French Bread Pizza Recipe
This oven-baked French Bread Pizza recipe is easy to make with your favorite toppings! It has a secret buttery garlic herb spread and stays perfectly crispy and crunchy.
(BEST!) French Bread Pizza
French Bread Pizza seems simple enough without necessarily needing a recipe, but this technique makes such a difference in the final outcome. The flavor is nice and cohesive, and there’s no soggy bread! It’s almost like a combination of garlic bread and pizza.
The key is to heat up a little butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and a hint of salt in a small skillet, and brush it right onto the bread, sprinkle it with a little Parmesan cheese, and toast it in the oven. This creates a barrier between the bread and the sauce which ensures that every bite is crispy and super flavorful.
Don’t miss my pro tips below, and be sure to grab a big ol’ loaf for your next pizza night at home!
How to Make It
Note: This is an overview. See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Heat butter, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Brush over sliced French Bread and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425° for 6-7 minutes. Remove and top with pizza sauce.
Add shredded mozzarella and pepperoni or toppings of choice. Bake again for 10-13 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sides are brown. Slice and serve!
Pro Tips
- Bread: Choose a large, light and airy loaf that’s nice and round vs. a crusty loaf. (See visual above.)
- Mozzarella: Use low moisture, whole milk mozzarella for this recipe. (Don’t use fresh.) Shred it from a block vs. using packaged shredded cheese so that it melts well. I use Galbani or Dragone.
- Pepperoni: I keep packaged/sliced pepperoni in my freezer so that it stays good for a long time and I always have it on hand! You can take the slices out of the freezer when you start preparing your pizza.
- Sauce: You can’t go wrong with Rao’s Pizza Sauce, however Ragu is much cheaper and honestly, I love it.
Storage
- Let leftovers cool completely and wrap in foil or an airtight freezer bag. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- To reheat, bake on a baking sheet at 350° for 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is warm and melty again.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links*)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Large, light-colored baking sheet– This is the one I have.
- Garlic Twister– Fresh garlic makes a big difference here vs. the jarred stuff. This tool makes it easy to mince and the twister is easy to clean. (I love mine!)
- Box Cheese Grater– Shred your own mozzarella from a block so that it melts well!
- Pizza Slicer– For nice clean slices!
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Try These Next
- Beefaroni
- Pasta Primavera
- Meatball Pasta
- Stromboli
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Chicken Spinach Pasta
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Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

French Bread Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French Bread, about 1lb, 20-21 inches long
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups pizza sauce
- 2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, see notes
- 25 pepperoni slices, or toppings of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Cut the loaf of bread in half lengthwise, then cut each slice in half. Place on top of a large, light-colored baking sheet.
- Add the olive oil to a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, garlic, oregano, and salt and heat through for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Decrease heat slightly if needed. Remove from heat.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the top of each slice with the olive oil/butter mixture (be sure to get the edges), and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and top with sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni or topping(s) of choice. Return to the oven and bake for 10-13 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges are brown and crisp. If desired, broil at 450° F for 1 minute or so to brown the top a little more, watch it closely during this time.
- Slice and serve warm!
Notes
- Bread: Choose a large, light and airy loaf that's nice and round vs. a crusty loaf. (See visual above.)
- Mozzarella: Use low moisture, whole milk mozzarella for this recipe. (Don't use fresh.) Shred it from a block vs. using packaged shredded cheese so that it melts well. I use Galbani or Dragone.
- Pepperoni: I keep packaged/sliced pepperoni in my freezer so that it stays good for a long time and I always have it on hand! You can take the slices out of the freezer when you start preparing your pizza.
- Sauce: You can't go wrong with Rao's Pizza Sauce, however Ragu is much cheaper and honestly, I love it.
Storage
- Let leftovers cool completely and wrap in foil or an airtight freezer bag. Refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- To reheat, bake on a baking sheet at 350° for 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is warm and melty again.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per pizza. This recipe makes 4 pizzas (each pizza is quite large, about 10-inches long).
Love all of your delicious recipes 😋 ‼️
I’m SO happy to hear that! Thank you so much Danielle!! 🙂
I LOVE your recipes!! I was interested in the garlic twister you mentioned but when you click on your link, it sends you to the cheese shredder. Please make a correction so I can get the one you use.
Thanks and you have turned me into a decent cook. That really is kind of sad since I am 70! Ha!
Hi Vickie! I am sooooo happy to hear that you’re loving my recipes!!! Thank you for letting me know about the garlic twister link! I’ve corrected it! It makes mincing super easy. Thank you so much for your support and I’ll keep the recipes coming!! 🙌🏻❤️
I’ve never made pizza at home before that didn’t come from a box in the freezer, so wasn’t sure what to expect for these. No surprise, since the recipe came from your site, but they were so amazing! I can’t believe how easy and delicious they were! Even the first step, where the bread was toasting with the garlic butter mix, had the kitchen smelling so yummy. The brothers both came walking in to see what was cooking because their pizza-senses were tingling. Ha. I used some of the ingredient toppings you listed on your other pizza recipes, so besides the pepperoni one, I did a Supreme (pepperoni, sausage, olives, mushrooms and green peppers) Hawaiian (ham bacon red onion and pineapple) and your Buffalo chicken one. The French bread was such a good base for all if it. We loved the crunchiness of it. It made some seriously heavy and filling pizzas! Can’t wait to make it again!
Oh wow I love your pizza topping choices, especially the Hawaiian!!! I’m so happy it was all such a success Lexie! Thanks so much for the great comments!❤️❤️❤️