Cheesy Pizza Pockets with Phyllo Dough

Homemade pizza pockets wrapped in a crispy layer of phyllo dough, filled with pizza sauce, salami of choice, and a generous amount of white cheddar cheese or mozzarella! These cheesy pizza pockets will save you the trouble of making pizza dough from scratch and are will be ready in no time!

These closed pizza pockets might remind of Calzones. And while the filling may be similar in taste, the outer crust is completely different but absolutely delicious! You can wrap them together quickly while the oven is preheating, then just bake and enjoy!

The smell of freshly baked pastry would gather everyone around the table in minutes! The ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe are:

• Phyllo dough – in the markets these days, we can find different varieties of phyllo. Some are thicker and others thinner. While for some recipes such a baklava it does matter what type of phyllo you use, for this recipe you can use any phyllo dough of your choice. If the phyllo is frozen, you can unfreeze it overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for around 2-3 hours.
• Egg, yogurt, olive oil, and baking powder – whisked together and brushed over each layer of phyllo, so the layers get hydrated and puff up in the oven.
• Thinly sliced salami of choice – you can also use ham or any other salami.
• White cheddar cheese – grated white cheddar cheese can be used on its own or with a bit of mozzarella on top. It’s always good to keep in mind that if you use a mix of two kinds of cheese, it might be best to lower down on the amount of cheddar to add the other cheese. If there’s too much cheese it might run out of the pizza pockets when baking.

How to make these pizza pockets: –

• Prepare 6 phyllo sheets and add all of them on top of each other. With a knife, cut sheets in half crosswise. Once you have the sheets cut in half, you can cover those with a towel and start assembling the pizza pockets.
• Mix in all the ingredients needed for brushing the phyllo, and prepare the filling to have it on hand.
• For each pizza pocket, we will need 3 phyllo sheets. Take one layer of phyllo and brush it with around 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture. Repeat this for the remaining two sheets.

• Add a tablespoon of the pizza sauce, top the sauce with the salami, and finish it off with the grated cheese.
• Add the filling at the bottom of the sheets. Fold both sides towards the middle and fold until you reach the top.

• Roll the phyllo to create the pockets. Repeat this for the rest 3 pizzas. Transfer the pizza pockets to a tray lined with parchment paper and brush them with the remaining egg mixture. Then sprinkle them with sesame seeds and some more grated cheese on top.
• Bake at 200C/390F preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

A few pizza pockets recipe tips:

• If you’d like a bigger to make these pockets bigger, you can use whole phyllo sheets instead of cutting them crosswise.
• You’d need to use around a tablespoon of the egg mixture to brush each phyllo sheet. Try to have equal amounts of the mixture across each phyllo sheet, and don’t forget the edges. Use leftover egg mixture to brush the pizza pockets before baking.
• If you haven’t worked with phyllo, they tend to try out quickly, so it’s best to have it covered with a towel and then take sheets out as needed. 
• The filling is super versatile! You can use ketchup or marinara if you don’t have pizza sauce. You can substitute the cheese for any other melting cheese that you’d like. And lastly, you can completely omit the salami or use any other you have on hand.

FAQs

You’ll also love to try:

Mini Pizzas With Homemade Crust
Bread Pizza With Spicy Pepperoni
Savory Cornbread

Print Recipe

Pizza Pockets

Super cheesy pizza pockets filled with pizza sauce, melty cheese, ham or other smoked meat or salami of choice and wrapped in flaky layers of phyllo dough.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Resting Time0 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Appetizer, Bread and pastry

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Servings: 4 pizza pockets

Ingredients

Egg Mixture:

• 1 egg
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp yogurt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Filling:

• 1 cup 120g white cheddar cheese or any other cheese of choice
• 4 slices ham slices or other smoked meat or salami of choice
• 4 tbsp pizza sauce marinara or ketchup
• 6 phyllo sheets cut in half through the long side

Instructions

Egg Mixture:

• Mix the egg, olive oil, and yogurt in a bowl and set them aside. Add the baking powder right before brushing the phyllo with the mixture.

Filling:

• Grate the cheddar cheese and set it aside along with the ham and pizza sauce.

Assemble the pizza pockets:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/390F. Add six phyllo sheets on top of each other and cut them in half crosswise. Cover the phyllo sheets with a towel and take sheets out as needed.
• Add the baking powder to the egg mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. For each pizza pocket, you'll need 3 phyllo sheets, and for each phyllo sheet, we'll need around a tablespoon of the egg mixture. Leave 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture for brushing the tops of the pizza pockets before baking.
• Brush one phyllo sheet evenly with a tablespoon of the mixture. Repeat this step with the other 2 phyllo sheets. (The phyllo sheets should be placed lengthwise.)
• Once you add all three sheets and they are all brushed with the mixture, add a tablespoon of the pizza sauce at the bottom of the phyllo, then add the ham and finish off with the cheese.
• Fold both sides of the phyllo toward the middle and begin folding the bottom until you reach the top. Repeat these steps for the remaining pizza pockets.
• Brush the tops with the remaining egg mixture and sprinkle sesame seeds and optionally add some more grated cheese on top.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25-30minutes or until perfectly golden brown. Serve immediately.

Notes

• I like to make smaller pizza pockets, so I cut the phyllo sheets in half. You can use whole phyllo sheets and brush them with around 2 tbsp of the egg mixture to make two bigger pizza pockets or double the recipe to make more. 
• Phyllo sheets tend to dry out quickly. Cover them with a towel and take sheets out as necessary when working with phyllo. 
• Feel free to switch the fillings to your liking: maybe skip the meat to make it vegetarian, add different sauce, add oregano inside. 
• You can reheat the pizza pockets in the microwave or in a warm oven. 
• If you don’t eat them right away, cover the baked pizza pockets with a towel, so they don’t dry out.