My Favorite French Bread Pizza (Variety)
My cousin Jin once said, “I would be scared to cook for you”. Now I don’t know if she meant because she thinks I’m picky or because she thinks I’m some kind of kitchen goddess. Truth be told I’m super simple and I rarely make anything fancy schmancy. My taste buds are very friendly and accepting : ) So I’ll be waiting on my dinner invite Jin! Get’ta cooking missy!!
One of my favorite go-to, super simple, taste bud loving recipes is french bread pizza! Omg some days I swear I like it more than regular pizza. It’s quick, customizable and there is just something about sinking your teeth into that buttery, garlicky crust and hearing that crunch. So priceless.
Even though this is a pretty simple meal, I’ve tasted my fair share of blah french bread pizzas including Stouffers (ducking because I know some folks who swear by that being the best) Ok I know I’m about to sound picky here when I just said I wasn’t but there are a few must-haves for a really bangin’ french bread pizza. There are just 2 rules really.
Rule #1. It’s all about the crust! The crust must have a lil crunch to the bottom. It MUST!!! It’s part of the eating experience. A soft or soggy crust is not fabulous! Seasoning the crust with a buttery garlic mixture adds much flavor and toasting it before add on the sauce and toppings keeps it from turning into a soggy mess. Cooking on a higher heat helps keep the bottom nice and crisp, yet still allowing a layer of fluffiness on top.
Rule #2. There must not be too much bread! Oh gawd no please! French bread is thick and fluffy. To make the best french bread pizza try pressing the bread down to make it flatter. This makes for the perfect thickness. The last thing you want is to be overpowered with bread that has sucked up all the sauce and overpowered all of the other flavors. Flatten, flatten, flatten!
Once you have the crust down you’re pretty much good to go! Let your imagination run wild with different sauces, cheeses, meats, veggies, etc. You really can’t go wrong with your favorites.
In the video I show you how to whip up several varieties; chicken, spinach, Alfredo (my favorite!), BBQ chicken, Philly cheesesteak (for the hubby) and of course regular old cheese (for Isaac)
That’s the beauty of french bread pizzas, you can totally throw together a pan of several varieties in a flash making these great for parties, lunch, dinner or last-minute get-togethers.
I HIGHLY recommend you make the Chicken Spinach Alfredo french bread pizza and the BBQ chicken french bread pizza! They are the best!
- Chicken Spinach Alfredo- Alfredo Sauce, chopped grilled chicken breast, baby spinach, white onions, mozzarella cheese
- BBQ Chicken Pizza- Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, chopped grilled chicken breast, onions, mozzarella cheese
- Cheesesteak Pizza- Marina sauce, shredded roast beef lunch meat, green bell peppers, onions, mozzarella cheese, and provolone
- Plain Cheese- Tomato Basil pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese
Watch me make these homemade french bread pizzas from start to finish!
Get the Recipe: French Bread Pizza (Variety)
Ingredients
- 1 loaf french bread
- 8 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese or extra sharp white cheese, grated
- Pizza toppings and sauce, see my video for the 4 different pizzas I made!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Slice the french bread right down the middle.
- Flatten out each piece by pressing it firmly with your hands.
- Mix together butter, garlic, olive oil and grated cheese in a bowl.
- Spread mixture evenly on both loaves of bread.
- Place bread on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted.
- Spread desired sauce onto the french bread, top with cheese and toppings.
- Bake for 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Serve hot!
Notes
Make sure to press the cut french bread down a bit so it's not to fluffy.
Some sauce will soak into the bread so slather it on thick!
Have fun!
About to try this for lunch. I will report back =)
thanks a lot …U made me hungry
Oh! And can you also tell me where you got your CUTE little pink brush from that you used to brush the garlic butter mixture onto the french bread? Thanks! 🙂
Hello Monique!
I have a quick question about this recipe for you. I am REALLY wanting to try this out since I absolutely LOVE french bread pizzas!!!! I don’t know if you’ve ever had this kind before, but Stoffer’s makes a really good french bread pizza that comes in different flavors such as cheese, pepperoni, veggie, or meat lover’s pizza that you can pick up in the freezer aisle at your local grocery store, which is pretty much how I found out that I LOVE THEM SO after giving them at try a while back! And while I do love their frozen, pre-made french bread pizzas that you can just heat up in the oven/toaster oven (give them a try one day, if you want, to see how they compare with your homemade french bread pizzas, or if you just want something that’s on hand and ready to go one day if you’re in a rush- since they are pretty tasty!!), I WOULD like to be able to customize my own french bread pizza (AND, of course, try out that delicious sounding Chicken Spinach Alfredo pizza of yours! But… here’s the problem, every time I go into my local grocery store and browse the bakery section in search of some french bread, all I can find is the kind that has already been baked up (I know this because I purchased this bread one day to see if I could still bake it in the oven and… when I tried cutting into it… it was as hard as a ROCK- definitely not as soft looking as your bread looked in the video! This ultimately led to me deciding NOT to try and bake this hard block of bread in the oven since I was worried that it would come out looking CHARRED or something… AND partly because it was just a BEAST to cut in half! Lol!) So, my question for you is, where can I purchase french bread that you can bake in the oven with? The kind that’s nice and soft (kind of like hot dog or hamburger buns)… Do I have to go to a professional bakery for that? And do you mind saying where you got your french bread from? Thanks! Oh, and I LOOOOOVVVVVEEEE all your videos by the way!!!!! They are SO helpful to a cooking novice like me and are ALWAYS so fun and helpful!!! Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time out to make these videos, girl!!! And please keep them coming!!!! God bless! 🙂
Hey I made these pizzas last night. All three of them and they were delicious. I have posted a picture of them on my instagram my name is simpliepie. Thanks for the great recipe.
That looks SOOOO good!! And the recipe is so simple! I gotta try this