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Homemade Calzones

Who else is swooning over these warm handheld dippable pizzas? Can you believe how crispy and thick this homemade calzone dough is? And what if we told you the inside of this Gluten Free Calzone was stuffed with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and dairy free cheese-that actually melted and tastes good?!?!

Wouldn't you agree that while everyone loves pizza, calzones tend to be forgotten? But these are so fun to eat and dip into pizza sauce they're a must in my menu planning, especially since pizza places rarely have gluten free pizza and most of them can't guarantee that there is no cross contamination when they make their pizza pockets.

Another great reason to bake these homemade calzones is the filling. You can personalize these just like you would mini pizzas.

Pepperoni, sauteed veggies, Hawaiian toppings and don't forget supreme calzones taste good too! And no matter what toppings we choose we always love our own bowl of pizza sauce to dip into.

Homemade gluten free calzones with sauce on a serving platter.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

  • The dairy free cheese actually melts inside (we know it's a shocker in the dairy free cheese world)
  • They're delicious and simple to make
  • These calzones are easy to customize
  • It's made with a crispy and tender gluten free dough
  • This is a gluten and dairy free calzone recipe that has an egg free option if you need it to be egg free as well
A few gluten free calzones in a pile.

Ingredients Needed

Gluten Free Calzone Dough

  • active dry yeast
  • warm water-- use a thermometer so the water temperature is 110°F
  • salt
  • granulated sugar
  • oil-- we use extra virgin olive oil
  • Italian seasoning, optional
  • gluten free all purpose flour-- we like Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur's, but you can use any gluten free flour blend that is an all purpose blend
  • xanthan gum, omit if your gf all purpose flour has this or guar gum in it

Pizza Toppings

  • pizza sauce
  • pepperoni
  • shredded dairy free mozzarella cheese-- VioLife Shreds melts perfectly and actually tastes good
  • egg, omit if you need this be an egg free calzone recipe
  • optional toppings: Italian sausage, bacon, mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers, garlic, Canadian bacon, pineapple, etc.
A bowl of gluten free dough to make calzones with.

How to Make Gluten-Free Calzones

Preparing Calzone Dough

  1. You will need a warm place for dough to rise. We use the oven. Preheat oven to 200°F. When the oven reaches 200°F, keep the door closed and turn the oven off. Preheat oven right before you let the yeast, sugar, and hot water sit.
  2. In a large stand mixer place yeast, sugar, and hot water. Stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes. The mixture will become foamy which shows that your yeast is active and working.
  3. Add the salt and olive oil to the large bowl.
  4. Attach the dough hook, add the xanthan gum and flour ½ cup at a time, on low setting. Scrape down the side of the bowl 2-3 times. Mix until just combined. You will find the dough is tacky to touch.
  5. Grease the inside of a large oven safe bowl with oil. Place dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the heated oven. Set timer for 60 minutes.
  6. After an hour the dough ball should have almost doubled in size. Remove from the oven.

Preparing calzone rounds

  1. Place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  3. Generously place gluten free all purpose flour on your countertop.
  4. Separate dough into 6 equal size balls and set aside. Keep in mind this will produce 5 adult size large calzones. For smaller calzones separate them into more dough balls.
  5. Knead each ball until the dough is not sticky. Roll each ball individually with a rolling pin into a round circle and gently place it on the prepared parchment paper.

Toppings

  1. After all 6 round dough circles are on parchment paper, place a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce on each calzone. Position the sauce just in the center of each calzone leaving a one inch space between the edge of the round and the sauce. If pizza sauce is placed too closely to the edge of the round, it will seep out of the calzone during baking, and get messy.
  2. Sprinkle toppings over pizza sauce and gently fold dough over toppings.
  3. With a fork seal round edges of the calzone. With a knife slice 3 vertical air vents into the top of each calzone.
  4. Brush the top of each calzone with egg wash. Egg coating gives the calzone a beautiful shiny and golden brown color. This is an optional step so omit it if this recipe needs to be egg free.
  5. Transfer baking sheet to the oven for 22-25 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve with a side of pizza sauce for dipping.
A rolling pin on top of gluten free dough.

Storage

Store leftover dairy free calzones in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Additionally, you can freeze leftover calzones for later. Wrap with plastic wrap then aluminum foil or place in an airtight container or bag with parchment paper in between calzones to prevent them from freezing together and freeze for up to 2-3 months.

Gluten free dough with pizza sauce and pepperonis.

Reasons to Make Gluten Free and Dairy Free Calzones

  • Great travel food, freeze them ahead of time, then place them in your travel bag. Reheat them in a hotel or gas station microwave. Boom! Delicious safe food to enjoy on the road.
  • These are a camping must have. Again, freeze calzones ahead of time and reheat for an easy on-the-go lunch after you've been out exploring.
  • Also, they're great for your child's school lunch or snack idea. These calzones are super filling and with no peanut or tree nut ingredients, other classmates will be safe too; though we will take this as a reminder to remember to check labels of all your ingredients to be sure they're still free of your allergens.
  • Don't forget about college students living on or off campus. These work perfectly for them. Freeze a batch, reheat it in the microwave, and eat while headed to class or study group.
  • What about your work lunch break? Let's just say your coworkers will be so jealous of you enjoying a homemade calzone.

So as you can tell these homemade calzones are the perfect meal idea to eat nice and warm right out of the oven. Or freeze and reheat them on the go.

Calzones with pizza sauce and dairy free cheese.

Why is good yeast important?

First, make sure your active dry yeast is fresh or the yeast won't release the carbon dioxide it needs to for the dough to rise.

If the active dry yeast doesn't get bubbly and foamy, the yeast has gone bad and the calzones dough won't turn out.

What kind of gluten free flour should I use?

For gluten free flour in this recipe, I commonly use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. Keep in mind this all purpose flour already contains xanthan gum so you don't need to add that into this recipe. Did you know you can purchase this flour in bulk from Amazon and save yourself money?

Do I have to use pizza sauce?

We definitely recommend using pizza sauce in these homemade calzones. Marinara and tomato sauce are too runny for these and you'll end up with soggy calzones. Nobody wants that.

Gluten free calzones being closed with melted dairy free butter.

What kind of cheese do I use?

We use dairy free cheese shreds in this easy recipe, and we are TOTALLY aware that they are not all made equal, the same, or even close to being delicious if you get a bad brand.

We tried this dairy free calzone recipe with VioLife mozzarella shreds in this recipe and enjoyed every single bite. This cheese is 100% vegan, soy free, gluten free, lactose rise free, nut free, and preservative free.

And it even melted in this calzone recipe.

If you like to add ricotta cheese in your calzones, we totally recommend Kite Hill Ricotta. It's a dairy free option that we actually like.

A few calzones in a row with some dipping sauce.

Recipe Tips

  • We like to make veggie filled calzones. If you're using veggies in the filling for this gluten-free calzone recipe, be sure to saute them first (mushrooms, onions, spinach, garlic, etc.).
  • This recipe is easily modified to be egg free. Omit the egg wash for an easy and delicious egg free meal.
  • Don't over stuff these beauties. It just makes for a soggy mess because the pizza sauce juices will run out. Trust us... been there, done that. Not worth it.
  • For this recipe, a Kitchen Aid mixer and a dough hook is a must. If you're shopping for a mixer this is the model we have. It comes with a 5 quart clear glass bowl that we use all the time. And three blending attachments including the dough hook needed for this recipe. We can't believe how quickly this mixer whips together the calzone dough. Y'all, it's amazing. These always make for wonderful Mother's Day or birthday gifts too.

more gluten + dairy free meal ideas

  • sweet and sour meatballs -- these homemade meatballs are delectable, and when combined with diced bell peppers, pineapple chunks, and the best sauce, you'll absolutely fall in love with this meal.
  • cinnamon swirl waffles -- these waffles taste delicious any time of the day. These are complete with a caramelized swirl and gooey topping that's unbelievable.
  • and lastly have you checked out our homemade sloppy joe recipe? It's such a quick and easy meal that is also filling. I've gotten so many messages from readers saying they love this recipe.
Warm, homemade calzones on a plate with pizza sauce.

Homemade Calzones

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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 Calzones
Author: Eating Gluten and Dairy Free

Ingredients

Calzone Dough

  • 2 teaspoon Fleischmann's active dry yeast not quite a full package
  • c warm water use a thermometer so the water temperature is 110°F
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoon oil plus more for greasing the mixing bowl
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning optional
  • c gluten free all purpose flour plus more for kneading
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your gf all purpose flour has this in it

Pizza Toppings

  • 1 heaping tablespoon pizza sauce per calzone have extra for dipping sauce with the meal
  • 20-25 pepperonis
  • ½ c shredded dairy free mozzarella cheese VioLife Shreds melts perfectly and tastes good
  • 1 egg, beaten omit if egg free
  • optional toppings: Italian sausage, bacon, mushrooms, olives, onions, peppers, garlic, Canadian bacon, pineapple, etc.

Instructions

Preparing Calzone Dough

  • You will need a warm place for dough to rise. I use the oven. Preheat oven to 200°F. When oven reaches 200°F keep the door closed and turn the oven off. Preheat oven right before yeast, sugar, and hot water sit.
  • In a large stand mixer place yeast, sugar, and hot water. Stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mixture will become foamy.
  • Add the salt and olive oil.
  • Attach the dough hook, add the xanthan gum and flour ½ cup at a time, on low setting. Scrape down the side of the bowl 2-3 times. Mix until just combined. You will find the dough is tacky to touch.
  • Grease the inside of a large oven safe bowl with oil. Place dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the heated oven. Set timer for 60 minutes.
  • After an hour the dough should have almost doubled in size. Remove from the oven.

Preparing calzone rounds

  • Place parchment paper on 2 baking sheets and set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • Generously place gluten free all purpose flour on your countertop.
  • Separate dough into 6 equal size balls and set aside. Keep in mind this will produce 5 adult size calzones. For smaller calzones separate into more balls.
  • Knead each ball until the dough is not sticky. Roll each ball individually with a rolling pin into a round circle and gently place on the prepared parchment paper.

Toppings

  • After all 6 rounds are on parchment paper, place a heaping tablespoon of pizza sauce on each calzone. Position the sauce just in the center of each calzone leaving a one inch space between the edge of the round and the sauce. If pizza sauce is placed too closely to the edge of the round, it will seep out of the calzone during baking, and get messy.
  • Sprinkle toppings over pizza sauce and gently fold dough over toppings.
  • With a fork seal round edges. With a knife slice 3 vertical air vents into the top of each calzone.
  • Brush top of each calzone with egg wash. Egg coating gives the calzone a beautiful shiny and golden color. This is an optional step so omit if this recipe needs to be egg free.
  • Transfer baking sheet to the oven for 22-25 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve with a side of pizza sauce for dipping.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Notes

This calzone recipe freezes well too. After removing calzones from the oven allow to completely cool. Then wrap individually in parchment paper and place in a gallon size Ziploc bag or batch freeze on a baking sheet and then place in a Ziploc bag. You don't want the calzones to stick together while freezing. Enjoying eat these from the freezer and reheated on the go or thaw them all for a quick family meal. 

Nutritional Disclaimer

These Nutritional Facts are ESTIMATED. Your actual nutritional info with this recipe may vary depending on the brands you choose. “Eating Gluten and Dairy Free” is not a registered dietician or nutritionist. The provided nutritional info above is based on a generic calculator, if you want more accurate info, use your nutritional calculator of choice where you can choose brands and get more info that way.

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Some gluten free calzones in a pile with text overlay.

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