Homemade Pizza Rolls Recipe
Some of my very best slumber parties in middle school were punctuated by the burn of too-hot pizza roll filling on my tongue. Pizza Rolls are little deep-fried nostalgia packets. Delicious and sentimental!
What do I need to make homemade pizza rolls?
What do I need to make homemade pizza rolls?The elements of pizza rolls are the same as regular pizza slices: a crust, toppings, cheese, and sauce. Let's talk about each!
Pizza Crust
While we love a homemade pizza dough for a traditional pizza, we keep things fast and simple for pizza rolls by using wonton wrappers instead.
Wonton wrappers are typically used when frying, but they also bake up beautifully. They get crispy and golden and hold onto filling like a champ. My grocery store sells them in the natural foods cooler near the tofu and other meat substitutes, but we've also seen them in produce sections.
Pizza Toppings
Use your favorite pizza toppings to make your pizza rolls your own. Our recipe below outlines how to make supreme pizza rolls, with sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, and pepperoni. But we've also enjoyed them as pepperoni pizza rolls, veggie pizza rolls, and just plain cheese pizza rolls. If you like it on a pizza, chances are you can use it in a pizza roll topping. Just be sure that you chop up the filling ingredients well so that they fit inside the wrappers and you get a little filling in every bite.
Wholefully Protip
The one kind of pizza we don't recommend turning into pizza rolls is "Hawaiian" pizza. Pineapple can be so juicy that it can leave you with a soggy pizza roll.
Pizza Cheese
Mozzarella is the classic choice. If you're sticking to a simpler filling, try adding a little Parmesan cheese for even more cheesy flavor.
Pizza Sauce
We've used marinara sauce and pizza sauce interchangeably in pizza rolls, and they've always come out delicious!
What do combination pizza rolls have in them?
What do combination pizza rolls have in them?In the frozen pizza world, "Combination" pizza typically means that the pizza has both sausage and pepperoni as the topping (or in the pizza roll filling). But really, you can fill these with whatever you'd like!
How do you make pizza rolls?
Making homemade pizza rolls is relatively simple. It's a great project to do with kids, too!
- Cook any pizza toppings that you can't or don't want to use raw-meats, peppers, and mushrooms all need to be precooked.
- Grease a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Lay wonton wrappers out on the baking sheet, and put a few teaspoonfuls of filling in the center of each wrapper.
- Dip your finger in a bit of water and run it along the edge of a wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half and press down to seal the seam. Repeat until the baking sheet is filled with pizza rolls.
- Spray the tops of the pizza rolls with cooking spray (you can also brush them with melted butter) and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the pizza rolls are golden brown.
Are pizza rolls precooked?
These pizza rolls are not pre-cooked, so be sure to cook them until they are heated all the way through and the outsides are golden and crisp.
Are pizza rolls better in the oven or microwave?
For homemade pizza rolls, you definitely want to bake them in the oven. The microwave will leave you with soggy, unevenly cooked pizza rolls, and nobody wants that! You can also make pizza rolls in the air fryer!
Psst: While you have the air fryer out, you can also try these air fryer chicken meatballs or air fryer carrots!
What is good to dip pizza rolls in?
More pizza sauce or marinara is our favorite thing to dip pizza rolls in, but you can also go the classic Midwestern route and dip them in a bit of ranch. Or just eat them as-is-that's the most portable and simple way to enjoy them!
How do I reheat homemade pizza rolls?
Store any leftover pizza rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Refresh in a 375°F oven for a few minutes until warm. These can also be reheated in an air fryer. We reheated them at 390°F for 6 minutes, but your air fryer may differ.
Can I freeze these pizza rolls?
Absolutely! Homemade pizza rolls hold up best to the freezer if they are frozen before the baking step. Assemble the pizza rolls, but instead of baking them, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, move the pizza rolls to a freezer-safe container or a freezer bag. Stash in the freezer until you want pizza rolls, and then bake them straight from frozen!
📖 Recipe
Homemade Pizza Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ pound Italian sausage
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ large green pepper diced fine
- 1 small onion diced fine
- 4 ounces mushrooms diced
- ½ cup diced pepperoni
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Cooking spray
- 1 package wonton wrappers about 48 wraps
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until hot. Add in ½ pound Italian sausage, 3 cloves garlic, ½ large green pepper, and 1 small onion. Cook until softened, about 6 minutes.
- Add in 4 ounces mushrooms and ½ cup diced pepperoni, and cook until the mushrooms have just released their water, about 2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups marinara sauce, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°.
- Spray a baking sheet with Cooking spray. Arrange three wonton wrappers along the bottom edge of the sheet. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling into the middle of each wrapper. Using a finger dipped in water, run along the edge of each wrapper and then fold wrapper in half and press down to seal.
- Continue until baking sheet is filled with pizza rolls (spaced about 1″ apart). Spray tops with cooking spray and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until rolls are golden and crispy. Repeat process with remaining wraps and filling.
- If pizza rolls are greasy, blot them with paper towels before serving. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving (filling will be hot).
Video
Notes
- Veggie-option: leave out the Italian sausage and the pepperoni when making the filling. You may need to add more olive oil to keep the mushroom mixture form sticking while cooking.
- These reheat great in the air fryer! Six minutes at 390°F worked well, but you might need to experiment with your air fryer to find the right time and temp.
Nutrition
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Can these be frozen?
I haven't tried it, but I don't see why not. I'd just pop them into the freezer to flash freeze right before the step where they go into the oven. Then pop them into a freezer bag.
Do you think this would work with phyllo sheets?
Hmmm. It's worth a shot! I think the end result would be a lot flakier and fragile. Let me know if you try it!
Pretty sure Dashing Dish came up with this.. and you only changed one thing, everything else was pretty much exact. You should at least give her credit. http://dashingdish.com/recipe/skinny-pizza-rolls/
I've actually never been to that (beautiful) blog before! As you can tell from my other recipes, I make sure to credit when I get the idea from other places. It's really important to me because I've had my original recipes stolen before and it's absolutely not fun. Great minds think alike, I guess.
And now I'm totally adding that blog to my reader. So much pretty.
Cassie...thank you for posting this recipe. I am inspired. And it is so fun to see when "great minds think alike"...
I love this! I used to call these pillow pizzas as a kid. Well, I still do. These look great and I'll definitely be making them soon.
These are pretty darn good! Yes, not quite the same as the frozen kind, but as you said, way healthier. after seeing all the crap that is in the totinos kind (cheese substitute? ick), I never bought them again. And these are pretty easy to make too, once I got the amount of filling right. Thanks for the recipe!
Does it really taste like the original? I've used wonton wrappers in other recipes and they've always seemed more like a crispy noodle to me rather than a bready-like replacement.
It's enough to satisfy a pizza roll craving in a healthy and light way, but no, it isn't exactly like the original. When I made them, the very edges were crispy, but the middle part of the wrapper was bread-y because it soaks up the filling (hence the pink tint to them).
Cassie, I want to try these because I love your story!! Hilarious writing. Oh, and I also love pizza.
When I first saw this, I thought, "Oh, no, are those in wonton wrappers? Please don't let them be in wonton wrappers."
And then they were in wonton wrappers. 🙂
These look amazing. Any idea how to freeze these so you can make lots ahead of time? Never know when a pizza roll craving will hit.
I would freeze them before baking. Just lay them out on a baking sheet, freeze, and then once they are frozen solid, pop into a freezer bag.
Would you thaw them out before cooking them?
I don't think so. I'd just put them in frozen, and just add a few minutes cooking time.
I froze mine and my husband loved how easy they were for him to eat when I went out of town! I par-baked mine by baking for only 8 minutes then froze them on a cookie sheet and transferred to a baggie for freezer storage. To heat them up just put them in a toaster over for about 15 minutes on 350. they turn out really nice!
These look amazing--but the big question is: Will they cure a hangover like the Totinos pizza rolls? 🙂
this is brilliant.
These look amazing! I will have to try them.
I've never had Totinos, but these look AH-mazing! Pinned!
These look terrific. Part of me still wants to fry them though!
This is a really great idea. I love pizza rolls!
My roommate and I used to HOUSE pizza rolls in college. OH man, I don't think I've had one since about 2001.
Great idea of using won-ton wrappers! They really are amazing little culinary miracles, aren't they? 🙂
oh lord have mercy. i am making these and will transport back to my childhood. yum!
Plinkett probably loves pizza rolls more than you do.
If you haven't watched Plinkett, you need to.
Totinos pizza rolls are definitely one of my favorite things ever. I'm so glad you decide to make this version so that I can eat my beloved pizza rolls without fear of dying from shock if I dared glance at the ingredient list! <3
I looooooove pizza rolls. They also remind me of my childhood!! I love the use of wontons for these.
These were a big hit tonight at my house. Thanks for sharing.