Vegan Calzone Recipe (Gluten-Free Pizza Pockets)

Best vegan Calzone recipe! These delicious pizza pockets are a great alternative to regular pizza or Stromboli. The Calzones are stuffed with mushrooms, peppers, and vegan cheese. The recipe is not only dairy-free and egg-free, but also gluten-free, and easy to make!

Cheesy Vegan Calzone

Did you ever eat an Italian Calzone in a restaurant? I did (a couple of times) and absolutely loved it! Baked to perfection in a stone oven, stuffed with lots of cheese, and mushrooms! It’s probably my favorite pizza ever! I wasn’t vegan back then (only vegetarian), so the cheese wasn’t vegan (I was a cheese addict before going vegan)!

My boyfriend actually introduced me to this Italian dish after he ate Calzones multiple times in Italy, where they often serve a huge Calzone over two plates! Yes, two plates, haha! Of course, I wanted to create a homemade vegan Calzone recipe and here it is! Why should you give it a try? Because it’s:

1. Cheesy (yep, it’s vegan!)
2. Crispy
3. Gluten-free
4. Stuffed with mushrooms and veggies
5. Damn delicious!

Simple Ingredients For Vegan Calzone

This recipe contains only a couple of ingredients which are easily available. I used mushrooms, peppers, onion, and garlic for the filling because I simply love the combo! Peppers add a very nice flavor, same goes for onion and garlic. Mushrooms are a must, in my opinion (I just love them) but if you don’t like mushrooms, simply use something different. Some examples would be zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, olives or whatever you prefer.

The great thing about Calzones is, that you can make them with your family or friends and everyone can choose their own favorite filling. Of course, I also had to add vegan cheese, because… well….cheese!

You can decide if you want to make a regular dough with e.g. wheat flour or spelt flour. If you are gluten-free, then try out my Gluten-Free Pizza Dough, which is also linked in the recipe. Please handle the dough carefully, because any gluten-free dough without eggs is much more brittle than gluten-based dough and tends to burst easily (don’t ask me how I found out, haha). They also don’t brown very well, so please keep that in mind. 🙂

How To Make A Vegan Calzone?

It’s pretty easy to make this vegan calzone recipe. At first, you have to prepare the dough and let it rise. Meanwhile, you can start making the filling. Then you split the dough into 4 pieces and roll out each piece. Put some of the fillings on one half of the dough and carefully fold the dough over the topping so that it looks like a half-moon.

I brushed the tops with a mixture of soy sauce, water, a few drops of oil, and a pinch of smoked paprika, and turmeric! Repeat with all calzones and bake in the oven until crispy! Check out the step-by-step photos below and the complete recipe instructions in the recipe card.

Air Fryer Calzone

Spray the air fryer basket with oil and place the calzones in the air fryer basket (I can fit two at a time with space in between). Air fry for 9-12 minutes (6-8 minutes for mini calzone) at 375 F/190 C, flipping halfway, until golden brown and crispy.

Can You Freeze Calzones?

Absolutely! Once the calzones are baked (and cooled), wrap them individually in ziplock bags. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge before baking.

These Vegan Pizza Pockets Are:

• Gluten-free
• Dairy-free
• Egg-free
• Stuffed with mushrooms, peppers, and vegan cheese
• Relatively easy to make with simple ingredients
• Hearty
• Crispy
• Tasty

Useful Tips For This Vegan Calzone Recipe

1. Prepare the veggie mixture ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
2. Double the batch and make additional calzones to freeze for later use.
3. Try using buckwheat flour or quinoa flour for a grain-free calzone (please note that I haven’t tried it out yet!)

Should you recreate these easy to make pizza pockets, please leave a comment below and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your remakes!

Vegan Calzone

Author: Michaela Vais

Best vegan Calzone recipe! These delicious pizza pockets are a great alternative to regular pizza or Stromboli. The Calzones are stuffed with mushrooms, peppers, and vegan cheese. The recipe is not only dairy-free and egg-free, but also gluten-free, and easy to make!

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Resting time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4

Calories 458 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 batch gluten-free pizza dough or your favorite pizza dough
• 10 oz (280 g) mushrooms
• 2 bell peppers colors of choice, chopped
• 1 medium-sized onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 cup tomato sauce (e.g. marinara sauce) (see notes)
• 7-8 oz (200 g) vegan cheese or one batch of vegan cheese sauce
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground oregano
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• ½ tbsp olive oil

Instructions

 

• First, prepare the gluten-free pizza dough, as described in this recipe or make your own favorite pizza dough (for example, with wheat flour, if not gluten-free).
• Heat oil in a pan/skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, then add garlic, mushrooms, and peppers. Fry for a further 6-10 minutes until the water from the veggies has evaporated.
• Add onion powder, ground oregano, salt and pepper to taste and turn off the heat. Set aside until ready to use.
• Preheat oven to 480 °F (250 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equally sized pieces.
• Roll out one piece of dough on a floured surface into a 6-7" (15-18 cm) circle, about 1/4" (0.6 cm) thick.
• Spoon a little of the tomato sauce on one half of the dough, add the mushroom/veggie mixture, and vegan cheese of choice or this vegan cheese sauce. Make sure to leave at least 1/2" (1.25 cm) of space around the edge of the dough.
• Carefully fold the other half of the dough over, and pinch the edges of the pocket with your fingers to seal (check pictures in the blog post above). Please note that gluten-free doughs can be quite brittle and tend to burst easily. So make sure to handle it carefully.
• Repeat this step with the remaining dough. Use a spatula to transfer the pizza pockets to the prepared baking sheet. Optional: Brush tops with a mixture of 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp water, a few drops of oil, and a pinch of smoked paprika and turmeric.
• Bake the calzones for about 14-18 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve with the remaining pizza sauce on the side. Please don't burn your mouth as the filling is very hot. Enjoy!

Notes

• You can use store-bought tomato sauce or make your own by simply mixing passata or tomato purée with salt, pepper, ground oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste!
• You can also check out my Mexican Pizza Recipe With Refried Beans.
• Recipe serves 4. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
• Check the blog post for the air fryer method.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Calzone

Serving Size

 

1 calzone

Amount per Serving

Calories

458

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

12.9

g

20

%

Carbohydrates

 

70

g

23

%

Fiber

 

7

g

28

%

Sugar

 

11

g

12

%

Protein

 

11.5

g

23

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically

Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!

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