We sometimes call this “Inside-Out” pizza too. They’re garlicky, cheesy little pizza dough balls filled with all of the yummy toppings you’d put on a pizza. To eat, just pop one off and dunk it in marinara sauce. Don’t you love finger food? And don’t you love dunking things? I suppose regular pizza is finger food as well, but for some reason this is way more fun. Must be the dunking factor. You can pick your own fillings. We love Canadian bacon and pineapple, or Italian turkey sausage and chopped peppers. Pepperoni and cheese is always a hit and you could easily make these vegetarian as well. This makes great party food or a fun appetizer, but in our house we often pair it with a salad and call it dinner. It works especially great for little fingers so my boys love ’em!
You’ll need a roll of refrigerator pizza dough (or make your own…or buy some from your favorite pizza shop or Sam’s Club/Costco), pizza sauce (our favorite recipe!), some grated parmesan cheese, olive oil or melted butter, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes, and your favorite pizza toppings of choice (we’re using mini pepperoni).
Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it’s 400 F. If you make your own dough, bake it at 400.
Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it’s about 12″ by 8″. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.
Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.
(Note that you’re not putting the marinara sauce on the dough; it’s for dipping after) It’s easy to overfill these–you want to make sure you can close them, so about a heaping tablespoon of toppings should be plenty.
When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.
Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).
Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter (I’ve used both and there’s not much difference in result) and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.
(In lieu of the Parmesan, garlic, and Italian seasoning you could substitute this garlic bread seasoning.)
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I’d check them after even 10 minutes.
Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.
The outsides are like garlic bread and the insides are full of oozing cheese. This might just be a perfect food.
Got a flavor combo in mind? Share it! And try out this variation of Chicken and Bacon Stuffed Ranch Rolls.
Stuffed Pizza Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 pizza crust refrigerated, or recipe linked above
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese cut into cubes
- Desired pizza toppings mini pepperoni always work great(
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or melted butter
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Pizza sauce recipe linked above
Instructions
- Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400 F. If you make your own dough, bake it at 400.
- Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.
- Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.
- (Note that you're not putting the marinara sauce on the dough; it's for dipping after) It's easy to overfill these--you want to make sure you can close them, so about a heaping tablespoon of toppings should be plenty.When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.
- Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).
- Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter (I've used both and there's not much difference in result) and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese.
- (In lieu of the Parmesan, garlic, and Italian seasoning you could substitute this garlic bread seasoning.)Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes. Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.
Notes
Questions & Reviews
These are delicious!!! I shortened my prep time by cutting the dough in half length wise and laying 2 rows of pepperoni and chunks of cheese on each strip. Then I folded it as a whole strip and sealed the edges, rubbed it with olive oil and sprinkled the top with parmesean. Then I cut each strip into pieces and baked. My husband and kids totally LOVED them!!!!
Yes. Yum. SO GOOD. I made these last night as the appetizer for a friendly Iron Chef competition and since the secret ingredient was cream, we made an alfredo sauce to dip them in. HUGE HIT. WE WON. Thanks, I’m always making these babies!
So we made a pepperoni & mozzarella version of these last night and my entire family (hubby, 3yo and 1-1/2yo) LOVED them. So much so that hubby & I started brainstorming ideas of other combos to try… I am due in about a week with our 3rd child so I’m in make-as-much-food-as-I-can-and-freeze-it mode lol.
Current ideas to try we came up with:
– cheese combo (sharp cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, etc?)
– “pot pie”–a few veggies and shredded chicken, with gravy for dipping
– kofte (this is a turkish recipe–you can google it for the seasonings, but basically it’s spiced meatballs with a yummy tomato sauce)
– greek–feta, olives, oregano; maybe a seasoned olive oil dipping sauce?
– taco/fajita–some ground beef with taco seasoning (or taco chicken), cheese, and maybe a couple other “taco” ingredients… salsa, sour cream, or guacamole to dip
– shepherd’s pie–small dollop of mashed potatoes, veggies and ground beef (thinking these could get messy, but on the other hand could be very tasty!)
– apple pie–finely chopped apples mixed with cinnamon sugar & butter–hubby’s eyes got as big as saucers when I recommended this!
– banana & nutella or peanut butter.
If anyone has tried any of these combos and had success or failure, or has any recommendations, please let me know! Looking forward to trying a lot of them (if not all) this week, and planning to use Our Best Bites pizza dough recipe 🙂 cheers!
These are amazing! I am a person who loves flavor, and didn’t find them bland at all! We’re eating them for the second time tonight, with capacollo and pineapple. YUMMY,
I made these for Valentine’s Day last night (in a red, heart-shaped baking dish) and they were so tasty! LOVED THEM. Even with whole wheat flour! Thank you, thank you.
Made these for superbowl and they were not a hit. Not sure why, they seemed like they should of been delish but were kinda bland. I may have over stretched the dough. The other dishes I made from this site were much more tasty.
My Little Chefs made this and absolutely LOVED it. This is a good recipe for kids. It took my Little Chefs 90 minutes to make it, and they didn’t even make the dough! http://www.fivelittlechefs.com/2012/02/pizza-rolls-our-best-bites.html
So,so good! Thumbs up from all 3 kids which is quite impressive for here!
We love these~ tried a new combo that was yummy last round~ sausage, grilled onions, and a cube of mozz. cheese. Wow…soo good!
Wow, these were AMAZING!!!! Made it using your recipe for pizza dough, dipping sauce and garlic seasoning and boy oh boy was it lovely! I love your blog ladies, it’s my first choice anytime I’m feeling in the mood for baking!