Once our family perfected all the dairy-free pizza options we could come up with, I decided it was time to master making calzone pizza pockets for the fam!
These are actually an easy dinner to put together if I start the dough in the afternoon.
And it’s something I make with minimal ingredients on hand. Flour, yeast, pepperoni, tomato sauce, dairy-free cheese…and just a few other spices and staples.
Even though very similar to pizza, the guys in my family definitely dig calzone night. They are super filling!
See the recipe, tips, and quick video below.
We make our calzones from scratch. They are best that way!
And yes, they are pretty easy.
But they do take some time letting the dough rise, rolling out six individual dough balls, and folding and sealing each pocket.
These are extra steps we don’t have to do when we make one big family pizza with homemade dough.
However, my kiddo with food allergies lost his favorite dairy-free and allergy-friendly pizza pockets many years ago.
So it makes my heart happy to take the time to make these for him, every once in awhile.
Plus, oven dinners are my forte.
While hubby manages the grill and smoker and skillet cooking like a boss…
I take pride in being the parent who rocks the homemade pizzas, sheet pan dinners, and such.
There’s a little artistic flair to making pizza pockets, and I rather enjoy it.
If you’ve nailed down your dairy-free pizza game, these are a great next step.
They aren’t necessarily something I make for guests…but I love whipping them up for special family days, like watching a big game together at home.
Perfect family party food!
DAIRY-FREE CHEESE
The nice thing about calzones is that they are individual servings.
So I’m able to make dairy versions for half of our family and dairy-free versions for the other half.
In the picture above, I turn the dairy-free calzones a different direction so not to mix them up…since the cheese is hidden inside and it’s hard to tell.
You may choose to use two separate pans, that’s helpful as well.
Here are some of our favorite dairy-free mozzarella shreds that have worked in our homemade pizza pockets.
Of course, if you are making both dairy and dairy-free with severe food allergy in your home, you’ll want to take all cross contamination and cross contact precautions to stay safe.
Some may choose to make them all dairy-free for less risk and to make it easier.
The recipe below makes six medium size calzones.
The three men in my family eat about two each with a big salad.
This calzone recipe is actually inspired by our homemade pizza recipe.
I make the same dough, but divide it into six equal pieces after it raises.
We use the same homemade pizza sauce, as well. But you could also use canned pizza sauce safe for your allergies to simplify.
As mentioned above, the calzones are just more about adding a little more flair to personal pizzas.
It looks like a lot of steps below, but I just wanted to be as detailed as possible.
Once you get a hang of these, they can be quick and easy and so worth it.
Here’s the calzone recipe!
PEPPERONI CALZONES RECIPE DAIRY FREE
This recipe makes 6 medium size calzones.
You may opt to make 8 smaller size or 4 larger size.
Also see our quick calzone video in this post.
INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
for the calzone dough:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 package dry active yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup warm water
for the pizza sauce:
- 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- OR 16 OZ CAN OF PIZZA SAUCE
for the filling;
- 1 package of dairy-free pepperoni
- 1 package of dairy-free shredded mozzarella
for the garnish:
- olive oil
- italian seasoning
- kosher salt
DOUGH INSTRUCTIONS
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 package dry active yeast (2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup warm water
Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast in a large bowl.
Add oil and water to the mixture.
Mix ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
Finish combining the dough with clean hands.
Once the dough is combined, let it sit in the bowl.
Cover the bowl with a clean towel, and let it sit in a warm, dark place on your counter for 60 minutes.
After raised, punch the dough down to release the air.
PIZZA SAUCE INSTRUCTIONS
Start preparing halfway through the dough rising.
- 2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
Just combine all ingredients together.
No heating or cooking required.
This is a larger recipe so you’ll have enough left for dipping the calzones.
You can use a 16 ounce can of dairy-free pizza sauce if you don’t want to make it.
POCKET INSTRUCTIONS
After an hour, punch down the dough.
Move the dough ball to a clean cutting board.
Separate the dough into 6 even pieces using a dough cutter or chef knife. You can opt for 4 bigger pieces or 8 smaller pieces if you’d like.
Roll each dough piece into a smooth ball.
Then use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a flat 6 inch circle. I do one at a time, fill, fold, seal, and then roll out the next ball.
Ingredients for the pockets:
- one package of dairy-free pepperoni
- one package of dairy-free mozzarella shreds
- olive oil, Italian seasoning, and kosher salt for tops
How to build the calzones:
Make sure you add enough pepperoni and dairy-free cheese. The bread is so thick that these need quite a bit of filling.
- if making both dairy and dairy-free, mark them somehow
- roll each dough ball into a flat 6 inch circle
- spread pizza sauce thickly over each, leaving a 1/2″ plain edge
- PILE pepperoni over 1/2 of the pizza sauce
- then PILE dairy-free cheese over the pepperoni
- fold the no pepperoni and cheese half over the other half
- seal the plain edges with a fork, pushing firmly to close
I’ve also pinched calzones together with my fingers, but the fork seems to seal them better for me.
Final touches before baking:
- brush the top of each calzone with olive oil using a pastry brush
- sprinkle Italian seasoning on each calzone
- sprinkle a LITTLE kosher salt on each, not too much
- cut 3 vent slits in the top of each calzone
How to bake the calzones:
- oven 400
- place each calzone on a large baking sheet
- bake 20 minutes, until golden brown
How to serve calzones:
- use the rest of the pizza sauce for dipping!
- calzones come from the over very hot, let cool a bit
- great with a side salad
Sadly, this is one recipe where we rarely have leftovers.
In fact, I make myself tortilla pizzas and let my hubby and kids enjoy the calzones.
We hope you can give these calzones a try, they are worth it!
And for more of our dairy-free pizza recipes, see below.
MORE DAIRY-FREE PIZZA IDEAS
Homemade Pizza
Easy Tortilla Pizzas
Easy Pita Pizzas
Pizza Lunchables
This was posted in March 2023.
