Description
This oven-baked French Bread Pizza recipe is a quick and easy homemade pizza option featuring a secret buttery garlic herb spread, perfectly crispy French bread base, tangy pizza sauce, melty mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni slices or your choice of toppings. Ideal for a delicious and satisfying meal in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
French Bread Pizza
- 1 loaf French Bread, about 1 lb, 20-21 inches long
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
- 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (low moisture, whole milk mozzarella preferred)
- 25 pepperoni slices, or toppings of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Set your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the French bread pizzas.
- Prepare the bread: Cut the loaf of French bread in half lengthwise, then cut each half into halves again for individual pizza slices. Arrange the slices on a large, light-colored baking sheet.
- Make the garlic herb butter: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the olive oil, butter, minced garlic, dried oregano, and salt. Stir continuously for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is fragrant and well combined. Lower the heat if necessary. Remove from heat.
- Brush the bread with garlic herb butter: Using a pastry brush, evenly coat the top and edges of each bread slice with the garlic herb butter mixture. Then sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese evenly over each slice.
- Bake the bread slices: Bake the prepared bread slices in the oven for 6 to 7 minutes to lightly toast and crisp the bread.
- Add toppings: Remove the bread slices from the oven and spread pizza sauce evenly over each slice. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese on top, followed by pepperoni slices or your preferred toppings.
- Bake the assembled pizzas: Return the pizzas to the oven and bake for 10 to 13 minutes, or until the cheese has melted completely and the edges of the bread are brown and crisp.
- Optional broil: For extra browning on the cheese, broil the pizzas at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 minute, watching closely to avoid burning.
- Serve warm: Slice the pizzas if desired and serve them warm for the best taste and texture.
Notes
- Choose a large, light, and airy French bread loaf that is nicely rounded rather than crusty for the best texture.
- Use low moisture, whole milk mozzarella cheese shredded fresh from a block instead of packaged shredded or fresh mozzarella for optimum melting.
- Keep packaged/sliced pepperoni frozen to maintain freshness and convenience; simply take it out when starting to prepare your pizza.
- For pizza sauce, Rao's Pizza Sauce is excellent but the more affordable Ragu brand also works well.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days wrapped tightly in foil or an airtight container.
- Reheat leftover pizza on a baking sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 8 minutes to melt the cheese again.
- Try variations such as Cast Iron Skillet Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Hawaiian Pizza, or Pizza Dip for variety.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pizza
- Calories: 480 kcal
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 850 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Cholesterol: 50 mg
