One thing I learned about my husband when we first started dating was that he LOVED all forms of pizza or things wrapped in dough. Regular pizza slices, pizza pockets, Sicilian pizza, strombolis…if it had cheese, sauce and meat, he was happy. He’s come a long way, but even as a vegan he still loves himself some pizza. Sauce, vegan cheese, dough, and we are set. So I wanted to experiment and create something that combines all the things he loves about pizza, except wrapped up in a different way. These vegan “meatball” pizza pinwheels combine the joys and fun of pizza and strombolis while still being a healthier vegan alternative thanks to the whole grains in the dough. Bonus, no yeast involved!

Table of Contents

What makes for good vegan “meatball” pizza pinwheels?

There are 4 major components to any good pizza. To get the best of the pizza flavors while getting the experience of a stromboli, these are some key areas to pay attention to.

Sauce: I personally think this is the most important part, this is where you are going to get a majority of the flavor for your pizza. Always save extra sauce for dipping later.
Dough: In this scenario we want slight crispness to the outside of the dough, but more pillowy inside to make it more like a stromboli.
Cheese: Vegan cheese has come a long way. This is going to make your pizza melty and gooey, while also helping to bind all the goodness together.
Toppings: This is where the magic happens! Toppings make pizzas more personal and fun. For this version we are using some plant based meatballs from Gardein. However, I’ve made these same pinwheels using kale and lentils. Still yummy and flavorful, but as you can see you can customize it more to meet your preferences.

Making the dough healthier

You can always use just plain white flour for your dough. Sometimes it’s easier to just stick to one flour. However, as a dietitian, any opportunity I can up some of the nutrition in something, I’ll take it. For the dough, I did a 1:1 mix of spelt flour and all purpose flour. Outside of spelt, you can use white whole wheat flour too. Adding whole grains to the flour makes these more hearty and filling. As a result, more heart healthy fibers can make it into your meal without compromising the doughiness or flavor.

Some other unique things about this dough include:

No Yeast: It’s been hard to find yeast, so I’ve had to become a little more creative. I replace the yeast in this recipe with some baking powder. Makes this recipe super fast to put together.
Flavor Enhancers: For extra flavor in the dough, I went ahead and added things like dry basil, oregano, garlic powder and onion powder for flavor.

Vegan "Meatball" Pizza Pinwheels ready to be rolled up for baking.

The dough with all the ingredients rolled into a log for cutting into buns.

Simple Sauce

If you don’t have a jar of pizza sauce on hand, you can make a simple and tasty sauce with some tomato paste. All you need is:

Tomato Paste
Dry oregano
Dry basil
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Brown sugar
Crushed Red pepper flakes
Salt

As simple as this sauce sounds, it is surprisingly delicious. The hubby absolutely loved it and couldn’t believe that it was something made with tomato paste. Honestly, great in a pinch and perfect for dunking pieces of this pinwheel into it.

Why vegan “meatball” pizza pinwheels?

Outside of being fun, I actually like the texture of these a lot more than pizza or strombolis. Since they are rolled up, the insides of the pinwheels get nice and gooey from the cheese. It’s just the perfect bite. In a way, they kind of remind me of cinnamon rolls except savory. Instead of the cream cheese frosting you’re adding extra cheese and pizza sauce.

Need some more fun meal ideas?