Easy Homemade Calzone

Level up your pizza with an easy Homemade Calzone recipe! A Calzone is like a mini pizza pocket made from pizza dough stuffed with your favorite pizza toppings and baked until golden brown for a customizable dinner that everyone loves. Making these has never been so simple!

This easy-to-make delectable Homemade Calzone Recipe makes fresh baked hot pockets out of pizza crust filled with marinara sauce, pepperoni, and melted mozzarella. Satisfy your pizza cravings with easy-to-make homemade calzones!

What is Calzone?

I just found out that there is a thing called Calzone, I think Calzone is an underrated pizza twist. Calzones are basically an individual pizza all wrapped up, which means: no cheese sliding off, no floppy crusts, and completely portable. Pure deliciousness wrapped up in a pillowy dough. Calzones are Italian turnovers that are stuffed with an array of ingredients. Pretty much anything that goes on a pizza can go into a Homemade calzone.

The fillings are placed on one-half of the circular-shaped pizza dough. The dough is then folded over, pinched and sealed, coated with an egg wash or olive oil, and baked in the oven until golden brown. You simply fill pizza dough with your favorite pizza toppings, fold over the dough, pinch and seal it, and then bake. The dough is also brushed with egg wash or olive oil before baking too. This classic dish can have various fillings and flavor combos.

Calzones are much more than a folded pizza. Where traditional pizzas are light on toppings, calzones nearly burst with fillings. They resemble a turnover, pretty much an Italian turnover!

Pizza vs Calzone

The choice between pizza and calzone ultimately comes down to personal preference. If you are Craving a visual feast of toppings and a crispy crust to share? Pizza might be your champion. Meanwhile, if you’re yearning for a handheld haven of cheesy goodness with customizable fillings? The calzone awaits, specifically homemade calzone.

No matter which you choose, both pizza and calzone offer delicious ways to celebrate the magic of dough, sauce, cheese, and a symphony of flavorful toppings.

Pizza and calzone, Italian icons that tantalize taste buds worldwide, share a close familial bond. But these pizza cousins have distinct personalities. Pizza, the extrovert, boasts an open-faced design, showcasing a vibrant tapestry of toppings on a crisp or chewy crust. It’s perfect for sharing, each slice a delightful combination of sauce, cheese, and toppings.

To summarize, Calzone, the introvert, prefers a more private approach. This folded masterpiece encases its cheesy goodness and toppings within a golden-brown doughy pocket. It offers a personalized, handheld experience, allowing you to savor all the flavors in every bite without any toppings escaping. Whether you crave a social and visual feast with pizza or a customizable, portable haven of cheesy goodness with calzone, both options promise a delicious celebration of Italian ingenuity. One more difference comes in the presentation – the dough gets braided before you bake it and the result looks impressive!

You can fool your family and dinner guests into thinking you’re some gourmet chef, but the reality is that these calzones are much alike and easy to make, wanna bet?

Ingredients of Homemade Calzone

• Pizza Dough; One pound of pizza dough will make approximately 4 large calzones. You can use Store-bought or you can make your own pizza dough like I do here; Homemade Pizza Dough
• Pizza Sauce; Pizza sauce is thicker and more cooked down than, say, a marinara sauce for pasta, Use your favorite pizza sauce. It can be homemade or store-bought.
• For filling I add some Onion chopped, Pepperoni, and Sausage cubed. Feel free to add filling with what you have on hand or what you love! Of course, feel free to fill it with whatever you like. I included some variation ideas below.
• Mozzarella Cheese shredded; Grab a block and shred it yourself for the best melting! It truly makes a difference. You can also use other cheeses like parmesan cheese or provolone cheese.
• Olive Oil; you can also use melted butter, whichever you prefer.

Let’s Make Homemade Calzone

First, preheat your oven to 428°F (220°C) to get it nice and hot for baking these delightful pockets of goodness. Then, grab a baking pan and line it with a sheet of parchment paper.

Next, gently divide your pizza dough into 4 equal portions. Imagine you’re creating 4 mini dough pizzas. Roll each portion into a smooth ball.

Then, on a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to transform each dough ball into a thin circle. Aim for a thickness of about ¼ inch.

Now comes the fun part – adding the delicious filling! Spread a generous amount of pizza sauce on one-half of each dough circle. Top the sauce with your favorite fillings – chopped onion, shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced sausage, and pepperoni are all classic choices. Feel free to get creative and experiment with other toppings you enjoy!

And then, carefully fold the dough over the filling, like a half-moon. Pinch and press the edges of the dough together to securely seal your calzone. Use a fork to crimp the edges for a decorative touch and to ensure no filling escapes during baking.

Bake Time!

To bake your homemade Calzone, now place your assembled Homemade calzone on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space between them for even heat distribution.

Using a sharp knife, gently cut 3 small vents on the top of each calzone. These vents allow steam to escape during baking and prevent your calzones from bursting.

Don’t forget to brush the top of each calzone with olive oil. This will give them a beautiful golden brown color when baked.

Bake Time! Pop those calzones into your preheated oven and bake them for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them – you want them to be golden brown and delicious-looking!

Once the calzones are baked to perfection, take them out of the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before digging in. Be careful, the filling will be hot, so be careful!

Finally, serve with your favorite dipping sauce, like marinara or ranch, and enjoy your homemade calzone!

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