Pepperoni Rolls Recipe
There are some recipes that immediately take you back to being a kid, and these homemade Pepperoni Rolls are one of those for me.
My mom and grandma made pepperoni rolls all the time when I was growing up, and I knew it was going to be a good day when one showed up for lunch. My mom went to high school in West Virginia, where pepperoni rolls are a local favorite, and this is one tradition I’m very happy made its way into our family kitchen.
These are simple: soft homemade bread wrapped around plenty of pepperoni and baked until golden brown. They’re delicious warm from the oven, but they’re just as good at room temperature, which makes them perfect for lunches, road trips, after-school snacks, and busy days.
Even better? They freeze beautifully.
Why You’ll Love These Homemade Pepperoni Rolls
There is a reason I’ve been making this recipe for years.
- Great for lunches – They don’t have to be served hot, so they’re an easy alternative to another sandwich.
- Freezer friendly – Make a batch now and stash some away for later.
- Make-ahead dough – The refrigerator dough can be made up to 4 days ahead.
- Simple ingredients – No complicated filling or long ingredient list.
- Easy to customize – Use pepperoni slices or pepperoni sticks and add cheese if your family likes it.
What Are Pepperoni Rolls?
Pepperoni rolls are a West Virginia favorite made by baking pepperoni inside soft bread dough. As the rolls bake, the oils and flavor from the pepperoni soak into the surrounding bread. It’s ridiculously simple and ridiculously good.
You’ll find plenty of variations, including versions with cheese or sauce, but they don’t need either. The version I grew up eating keeps the filling simple and lets the pepperoni do the work.
The Secret Is the Make-Ahead Dough
Over the years we’ve made pepperoni rolls with several different bread dough recipes, but I keep coming back to this simple refrigerator dough.
You can prepare the dough at least 2 hours before you need it or make it ahead and leave it refrigerated for up to 4 days. That makes these much easier to fit into real life.
Don’t be alarmed if the dough feels sticky when you first mix it. That’s normal. Chilling it makes it much easier to handle. When you’re ready to make the rolls, turn the cold dough onto a lightly floured surface and flour your hands as needed.
SHORTCUT: Don’t want to make dough from scratch? Thawed frozen bread dough works too.
How to Make Pepperoni Rolls
Divide the chilled dough into evenly sized portions. I usually get about 20 rolls from one batch, but you can make them larger or smaller depending on how you plan to serve them.
Flatten each piece of dough into a small circle or oval and add your pepperoni. You can use sliced pepperoni or pieces cut from a pepperoni stick.
Roll the dough around the pepperoni and pinch the seam and ends closed. Place each roll seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a little room between them to rise.
Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and let the rolls rise for about an hour.
Once these rise just pop them in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. That is all it takes for this delicious homemade treat!
Then try not to eat three before anyone else realizes they’re done.
Can You Add Cheese?
Absolutely. While we make ours with pepperoni, you can tuck mozzarella or provolone inside before sealing the dough.
Just don’t overfill them or you’ll have cheese escaping all over your baking sheet. Delicious? Yes. Pretty? Not necessarily.
You can also serve the finished rolls with warm pizza or marinara sauce for dipping if that’s your thing.
Make Them for Lunchboxes
This is one of my favorite things about pepperoni rolls: they don’t have to be hot to be good.
They can be eaten warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator, making them a great make-ahead lunch option.
Pair one with fruit, veggies, and whatever other snacks your kids are currently willing to admit they like.
How to Freeze Pepperoni Rolls
Let the baked pepperoni rolls cool completely before freezing. Place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze.
Then you can pull out only what you need instead of thawing an entire batch.
For lunches, move one to the refrigerator the night before. You can also reheat a thawed roll briefly if you prefer it warm.
Pepperoni Roll Variations
Once you get the basic method down, you can have some fun with the filling.
Try:
- Pepperoni + mozzarella
- Pepperoni + provolone
- Ham + cheddar
- Turkey + cheese
- Canadian bacon + Swiss
Basically, if you can tuck it inside bread dough without making a giant mess, it’s worth experimenting with.
Pepperoni Roll FAQs
Are pepperoni rolls the same as pizza rolls?
Not really. Pepperoni rolls are bread rolls baked with pepperoni inside. Pizza rolls usually include pizza sauce and cheese and are meant to taste more like a pizza. You can certainly add cheese or serve these with marinara, but neither is required.
Do pepperoni rolls need to be refrigerated?
For longer storage, keep leftover homemade pepperoni rolls refrigerated or freeze them. They’re delicious cold or reheated.
Can I use store-bought dough?
Yes! Thawed frozen bread dough is an easy shortcut if you don’t want to make the refrigerator dough from scratch.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes. That’s one of the best things about this recipe. The dough needs to chill for at least 2 hours but can stay refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Can you freeze homemade pepperoni rolls?
Yes. These freeze very well after baking. Cool them completely before transferring them to a freezer-safe container or bag.
Pepperoni Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water 105 ° to 115°
- 2 pkgs quick acting yeast
- ½ cup butter melted, or dairy free margarine
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 4-4½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 pkg pepperoni sliced, or a stick cut into smaller sticks.
Instructions
- Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand until yeast is foamy about 5 minutes.
- Stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time until dough is too stiff to mix. (I just use a wooden spoon and mix this by hand. Use at least the 4 cups. The dough will still be sticky but hard to mix.)
- Cover and refrigerate 2 hours up to 4 days (I forgot to mention you can totally make this ahead of time and toss it in the fridge)
- Turn the Chilled dough out on a lightly floured board or counter.
- I divide the dough into halves, then quarters and go from there. You can make these any size you would like. Just make sure they are uniform so they bake evenly. I got 20 rolls out of a full batch of dough.
- Work the dough with your hand on the floured surface. Flour your hands if necessary. Flatten and lay as many pepperoni as desired on top. Roll up and pinch edges shut with fingers.
- Place rolls on parchment lined baking sheet 1-2 inches apart because they will rise.
- Once baking sheet is full cover with dish towel and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 375° and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush with melted butter and enjoy!
Dairy Free
- Use dairy free margarine instead of butter
I wonder…. Can you make these with the pizza dough recipe you have listed? I love the flavor of the pizza dough and this would make it quicker.
You could totally use pizza dough, or the bread dough from the freezer case!
Chiming back in to say that I made these on Saturday and used your pizza dough recipe instead. It was delicious and fast! I love the herbs in this dough. The recipe made about 12 rolls and between four of us, there was only one left. Thanks!!!
I cook your recipes about three times a week. I’m in the repeat stage right now and my sons and husband beg for certain ones now. You’re great!
I use dough I make in my bread machine. Just regular bread dough.
I was also born and raised in Clarksburg, WV and am now living in South Florida. People here have no idea what pepperoni rolls are. I’ve had to make them quite a few times and take to work. Now they all love them. I’m just glad to know that I have my grandma’s recipe to make these… YUM!!!!
How about switching it out with ham and cheddar for the filling? Or turkey, cheddar and broccoli? Ta-dah…homemade hot pockets!
Holy smokes! This blog, and your idea Dawn, just totally made my day! This is my first time visiting (came from moneysavingmom) and I’m impressed!
Thanks for these great recipes. Can’t wait to explore more recipes on your site! Really looking forward to trying out these pepperoni rolls- I’ve never had one and DS loves pepperoni. Do you by chance know if your bread recipe can be put in a bread machine???
I don’t know, but you can buy the frozen bread dough and make them that way too! Either way, they are delicious! 🙂
I’m from Clarksburg, WV, as well, and pepperoni rolls are a fixture there. I have to make my own now as well since we live in Texas. However, I always use sticks in mine. That’s how our bakery always made them, and I can’t seem to break away. You just cut from a large pepperoni stick into smaller sticks and put them in your dough as above.
Here’s some history on pepperoni rolls in WV from the NY Times (my fave bakery even gets a mention – D’Annunzio’s):
Thanks for the inspiration – I’m now going to have to go make some pepperoni rolls!
Wow!!!! I grew up in Texas and there was only one place to get these: Double Dave’s. I now reside in CA, but when I head back to TX I try to stop by Double Dave’s and pick up a dozen for the flight home. (Perfect for those Southwest flights where they don’t feed you.)
This is my first time to your blog (thanks to the link from totallytarget.com) and you’ve got an instant fan just based on this recipe. I like the ideas others have thrown out (ham and cheddar, broccoli….). My initial reaction to reading this post was to try it out with whole wheat dough. I can’t wait!!!!!
Can you put mozz cheese in the center to make cheese rolls? My kids don’t like pepperoni.
Can you use a stand mixer to mix the dough?
Thanks for the great receipe I am going to try to make this weekend.
I use the frozen bread dough from the store then thaw it out…after it rises spread it out on a cookie sheet to fill it. Then add thin sliced ham across the whole surface peperoni,salami and mozzarella. All sliced thin! then let it rise foe a bit then cook in the oven…Deelicious
Do you send them frozen in a lunchbox and then they thaw and kids eat cold for lunch? Or are the supposed to be reheated?
Heidi,
You make them fresh. You can either send them room temperature or cold from the fridge they are good either way. You can heat them, but it isn’t necessary.
just wondering if i have to set the dough for an hour once they are rolled onto the cookie sheet. i didnt see that when i read the directions to begin with and i am starving and i want to eat these like now
after you roll them the recipe says to let them sit 1 hour, I am anxious to cook and eat these too!! 🙂
I made the dough in my Kitchenaide but it was REALLY sticky and I wasn’t sure if I did it right. It stuck to my hands, the board and almost everything, I added 4 1/4 c flour but didn’t want to add to much and it is hard to tell since I wasn’t mixing by hand. Is this dough normally pretty sticky and easy to flatten by hand? I am trying a batch filled with peanut butter and jelly. We will see how these turn out for my daughter’s lunches, it may be a disaster but live and learn right?
Kira,
Since this is a refrigerator dough, I have only ever mixed it by hand. The dough is sticky. You will want to refrigerate at least 2 hours before using it and then it is good to go. Just use a floured surface to work with it, but it stiffens as it cools.
Let me know how your PB&J idea turns out.
Thanks, I will. I am going to pass this recipe along to some other moms, and once we do PB&J I will let them, and you, know how they turn out. THANK YOU for all the great recipes!
All I can say is YUM!! They were a little messy and got some PB&J cooked out the side, which I then had to eat off the sheet of course, but they are SOOOOO good and my daughter is sooo excited about having a really special sandwich for school!
I finally tried the recipe out today. I made an herbed whole wheat dough in my bread maker and filled them with canadian bacon and swiss cheese. WOW!!!! My family hasn’t tried them yet, but they are going to flip for these. I did have to blot the canadian bacon because I found them to be too wet. I can’t wait to try these with pepperoni and provolone, and….. I can see this recipe coming back in different flavors quite often. Thanks again!!!
Good recipe. I used the bread maker on the dough cycle. I should have made them smaller and not so thick. The bread is yummy and tasty. It was a long process. I wont do it after work but would make another batch on the weekend.
I was just talking to a friend this week about finding a recipe for these and Walla! here it is. Thanks, they look delish!
Awesome! Making this very soon! Love the rolls!!! Thanks! What a great recipe and so easy!
I made these today and they are AWESOME! Thank you for posting! I’ll be making them again for sure. P.S. I’m from WV. 🙂
Wow! I lost this recipe and looked and looked for it online for years. I found it again yesterday and I wasn’t sure it was the right one….until my 1 year old scrolled down through the comments and I saw MY COMMENT from 2011!! Crazy!! I’m currently making these again, right now!
Hi,
We’re from Fairmont, WV, and now living in Palm Springs, CA. I was so glad to find a recipe for pepperoni rolls that didn’t use frozen bread dough!
These were really good. Next time, I will cut back the sugar a bit. I made fried bell peppers and onions in my homemade sauce (like Oliverio’s) and mozzarella cheese. Also, I made them larger and used the entire dough for pepperoni rolls.
Great recipe. Easy to follow and delicious!
Thanks,
I grew up in Glenville, WV and moved to AZ right before my senior year of high school. I was floored to discover that outside of WV pepperoni rolls are completely unheard of an non existent unless someone has friends or family from WV. I make these all the time, especially when I’m feeling homesick. Although, being born and raised a West by God Virginian, I’m a purist when it comes to my pepperoni rolls. Any embellishment other than maybe a bit of cheese is a deadly sin and the second someone calls them pizza rolls they have lost privileges to have any from that batch until they straighten up! Lol
Pepperoni rolls were made for coal miners because they keep well without refrigeration. They were started in Fairmont WV.
I am a Native of WV thanks for the recipe from my home state that has the best cooks in the world ..mmmmm home made cookin !!