Easy Air Fryer Calzones
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Whip up a batch of these easy air fryer calzones today! They are a buttery and flaky crust filled with your favorite pizza toppings. Plus, it takes only 10 minutes to cook in the air fryer! Keep reading for both air fryer and oven-baked calzone directions.
Isn’t the air fryer amazing? It makes everything taste better. The story is the same for these calzones or homemade hot pockets. I’ve been making the oven-baked variety for many years. So, of course, the recipe had to be converted to an air fryer recipe!
If you prefer to make these in the oven, see my notes in the recipe card and under “expert cooking tips”.
Some of my other favorite air fryer recipes are Air Fryer Ravioli, Air Fryer Crab Rangoon, Air Fryer Breaded Pork Chops, and Air Fryer Apple Hand Pies.
Make sure to check out my two Air Fryer Cookbooks! The “I Love My Air Fryer” Affordable Meals Recipe Book and The “I Love My Air Fryer” Comfort Food Recipes Book.
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❤️Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you’ve never had a calzone before, you are in for a real treat! They are essentially a handheld pizza inside a crispy crust. Think of a hot pocket but so much better!
Calzones are a great way to change up pizza night and take just a few minutes to prep and cook! If this is your first time making calzones, rest assured that I have included step-by-step instructions with pictures and extra tips.
This air fryer calzones recipe uses a flaky puff pastry dough and is filled with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. It’s also easy to customize these calzones by filling them with your favorite pizza fillings and sauce.
I used store-bought puff pastry for these homemade calzones because it results in such a great texture (plus store-bought takes less time). However, you can use store-bought pizza dough or homemade pizza dough as that is what is used in traditional calzones.
Air-fried calzones are a great way to change up your family dinner routine while also pleasing your taste buds!
📋Ingredients
Puff Pastry: This can be found in your grocery store’s freezer section. Pull it out of the freezer about half an hour before making the calzones so the dough can defrost.
Pizza Sauce: Store-bought pizza sauce works perfectly for this recipe. You can also whip up a batch of your own with my 3-ingredient homemade pizza sauce recipe.
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: Shredding your own cheese will result in the best melted cheese. However, I regularly use the pre-shredded cheese for this recipe to save time. It’s all personal preference.
Pepperoni: I use just 2 slices of pepperoni for these mini calzones, but you could add a bit more if desired.
Scroll to the bottom for the complete list of ingredient measurements and printable recipe card.
📖 Ingredient Swaps
Store-bought Dough: The puff pastry can be substituted for store-bought pizza dough. Just roll it out 1/4-inch thin and cut it into a long rectangle with a pizza cutter.
Sauce and toppings: The sauce and toppings can be swapped out to make different flavor combinations. Here are some ideas for calzone filling:
- cheddar + ricotta + mushrooms + pepperoni
- mozzarella + parmesan cheese+ pineapple + Canadian bacon
- white sauce + feta + spinach + black olives + sun-dried tomatoes
- cheddar + ground beef + onion + marinara
🔪Step-by-Step Instructions
👩🏻🍳Expert Cooking Tips
Cooking more than one Calzone
You can cook more than one calzone at a time in the air fryer. They need to be in a single layer and spaced about 1/2 inch apart. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you could cook one or two or the entire batch in one round.
To keep the finished calzones warm during the cooking process, place them on a plate wrapped in foil. If you have an oven with a keep-warm setting, that will work as well.
Oven-Baked Calzones
No Air Fryer? No problem! You can make these calzones in the oven. Simply bake them at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Flip them half-way through.
Adding extra flavor to the dough
If you want to add a bit of extra flavor to the dough, you can brush the top of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle it with Italian seasoning.
Easy Clean Up
For the easiest clean-up after using your air fryer to make calzones, I recommend parchment paper. You can even buy precut parchment paper that fits inside your air fryer. It saves a lot of time and makes clean-up a breeze!
Serving suggestions
I love serving air-fried calzones with a side salad and fruit. It’s a great way to stretch the calzones so they feed more people and balance out the meal.
Freezer Tips
If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I love a good freezer meal. These calzones are very freezer-friendly. I have been stocking them in my freezer for over 10 years now. To Freeze:
- Let the calzones cool to room temperature.
- Wrap each one in plastic wrap (or flash freeze)
- Place inside a freezer-friendly bag or container.
- Label and date the container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months!
Also, check out my homemade frozen pizza recipe.
💭Recipe FAQs
For this air fryer calzone recipe, we do not flip them while cooking.
No, calzones take about the same time to cook as pizza. In the air fryer, calzones are cooked for 10-12 minutes.
Traditional deep-fried calzones do not have sauce. However, we do include a small amount of sauce in our air fryer calzones as it adds moisture and flavor to the dish.
The best way to seal calzones is using the tines of a fork like you would around the edges of a pie crust. If the calzone edges don’t want to seal, a small amount of water can be added.
This recipe calls for puff pastry, which you can find in your grocery store’s freezer section. If you prefer, you can also make your own pizza dough and use that instead.
Either way, you’re going to fill each calzone with your sauce, cheese, and your favorite toppings.
We kept it simple with pepperoni, but you could do bell peppers, Italian sausage, or even Canadian bacon with pineapple.
10-12 minutes. If you are cooking them from frozen, increase the time to 15 minutes.
🥣More Easy Air Fryer Recipes
If you tried this Air Fryer Calzones Recipe or any other recipe on my website, I would love it if you could leave me a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below. ❤️
Air Fryer Calzones Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed according to package directions
- 3 tablespoons pizza sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 6 slices pepperoni
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 350°F.
- Slice puff pastry into three strips.
- Spread sauce over half of each slice of puff pastry.
- Sprinkle sauce with cheese and top each with two slices pepperoni.
- Fold puff pastry in half and seal the edges using the tines of a fork.
- Air fry 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
Notes
Oven Instructions
Bake them at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Flip them half-way through.Cooking more than one Calzone
You can cook more than one calzone at a time in the air fryer. They need to be in a single layer and spaced about 1/2 inch apart. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you could cook one or two or the entire batch in one round. To keep the finished calzones warm during the cooking process, place them on a plate wrapped in foil. If you have an oven with a keep-warm setting, that will work as well.Adding extra flavor to the dough
If you want to add a bit of extra flavor to the dough, you can brush the top of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle it with Italian seasoning.Freezer Tips
-
- Let the calzones cool to room temperature.
-
- Wrap each one in plastic wrap (or flash freeze)
-
- Place inside a freezer-friendly bag or container.
-
- Label and date the container.
-
- Freeze for up to 3 months!
It maybe my airfryer,⁶ but the bottom was still doughy. Second batch turned over to brown bottom.