Healthy Calzone Recipe {Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta}

Name: Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta Calzones
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh pizza dough; 1 tablespoon olive oil (plus additional for brushing); 1/2 yellow onion (diced); 2 cloves garlic (minced); 2 cups chopped kale (ribs and stems removed); 1 cup mushrooms; 1 cup ricotta cheese; 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese; 1/4 teaspoon dried basil; Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes; Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste); All-purpose flour (for dusting the counter); Easy Marinara Sauce

By Maria Lichty

Updated March 26, 2019

View Recipe Pin Recipe 4.34 104

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Homemade calzones are easy to make at home and you will love these veggie calzones! They are stuffed with kale, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese. Serve marinara sauce on the side for dipping! This calzone recipe is a dinner winner!

Calzone Recipe with Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta

Family-Friendly Meatless Calzone

I always ask Josh what he wants for dinner. I really don’t know why I ask for his input because we rarely make what he wants. Don’t feel bad for Josh because he eats well:) I just don’t want to make for dinner every night. Josh always suggests pizza. He never gets tired of pizza.

Last week when Josh asked for pizza, I compromised and suggested calzones. Josh loved the idea. He asked what kind of calzones and I told him Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta Calzones. I could see the look of disappointment in his face when I didn’t mention sausage or pepperoni. I told Josh to cheer up because these meatless calzones were going to be incredibly tasty and I was right! Even Josh didn’t miss the meat!

Homemade Calzones ready to serve

How To Make Calzones

You can make homemade pizza dough or you can use store bought dough for this recipe. If we are feeling lazy, we buy Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods pizza dough. Their refrigerated pizza doughs are excellent!

Once you have your dough, you can get started on the filling. I am on a kale kick and can’t get enough. I cooked the kale with onion, garlic, and tossed in some mushrooms.

Next, I stirred together ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. A trio of cheese, please! I added in a little crushed red pepper, dried basil, salt, and pepper. I added in the kale and mushroom mixture and our filling was ready to go!

Josh rolled out the pizza dough into circles and we filled our calzones with the kale, mushroom, and ricotta filling. We folded the dough over the filling, pinched the edges, and brushed them generously with olive oil. Into the oven they went and 20 minutes later, our calzones were golden brown and ready to be devoured.

We served our calzones with our Easy Marinara Sauce. Our Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce would also be good with the calzones! We had fun dipping and dunking our calzones!

Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta Calzones are perfect for Meatless Monday…or any night. Josh already asked if we could have these calzones for dinner again and I think I will have to say yes!

If you like this calzone recipe, give these pizza recipes a try!

Healthy Calzones With Marinara Sauce

Vegetarian

Kale, Mushroom, and Ricotta Calzones

Calzones filled with kale, mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Serve our Easy Marinara Sauce on the side. These calzones are fun to dip and delicious to eat!

4.34 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Ingredients

1 pound fresh pizza dough homemade or store-bought
1 tablespoon olive oil plus additional for brushing
1/2 yellow onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups chopped kale ribs and stems removed
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
All-purpose flour for dusting the counter
Easy Marinara Sauce for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Make sure your pizza dough is at room temperature. Set aside.
2. To make the calzone filling, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the kale and mushrooms, cover and cook until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses. Stir in the kale and mushroom mixture. Add the dried basil, crushed red pepper, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal portions, and shape each portion into a ball. Lightly flour your work space. Start with 1 ball and roll it out into a circle, about 7 inches in diameter. Brush the edges of the round lightly with water. Place about a ½ cup of the kale cheese mixture on half of the round, leaving a 1-inch border. Gently fold the dough over so the edges meet and pinch the dough together with your fingers. Pierce the top of the calzone with the fork and carefully transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Brush each calzone with olive oil.
5. Place the calzones in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the calzones cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Note-I like to use Trader Joe's Kale that is already chopped. Great time saver! And if you don't want to make pizza dough from scratch, we love Trader Joe's and Whole Foods refrigerated pizza dough.

Have you tried this recipe?

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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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4.34 from 6 votes (6 ratings without comment)