French Bread Pizza

We've all been there: You're craving homemade pizza, but you want it fast—no time to deal with rolling out finicky pizza dough. The solution? Grab a loaf of French bread and get ready for the pizza hack of a lifetime. Instead of dealing with dough, use the loaf to create the delicious base to your pizza. Not only will it get perfectly crisp in the oven, but it's so easy to create—simply toast your bread, add your desired toppings, bake, and voilà! Pizza night has never been easier.

What People Are Saying:
"This was fantastic! I made this for my friends and we all loved it...Not having to bother with the dough has to be the best part." - DiamonDust

"My husband made this last night for dinner, and we thought it was delicious.... a great alternative to a frozen pizza!" - HelenPB

What Is French Bread Pizza?

Instead of dealing with pizza dough, I use a loaf of French bread to create this pizza! Once baked, the "crust" becomes crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. Even better, it’s brushed with garlic butter before it hit the oven, thus creating a garlic bread-like crust, and adding one of my other favorite Italian restaurant staples to the mix.

How To Make French Bread Pizza

INGREDIENTS

• French Bread: French bread is ideal because its crusty exterior stands up well under the weight of cheese and toppings, and its shape makes it easy to cut into serving sizes.
• Butter & Garlic: I wanted to give my pizza garlic-bread vibes, so I start things off by stirring together melted butter and chopped garlic and slathering the combination over the cut sides of the bread. The bread is then baked briefly, until lightly toasted, before it’s topped. If all that garlic puts you off, feel free to omit it.
• Marinara Or Pizza Sauce: Either sauce works great here. Marinara tends to be a little lighter and have more texture, which I enjoy in French bread pizza. Pizza sauce tends to be smoother and richer in flavor. Do choose a brand you enjoy, as the flavor of the sauce tends to predominate.
• Shredded Mozzarella: I played around with the crust, but I was never going to play around with the cheese! Shredded mozz gives you that perfect stretchy cheese pull that puts the fun in pizza.
• Pepperoni Slices: I just can never get enough pepperoni! I love the spicy, savory quality it brings to this pizza.
• Parmesan: A little freshly grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top adds sharp, nutty flavor and salty-savory depth to the pizza. If you want to mix things up, try swapping in Pecorino Romano or Asiago.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First things first: Preheat your oven (400°, please). Now, grab a long, serrated bread knife and your loaf of French bread. Holding the knife parallel to you work surface, slice the bread in half.

Let's turn bread into garlic bread! Stir the melted butter and minced garlic together in a small bowl and brush the mixture over the cut surfaces of the bread. Bake the garlic bread just until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. The idea is really to create a sturdy platform for the toppings to come.

Time to turn this garlic bread into pizza! Remove the bread from the oven and top with marinara or pizza sauce (or pesto!), followed by mozzarella, pepperoni, Parmesan, and red pepper flakes.

Bake for another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• What toppings should I use? As for toppings, I went the classic pepperoni route, but there's no reason you can't keep it vegetarian with mushrooms, peppers, and onions, or add in some sausage for a meat lover's pizza. It's your pizza night, so go crazy!
• How to grill French bread pizza: Want to take this completely to the next level? Take it outside, and turn it into grilled pizza bread! Simply wrap your French bread pizzas in foil and toss them onto a grill (or a campfire!)—in 10 to 15 minutes, you’ll be eating pizza, no 500° oven required.

Storage

If you find yourself with leftovers, wrap individual slices in foil and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 375° oven to bring back the crisp crust and melty cheese.