Homemade Pizza Rolls
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These homemade pizza rolls are like Sloppy Joes with a pizza twist! In our soft sub rolls, we add ground beef cooked in pizza sauce and lots of melted mozzarella cheese.
Ever have a homemade pizza roll? Well, if you have had one then you know what I am talking about. But if you haven’t, here’s what you have been missing. These incredibly satisfying homemade pizza rolls are like Sloppy Joes without the mess. We add ground beef coated in pizza sauce and a generous serving of cheese to a hearty sub roll. Make a batch ahead of time and have a quick grab-and-go meal whenever the need arises. And the best part is… no pizza dough is needed!
I’ve been enjoying a pizza roll for lunch, dinner, and okay, maybe even breakfast most of my life. I’ve found them to be real family pleasers, especially during those times when everyone is going in different directions and schedules have a hard time matching up.
My mom used to make these when she and my dad went out of town. With a batch of these in the fridge and a little extra money for any unforeseen needs, she could go off for a weekend confident that we wouldn’t starve to death. I love to make these from time to time, especially on Fridays or when the Super Bowl is around the corner because it means I can take the weekend off from cooking!
One of the best parts of this homemade pizza roll recipe is that you only need 4 ingredients: ground beef, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and sub rolls. Cook the beef in the sauce, pop it into the sub rolls with the cheese, and store in the fridge until you’re ravenous. That’s all there is to my quick and easy homemade pizza rolls. Doesn’t get better than that! I’ve also included suggestions below but seeing as there’s “pizza” in the title, feel free to go wild and add your favorite pizza toppings. If you love pizza as much as I do make sure to check out some of my other pizza recipes like Stuffed Pizza Sticks, Cowboy BBQ Chicken Pizza, Deep Dish Pizza Casserole, Air Fryer Pizza Rolls Made From Scratch, and Taco Pizza Recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
- or marinara sauce (I have a recipe for too, click here).
- Ground beef
Helpful Kitchen Tools
We’re going to make a dozen of these . If you’d like to make only six, just halve the ingredients.
How to Make Homemade Pizza Rolls
Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
You could add pepperoni here, or Italian sausage, or whatever cranks your tractor.
This is also where you could have this skillet full of sauteed onions and bell peppers as well. Another great option for this dish.
After your beef is brown, stir in both jars of pizza sauce.
Stir well and cook on medium until bubbly.
Slice each of your rolls as you would a hot dog bun, careful not to go all the way through.
I like to get the buns that aren’t sliced so that I can have them like this, it makes the sub so much easier if it isn’t sliced all the way through to the other side.
Fill with beef mixture.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
You can mix it with parmesan cheese too if you like.
Wrap in plastic wrap.
Tuck the ends onto the side and you’ve got a pizza roll!
Now that we know what to do here, let’s set up an assembly line for the rest.
All done!
I like to save my original sub-roll bags to put the wrapped rolls back in for an extra layer of protection in my fridge.
Plop these homemade pizza rolls in the fridge and whenever you want one, just get it out and microwave it for one minute!
For a crispier bun, open the sandwich and broil it in the oven or in the air fryer.
Enjoy!
Storage
- The wrapped leftover pizza rolls will last in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
- Alternatively, store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the frozen pizza rolls overnight in the fridge before reheating them as above.
Recipe Variations
- Add pepperoni slices, salami, chorizo, or crispy cooked bacon bits.
- Add additional Italian seasoning to the cooked beef.
- Spread garlic butter on the sub rolls.
- Use a different type of cheese, like a combination of mozzarella and parmesan, shredded cheddar cheese, or provolone.
- Add veggies of your choice: onion, bell pepper, olives, etc.
- Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes for heat.
Recipe FAQs
What goes well with pizza rolls?
Honestly, this main dish works well with just about anything! You can enjoy them with a dipping sauce like marinara sauce or ranch dressing. You can serve them with french fries or coleslaw, like burger slaw or vinegar slaw. Alternatively, you can even have them with a salad on the side.
Do these freeze well for lunches?
These freeze well to have any time, whether it’s lunch or dinner. And after they are thawed in the oven or microwave you can add some olive oil or garlic butter as well to take it over the top. You can slice the rolls up into bite-size pieces as well and have them in a lunch. You can also make them and refrigerate them instead of freezing them to add to lunch boxes for the week.
What other types of rolls can I use?
You could use crescent rolls. Bake them up and slice them if you want a smaller version. I like the thicker rolls better as the sauce doesn’t seep through as easily when I refrigerate them. But if you eat them right away and typically like thinner pizza crust from a thinner pizza dough then the crescent rolls may be perfect for you.
Do you use any other meats besides ground beef?
If you like pepperoni pizza you can use pepperoni slices and I have used Italian sausage too. You can also use another type of ground meat, like ground turkey or ground pork. Basically, any other type of meat you would like on a pizza would normally go well on this sandwich.
Check out these other sensational subs, rolls, and sandwiches:
Air Fryer Pizza Rolls Made From Scratch
French Dip Sandwiches Recipe (With a Twist)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 dozen sub rolls
- 2 15-oz jars pizza sauce
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown beef over medium-high heat while breaking it up into small pieces, until it's no longer pink. Drain off any grease.2 lbs ground beef
- Add both jars of pizza sauce to the cooked beef in the skillet. Stir and cook on medium until bubbly.2 15-oz jars pizza sauce
- Slice each bun almost through and spoon the beef mixture into the bun. Add cheese on top and seal with plastic wrap.2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 dozen sub rolls
- I like to save the bag the rolls came in and place the sealed ones back in there for an extra layer of protection. Place in refrigerator.
- When ready to eat, heat individual rolls in the microwave for about one minute.
- Can be stored in the fridge for several days.
Here I am again, next morning, Christy. I got out my old black 3-ring cookbook that I have been writing my favorite recipes in for 40 years, and found my recipe for Cheese Boats. They are like your pizza rolls, but with a more Southwest flavor. There was a drive-in years ago in the Globe-Miami,Az. area that made these. This isn’t “my” recipe, as I stated above. It is just in my book. These are so good to have in the freezer, if you can actually get them IN the freezer before we eat them, and a good sandwich to have stashed for a lazy day.
Cheese Boats
1 small (4oz) can of diced green chiles
1 1/2 lb. grated longhorn cheddar cheese.
1 small can chopped olives
1 bunch sliced green onions
8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped.
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce.
Garlic salt to taste.
French rolls, cut almost half the way through, and a little bread pulled out of the center.
Mix all the ingredients together, then stuff french rolls. Roll sandwiches in foil. Put in the oven about 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Enjoy!
Maybe frozen before heating in the oven.
Christy, I love your blog and am so glad I found it. You cook like I like to eat! And it may be “unhealthy” to some people, but not to Southerners or Okies! My Mom and Dad were both from Oklahoma, and she cooked just like this and so did my Grandma and NO ONE left their tables hungry. If there wasn’t food left on the table, that meant someone didn’t get enough to eat, OR (Heaven help you) you were a picky person. Regardless which, if there was no food left, they both would get up and fix something else, or give you more pie, cake, banana pudding, whatever. You were going to be satisfied when you left the table! But in those days they were working in the fields from before daylight until after sundown, and when they ate, there was no complaining about the food! Women sure
didn’t expect praise for their cooking, but they didn’t need any words to feel the gratitude when all you could hear was forks hitting plates and chewing. So that was just the way people cooked and ate then. Most of us don’t work in the fields now, (and thank God for the ones who do!) but we still have that ingrained memory of good food going along with hard work and still want it no matter if we do sit in an office and do computer work all day. So keep up the good work Christy! The ones of us who love what we eat can sure enjoy every recipe you give us, and those of us who want to watch our weight and worry about all that stuff, can just go to one of those other websites and enjoy those recipes. I have a recipe to send you on the order of these delicious pizza rolls at another time. I apologize for rambling, but can’t help it when I think of my Mama’s and my Grandma’s cooking. Thank you for that.
Barb
Hey Christy,
Does the bread get soggy ???
I made a test batch of these tonight (including your boiled beef process) and my husband and I really enjoyed them. I put them in hot dog buns and it worked out perfectly.
This Will be great for myfamily when we have softball the weekend for the whole weekend
Made these earlier in the week in anticipation of having one of those weeks when there’s a hungry family and no time to cook. (Evening meetings almost every night this week.) Husband and 15 year-old loved them. I added bell peppers, onions, and celery. Daughter took them to school for lunch 2 days and this morning she hid the last one in the back of the fridge so she can have another one on Friday. I’d call that a hit.
Did have some questions: Do you microwave them in the Saran wrap or unwrap before heating? Since you are such a lover of generics, is there something special about Saran? (Piggly Wiggly was out of Saran so I bought Reynolds). Are there some brands of plastic wrap that you find work better for certain things? Are some brands more microwavable than others?
Since my family actually LIKES peppers and onions and such, I may try this with larger chunks of veggies added later in the cooking process to give it a little more crunch next time. Overall a fabulous meal idea that I will definitely do again.
Hi Christy! I came over from the Butterfinger Cake recipe (after checking out the Elvis Presley Cake). I’m making a cake JUST LIKE the Butterfinger Cake this week, well except I’m using toffee bits instead of Butterfinger, and. no, just kidding about the “and”. not kidding about the toffee bits.
And your E.P. Cake is very similar to a cake my mom forced on us about 30 years ago called, (no, really) Cake Better Than Sex.
But the point of this is to tell you that the pizza rolls sound really yummy! I can’t wait to try them on my coworkers when I volunteer to take lunch. They are such guinea pigs.
and finally. What’s up with Anonymous? That was rude. Besides, I’ll bet you already knew all that.