30 Minute Garlic Bread Pizza

This super easy garlic bread pizza recipe is unique, delicious, and comes together in under 30 minutes! Loaded with quick homemade garlic butter, store-bought pizza sauce, and melty cheese, this simple recipe is the perfect movie night meal or shareable party appetizer. 

 

You Will Love This

• It’s quick and easy! I’m sure you’re thinking – I can just buy garlic bread from the store, why would I want to make my own?! I hear you, but making your own at home means you know exactly what’s in it! Leave the preservatives in that box of Texas Toast behind and throw together this 3 ingredient garlic butter instead!
• You can adjust the garlic and other ingredients to suit your taste! This is a seriously family friendly recipe and the best part is you can adjust the garlic level depending on what your family likes. There’s no such thing as too much garlic in our family 🙂 You can also switch up the toppings and add whatever you’ve got leftover in the fridge. Use this garlic bread recipe as blueprint and have fun with it!
• This garlic toast pizza is such a great recipe because it can be an appetizer, side dish, or the main event – it’s just that versatile. I like to serve it alongside my Jalapeno Popper Potato Skins, Easy Loaded Fries, and Chili Lime Meatballs for a game day snack spread that’s a total crowd pleaser! But it’s easy enough for a simple weeknight dinner as well!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• French Bread – Buying a large loaf of French bread in the store is the easiest option and saves some time. But if you have a favorite Italian or French bread recipe, feel free to make your own!
• Butter – This garlic butter really tastes best when made with real butter. I prefer unsalted so that I can adjust the sodium levels myself.
• Fresh Parsley – Fresh parsley is going to give you the best flavor for this dish. If you’ve only got dried parsley on hand, feel free to use that but I’d recommend using about 2 tablespoons of dried in place of the fresh as the flavor is much more concentrated.
• Garlic – Fresh garlic gives the best flavor, but if you only have garlic powder, that will work too. I’d recommend about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of the fresh garlic in this recipe.
• Pizza Sauce – Most pizza sauce is made with canned tomatoes along with Italian herbs and spices. If you don’t have a jar of sauce in the cupboard, marinara is another great option, although the consistency is slightly thinner.
• Mozzarella Cheese – I love a classic block of whole milk mozzarella, shredded at home with a cheese grater for this pizza recipe – it’s got just the right amount of moisture. Otherwise, store-bought shredded mozzarella will work as well.
• Pepperoni – We love pepperoni in our house, but feel free to use whatever pizza toppings you like the most!

Instructions

Add butter, parsley, garlic, and a large pinch of salt and pepper to a small bowl.

Mix until well combined. 

Place bread on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Spread garlic butter mixture in an even layer across the cut side of each piece of bread.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Divide pizza sauce evenly between bread.

Add cheese.

Then add pepperoni.

Bake for another 15-20 minutes. Broil for 1-2 minutes if desired. Allow to cool for a couple minutes, slice, garnish, and serve with a little bit of pizza sauce or ranch on the side for dipping!

Tips

• Remember that the garlic flavor will mellow a bit as the garlic bread bakes in the oven, so if the garlic butter seems super garlicky, that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be! The garlic butter is going to add a delicious layer of flavor underneath the classic pizza flavors, so don’t skimp on the garlic!
• Save yourself time and energy by putting the garlic, parsley, and butter in the food processor. The food processor will mince the garlic and parsley while combining it with the butter for a really smooth, easily spreadable garlic butter.

Best Bread for Garlic Bread Pizza

You can use any kind of bread that you have on hand – just make sure it’s sturdy bread so that it can stand up to all the toppings. Since we are replacing the pizza dough that you normally make pizza with, you’ll want to find a loaf of bread that has a thick, crispy crust on the outside. Bread that would work well include:

• French baguette
• Boule
• Italian loaf or country loaf
• Ciabatta

Favorite Pizza Toppings

Use any of your favorite toppings for this garlic bread pizza:

• diced red onion
• diced bell peppers
• black or green olives
• sliced mushrooms
• Italian sausage
• crispy bacon
• cubed ham
• pineapple
• sliced tomato
• fresh basil

Make Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

• Make Ahead: This is a great make ahead recipe! You can make the garlic bread portion ahead of time and seal it in tin foil for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to bake just follow recipe instructions as directed in the recipe card. Be aware though, that fresh garlic is going to make your fridge smell quite garlicky as it sits!
• Storage: Store the left over garlic bread pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week!
• Freezing: If you’d like to freeze this recipe, I recommend freezing just the garlic bread, without the toppings. To freeze garlic bread, prep according to recipe instructions but before baking, wrap in tin foil and seal in a Ziploc freezer bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Either thaw frozen garlic bread overnight in the fridge and then bake according to recipe directions. Or leave the garlic bread wrapped in tin foil and bake from frozen at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes (or until garlic bread is crispy). Then add sauce, cheese, and toppings and continue baking according to recipe directions!
• Reheating: The best way to reheat this recipe is to place the pizza garlic bread on a baking sheet in the oven at 300 degrees until warmed through or until the cheese has melted again. I like to reheat the leftovers in the air fryer too!

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