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Delicious Homemade Calzones made with crescent rolls dough, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, marinara sauce, and your favorite pizza toppings. Sprinkled with Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and baked to a golden brown! A fantastic easy meal idea made in the air fryer!

Air Fryers are all the rage! I love mine! They are easy to use and convenient. Great for creating fried foods with little, to no oil. (It’s a great way to cook up a quick lunch or dinner.)

A few weeks ago I was thinking about a fun Super Bowl Snack idea. This is what popped into my head. (At my age we’re just happy for days that anything comes to mind!)

I debated back and forth if these are truly “calzones”, “stromboli’s”, or a “hot pocket”? They are a little bigger than your grocery store bought hot pocket, and a tiny bit smaller than traditional calzones from your favorite Italian restaurant.

If this is your first time using an air fryer recipe, you will love how easy these air-fried calzones are to make. It’s a new take on pizza night and one the entire family will love! (I know mine did!)

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Air Fryer Pepperoni Calzones

• 2 (8 ounce) Crescent Dough Sheets – or Crescent Rolls
• 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese – shredded
• 3 ounces Pepperoni slices – cut into quaters
• 1 cup bottled marinara sauce – your choice.
• 4 Tablespoons butter-melted.
• ½ Tablespoon Italian Seasonings
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese – grated (the green bottled stuff)
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Any additional favorite toppings- Italian sausage, bell peppers, Canadian bacon, ground beef, olives, etc.

How To Make Homemade Calzones

You can make your own pizza dough/bread dough, or you can use store-bought crescent dough.

My goal was to keep this an easy recipe, so I went with good old Pillsbury. It’s all about personal preference. My preference is to make the perfect mini calzones in a matter of minutes. When the family is hungry…time is of the essence.

On a lightly floured surface, place one can of crescent dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with All-purpose flour. Gently roll the dough to remove any curled edges and straighten the rectangle.

Divide the dough into three equal sections using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. I cut mine into sections 4 and ¼ inch wide sections.

TIP: If you want to make smaller “finger food” size calzones cut the sheets into 6 equal sections.

Set dough aside while preparing the calzone filling.

Calzone Pizza Filling

In a medium size bowl add quarter pepperoni and shredded cheese…and any other toppings you prefer.

Add 1 cup room temperature marinara sauce. It doesn’t need to be heated.

You can use any sauce you prefer, I like Bertolli Organic Marinara Sauce.

Mix everything until well combined. Since this is a “pizza turnover”, more or less, and not a flat style pizza mixing the filling ingredients is necessary to create the perfect calzones.

TIP: Please note you can use any of your favorite pizza fillings. If you prefer all vegetables then go for it! I do recommend that you “pre-cook” any vegetables as the cook time is shorter in an Air-Fryer than a conventional oven.

Stuffing Pizza Hand Pies

Place 2 heaping tablespoons of the pepperoni filling, in the center, on one side of the divided crescent roll dough. Make sure to leave a half-inch boarder around the filling to create the

TIP: If making smaller calzones adjust the filling to 1 tablespoon.

In a small bowl place 2 Tablespoons milk. Using a pastry brush, brush the inside edge of each calzone.

Fold dough in half. Using your fingers gently press the edges together.

Using the tines of a fork, press down around the outer edge of each calzone, crimping the two halves together.

Place each prepared calzone on a large baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper.

Italian Garlic Parmesan Topping

In a small bowl add melted butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt. Mix until well combined.

Using a pastry brush, brush the top of each calzone with seasoned melted butter and sprinkle with grated Parmesan Cheese.

How to Air Fry Homemade Calzones

Preheat your Air Fryer.

The “easy way” to bake calzone in your Air Fryer starts with preheating the air-fryer.

Remove the air fryer basket. Place an air fryer piece of parchment paper into the bottom. Carefully place one Calzone in the bottom on top of the parchment paper.

Bake at @350 °F for 5-6 minutes. Top should be golden brown.

Remove the basket. Using a spatula carefully remove the calzone, gently flip it over, to the opposite side, and bake the bottom of the calzone.

Insert the air fryer basket and cook at 350 °F for another 3-4 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and the calzone has a crispy exterior.

Alternate Air Fryer Cooking Method for Calzones

The alternative method calls for you to spray the bottom of your air fryer basket with cooking spray.

Carefully place the prepared calzone in the bottom of the basket. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes until top is crispy brown.

Using a spatula, carefully remove air fried calzone, place on a cooling rack. Repeat steps with remaining calzones until all the calzones have been baked.

TIP: Now I know what you’re going to say…”It’s going to take a long time to cook all those calzones!” It can, but not to worry, if you’re trying to serve everyone at once, you can keep them warm in the oven @250° until ready to serve.

What to Serve with Air-Fried Calzones

This easy dinner idea pairs wonderfully with my Easy Crispy Onion Straws or my Muffuletta Olive Pasta Salad.

If you want to keep it really simple, I suggest a large garden salad.

I like to serve my Calzones with a cup of warm marinara sauce or pizza sauce. They are great for dunking!

They are beautifully crispy and crunchy on the outside and stuffed with all your favorite pizza toppings on the inside. It’s the perfect combo!

Questions and Answers for Easy Air Fryer Calzones

• Is calzone dough different from pizza dough? They are basically the same thing. One is flat and one is folded over to create a “pocket” for stuffing. This is an “easy” calzone recipe, so we are using crescent dough. You can use pizza dough, you will need to adjust your bake time.
• What’s the difference between a Stromboli and a Calzone? Great question! Technically a Calzone doesn’t have sauce of any kind. A stromboli does. Stromboli’s are rectangular and long, a calzone is a semicircle. Unless you’re me, and you just break all the rules!
• Can I add ricotta cheese to my air fryer calzone filling? Yes! You can add ricotta, just be aware that the moisture content in ricotta could lead to a watery filling.
• What temperature should I pre-heat my air-fryer too? Most air-fryers have a “pre-heat” button that will preheat the Air Fryer to 400 °F for 5 minutes. DO NOT add parchment paper during the pre-heating process. The paper can rise to the top of the heating elements and catch on fire.
• Can you freeze Calzones? Yes! You can freeze these calzones before air-frying them. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer until frozen. Remove and place in Ziploc bags. Freeze up to 3 months. Bake per instructions.
• Can Calzones be reheated? They can be reheated in either the microwave or air fryer. 2-3 minutes in either the microwave or the air fryer. They will be crispier in the air fryer.

Other Great Air Fryer Recipes

• Air Fryer Copy Cat J. Dawg Recipe
• Air Fryer Garlic Parmesan Wings
• Air Fryer Lobster Tails with Lemon Butter
• Air Fryer Toasted Turkey Sandwich Melt
• Air Fryer Salmon Recipe from Grandbaby Cakes

These Air Fryer Calzones would make a great “pizza bar” for your next party! Everyone can make their own calzone with their favorite toppings. Teens would love this! (I’m suddenly feeling very young! Lol)

Thanks for stopping by today! The free printable recipe card is below.

Happy Nesting!

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