Easy pizza pinwheels made with refrigerated store-bought dough or homemade and customized with favorite pizza toppings. A game day appetizer ready in just 20 minutes!
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Pizza Pinwheels Recipe
My family absolutely loves these pizza pinwheels. They’re a fun appetizer or snack that’s delicious and both adult and kid-friendly. Some of our other favorite go-to’s are pigs in a blanket, ham and cheese rolls, and garlic knots.
These pizza wheels are made with Pillsbury Crescent Dough (or pizza dough) just like my crescent roll pizza! You can use jarred pizza sauce or if you have a little more time, homemade marinara sauce. Simple and delicious like my homemade pizza bagels!
Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Refrigerated crescent dough: Refrigerated crescent roll dough, store-bought pizza dough or homemade pizza dough works. If using crescents, press seams together.
- Pizza sauce: Making homemade pizza sauce, tomato sauce, or marinara works well for the red sauce.
- Mozzarella: Sprinkle shredded white mozzarella cheese over top the dough. Use as much or as little as you would like.
- Pizza toppings: Pepperoni, crumbled sausage or veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers or onions.
How to Make Pizza Pinwheels
- Roll out the dough. To get started, you’ll need to flatten out the dough first. Be sure to flour the surface or use parchment paper to avoid sticking.
- Add sauce and toppings. Spread on the sauce and add some toppings. Each roll makes about a dozen pinwheels, and you can divide the toppings to get more variety.
- Roll the pinwheel. Roll dough lengthwise; I usually start by folding the edge and then continue the rolling motion, doing just a little bit at a time to keep the filling from falling out.
- Slice into pieces then bake. Using a sharp knife, slice into 1-inch pieces. Place on baking sheet and bake until tops are golden then serve with dipping sauces such as pizza sauce or ranch.
Pizza Wheel Variations
There are so many fun variations you can make for these pizza pinwheels! Baked ham and cheese pinwheels is another favorite combination.
Dipping sauces:
Toppings:
- Cheese: Mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, pepper jack, Monterey, and parmesan cheese are all great combinations.
- Veggies: Peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, basil, and jalapenos are all sliced and diced to warm through in the oven.
- Meats: Pepperoni, turkey pepperoni, chicken, Canadian bacon, and ground beef are perfect combinations for meat lovers.
Filling combinations:
- Pepperoni: Pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni for a traditional combination.
- Veggie: Pizza sauce, mozzarella, and chopped veggies of choice.
- BBQ chicken: BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella, and red onion sliced for a fun twist.
- Alfredo: Alfredo or white pizza sauce, mozzarella, and cubed chicken for a light and tasty pizza.
- Pesto: Pesto sauce, mozzarella, chicken, and tomatoes for an Italian favorite.
- Buffalo: Buffalo sauce, mozzarella, chicken, and ranch for a spicy flavor.
Other fun pizza recipes we love include this Valentine’s Day pizza, these Halloween pizzas or sheet pan pizza!
More Pizza Recipes
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Pizza Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 1 can refrigerated crescents , or pizza dough
- ½ cup pizza sauce or marinara , more as needed
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese , more as needed
Optional toppings: pepperoni, bell peppers, olives, onions, mushrooms
For dipping: extra marinara or ranch
Instructions
- Roll out dough. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Lightly flour a large wooden cutting board. Roll out pizza dough onto the floured surface, pressing seems together as you go.
- Add toppings. Spread 1/2 cup pizza sauce evenly over the dough, to the edges. Top with shredded mozzarella and your choice of pizza toppings.
- Roll up dough. Roll pizza width-wise (the longest side) and seal the edges. Slice into 1-inch pieces with a sharp serrated knife. Place pinwheels on the prepared cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the middles are cooked through.
- Serve. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then serve with marinara or ranch for dipping.
Notes
- For larger pinwheels, roll lengthwise (the shortest side). You’ll want to make sure the fillings are the same for the whole pizza if you choose this method.
- For a cleaner cut, use a sharp knife and cut slowly. You could also freeze the pinwheel roll for about 10-15 minutes before slicing. This helps preserve their shape!
- Pepperoni: Pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni
- Veggie: Pizza sauce, mozzarella, chopped veggies of choice
- BBQ chicken: BBQ sauce, chicken, mozzarella, red onion
- Alfredo: Alfredo or white pizza sauce, mozzarella, chicken
- Pesto: Pesto sauce, mozzarella, chicken, tomatoes
- Buffalo: Buffalo sauce, mozzarella, chicken, ranch
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
Pinwheel pizza rolls are all different! The toppings and add-ons are endless! Choose your favorite toppings, cheese, and meat to roll up together.
Using parchment paper can help or even applying flour on an area to roll or pinch together the seams depending on which type of crescent rolls. You can freeze the roll for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing it to preserve its shape. I thought that was a great idea if you have the time!
These homemade pizza pinwheels are best made the day of or right before enjoying. If you are lucky enough to have any leftovers, these pinwheels are stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days. When ready to reheat place in an air fryer, microwave, or warm up in the oven until they are heated through.
Yes! Pinwheels are a great snack to freeze. Once the pinwheel is baked and cooled completely, place the pinwheels in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months long. When ready to enjoy, place in the oven or microwave frozen and warm through.
Categorized as: Appetizers, Italian, Kid-Friendly, Mini appetizers, Super Bowl
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
really lovely thanks
Hi there, I made this recipe the other night as an appetizer when friends came over. It was a big hit and we all enjoyed it. I made it with the crescent dough, pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and red pepper exactly as you said. One of the previous comments said to put the pinwheels in a muffin tin and that’s what I did. Excellent idea and it worked perfectly. I would highly recommend this recipe. Yummy. I had more pizza sauce for dipping but I don’t think it really is necessary especially if you put enough pizza sauce in the pinwheels.
So glad you enjoyed the pizza pinwheels! Thanks for your review Alison :)
Just made these tonight and everyone (including all 4 of my kids!) loved them! We did two rolls and used the pizza dough. I prepped one and popped in freezer while I did the second and it worked perfectly, will definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe:-)
Great! So glad the recipe was a hit with your family!
can you freeze left overs if there are any
I think so! I would just store in the freezer and then pop them in the oven to toast them up.
Hello! Is there a chance I could roll these up (a day ahead of time) but not slice and put in the oven until party time? Or will ingredients run out/make things soggy? Thanks, they look delish!
Hi Julie! I’ve never topped pizza dough and waited to bake so I’m not sure. I know there are some pizza places that do this, so I think it would work! Let me know if you try it :)
We love these In our house! Try baking them in muffin tins so all the cheese/filling doesn’t fall out. Works great for us :)
That’s a great tip, Chantelle! Thank you for sharing :)
Can you use any cooking oil it non stick spray is not an option?
That should work!