Up until I made those Caprese Calzones last month, I had no idea you could even buy refrigerated pizza crust in a tube. Yes, I know, it’s not exactly glamorous, but it’s just so EASY! I love things that are easy. Never in my right mind would I go to the effort of trying this with regular pizza dough. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you can definitely try it, and I bet you it would taste AMAZING. But I struggle with fresh pizza dough. It doesn’t matter what I do to it, it doesn’t take on the shape I want it to. It’s more just a misshapen glob on the baking sheet. And that would just be frustrating for these pizza twists. With the tube of pizza crust, you just have some minor reshaping to do, and it’s pretty easy to turn into a perfect rectangle – and if I can do it, you can do it too, I promise. So now, we can make these impressive twisted pizza breadsticks in less than 20 minutes to serve as an appetizer, or a snack, or as a side to go with our weekly spaghetti dinners. They’re delicious with a side of your favourite marinara sauce for dipping! Yum!
They’d make a great lunch too. Do you ever get tired of the same old lunch ideas, over and over and over again? I’m terrible at lunches. Mostly because I’m not very organized when it comes to meal planning, especially when it comes to lunch. It’s always a scramble at the last minute to figure out what the kids are going to eat, let alone what I’m going to eat. I’m the queen of picking random stuff out of the fridge, eating it, and having no idea what I ate for lunch when I look back at the end of the week. The kids would love these packed in their school lunches as a sandwich alternative. And I’d enjoy having them in my own lunch as something different – you know, along with some fresh fruits and vegetables to keep things moderately healthy.
Twisted Pizza Breadsticks Recipe
The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
Tube of refrigerated pizza crust Mozzarella cheese Mini pepperoni Pizza sauce Olive oil Parmesan cheese Oregano Basil Garlic powder
I used mini turkey pepperoni’s for this and sliced them up myself. My store didn’t have pre-sliced mini pepperoni, but there were lots of options for buying them whole and slicing them myself. You might even be able to buy them individually at the deli counter and save some money too. I was inspired by the recipes at Weary Chef and Mom on Timeout. So good!
Open the package of pizza crust and lay it out flat. Shape it into a rectangle as best you can. I was pretty happy with how rectangular mine ended up being. That would so. not. happen. with fresh pizza dough. Not if I was making it anyway.
Slice the pizza dough in half, and then add the pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni on one half. Cover all the pizza goodies with the other half of the pizza dough. Then slice it into 1″ strips. Don’t go too crazy with the filling – it’s way easier to twist them if they aren’t overloaded. (Trust me). I would have loved to get another twist in mine but they were too full, so this was the best I could do.
Pinch the ends of each strip closed (it will help keep them together) and then transfer the strips to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Twist each strip as many times as you can. I managed to get two twists into each of mine. Then brush them with olive oil.
The topping is completely optional but it really helps boost the flavour! I mixed together Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, basil and oregano.
Then sprinkle the mixture over each of the twisted pizza breadsticks.
Make sure you use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. All that cheese is definitely going to stick to your cookie sheet, so it’s waaaaaaaay easier to clean up. I’m loving parchment paper lately for that exact reason!
Keep an eye on them while they bake to make sure they don’t burn. I did two batches of these, and my first batch got a little too toasty. Oops!
Serve them with your favourite marinara sauce for dipping!
These make a hearty appetizer if you’re having a party! A great idea for game day!
They’d pair amazingly well with a spaghetti dinner too. Yum!
These twisted pizza breadsticks are delicious and they’re so easy to make! They’re an impressive appetizer or snack and they only take about 20 minutes to make. Seriously, it’s ridiculous how simple they are but how awesome they turn out. I love things that look amazing, taste amazing, and barely take any time to put together. That’s my kind of snack! Be sure to check out our Caprese Calzones and pin them to your favourite board on Pinterest for even more lunch inspiration! These calzones were soooooo good!!
