Stuffed Pizza Rolls

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!

Stuffed pizza rolls from Our Best Bites

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).

pizza roll ingredients

 

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.

pizza dough cut into squares

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.

pizza toppings on dough pieces

(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.

folding stuffed pizza rolls

folding stuffed pizza rolls 2

folding stuffed pizza rolls 3

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).

pizza rolls in pan

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.sprinkling pizza rolls with parmesan (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.

pulling pizza roll from pan
Serve warm with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping.

dunking pizza roll in marinara
The outsides are like garlic bread and the insides are full of oozing cheese. This might just be a perfect food.

pulling apart pizza roll

pulling apart pizza roll 2

Got a flavor combo in mind? Share it! And try out this variation of Chicken and Bacon Stuffed Ranch Rolls.

pulling apart pizza roll 2

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

 
Servings6 -8

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

 
Author: Sara Wells
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!

 

woman in denim shirt holding a salad bowl
Meet The Author

Sara Wells

Sara Wells co-founded Our Best Bites in 2008. She is the author of three Bestselling Cook Books, Best Bites: 150 Family Favorite RecipesSavoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites, and 400 Calories or Less from Our Best Bites. Sara’s work has been featured in many local and national news outlets and publications such as Parenting MagazineBetter Homes & GardensFine CookingThe Rachel Ray Show and the New York Times.

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Questions & Reviews

  1. Just had these tonight and they were great. Even my daughter ate a few, and she hasn't been in to my homemade pizza recently. I made a few different insides, so even more fun when you bit into each one as you had no idea what you were getting.

  2. I used shredded cheese and it worked great. I'm baking them right now and seriously my kitchen smells amazing and I can't wait to eat them up. Thanks for another yummy recipe!

  3. Note to other cooks- preshreaded cheese makes it difficult to wrap neatly into a ball. Still DELICIOUS but not as pretty as the pictures Sara posted 🙂
    Next time I will cube the cheese to make nicer looking pizza balls.

  4. You're my new foodie blog best friend. My husband already loves you for the teriyaki chicken kabobs!

  5. My son is allergic to cheese so isn't a big fan of pizza night. Pizza w/ no cheese is no fun but these might be a fun alternative w/o cheese. I could put his fav's in there and he could dip in marinara. I'll try it and see how it goes.

  6. Oh I think I just died a little… I want these now. I'm guessing these will be ranked in my house right under your cadbury egg cookies…