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Pizza night just got a fun makeover with these easy homemade pizza pockets, or calzones, that you can make from scratch with the kids!

This post shows you how easy it is to make homemade calzones at home. You can use homemade pizza dough or storebought; zero judgment here. Whether you call these pepperoni and cheese pizza pockets or calzones, you’ll love this recipe’s simplicity.

What is a Calzone

Calzones use pizza dough spread in a circle shape and call for covering half of the round dough with sauce, topped with cheese and toppings. Then, the plain side is folded over the toppings and cheese side to cover, and the edges are sealed by pressing down the dough together.

When baked, the calzone’s dough cooks on both sides, leaving a golden crust on top.

Once ready, calzones are sliced in half, and inside you’ll find a pizza pocket with the sauce, melted cheese, and the toppings used.

Traditional pizzas call for spreading sauce all over the dough, sprinkling the cheese to cover, and then one loads it up with toppings. Once baked, what you see is what you get.

Pepperoni Pizza Calzone Filling

If you love pepperoni pizza, you will love filling up your calzone with a generous amount of sauce, cheese, and pepperonis. Once baked, everything remains inside the calzone, and every bite is just as good as pizza but better!

pepperoni calzone on a cooling rack, cut in half

Do Calzones Have Sauce Inside?

Most calzone recipes call for spreading the marinara sauce over half of the dough to keep the filling moist and delicious.

Other sauces you can spread on calzones include bbq sauce, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing spread thingly, olive oil, and alfredo sauce.

Does a Calzone Have to Have Ricotta Cheese?

The best part about calzones is that you can customize them with your favorite cheeses. Ricotta cheese is used in many recipes because its creamy texture bulks up the filling quite nicely when combined with a cheese like mozzarella. That said, you do not have to use ricotta cheese in your calzones; the recipe below does not -my kids aren’t fans.

Make Next: Broccoli Cheese Calzones

freshly baked homemade calzone on a cooling rack

Using Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza Dough

To make calzones using refrigerated pizza dough from a can, you’ll roll it out on a floured surface and cut the rectangularly shaped dough into 4 pieces. Fill them and fold them over the same as traditional calzones but follow the baking times and temperature settings according to the directions printed in the dough can.

How to Make a Pizza Calzone at Home

Once you have your pizza dough ready, making homemade calzones at home is easy.

Prep
Preheat the oven to 375F with the oven racks positioned in the middle sections of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Make the calzone bases
Divide a 16oz dough ball into four. Roll each piece into a ball in your hands, and then place it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it out into a circle and transfer two calzone bases to each sheet pan.
Fill the calzones
Spread pizza sauce onto half of each dough circle, keeping a ½-inch rim of dough intact. Top the sauce with grated mozzarella cheese and lots of pepperoni slices.
Seal the calzones
Fold the topping-free half over the dough, covering all the toppings, matching the dough’s edge. Press down using a fork to seal the edges. Poke a few holes over the tops of the dough to let the steam escape. Brush the calzones with olive oil and sprinkle Italian seasoning over the top.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, swapping the baking sheets halfway through until the crusts are golden brown.

Make sure to print out the step-by-step recipe below.

Can You Make Pepperoni Calzones Ahead

There are several ways you can prep calzones ahead, start-to-finish or partial prep, to save you time.

Make the calzones and refrigerate them before baking. Keep the calzones ready for baking in the fridge for up to 8 hours.

Make the calzones and freeze them before baking. Place the lined sheet pans in the freezer and freeze the calzones before baking. Once frozen, transfer them inside a freezer bag, label it with the baking temperature and time, and when ready to bake another day, remove them from the freezer and add approximately 5 minutes to the baking time. You might want to cover them with foil for the last 5 minutes to ensure they don’t burn.

Partially assemble the calzones by making the dough, roll it out onto the sheet pans, and place them in the fridge for up to 8 hours. When ready to bake the calzones, top the dough with sauce, cheese, and toppings and continue the recipe directions.

How to Store Leftover Calzones

Wrap leftover calzones in foil and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, warm up in a 350F preheated oven for 15 minutes, wrapped in foil. You can also reheat leftover calzones in an air fryer at 360F for 6 minutes.

Easy Homemade Pizza Pockets or Calzones

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 45

Pizza night just got a fun makeover with these easy homemade pizza pockets, or calzones, that you can make from scratch with the kids!

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Ingredients

16 oz pizza dough ball
½ cup pizza sauce
4 ounces pepperoni slices
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F with the oven racks positioned in the middle sections of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Divide a 16oz dough ball into four. Roll each piece into a ball in your hands, and then place it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it out into a circle and transfer two calzone bases to each sheet pan.
Spread pizza sauce onto half of each dough circle, keeping a ½-inch rim of dough intact. Top the sauce with grated mozzarella cheese and lots of pepperoni slices.
Fold the topping-free half over the dough, covering all the toppings, matching the dough’s edge. Press down using a fork to seal the edges.
Poke a few holes over the tops of the dough to let the steam escape. Brush the calzones with olive oil and sprinkle Italian seasoning over the top.
Repeat the process with the remaining calzone dough.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, swapping the baking sheets halfway through until the crusts are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow the calzones to cool down for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

If using refrigerated pizza dough in a can that rolls out into a rectangle, simply slice it into 4 pieces and make the calzones rectangular shape following the same process. Make sure to follow baking times and temperature according to the directions printed in the can of dough.