Air Fryer Calzones

Delicious, cheesy, Air Fryer Calzones are made with just 4 ingredients and are ready to eat in about a half hour. Enjoy these inside-out pizzas as a simple weeknight dinner. They’ll be a huge hit with your family!

recipe overview

Calzones are one of my family’s favorite take-out meals to order. Whenever we travel to a city that has great Italian food, we always make sure to get Calzones. The great thing is, calzones are easy to make at home! They are basically inside-out pizzas.

You can use any fresh pizza dough to make these, but for simplicity, I’ve made this recipe with refrigerated, canned pizza dough that can be found in any U.S. grocery store. It’s a great time saver and works really well in the air fryer.

Fun fact: the word calzone translates literally in Italian to “trouser leg”. I’m not sure how that relates to this dish aside from the fact that we fold the dough in calzones similar to a cuffed pant leg!

You might also like making Air Fryer Biscuits using canned dough or Air Fryer Garlic Knot Pizza. These quick Air Fryer Pizzas are made from pita or naan bread and are a huge hit with my kids.

ingredients you’ll need

• Pizza Dough – To make this recipe really simple, I’m using canned, refrigerated pizza dough. You can use homemade pizza dough, or grab some premade dough from your local grocery store or pizzeria.
• Pizza Sauce – There are tons of different pizza sauces at the store to choose from. Use whatever one is your favorite. If you need a suggestion, I really like the canned Don Pepino pizza sauce, and Rao’s Homemade pizza sauce that comes in a jar.
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – To save yourself some time, pre-shredded cheese works perfectly here.
• Pepperoni – Pepperoni is a classic pizza topping and is perfect in these air fryer calzones to give them a little bit of spice.

how to make them

1. On a floured surface, flatten the pizza dough so that it’s 1/8 of an inch thick. Using a bowl as a guide, cut out 5-inch circles from the dough.
2. Spread pizza sauce on one half of the circle, then add cheese and pepperoni. Divide your ingredients evenly between all of your dough circles, and be sure not to overfill. Fold over the opposite edge of the dough to create a half circle. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.
3. Place calzones in the air fryer basket and cook at 400°F for 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Flip and continue cooking until done. Repeat with remaining Calzones (you probably will only be able to cook two at a time)

how many calzones does this recipe make?

I sometimes can make 5, sometimes 6. It depends on whether I roll the dough out thin enough or not! It also depends on whether you want to re-roll your scraps to make more circles. If you want, you can make circles that are 3 or 4 inches across and create miniature calzones too.

serving ideas

Make sure you let your calzones cool a bit before biting into them. All of that cheese will be very hot! I like to serve calzones with extra pizza sauce on the side for dipping.

Calzones are simple, handheld meals that are totally fine on their own as a lunch or a snack. For dinner I would probably add some side dishes to make the meal more filling and nutritious.

Try serving calzones with a healthy green salad topped with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and pepperoncini. I get a similar salad from a local Italian restaurant.

These would also pair well with some Air Fryer Eggplant or Air Fryer Squash and Zucchini.

additional topping ideas

Don’t stop at pepperoni, any pizza toppings can go inside of a calzone! Any added toppings must be fully cooked before adding, and you’re better off adding dryer ingredients. If using wet things like olives or banana peppers, dry them with paper towels first.

Instead of pizza sauce, try using Nut Free Pesto or Basil Pesto!

got soggy calzones?

The main reason for soggy calzones is using too much sauce.

So if your calzones come out soggy, reduce the sauce the next time you make them. It’s better to go light on sauce at the start since you can always dip the calzones in pizza sauce later.

Ricotta vs. Mozzeralla Cheese

Many traditional Italian Calzone recipes include ricotta cheese in the mix. I like it better without, so I didn’t include ricotta in this recipe.

If you want to add it, use a half cup of ricotta cheese in place of 1/2 cup of the mozzarella. Mix both cheeses together and assemble the calzones the same way.

More Italian air fryer recipes

Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan is made gluten-free and delicious with a crispy exterior and lots of sauce and cheese. I think you’ll also really love Air Fryer Calamari and Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs.

Want to make your pizza sauce from scratch? Try this recipe for Red Sauce for Pizza.