stromboli

noun

strom·​bo·​li sträm-ˈbō-lē 

plural strombolis

: bread dough that is rolled or sometimes folded around a filling often composed of cheese, cold cuts, vegetables, and sauce and then baked

A close relative of pizza, stromboli is made, essentially, by rolling up an unbaked pizza like a log, tucking in the ends as you go.

—Joy Manning

Lately, I've been making the giant dumpling known as a stromboli—essentially a pizza rolled like a cigar and baked.

—Joe Blundo

Examples of stromboli in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The menu includes the family’s signature pizzas and pasta, chicken and seafood entrees, stromboli, calzones, appetizers, soups and salads, and special lunch offerings. —Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 21 Apr. 2025

Opening: Summer The vibe: The 2,000-square-foot restaurant will have NY-style pizza, calzones, stromboli and subs. —Laura Barrero, Axios, 1 Aug. 2024

Its menu at one point included breaded cheese and breaded meat ravioli, tortellini Alfredo, stromboli bites, buffalo chicken bites and more. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 6 July 2024

Other menu items include paninis, calzones, stromboli and salads. —The Arizona Republic, 4 Mar. 2024

While calzones and strombolis have similar ingredients, the way they're shaped is different. —Robin Miller, The Arizona Republic, 8 Feb. 2024

Some of its offerings include pizza ,subs, pasta, wings, stromboli, calzones, salads and desserts. —Jdumound, cleveland, 18 July 2023

But while the wine bar serves flatbreads, the pizzeria offers a menu of 20 different pies, both Neapolitan and Sicilian-style, as well as other Italian fare, including subs, stromboli and calzones. —Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 12 July 2023

Slide the stromboli off of the parchment directly onto the prepared baking sheet (if working directly on a work surface, use metal spatulas and your hands to transfer the stromboli in one piece). —Laura Rege, Good Housekeeping, 25 June 2021

Word History

Etymology

probably after Stromboli (1950), film by the Italian director Roberto Rossellini (1906-77), which is set on the island of stromboli

Note: Various claims have been made for the invention of the dish. Probably the most widely circulated one credits it to an Italian immigrant named Nazzareno Romano, who owned a restaurant in Essington, Pennsylvania, and allegedly introduced the stromboli in 1950. This claim would appear to be supported by an early print instance of the word, in the Philadelphia Inquirer (April 10, 1950, p. 21): "In South Philadelphia, the hogie sandwich is now called Stromboli" (in the "It's Happening Here" column by Frank Brookhouser).

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stromboli

• acholi
• emboli
• sertoli
• unholy
• benzimidazole
• dipyridamole
• itraconazole
• ketoconazole
• metronidazole
• sulfathiazole
• thiabendazole
• carbazole

Geographical Definition

Stromboli

geographical name

Strom·​bo·​li ˈsträm-bō-(ˌ)lē 

variants or ancient Strongyle

ˈsträn-jə-ˌlē 

1

island of Italy in the Lipari Islands

2

volcano 3038 feet (926 meters) high on the island of Stromboli