Unless you have a giant freezer totally stocked or you don’t mind risking trips to the grocery store for your snack foods such as frozen pizza rolls, then you might be in withdrawal for those delicious pizza rolls hot from your oven. Today, I wanted to tell you how you can make your own pizza rolls with homemade dough for a surprisingly easy and a great way to fill that gap of hot, gooey cheese and seasoned tomato sauce in mini pizza form.
I start out by making a simple raised yeast dough that you’ll let grow before you roll it into several rolls. The size of your homemade pizza rolls depends on you. I make two long rolls for the larger size shown in my photo, which is also great as a sandwich replacement for lunch. To get them smaller on the order of appetizers, I just divide the dough further. Instead of two rolls, I make three thinner, long rolls.
Something that I want to point out is about the amount of flour you need when baking raised yeast dough. Depending on the humidity, you may use more or less flour. The way that I judge is starting gradually to add the flour so I can become aware of the feel of the dough. The dough should feel soft and pliable, not sticky. Some bakers make the mistake of dumping all the flour that the recipe calls for in at once, which is wrong and the reason their efforts fail. Going slowly with the amount of flour that you add at a time to the recipe will always produce better results.
These may not be the deep-fried version that you are used to, but this recipe is the one my family loves. I hope you give my recipe a shot because they are healthier than deep-fried and really good when you are craving a pizza or related snack.
Pizza fans should also check out my homemade pizza recipe. I also make a delicious Bavarian pizza, which is so unique and tasty.
Homemade Pizza Rolls

- 1-1/4 cups warm water
- 1 teaspoon dried active yeast
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups of sifted flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon of canola oil
- spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce ½ cups to 3/4 cup
- Mozzarella cheese grated (about 4 cups)
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Add half the sugar to your warm water, not hot water, stir trying to dissolve the yeast and let it sit in your mixing bowl until the yeast starts bubbling. When it has some foaming action, you’re ready to add the rest of the sugar, oil and flour. Add two cups of the flour at first. Stir with your wooden spoon. Add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough is no longer sticky. You want a soft, pliable ball–not a hard dense one.
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Sometimes, the weather changes how much flour you need to use. The trick for a soft dough that doesn’t stick to your fingers is adding flour slowly to your bowl. There have been days I used less in the same recipe or more. Your fingers will tell you how much extra or less flour you need.
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Let your dough rest and grow, covered for at least 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours.
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After that time, the dough should have grown slightly. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface where you will roll out two long strips of dough or three thinner long rolls.
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After rolling them on a lightly floured surface, I take out my silicone brush and paint inside of each with spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce if you have them in your pantry. You don’t want to overly saturate the dough with the sauce only to moisten it. The reason for keeping the sauce at a minimum to avoid a pasty texture near the center after it is baked. Trust me, but you will be adding more sauce later to make up for that sauce.
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Next, you just lay down the grated Mozzarella cheese over the sauced rolls. The fun part is rolling the long rolls up. Start at the smallest end and roll to seal it up. Afterwards, take a knife and start slicing before placing on well-greased baking sheets. If the knife sticks, then I just keep some extra flour handy to dip my knife in, which solves that problem for easier cutting.
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What I do after my pizza rolls are in the pan is brushing the tops of each with more spaghetti or pizza sauce. You don’t have to grow them very long after that step. In fact, I paint and then give them about 15 minutes before baking them.
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I bake the larger size pizza rolls with homemade dough that I made in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes. If you make them smaller, then reduce the baking time to about 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick or slender knife if anything sticks. The pizza rolls will start to lightly brown.
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ENJOY!