This recipe for Pesto Chicken Pizza Rolls is a fun way to change things up from traditional pizza. Serve them warm or cold, for lunch or dinner. They’re easy to make and kid-friendly as well!
Hi friends!
It’s time for another month of Recipe Redux! This month the theme was packable lunch ideas. I don’t currently have to pack my lunch…but that doesn’t mean I haven’t done my fair share of packing in the past….or that I won’t have to again in the future. So I was totally on board for this prompt.
I wanted to make something kid-friendly since I now share my lunches with Squish and also wanted something that tasted good hot or cold. Some people have microwaves to reheat stuff at lunchtime and some don’t.
Pizza immediately came to mind as something that’s equally good hot or cold…but regular pizza was just a little too boring. I remembered scrolling by something similar to these on Pinterest a couple months ago and they stuck in my mind visually. Since I didn’t have a recipe to work with, I decided to just wing it.
I used a few shortcuts, including picking up some freshly made pesto and pizza dough at the store and after consulting my fridge, I realized I had plenty of cooked chicken thighs from my Sunday food prep that I could use as well. So, although the rolls themselves are a bit time-consuming to assemble, the filling came together in a jiffy and it all balanced out.
These are basically all the goodness of pizza toppings wrapped up in a ball of pizza dough!
Here’s how you make them:
PrintPesto Chicken Pizza Rolls
This recipe for Pesto Chicken Pizza Rolls is a fun way to change things up from traditional pizza. Serve them warm or cold, for lunch or dinner. They’re easy to make and kid-friendly as well!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 pizza rolls 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked chicken, finely diced
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2/3 cup pizza sauce
- 3 Tbsp pesto
- 1 batch of pre-made pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)
- Olive oil
- oregano & parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Combine chicken, mozzarella, pesto and pizza sauce in a small bowl.
- Divide pizza dough into 16 equal balls.
- Stretch each dough ball with your hands into a circle that’s 3-4 inches across.
- Add one tablespoon of chicken mixture to dough circle. Pinch sides together to seal and form a ball.
- Place seam side down in a pie tin lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat with all dough balls.
- Brush tops of dough with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and oregano.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.
- Serve with extra pizza sauce for dipping.
Next time I make these I’d probably add a bit more chicken, but that’s just me 🙂
They’d be a great party appetizer and I also enjoyed them both reheated and cold for lunch over the next few days.
[Tweet “Serve these Pesto Chicken Pizza Balls from @leangrnbeanblog for lunch or an easy appetizer!”]
For more packable lunch ideas, check out the link-up below!
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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These remind me of my beloved stromboli that I used to get all the time as a kid, except this is healthier! It looks delish 🙂
This looks delicious and combines a few of my favorite things- pesto and pizza! This looks like something Squish and other kids would have fun eating as well.
I grew up eating those unhealthy pizza rolls so I’m loving this twist on an old classic. This is a recipe my whole family would love
My daughter, who I struggle finding lunch ideas for, would love these! It will be on the menu next week for sure:)
Wow these amazing! I wonder if i could make a GF version with like cauliflower crust?!
Yesssss pessssto 🙂
This is seriously SO creative! I have a feeling my husband would be in love with these.
These look so good! I can’t wait to try them!
My kids would love these! Definitely going to give it a try sometime soon.
Those look so fluffy and delicious! WOW!!! These need to be sold in stores!
What a fabulous idea! Can’t wait to try this!
Lindsay–I found what I am making for Pizza NIght!! This looks so incredible!
What a FUN idea!!! Seriously, genius 🙂
These look delicious! They remind me a lot of mini calzones. I’m going to have to try this recipe out for myself.
Oh my goodness, these sound amazing!!
This looks amazing! I used to make homemade pizza and homemade calzones a lot before I stopped eating wheat and yeast – I miss it! I need to find a way to make this stuff again, my kids would love it 🙂
Looks like a great dish to take to a potluck … I will definitely have to keep this recipe in mind!
What kids wouldn’t love this?! YUM!
I made this Saturday night and had our neighbors over. It turned out great! My neighbor said “I didn’t think you could take a great thing (pizza) and make it better!”
so glad to hear that!