Discover the greatest snack.
French bread pizza is a snack-meal hybrid. Double it for supper. This recipe is versatile. Pizza cravings may be satisfied in 30 minutes without messy dough.
Best Bread Type?
Bread makes or breaks a French bread pizza. We want bread with structure, tight crumb, and light crust. Too soft bread becomes sloppy, too many holes make it lumpy, and too crusty bread is hard to chew.
Many people use baguettes since “French bread” is in the name, but that’s a mistake. Long, thin, chewy, and crusty baguettes are fantastic for many things, but not French bread pizza.
You want a soft, squishy French loaf (sometimes called an Italian loaf). The broader loaf will yield a crisp exterior and a soft, easy-to-eat core, as well as additional sauce and cheese coverage. Use a day-old or fresh French bread.
The Sauce
I think good canned tomatoes, salt, garlic, and olive oil make the tastiest pizza sauces. However, because this French bread pizza has few toppings, I added dried oregano and chile flakes.
Use store-bought or leftover tomato or pizza sauce instead. Store-bought sauce should be tomato basil.
Avoiding Soggy French Bread Pizza
Toasting French bread before topping it prevents it from becoming soggy. In this dish, toasting produces a crisp surface to press garlic on for taste and enables the sauce to slowly soak in without getting mushy.
After toasting and garlic-rubbing your bread, put some sauce on top and save the rest for dipping. If you’re concerned about your pizza becoming soggy, forgo the sauce and dip the cheesy bread in warm tomato sauce.
More French Bread Pizza Toppings
Keep French bread pizza toppings small, light, and dry. Try these:
Pepperoni—regular or mini
Red onion or bell pepper slices
cooked sausage
sliced olives
Cooked, drained mushrooms
Pineapple with Canadian bacon
fried bacon
Sun-dried tomatoes chopped
Shredded barbecue or rotisserie chicken
Shredded Parmesan
Ultimate French Bread Pizza
PREP TIME
5-minute cook time
15-minute total
20 mins
4 portions
Ingredients
14-ounce French bread
4-tablespoon room-temperature butter
Extra olive oil for finishing
1 cup crushed tomatoes (1/2 a 14-ounce can)
1 finely grated and 1 whole garlic clove
dried oregano
chili flakes
Tasteful kosher salt
4 1/2-ounce fresh mozzarella
Basil sprig
Ultimate French Bread Pizza
5 minutes.
15 minutes.
20 minutes
4 portions
Ingredients
14-ounce French bread
4-tablespoon room-temperature butter
Extra olive oil for finishing
1 cup crushed tomatoes (1/2 a 14-ounce can)
1 finely grated and 1 whole garlic clove
dried oregano
chili flakes
Tasteful kosher salt
4 1/2-ounce fresh mozzarella
Basil sprig
Prepare toppings:
Crush tomatoes in a small basin. Mix the garlic, oregano, chili flakes, and salt. Hand-rip mozzarella cheese into big pieces. Set aside basil leaves.
Add toppings:
Rub the cut side of each toasted bread with the entire garlic clove. Depending on sauciness, spread 2–4 tablespoons of tomato sauce on each piece of toasted bread.
Easy tip!
Warm additional tomato sauce for dipping.
Spread mozzarella cheese evenly over the pizzas and sprinkle with olive oil.
Bake:
8–10 minutes on the middle rack at 450°F will melt and brown the cheese. If wanted, broil them on top. Watch out for burning bread.
Serve:
Season with salt and let cool before adding basil. Serve slices.
Wrap leftovers in tin foil and refrigerate for two days. Unwrap and reheat at 400°F for 8 minutes.