Homemade French Bread Pizza — This FAST and EASY pizza recipe incorporates a French bread crust. This handy shortcut saves you time on busy weeknights to make home-baked pizza a reality. Pizza is always a family FAVORITE and this thick and chewy variety will be a big hit!
Oven Baked French Bread Pizza Recipe
It’s hard to meet someone who doesn’t have a weakness for freshly baked pizza, topped with plenty of pepperoni and gooey melted cheese!
This easy and fast homemade French bread pizza recipe comes together in just minutes before baking it off.
Taking advantage of store-bought French bread from your grocery’s bakery section helps save you time and energy on those busy weeknights when you have hungry mouths to feed, and quickly!
Ingredients in Homemade French Bread Pizza
To make this fast and easy french bread pepperoni pizza, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- French bread
- Salted butter
- Fresh basil
- Fresh parsley
- Garlic powder
- Pizza Sauce
- Pizza cheese
- Dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- Pepperoni slices
- Fresh basil leaves, optional for garnishing
How to Make French Bread Pizza
This French bread pizza is great for busy weeknights or those times you don’t want to make your own crust.
- You’ll begin by slicing a large loaf of French bread in half.
- Mix together softened butter with the basil, parsley, garlic powder, and then spread it on both of the bread halves before topping with pizza sauce and cheese.
- Sprinkle the oregano and red pepper flakes over the top and then add the pepperoni slices and bake it off.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves and dig in!
How Long to Bake French Bread Pizza
The french bread pizza cook time will vary, ranging from 12 to 25 minutes, which I know is a large variance.
Baking times will vary on the French bread itself and whether it’s really doughy or a bit drier; really fresh versus day-old and so forth — as well as how generous you are with the herbed butter mixture, the amount of pizza sauce and the amount of cheese used, and just how golden browned you like your cheese.
In general, I find baking pizzas to be highly variable with a high degree of personal preference thrown in.
How to Make French Bread Pizza Not Soggy
If you prefer a crispier crust, you can bake the bread for 5 minutes after the herb butter has been put on it. Pull it out of the oven, add the rest of your toppings, and bake for 15 minutes.
Can I Use Different Pizza Toppings?
You’re not limited to sticking with the classic toppings like pepperoni and cheese. Rather, feel free to incorporate sausage, Canadian bacon, pineapple, mushrooms, leftover shredded chicken, bell peppers, or whatever you love on your pizza.
As always with pizza, the sky’s the limit!
What Kind Of Pizza Sauce Should I Use?
I used my Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce recipe, which is a no-cook, no-blender recipe for homemade pizza sauce that’s ready in five minutes!
Simply whisk the ingredients together and get ready to enjoy pizza sauce that’s bursting with flavor! Once you see how easy it is, you’ll never need the store bought kind again.
However, feel free to use your favorite store bought pizza or marinara sauce.
What to Serve with French Bread Pizza
Try serving the homemade french bread pizza with one or more of the following:
- Apple, Cheddar & Spinach Salad
- Caprese Salad (omit the chicken to eat as a side)
- Parmesan Balsamic Broccoli
- Balsamic Watermelon Cucumber Salad
- Tomato Mozzarella Salad
Tips for the Best French Bread Pizza
I prefer using a fresh loaf of french bread to make this recipe, but day-old bread works too.
You’re welcome to mix and match the pizza toppings as you see fit. This is an easy recipe to make vegan or vegetarian, if desired.
If you do want to go the homemade pizza dough route, my 2-Ingredient Pizza Dough is the easiest homemade pizza dough you’ll ever make with just two ingredients! No yeast, no kneading, and no need to wait for it to rise! Make sure to check that recipe out.
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French Bread Pizza
This FAST and EASY pizza recipe incorporates a French bread crust. This handy shortcut saves you time on busy weeknights to make home-baked pizza a reality. Pizza is always a family FAVORITE and this thick and chewy variety will be a big hit!
Ingredients
- 1-pound loaf French bread (I recommend store bought from your grocer's bakery)
- ¼ cup salted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup pizza sauce (marinara sauce may be substituted)
- 2 cups pizza cheese (usually a mixture of mozzarella, pecorino-romano, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Pepperoni slices, for topping
- Fresh basil leaves, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Slice the French bread in half lengthwise top to bottom and place on a large baking sheet; set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, basil, parsley, and garlic powder until fully combined and use a rubber spatula to gently spread it over the top of the cut sides of bread.
- Top each half of the bread evenly with pizza sauce* and then sprinkle the cheese evenly.
- Sprinkle the oregano and red pepper flakes over the top of the cheese.
- Top with pepperoni and bake for 12 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is as golden browned as desired, and the bread is slightly crusty to the touch* (See Notes for tips for a crispier crust).
- Optionally garnish with fresh basil leaves, slice, and serve. Pizza is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
*If you prefer a crispier crust, you can bake the bread for 5 minutes after the herb butter has been put on it.
Pull it out of the oven, add the rest of your toppings, and bake for 15 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 501Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 1120mgCarbohydrates: 69gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 18g
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