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.

Prep Time15

Cook Time13

Total Time28

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: Pizzas

Calories: 775kcal

Author: Stephanie

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

US Customary - Metric

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

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.

Nutritional information is an estimate and is per pizza. This recipe makes 4 pizzas (each pizza is quite large, about 10-inches long).

Nutrition