These garlic bread pizzas are easy to customize and incredibly delicious. Roasted garlic butter is spread on French bread, then toasted and piled high with your favorite pizza toppings. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Pizza Friday!
These garlic bread pizzas start with roasted garlic butter, crisped French bread and whatever toppings you love.
Simple, cheesy and a huge crowd-pleaser—especially with kids.
This is one of our favorite fun meals to make at home.
I know French bread pizza isn’t new—I’ve shared versions here before—but making roasted garlic butter, turning it into garlic bread, then adding pizza toppings takes it up a notch.
If you want a delicious, easy meal for a busy weeknight, a relaxed Friday evening, or a house full of kids and friends, this is it.
The garlic butter gives the bread a big flavor boost, making these pizzas taste far better than the frozen kind.
Confession: I lived on frozen French bread pizza as a tween—this is the grown-up, way-better version.
Let’s get started with the garlic bread. There are a few ways to make the garlic component:
- Roast whole garlic heads, squeeze the caramelized cloves into softened butter and mash. This takes about an hour but can be done ahead of time and yields the most flavor. This method is used in the recipe below.
- If you have garlic confit prepared, mash the confit into butter for an easy shortcut.
- In a pinch, mince raw garlic and mix it into the butter. It works, but won’t have the same caramelized sweetness as roasted garlic.
Spread the garlic butter on the sliced French bread and bake briefly to melt the butter and crisp the edges. Then add your toppings and finish baking until the cheese is melted and the bread is crunchy.
Our favorite combination is fresh mozzarella, marinara, pepperoni and sliced sweet peppers, but these are endlessly customizable—use whatever you and your family prefer.
I’ve made many French bread pizzas over the years—from butternut squash to buffalo chicken and BBQ chicken—because it’s a great way to make individual pizzas and let everyone top their own.
It’s fun for the whole family and perfect for nights when you want something comforting without a lot of fuss.
Garlic Bread Pizza
Garlic Bread Pizza
4 to 6
1 hr
20 mins
1 hr 20 mins
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- kosher salt
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 16 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
- ½ cup pepperoni
- ½ cup sliced sweet peppers
- crushed red pepper flakes, for topping
- parmesan cheese, for topping
- fresh basil, for topping
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. To roast the garlic, slice the top off each head to expose the cloves, remove loose papery skin, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, wrap tightly in foil and roast 45–60 minutes, until cloves are golden and caramelized. Let cool slightly.
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Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
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Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the softened butter, add a pinch of kosher salt and mash until fully combined.
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Slice the French bread in half lengthwise (and into smaller pieces if desired). Place cut sides up on a baking sheet and spread the garlic butter evenly over the bread.
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Bake the bread 8–10 minutes, until slightly golden and the garlic butter has melted into the bread.
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Remove the bread from the oven. Top with marinara, sliced fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, peppers or any toppings you like.
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Return to the oven and bake another 12–15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bread is crisp.
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Finish with a sprinkle of parmesan, fresh basil and crushed red pepper if desired. Slice and serve.
Favorite meal forever.