Like most busy moms, I love a quick and easy dinner recipe. I’m all about finding shortcuts in the kitchen that allow me to prep a dinner quickly and serve my family in a short amount of time before we have to run off to the next practice, game, or activity. While we try really hard not to over-schedule, a busy family with work, school, and play means that easy meals are a complete blessing. So, when I stumbled upon a recipe for a super simple stromboli that takes about 20 minutes in a recent issue of Taste of Home’s Simple and Delicious magazine, I knew I had to try it at home… with a twist or two of my own. Now, after repeating the recipe with my family and tweaking it each time, we’ve found 3 super simple strombolis that we love to eat on busy weeknights.
To start, you’ll want to unroll a tube of refrigerated french loaf– you can find them in the refrigerated section next to other rolls and breads at your local store. From there, it’s up to you to get creative on your favorite toppings, but here are three of our favorite combinations in this house:
First, we love a simple ham and swiss. Following the recipe from Simple and Delicious, start by layering slices of your favorite ham down the middle third of the loaf. They recommended deli slices, but I personally like a thicker, carving-board style lunch meat. It’s really your choice.
Next, top it with chopped onion and slices of Swiss cheese. Finally, fold the sides over on top of the toppings, to create a loaf, and tuck the sides under. I like to brush the top of ours with melted butter and give it a sprinkle of dried mustard and a steak seasoning.
For a different twist, you can also go with a turkey bacon cheddar stromboli. Simply layer turkey (again, we used a carving board style meat, but any variety of turkey lunch meat will work just fine) down the center of the loaf.
Top it with diced onion, slices of pre-cooked bacon, and some thick slices of cheddar cheese. Fold the sides over, brush with butter, and top with another favorite seasoning– I used my copycat Freddy’s Steakburger seasoning on our Turkey Bacon Cheddar loaf, to the delight of my family.
Finally, you can go classic, with an Italian style Stromboli loaf. This tastes so much like a calzone, and it’s so simple to make. Layer sandwich-style Canadian Bacon and Pepperoni down the center, then top with a layer of mozzarella cheese and a layer of provolone cheese.
You can also add your favorite veggies down the center of this one if you’d like, but we went simple. Fold over the sides, tuck the ends under, brush with olive oil or butter, and top with your favorite Italian seasoning and a generous helping of garlic powder, to your family’s tastes.
Each of these loaves bakes for 18-20 minutes at 375, but each one also only takes 3-5 minutes of prep– I’m not joking! It really is a quick and easy dinner, and it’s one my son loves to help me make… all you do is unroll, top, wrap, and bake.
Plus, this is the perfect meal to serve with your favorite soup, a nice salad, or some fresh fruit, and once sliced, all can be eaten hand-held, making it the perfect option for on-the-go eating. Since these taste great cold the next day, as well as warm the night before, they even make a good lunchbox option. You really cannot go wrong with the convenience of this meal.
Which topping idea do YOU want to try? Let me know, or share your own combo, in the comments below. For more simple dinner ideas, you’ll love my pigs in a blanket 3 ways. If you’re looking to connect around the table, try these dinner conversation starters to touch base between activities.
