If You’re Only Stuffing Pizza Crust With String Cheese, You’re Doing It Wrong

When Pizza Hut debuted the first national stuffed crust pizza in 1995, the invention had diners ordering delivery in droves to be among the first to try it. Hey, we don’t blame them. We look forward to devouring the crunchy-edged, pillowy-centered crust anyway. (Ideally, with sides of marinara and ranch nearby for dunking.) But fill that crust with warm, gooey cheese? We’re melting.

More than three decades later, cheese-stuffed crust pizza still satisfies. It doesn’t surprise, though. What does? Pizza dough stuffed with something much more unexpected, such as pesto, prosciutto and even an entire charcuterie spread. No joke. Ahead, we’re dishing about our all-time favorite ways to remix the stuffed crust phenomenon.

When you see “meatball pizza” on a menu, we bet you’re imagining a standard pie with meatballs sliced or crumbled on top. (At many parlors, the meatballs join or take the place of sausage or pepperoni.) In this semi-homemade spin, chef Vallery Lomas calls for tucking frozen meatballs into the rim of a margherita-style pie. By starting with refrigerated pizza dough from your local slice shop or supermarket and snagging a jar of marinara from the pantry aisle, this hearty pizza is easy to make — and easy to love.

Salad feels like a celebration rather than a chore to eat when it comes topped with croutons, salami and cheese. These aren’t your standard crunchy, crumbly baked pieces of bread, though. These croutons are fluffy pizza dough pieces wrapped around a spoonful of bright, springy pesto and nutty grated Parmesan cheese. After devouring these pesto pizza “bombs” atop this salad, give them a try sprinkled over tomato soup.

We’re suckers for a good shortcut. One of our favorite time-saving tricks for game-day snacks? Using refrigerated pizza dough for a headstart on soft pretzels. Here, we take that concept and tell it to “stuff it;” this time with creamy spinach-artichoke dip for a mash-up that home cooks call “incredibly easy” and “incredibly delicious.”

Based on the name, you might be wondering, “what’s so special about that?! That’s essentially the OG that the Hut popularized in the ‘90s.” We promise there’s more than meets the eye. The thick, focaccia-like Detroit-style crust is hiding mozzarella string cheese sticks and pepperoni, which act as a lovely complement to the sausage-spiked red sauce that crowns the dough.

The outer rim shouldn’t get all the glory. In this southwest spin on stuffed crust, the center of the two-ply crust is what’s loaded with sliced Cheddar cheese. Press the edges together to form a seal, then bake until golden. Just before serving, top that base with refried beans, beefy tomato sauce and taco fixings, and you have a flavor fiesta that no one saw coming.

A bread bowl is good. Even better: a garlic butter-brushed pizza dough bowl. It’s a cinch to make by baking store-bought pizza dough over an upside-down metal bowl. Once baked, this edible vessel is sturdy enough to stuff with a chunky chopped salad. Ree Drummond recommends accenting romaine with cubed mozzarella, sliced salami, sliced roasted red peppers, pitted olives and a simple yet spectacular mustard vinaigrette. That being said, you could load up your bowls with whatever you’re craving…or need to use up in your crisper drawer.

“Who catered?” We’ve been asked this question a time or two when we’ve greeted guests with these showy leftover-loving bread bites. It’s actually a breeze to build these beauties if you have refrigerated pizza dough on-hand. Form it into ropes, tie each into a knot, then stuff the center with a dollop of prepared cranberry sauce and a cube of brie cheese. The result feels fancy yet is fairly foolproof, and fans confirm this also works well with goat cheese as a substitute for brie or fruit jam in lieu of Thanksgiving’s favorite sauce.