a good rise.
That can also sometimes happen if the water is too hot or if the yeast is old.
This recipe looks wonderful and I can’t wait wait to make it for my boys! Would I be able to use my stand mixer and dough hook? If so how would I do this? Sorry, I am a nube!
Hi Lisa! Yes you can use your stand mixer and dough hook. You’ll want to mix it on medium speed until it forms a soft ball and completely pulls away from the wall of the bowl. Have fun!