This authentic Italian Stromboli recipe fills crescent rolls with loads of Italian meats and cheeses rolled up and baked golden brown!
Serve them with a side of marinara sauce or your favorite dipping sauce for an easy weeknight dinner or as a tasty appetizer at your next party.
With all the same delicious and classic flavors of homemade Stromboli, you'll add a fun twist to your next pizza night with these mouth-watering easy Italian stromboli crescent rolls.
They only take a few minutes to prepare, using simple ingredients, most of which you can pick up at any deli counter.
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Using a can of refrigerated crescent roll dough saves you a lot of time, because the crust bakes up to a beautiful golden brown with a hot, gooey, and meaty filling, just like the ones from your local pizzeria.
They're absolutely incredible fresh out of the oven but they’re also awesome served at room temperature, making this authentic Italian stromboli recipe a great option for a picnic or potluck.
If you love all things pizza like we do, you should check out this delicious Pizza Salad or if you're keeping things on the light side, try one of these amazing Weight Watchers Pizza Recipes.
❤️ Why We Love this Authentic Stromboli
We love how these Stromboli rolls are already portioned out into individual servings. They're perfect hand-held bites, great for serving as appetizers at parties, for tailgating, or to pack in a lunch box.
You can stuff them with your favorite meats and cheeses for an infinite number of variations and flavors.
Instead of making homemade pizza dough, this authentic Italian Stromboli recipe uses a can of crescent rolls, which is a huge time saver and requires a whole lot less effort and mess.
🛒 What Goes Into This Recipe
- Italian meats-Use a combination of any of your top 3 favorites. We use prosciutto, genoa salami and pepperoni.
- Crescent roll dough-The little triangles make it easy to roll up, but you can use store-bought pizza dough if you prefer.
- Melty cheeses-Mozzarella cheese and provolone are a good combination, but you can use other types of cheese that you like.
- Banana peppers-They give the crescent rolls the perfect briny kick of flavor they need.
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Authentic Italian Stromboli
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Step 2: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Step 3: Take crescent roll dough out of the package and separate the triangles on a cutting board.
Step 4: Sprinkle some of the shredded mozzarella cheese over each dough triangle, pressing it into the dough as you go.
Step 5: Place a half piece of prosciutto
Step 6. Next, add a slice of salami.
Step 7. Take three slices of pepperoni and stack them on the top of the salami.
Step 8. Place a half piece of provolone cheese on top of the meats.
Step 9. Layer on a few banana peppers.
Step 10. Roll up the dough around the meats and cheeses. Then place them on the prepared baking sheet once completely rolled up tight.
Step 11. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the stromboli rolls with melted butter or olive oil (or you can use an egg wash).
Step 12. Sprinkle on your favorite pizza toppings. We added parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning on top of each crescent.
Step 13. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for 10 to 14 minutes, until the dough is golden brown and the melted cheese is nice and gooey.
Step 14. Let cool a few minutes on the sheet pan before removing to a plate and serving.
Easy Stromboli Recipe Variations
Meats: You can swap out the Italian meats with cooked and sliced Italian sausage. Or you can use other types of meat like deli ham, turkey or roast beef. For a special treat, try serrano ham. It's my favorite, but it's a little pricier.
Peppers: Instead of or in addition to the banana peppers, you can add slices of roasted red pepper, sauteed bell pepper, or for a spicy kick you can add a couple of pickled jalapeno peppers.
Dough: For this easy homemade stromboli recipe, you can use just about any type of store-bought dough you prefer. Instead of rolls, you can use puff pastry and fold them over to make a pocket shaped baked Italian sandwich.
Toppings: We used grated parmesan cheese, but you can also use pecorino Romano cheese. You can also sprinkle them with a few sesame seeds or poppy seeds.
Allow leftovers to cool to room temperature. Then transfer them to an airtight container or wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
To reheat, wrap in foil and heat in warm oven or place them in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds.
Though they are best when freshly baked, you can certainly freeze them. Just bake, cool, wrap tightly with plastic wrap then a layer of foil and freeze. To serve, thaw for 5-6 hours at room temperature, then heat at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes until heated through.
Though they are both derivatives of pizza, using most of the same ingredients, calzones are folded over and then sealed by crimping the edges. Stromboli is sealed by rolling the dough in a spiral around the filling.
Top Tips
- If using deli meat in this easy Italian stromboli recipe, you may want to pat the surface of it with paper towels before adding to the rolls. This prevents excess moisture from building up and making the dough gummy.
- Set the crescent roll dough out of the fridge about 30 minutes before using it. This makes the dough more pliable which helps it stretch around the filling easily.
- If you're needing to make these in advance, you can simply assemble them and keep them loosely covered on the baking sheet in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.
More Italian Recipes
Recipe
Easy Italian Stromboli Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 package crescent roll dough
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 4 slices prosciutto cut in half
- 8 slices salami
- 24 slices pepperoni
- ½ cup banana peppers drained of all liquid
- 4 slices provolone cheese cut in half
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take crescent roll dough out of package and and separate the triangles.
- Over each triangle, sprinkle a small amount of shredded mozzarella cheese, pressing it into the dough as you go.
- Place a half piece of prosciutto, one slice of salami, and three slices of pepperoni on the bottom of each triangle.
- Place the half pieces of provolone cheese on top of the meats.
- Add a layer of banana peppers.
- Roll the dough up around the meats and cheeses, placiing it on the prepared baking sheet once completely rolled up tight.
- Using a pastry brush, top of each roll with melted butter. Sprinkle parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning on top of each crescent.
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, until the dough is golden brown.
- Let cool a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- If using deli meat, you may want to pat the surface of it with paper towels before adding it to the rolls. This prevents excess moisture from building up and making the dough gummy.
- Set the crescent roll dough out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before using it. This makes the dough more pliable which helps it stretch around the filling easily.
- If you're needing to make these in advance, you can simply assemble them and keep them loosely covered on the baking sheet in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.
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