Easy Oven Baked Pepperoni Pizza Sandwich Recipe
Golden brown and oozing with gooey melted cheese and a layer of pepperoni, this baked pizza sandwich is an easy weeknight dinner, or the perfect game day appetizer. All you need are four simple ingredients and you’re half an hour away from a new fun twist on pizza night!
Why I love baked pepperoni pizza sandwiches.
First of all lets address the elephant in the room. You are probably saying, “isn’t this a stromboli?”. Technically it is not because it’s made with bread dough not pizza dough, also the ingredients are not rolled up in the dough. I can see where you are coming from though it is very strombolish. Either way it is easy and delicious! Who doesn’t like easy? Also, you can customize the heck out of this sandwich! Whatever your favorite pizza toppings are they can go in this sandwich! It is an easy dinner for any night of the week. Always a family favorite. Also the next day you can pack any leftovers in your kids lunches. Next time you have friends over make four or five different versions of this, line them up on a platter with sides of marinara sauce, ranch dressing, and garlic butter for dipping. Put out a big green salad and some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Voila! See why I love this so much! It’s a great way to throw a party with very little effort. The perfect easy meal for entertaining and even picky eaters love pizza.
Gather these ingredients
How to make a baked pizza sandwich
1. Take bread dough out of freezer and thaw completely. You will need 2 loaves of frozen bread dough. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Roll bread dough out on a lightly floured surface making a 12×15 inch rectangle.
3.Lay slices of cheese in the middle of the bread dough. I like to put the cheese down first so the pizza sauce doesn’t create a soggy crust on the bottom. (I almost said soggy bottom, but that isn’t very appetizing. Ope! Well I guess I just did. Please accept my apologies.)
4. Basically you assemble your pizza upside down. After the cheese layer half of the pepperoni slices, and half of the pizza sauce on top of the cheese. Using a knife cut 5 downward slits on each side of the filling.
5.Fold strips of dough across filling, creating a criss cross pattern moving upwards.
Keep going until you get to the top making sure you tuck dough inwards to keep all your fillings from coming out at the ends. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease pan with olive oil if you don’t have any parchment paper.
6. Whisk one egg with one tablespoon of water to make your egg wash, now brush the entire top of the sandwich with the egg wash. This creates a beautiful golden brown glossy crust. Pop this beauty into your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
Look at that perfect gooey cheese and crusty bread. I could pretty much eat this whole thing! Mmm it smells so good. Are you a dipper? I am a dipper. In the tips and variations section below I give you bunch of dip ideas. Scroll down past this next photo and check it out!
Tips & Variations
- I love that you can make these sandwiches hours ahead of time cover them in plastic wrap to keep the dough from drying out. They will rise a little but that is fine. Just before your guest arrive, pop them in the oven. Serve with a big green salad and some chocolate chip cookies. Easy lunch idea for kids birthday party or a pool party.
- Tip: After brushing top of sandwich with egg wash it’s a nice touch to sprinkle the top of your sandwich with grated parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning before baking.
- Cheese: What ever kinds of cheese you like on your pizza you can use in this sandwich. Provolone cheese works perfect. Want your sandwich extra cheesy? Add an extra slice of cheese.
- Fresh Mozzarella is not a good idea because it holds too much liquid and will cause your sandwich to become soggy.
- Dips: I love to serve this sandwich with several different dips. Marinara, and ranch dressing are two of our favorites.
- Garlic Bread Butter: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pan grate 1 clove of garlic into the butter as it melts, add 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning blend, whisk until the butter is just melted. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Pour this garlic bread butter into a dish and serve on the side for dipping. OOOO-eee! Watch out Papa Johns this is so good!
- Leftovers: If you happen to have any leftovers wrap them in aluminum foil and reheat them in our conventional oven the next day. You can also heat them up the in your air fryer or microwave oven. I have put them in lunches and my kids have eaten them at room temperature!
What would be in your perfect baked pizza sandwich? There are no rules! Just layer your favorite cheeses, sauces, and meats, or roasted vegetables, maybe caramelized onions, the skies the limit, braid the dough, bake, slice, eat. Repeat!
Enjoy! XO Sheila
Easy Baked Sandwich Party Menu
- Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwich
- Baked Reuben Sandwich with homemade Thousand Island Dressing
- Big Green Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Layered Ice Cream Dessert
Easy Baked Pepperoni Pizza Sandwich Recipe
Equipment
- 2 sheet pans
- parchment paper or aluminum foil
- rolling pin
Ingredients
- 2 loaves Frozen white bread dough thawed
- 1 cup canned pizza sauce
- 10 slices sliced provolone cheese
- pepperonis as many as you like
- 1 egg + water
- garnish parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Dust counter with flour, roll one loaf of bread dough into a large rectangle (15″x12″).
- Spread 1/2 cup pizza sauce down center of dough.
- Lay 5 cheese slices on top of the pizza sauce
- Layer pepperoni’s on top.
- Cut 5 slices into the dough, angling downwards on both sides of cheese and pepperoni. Tuck bottom of the dough up, and then criss-cross dough over top of the fillings until you have reached the top, then tuck bread dough in at the top. Place sandwich on a parchment lined baking sheet. (If you do not have parchment paper then make sure you grease your pan before baking.)
- Repeat these 5 steps to make second baked pizza sandwich.
- Whisk together the egg and water, brush tops of sandwiches with egg wash, sprinkle with parmesan and Italian seasoning (to your liking) place in preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve with a side of pizza sauce for dipping!
I think I loved the time when my kids were teenagers the best. They were involved in everything and all their friends were at the house every day eating every morsel they could find. I miss the football games, skating competitions, science fairs and more.
What I won’t have to miss is this sandwich because I’m going to make this!
I hope you love it as much as people do around here! xo to you! Sheila
Fab recipe, a great one to have up your sleeve and you can keep all the ingredients on stand by! My mum and dad let me go to Dublin with three friends at the age of 16, and then VIETNAM when I was 18. Seemed like no big deal at the time, now I’m a mother myself I just can’t fathom (although my son is 6 months old, so maybe in time…). I love the pics, and your secret not so spontaneous spontaneity 🙂
It is so hard to let go….if that’s every completely possible I’m not sure yet! When they are small it is hard to fathom! Thanks for stopping by! XO Sheila