The Obvious Use For Trader Joe's Pizza Dough That You'll Wish You Tried Sooner

Trader Joe's premade pizza dough is already a great shortcut to a delicious homemade pie, but there are so many other easy recipes you can get out of it. It isn't just good for obvious things like garlic knots or pigs-in-a-blanket; you can turn pizza dough into almost any dish that requires yeasted bread. Once you turn Trader Joe's pizza dough into cinnamon rolls, you won't be able to stop dreaming up new ideas. But one of the best easy recipes to make with it is something so simple it probably slipped your mind: calzones.

Calzones are a forgotten cousin of the pizza world, and that is a darn shame. While they might play second-fiddle to their progenitor on menus, usually being shoved into a corner with only a few options, calzones are completely delicious in their own special way, while being far easier to make than pizza. There is no delicate shaping and sliding onto a pizza peel with calzones. Just load them up with your favorite toppings and watch as they get transformed into one of the world's perfect edible meals.

Calzone dough isn't anything special; it's just pizza dough, so skipping to Trader Joe's store-bought pizza dough takes what little work was left out of the equation. All you need to do is fill it, fold it, and slide it into the oven. It's one of the meals that is almost dangerously easy. You are turning yourself into an at-home, on-demand, calzone-making machine.

There are only a few rules to follow when turning Trader Joe's pizza dough into a calzone. They need to stay single-serving sized, so make sure you measure out chunks of dough that are only around eight ounces each. Roll them out into 12-inch rounds, put the cheese and toppings on one half, leaving a border so you can seal it. Once the non-topping half is folded over, crimp it to make sure it stays shut, and brush the whole calzone with some olive oil to aid in browning. Finally, you'll want to slice a few vents in the top so steam can get out. Nobody wants their calzone turning into a pressurized pizza bomb. Like pizza, calzones are cooked best at higher heat, and should go into a 500 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they turn golden brown.

Trader Joe's has what you need to fill out your calzone, too, including some of the best cheeses like mozzarella, Parmesan, and ricotta. You can even make a calzone out of its spinach and artichoke dip or try more creative calzones with its beef birria or pulled pork. The only calzone partner you might want to avoid is Trader Joe's pizza sauce, which didn't fare well in our grocery store pizza sauce rankings. But you can't expect TJs to do everything for you now, can you?