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This Chicken and Spinach Calzone recipe is a healthy and easy dinner that the whole family will love! Loaded with chicken, mushrooms, onion, garlic, spinach and feta cheese, the baked pockets are bursting with fresh flavor!
A great calzone recipe is like gold — you can pull together a quick dinner with minimal effort, using just about any ingredients that you have in your kitchen! They’re a great way to use up leftovers, and they lend themselves well to all of your favorite fresh vegetables that might be hanging out in your fridge.
Best of all, an easy calzone is one of those great meals that makes everyone happy…even your picky eaters! Simply customize the filling to suit your taste.
What’s the difference between a stromboli and a calzone?
Stromboli and calzones are similar; however, there are a few main differences. A stromboli is often made with a square or rectangular pizza dough that is covered with toppings and then rolled into a log and baked. The stromboli can be sliced into pieces and served.
By contrast, calzones are individual servings of round pizza dough that’s stuffed and then folded in half and baked. They’re like Italian turnovers!
Are calzone and pizza dough the same?
Yes! The dough used for calzones is the same as the dough used for pizza!
What is in a traditional calzone? What’s good in a calzone?
A classic Italian calzone recipe usually includes a filling of mozzarella and ricotta cheese, tomato sauce, and meat like pepperoni or sausage.
While the traditional version is great, you can fill a calzone with just about anything and it will taste amazing! This chicken, spinach and feta version is a perfect example of a delicious twist on the original.
How to make a Chicken and Spinach Calzone recipe:
You’ll need pizza dough to start, so you can either prepare your own dough, buy a fresh ball of dough, or use a can of Pillsbury refrigerated dough (like I’ve shown here).
Divide the dough into four equal pieces.
Roll out each piece of dough into the shape of a circle on a floured surface.
Top the dough with minced garlic, fresh baby spinach leaves, diced onion, sliced mushrooms, cooked chicken, and feta cheese.
The exact amounts may vary slightly, but make sure you pile it on there because the dough will stretch over the fillings and the fillings will shrink down as they cook.
Fold the dough over the filling to create a half-circle. Pinch the edges of each circle to seal the calzone closed. Don’t worry — this doesn’t need to look perfect (“rustic” is fine)!
Place the calzones on a greased baking sheet and brush with olive oil.
Bake the calzones in a 425 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they’re crispy and golden brown on the outside.
By the time the crust is done baking, the vegetables in the filling should be tender and the cheese will be melted. Serve the calzones with a side of warm marinara for dipping, and your family will be in heaven!
Can you freeze calzones?
Yes! To freeze baked calzones, allow the leftover calzones to cool completely before wrapping tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Store the individually wrapped calzones in a large Ziploc freezer bag for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to reheat the calzones, you can thaw them in the refrigerator overnight and then bake, uncovered, in an oven or toaster oven at 300 degrees F until heated through. You can also reheat the calzones in a microwave on high power in 30-second increments until warmed through.
If you prefer to reheat a frozen calzone directly from the freezer, you will simply need to extend the baking time.
What to serve with a calzone:
This chicken and spinach calzone is basically an entire meal in one hand-held package, since you get the vegetables, carbs and protein in every bite! That said, if you’d like to pair your calzone with other options, here are a few good ideas:
- A simple green salad dressed in Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Garlic Roasted Broccoli
- Perfect Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Dump-and-Bake Ratatouille
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- Any kind of cooked chicken will work well in this recipe — including grilled chicken, smoked chicken, pulled chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken, or those pre-cooked chicken strips like Perdue Short Cuts or Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken.
- Make a vegetarian calzone recipe by omitting the chicken and adding some ricotta cheese, additional mushrooms, or some drained, rinsed beans instead.
- Turn this into a cheese calzone recipe by using a variety of cheeses in lieu of or in addition to the feta. Other nice options include ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, Gouda cheese, and/or shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Prepare a sausage calzone recipe by swapping out the chicken and replacing it with cooked, crumbled Italian sausage.
- Make a pepperoni calzone recipe by swapping out the chicken and replacing it with diced pepperoni. You might also want to use shredded mozzarella or ricotta cheese in lieu of the feta.
- You can assemble these spinach calzones in advance and keep them on a tray in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake them.
Other easy spinach recipes that you might enjoy:
- Chicken Crescent Ring with Spinach and Artichoke
- Aunt Bee’s Spinach and Cheese Squares
- Strawberry Spinach Salad and Poppy Seed Dressing
- Easy Creamed Spinach Casserole
They are a great way to use up some left-over chicken – just about any will do. Grilled chicken, smoked chicken, pulled chicken, or chopped chicken…it’s all good! And the garlic, onion, and mushrooms pair perfectly with the meat, cheese, and spinach in these hot little pockets of yum! Enjoy…
Chicken and Spinach Calzone Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (13.8 ounce) can of refrigerated pizza dough (or 1 ball of fresh pizza dough)
- 1 t. dried minced garlic
- 1 c. fresh baby spinach leaves
- ¼ of a sweet onion finely diced
- 3 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
- 1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese
- Olive oil, for brushing
- Marinara sauce, for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut the dough into four equal parts and roll each piece of dough into a small circle.
- Sprinkle the garlic evenly over each of the circles. Top each piece of dough with spinach, onions, mushrooms, chicken, and feta cheese.
- Fold dough over filling to create a half-circle. Pinch the edges of each circle to seal closed. Place on a greased baking sheet and brush with olive oil.
- Bake the calzones for approximately 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Notes
- Any kind of cooked chicken will work well in this recipe -- including grilled chicken, smoked chicken, pulled chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken, or those pre-cooked chicken strips like Perdue Short Cuts or Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken.
- Make a vegetarian calzone recipe by omitting the chicken and adding some ricotta cheese, additional mushrooms, or some drained, rinsed beans instead.
- Turn this into a cheese calzone recipe by using a variety of cheeses in lieu of or in addition to the feta. Other nice options include ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, Gouda cheese, and/or shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Prepare a sausage calzone recipe by swapping out the chicken and replacing it with cooked, crumbled Italian sausage.
- Make a pepperoni calzone recipe by swapping out the chicken and replacing it with diced pepperoni. You might also want to use shredded mozzarella or ricotta cheese in lieu of the feta.
- You can assemble these spinach calzones in advance and keep them on a tray in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake them.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in March, 2013. It was updated in April, 2019.
Yum… these look so good & easy to make…. my kind of recipe! 🙂 I really like & appreciate all the “Tips & Variations” that you add/list in the printable recipe! Thanks!
Thank you, Tess! 🙂
made in my middle school cooking class. we won the compitition in our class. amazing did not add mushrooms
That’s wonderful, Molly! Thanks so much for letting me know. Totally made my day! 🙂