Pizza rolls facts for kids
Pizza rolls are a popular frozen food that you can cook quickly. They are small, bite-sized pockets of bread. Inside, they have tomato sauce, cheese, and different pizza toppings. You can find them in many flavors. Some common ones are cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. There are also supreme, mixed meats, and even cheeseburger flavors.
You can heat pizza rolls fast in an oven or a microwave. The name "pizza rolls" is a special brand name. It belongs to General Mills, who owns the Totino's brand. Other companies make similar snacks. But because "pizza rolls" is a trademark, they use different names. These might be pizza bites, pizza snacks, or pizza poppers.
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The Story of Pizza Rolls
Pizza rolls were first made in the mid-1960s. This happened in Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States. A talented cook named Beatrice Ojakangas created them. She worked for a food business owner named Jeno Paulucci. He was known for his Chinese food brand, Chun King.
Jeno Paulucci wanted new ideas for his egg roll wrapping machine. Beatrice Ojakangas came up with over 50 ideas for fillings. Some were even sandwich flavors, like peanut butter and jelly. But her pizza-flavored ideas were the most popular in taste tests. Paulucci himself said that pizza rolls were like "egg rolls with pizza crust and filling."
For making them in large amounts, Paulucci used a special machine. His frozen pizza brand, Jeno's, started selling Pizza Rolls in 1967.
How Pizza Rolls Became Totino's
In 1985, Jeno Paulucci sold his Jeno's company. It was bought by Pillsbury. Pillsbury already owned another pizza brand called Totino's. Because of this, Jeno's Pizza Rolls changed their name. In 1993, they became Totino's Pizza Rolls.
Later, in 2001, Pillsbury was sold to General Mills. So, General Mills became the owner of Totino's Pizza Rolls. A few years ago, around 2016, Totino's pizza rolls became even more popular. This happened after some funny skits about them on a TV show called Saturday Night Live.
More Fun Food Facts
Where to Find More Information
- Totino's products
