Hot pockets filled with pizza sauce, mozzarella and meat? Yes please! These Keto Calzones are fun to make and absolutely delicious!
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When I was about 10 years old and my mom went shopping, especially somewhere like Costco, my 3 siblings and myself would hover around the deep freezer like hawks and pick off the ‘good stuff’ one by one.
The ‘good stuff’ of course was the giant double chocolate, lemon poppyseed and blueberry muffins, mini pizzas and then, of course, the pizza pockets. No idea how they could afford all that stuff and we would eat it all up in a matter of days. I swear I spent a better part of my childhood rummaging into ‘the deep’ in search of a lonely frozen half muffin or stray box of pizza pockets.
I hadn’t touched a pizza pocket in years and years, since I discovered how terrible they were for you. This Keto Calzone recipe will make you forget those pizza pockets ever existed!
These beauties are made with an almond flour dough and packed with pizza sauce, mozzarella and anything else you may want like ham, pepperoni, peppers or mushrooms. They can even be made dairy free if you like, just omit the cheese from the center; the dough is already dairy free!
I hope you love this Keto Calzone recipe as much as my family and I do!
Why it works
- Hot pockets filled with pizza sauce, mozzarella and meat and/or veggies? You better believe these keto calzones are absolutely delicious!
- They are fun to make! Create little circles from an almond flour dough, fill them up with goodies and fold them in half!
- Make them your own– add whatever veggies and/or meats you like to make these completely personalized.
Ingredients
You won’t need a whole lot to make these Keto Calzones!
- almond flour
- xanthan gum
- garlic powder
- spicy spaghetti seasoning
- water
- olive oil
- pizza sauce
- mozzarella
- meat/veggies of choice
Homemade Sugar Free Pizza Sauce – Have you ever made your own pizza sauce? I used to always buy Rao’s pizza sauce not only because it is delicious, but because it is a good low carb choice. But at over $6 a jar, pizza night began to get a lot more expensive. So I started to make my own. This Homemade Sugar Free Pizza Sauce takes 5 minutes to make and all you’ll need are some spices, tomato paste and water!
Keto Calzone Recipe
Heat your oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with a non stick baking mat. Shred the mozzarella and dice up the meat and/or veggies you have chosen, then combine in a bowl with the mozzarella and mix.
In a medium bowl combine the almond flour, xanthan gum, garlic powder and spicy spaghetti. Give it a whisk, then add the water and olive oil. Knead the dough until the almond flour has been completely worked in, then divide into four.
Lay a piece of wax paper down on your work station and plop one of the balls of dough in the center. Place another piece of wax over top then roll the dough out into a circle.
Remove the paper and cut the dough into a perfect circle. You can patch the dough, re-roll and cut again into a perfect circle. It should be between 6-7″ in diameter.
If the wax paper sticks to dough, the wax paper can be sprayed with avocado or olive oil spray.
Once the circle is ready, spread about 1 tbsp pizza sauce around the circle; leave about 1/2″ from the edge all the way around.
Place about 1/3 cup of the meat/cheese mix onto half of the circle, make sure it doesn’t go past the pizza sauce or past the half way onto the other side of the circle; you’re going to fold this little dude in half.
Once it’s all ready to go, fold the wax paper with the empty side of the circle right over so that the edges perfectly match.
Pinch the edges together, remove the top wax paper and fold up the dough edge, just once, to form a solid crust.
Place onto the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the other three.
Bake at 375° for 13-15 minutes until the edges start to brown. Serve hot and enjoy!
Watch the whole thing go down:
Expert Tips
- Whatever fillings you choose, make sure to dice the ingredients up nice and small. This will make working with the calzones easier.
- Do not over fill them, no matter how tempting that may be! They could burst open while baking, so would no longer be hot pockets, but empty pockets.
- Reheat these beauties easily in the microwave or oven.
Keto Calzone Flavour Options
There are so many delicious ingredients you can stuff into these Keto Calzones. My favourite combo is pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni. What’s your favourite flavour of pizza? Try it all chopped up inside these yummy pockets of love! Or you could try one of these combos:
- Vegetarian – pizza sauce, mozzarella, feta and mushrooms, peppers.
- Pesto Chicken – pizza sauce, mozzarella, chicken cubed and tossed in pesto and feta cheese.
- Ham and Pineapple – pizza sauce, mozzarella, ham and pineapple
- BBQ Chicken – Low Carb BBQ Sauce, mozzarella, chicken cubes and peppers.
- Meatlovers – pizza sauce, mozzarella, ham, bacon and pepperoni.
- Butter Chicken – fill the Keto Calzone with leftover Keto Butter Chicken and tomato and/or red onion.
What to pair with a Keto Calzone
When I make these little pockets of love, I like to pair them with a salad or fry. Here are my favourites:
- Kale Caesar Salad with Cheese Crisps
- Bacon Wrapped Avocado Fries
- Mama Bear’s Garden Salad
- Avocado Fries with Chipotle Mayo
- Ranch Cauliflower Broccoli Salad with Bacon and Cheddar
How to store Keto Calzones
Have leftovers? You can store these in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat them, simply microwave for a couple of minutes or reheat them in the oven at 350°, covered in tin foil, until the internal temperature reaches 165°.
They also freeze really well! If you want to have a quick meal option, make a double patch and freeze them once they are cool. Here’s how to freeze them:
Spread the calzones evenly throughout a baking sheet with a non stick baking mat, parchment or wax paper. Make sure none are touching. Once they have been frozen completely, they can be packed into a freezer ziploc bag and stored in the freezer for up to 4 months.
If you plan on keeping them in the freezer that long, I recommend wrapping each Keto Calzone in a layer of tin foil before packing into a ziploc; this will help to prevent freezer burn.
Here are some other recipes you might like:
Low Carb Pepperoni Pizza Bites
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Keto Calzone Recipe
Ingredients
Calzone Dough
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- ⅛ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp spicy spaghetti seasoning or Italian seasoning
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Calzone Filling
- ¼ cup pizza sauce
- 1 ¼ cup mozzarella
- 80 grams thick sliced pepperoni sausage
- see post above for other filling ideas
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Baking Sheet with Non Stick Baking Mat or Parchment Paper
- Cheese Grater
- Cutting Board and Knife
- Wax Paper
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Optional: Avocado or Olive Spray Oil
Directions
- Heat oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with a non stick baking mat. Shred the mozzarella and dice up the meat and/or veggies into small cubes, then combine with the mozza and mix well.
- In a medium bowl combine the almond flour, xanthan gum, garlic powder and spicy spaghetti. Whisk until fully mixed then add the water and olive oil. Knead the dough until the almond flour has been completely worked in, then divide into four.
- Place one of the balls of dough into the center of a piece of wax paper. Cover with another piece of wax then roll the dough out into a circle. Remove the paper and cut the dough into a perfect circle. You can patch the dough, re-roll and cut again into a perfect circle. It should be between 6-7" in diameter.
- If the wax paper sticks to dough, the wax paper can be sprayed with avocado or olive oil spray.
- Spread 1 tbsp Pizza Sauce around the circle; leave about 1/2" from the edge all the way around. Place 1/3 cup of the meat/cheese mix onto half of the circle; make sure it doesn't spread past the pizza sauce onto the outer edge and only cover half of the circle.
- Fold the wax paper with the empty side of the circle right over so that the edges of the calzone perfectly match. Pinch the edges together, remove the top wax paper and fold up the dough edge, just once, to form a solid crust.
- Remove the bottom wax paper to free the calzone and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Continue with the other three. Bake at 375° for 13-15 minutes until the edges start to brown.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips
- Whatever fillings you choose, make sure to dice the ingredients up nice and small. This will make working with the calzones easier.
- Do not over fill them, no matter how tempting that may be! They could burst open while baking, so would no longer be hot pockets, but empty pockets.
- Reheat these beauties easily in the microwave or oven.
Dry and nothing like a calzone. Do not recommend. I will probably try a fat head dough next time.
Very disappointed. I tried to make your Tortilla’s first and they were so wet I couldn’t get off the paper. I made the calzones and the dough was easier to work with but ended up crumbling as soon as I started to fold. Very disappointed.
Hi Carol, I am sorry you’ve had these experiences.
As for the tortillas, it sounds like something went wrong with the psyllium husk – did you use finely ground?
I am not sure why the calzone dough would have been crumbly for you, I’ve made these dozens of times and though they do tend to crack a little bit, the dough is never crumbly. Did you forget the xanthan gum perhaps? That is a crucial ingredient that binds the dough. Without it, the dough would crumble apart.
Great recipe and they are delicious.
Thanks all the way from the Netherlands.
Glad you liked it Rens!
I made these for dinner tonight and they turned out great! Not sure what is making others have binding issues as my dough turned out perfectly! For myself and my hubby though, next time I am going to double the ingredients and made 2 big calzones. This time around I used the amount of ingredients listed and made 2 bigger calzones than 4 smaller ones. I had some of our toppings left over as well but I’ll just use them to make omelettes in the morning. I also need to not roll the dough so thin as it cause it to rip when I folded it over, but they still turned out awesome and they didnt spill out while cooking. Overall, great receipe and I’ll be making them again for sure! I also dipped mine in marinara sauce which added some flavour as well.
Hey Cassie, thanks for the comment! I am so glad you both loved the calzones and very happy to hear they worked out great for you. Dipping them in marinara is a great idea. as is doubling the recipe to make large calzones!
Cassidy, did you use Almond Meal which will not make a pastry that you can roll and use as a pizza or calzone. My husband is a Ketonian and I didn’t have Almond Flour so tried substituting with the Almond Meal and it only worked because I pressed the mixture in to a pie dish and topped it with the remaining mixture. It tasted good I do believe, but it definitely needs Almond Flour as I have tried it again using the Flour and it was good.
This did not turn out anything like Calzones, I had to settle for sad little looking pizzas. I was super embarrassed to serve this for dinner! I would definitely not recommend this recipe for calzones, as it wouldn’t hold together for any sort of shaping.
Hey Cassidy, did you happen to forget the xanthan gum? That is a crucial ingredient to bind the calzone dough together. It still won’t act like wheat pizza dough, but it is enough to be able to roll the dough out in between parchment/wax paper to form the circles. I make these often for my family and have never had an issue, so would love to get down to the bottom of this issue so that others don’t have the same experience as you.
Everyone is rating this recipe 5 stars . . . but has anyone actually made this recipe? This is not a “dough” recipe by any stretch of the imagination. It is actually a savory shortbread recipe . . . which is fine if you enjoy savory shortbread. THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ABSOLUTELY NO BINDER! You cannot mix flour + water then roll it out and expect it to form a crust. Am I missing an ingredient? Please advise. And NO . . . I did NOT forget the xanthan gum. I DID NOT LEAVE OUT OR SUBSTITUTE ANY OF THE INGREDIENTS.
Kelly, I am sorry you had this experience. I am not sure why it didn’t bind for you, I have made these dozens of times and never had an issue. The xanthan gum binds the other ingredients together perfectly so that you are able to roll it out and fold it over. No, it will not stretch like pizza dough, but it should bind together enough to be able to be rolled out on parchment paper.
I have never heard of your site…..until now….the recipes look amazing! Will make the grilled cheese first.
Thank you.
Linda
Thanks Linda! I hope you enjoy!
Well I don’t know what I’ve done. Just spent 30 mins trying to get the dough to bind. Kept adding more and more water. It’s in freezer for ten mins now to see if it will roll. So disappointed
Oh no! Did you remember to add the xanthan gum?