Breakfast Calzone

{originally published in 2016 and updated in 2025}

This breakfast calzone is easier than it first appears and comes together quickly. Originally I saw a friend from college post a brunch they hosted and this appealed to me. The puff pastry cooks faster than pizza dough for a regular calzone and gives croissant vibes…speaking of, crescent dough would work well too!

Breakfast Calzone
Ingredients: (serves 3-4 as an entree, or 5-6 as part of a brunch spread)
1 sheet puff pastry
4 eggs
4 sausage links (mine were smaller chicken sausage and I used ~6)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Thaw the puff pastry to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Pan fry the sausage until cooked through over medium-low heat. Let cool on paper towels for any excess drippings.
Whisk together the eggs and cook in the same pan, over medium-low heat. Gently scrambled the eggs with salt and pepper.
Roll out the puff pastry maintaining the square shape and transfer onto a baking mat or parchment – don’t fill it and then try to move it (ask me how I know). Slice the outsides in ~1/2 inch strips a third of the way to the center.
Add the eggs, sausage, cheese to the middle third of the dough all the way to the ends.

Alternate tucking the strips across one another starting on one end and crossing one, then the other side, alternating until 3/4 of the way to the end. Then start at the other end in reverse direction to close it up.

Bake 30 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

Slice & enjoy!

This was so great. Puff pastry has that buttery crispness that is so perfect for breakfast. I liked the simple and classic flavors though there are 1000 ways to tweak this. I was wishing I sprinkled everything bagel seasoning – next time!

Chicken Parmesan Turnovers

This could also be called, how else to not serve pasta for every meal. I’d be totally ok with nightly pasta but I really truly strive for variation. My little one would gladly eat pasta daily but I love to feel the surprise when it is choice-night/”anything goes” night and I offer 2 choices of easy things (pasta/quesadilla/eggs/etc). If he picks anything besides pasta I’m shocked! I guess I do appreciate being kept on my toes! This was a fun way and super easy way to eat some of the flavors I was thinking about, in another format.
Chicken Parmesan Turnover - The Three Bite Rule

I whipped up these chicken parm turnovers on a weekend in preparation for a mid-week dinner. What’s better than scooting something into the oven on a busy night and just waiting for the oven timer ding? Answer: not much! These are perfect to make ahead of time and par-bake, or make & freeze, or as a use for leftover ricotta or a seemingly small amount of chicken strips/popcorn chicken! I didn’t have a plan for the rest of the block of mozzarella so I shredded it and popped it into the freezer for a future pizza or calzone.

Chicken Parmesan Turnovers

Ingredients: (for 4 servings)

4 crispy chicken strips
1 roll of crescent rolls (mine had 8 crescent triangles)
1/2 cup ricotta (optional)
1/4 cup tomato sauce (of course I used my fav Pastene Kitchen Ready Tomatoes)
1/2 cup mozzarella/parmesan/provalone

Directions:

Preheat the oven and prepare frozen chicken strips according to the package. Mine are fully cooked ones I keep around so I just warmed them through. Then chop into bite-size pieces.
Chicken Parmesan Turnover - The Three Bite Rule
Unroll the crescent rolls into squares, so keep the 2 triangles connected (or make tiny tiny ones using 1 triangle to make as appetizers!). Use a fork to press the seam together and use your hands to flatten the whole square out a little, keeping it even in thickness.
Assemble on one triangle end with a smear of ricotta on the bottom, chicken, a teaspoon of tomato sauce, and a sprinkle of mozzarella or Parmesan.
Chicken Parmesan Turnover - The Three Bite Rule
Gently fold the opposite triangle over the filled side and press to close. A few of mine busted open but I closed the seams as best as possible.
Move to a baking sheet and use the fork to make a few holes in the top of each one.
Bake according to the crescent roll package instructions. (If serving later: My package of crescent rolls had baking instructions of 12-15 minutes so I did about 10 minutes, let them cool, and refrigerated. When serving, I baked for 10 minutes with a sprinkle of shredded cheese & sprinkle of Italian seasoning on top.)
Chicken Parmesan Turnover - The Three Bite RuleEnjoy!

Crescent rolls are cheap, delicious, and easy to work with but puff pastry sheets might be even easier without any seams, or pizza dough would work too. I often have ricotta so that was a no-brainer for me, but skip it if you don’t have a use for the rest.
Chicken Parmesan Turnover - The Three Bite Rule

You could lighten this up using other chicken or breaded eggplant, forming the dough into a muffin tin to only use 1 crescent roll, adding a veggie in there, but I wasn’t making these for health. The crescent rolls have such a great buttery flavor and were a fun change from our norm. I used a pretty small amount of chicken per serving.

Insert soapbox here: Jarred tomato sauce has lots of sugar and salt added. I stand by our fav Pastene Kitchen Ready Tomatoes (#notsponsored). I served some on the side for dipping and my toddler, no lie, spooned it up. The rest of the can of tomatoes went into tomato soup the next night.

These Chicken Parm Pockets may not be healthy, but they are definitely a crowd pleaser, definitely a use for what might not be enough chicken in another setting, and definitely an easy meal to prep in advance. Win, win, win!

BLT Calzone

BLTs in all forms! I put all my fav flavors into a calzone. I prepped this on a weekend, let it cool, and wrapped it up, and it was ready to go during the week! I baked it a little less than usual and the night we were going to eat it, I popped it into the oven for about 15 minutes. Voila! The little one is veryyy ready for dinner when we get home so this was such a great time saver.
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Calzone

BLT Calzone

Ingredients:

pizza dough
6 strips of bacon
1 tomato, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons cornmeal/wheat germ
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees (and preheat the pizza stone, if using one).
Pan fry the bacon until crisp, and drain on paper towel.
Chop the spinach, tomato, and bacon.
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Calzone
Sprinkle the cornmeal or wheat germ onto the baking sheet or pizza stone.
Spread the dough out into a big circle. Then lay the dough off centered, onto the pizza stone/pan. (I try not to move the calzone once filled, so I lay the dough out onto the pizza stone to put the toppings on and fold the dough to become the top.)
Layer on half the cheese, half the bacon, half the tomato, half the spinach. Repeat. Pull the other half of the dough over the filling and pinch to close. Cut a few slits in the top to vent.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Calzone
Slice and enjoy!

The beauty of this calzone is the classic combo of these few ingredients. Calzones also make great leftovers so I was also in luck for lunch the next day too. Calzones are also easy to make mini so this can be 1 big calzone or 4 individual serving ones!
The Three Bite Rule - BLT Calzone

Veggie Calzone with Fire Roasted Tomatoes

I saw some really delicious sounding stuffed shells by How Sweet Eats and decided to turn them into a calzone. I loved the idea of fire-roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, and veggies so I put ’em into a calzone since I haven’t made one in awhile. I’d love these in a baked pasta with penne, or on a pizza, or for a panini! There’s lots of room here for any veggies. Artichokes, mushrooms, and eggplant would be good too!
The Three Bite Rule - Fire Roasted Veggie Calzone

Fire Roasted Tomato & Veggie Calzone

adapted from How Sweet Eats Vegetable Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:

pizza dough, at room temperature
1/2  yellow onion
1 zucchini
1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup fontina, chopped
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
sprinkle of wheat germ/semolina/corn meal

Directions:

Caramelize the onions: chop and cook in a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of olive oil on low, for about 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly.
Preheat the oven to 400-degrees, and a pizza stone- if using one.
Chop the zucchini into 1/2-inch disks then into quarters. Roast in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian Seasoning.
Roll out the dough, or manually stretch it out between 2 hands working it into a big circle.
Sprinkle some wheat germ/semolina/corn meal onto the pizza stone or baking sheet. Next lay the dough out off center, so what will become the bottom is centered.
Assemble with shredded cheese, caramelized onions, ricotta dollops, fire roasted tomatoes, zucchini, and fontina are all spread out, then repeat. Fill it all the way getting close to the edges, and with toppings piled high.
The Three Bite Rule - Fire Roasted Veggie Calzone
Fold the dough that will become the top over the insides. Pinch the edge closed, or roll it under the bottom. Poke a knife into the top to create some air vents.
Bake 30 minutes and check the dough has puffed and become golden brown. Then bake 10-15 minutes more, as needed. (Parbake just until set- 20 minutes and then refrigerate or freeze until serving. Then bake remaining 20 minutes until heated through).
The Three Bite Rule - Fire Roasted Veggie Calzone
Slice & enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Fire Roasted Veggie Calzone
I loved this one. Ricotta and multiple other cheeses is right up my ally. I don’t often use fire roasted tomato sauce because I’m so obsessed with Pastene Kitchen Ready Tomatoes instead of sauce that I never even think twice, but I loved the smokey flavor in here! Canned tomatoes like my fav, and the fire roasted ones, are so great for pizza or pasta because they’re not loaded up with sugar- like jarred sauce. The tomato flavor is much better and was just like I had on pizza in Naples, Italy. The birthplace of pizza knows a thing or two! For this, I spooned out the tomato chunks so the calzone filling wouldn’t be too watery.

This was also great to prep in advance. I made the caramelized onions and roasted the zucchini first, then later I assembled and par-baked during nap time. That meant just popping it into the oven for dinner. Voila!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone

Theeeese a a few of my favorite things…

I found some frozen roasted chicken in the freezer and decided it would fare best if cooked and would be perfect in a calzone. Add my fav flavors, and thus, a meal is born. I used roasted chicken, crispy bacon, chopped tomato, alfredo sauce, ranch seasoning, and mozzarella. I felt like a rockstar to prep this 75% of the way the night before and just finish it before serving. Boo-yah.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone

Ingredients:

pizza dough
2 cups roasted chicken
3 strips of bacon
1 1/2 cups mozzarella (mine was a mix of fresh & shredded)
3 tbs dried ranch seasoning
1 cup alfredo sauce
1 small tomato, diced

Directions:

Preheat the oven & pizza stone (if using one) to 400-degrees.
Pan fry the bacon until crispy.
Warm the chicken in a medium pan over low heat and add 1 tablespoon of the ranch seasoning.
Lay the dough onto the pan or pizza stone, off center, for the filling to go on the bottom and for the rest to fold over.
Add chicken, tomatoes, cheese, alfredo, and ranch seasoning.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone
Then repeat the layers making sure to get the filling all the way to the ends & edges.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone
Fold the rest of the dough over the filling and pinch to close. Press down slightly to push the filling throughout the inside. Cut a few slits into the top to vent.
Bake 30 minutes until browned and crisped.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone
Serve and enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone
I knew we’d love this. What’s not to love? It was a perfect use for some leftover roasted chicken from the freezer (also the dough and bacon came from the freezer too). It was equally perfect that I prepped it the night before when I didn’t have to rush. I cooked it for about 20 minutes that night and just 15 minutes to serve. Dinner time is such a race against the clock and it was really nice to have this pretty ready. #winning
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Bacon Ranch Calzone