Taylor Ann Spencer is a food writer and recipe developer with a passion for focaccia, apples, and plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt (don’t judge!). When she’s not working as a line cook, she’s at home dreaming up or testing new recipes.
Looking for a fun, easy twist on homemade pizza? Skip the dough and use frozen garlic bread instead. Taking advantage of a grocery store staple, this playful mash-up promises the saucy cheesy goodness of your favorite pizza, all atop a super-soft, garlic buttery base. Crusts will never be thrown out again.
Baking the garlic bread before adding the pizza toppings ensures a crispy base and maximum garlicky flavor from the bread’s signature topping, while broiling the topped pizza mimics the high heat of a professional pizza oven, producing crispy pepperoni and bubbling caramelized cheese.
Read on for more tips and information on this fun pizza hack. Hungry for more garlic butter? Check out our garlic knots.
Why are we making our own pizza sauce?
Quite honestly, most store-bought pizza sauce isn’t great, and when a dish is primarily composed of three things (garlic bread, sauce, and cheese), it’s worth a little extra effort to be sure all three components are as delicious as possible. This pizza sauce recipe takes 30 minutes, and while it makes more sauce that you’ll need for this recipe, you can store the extra in the refrigerator for up to a week ('til the next pizza night!) or freeze it for future use.
Can I use unfrozen prepackaged garlic bread for this? What if my loaf is a different size?
We tested this recipe with a 10-ounce loaf of frozen garlic bread, but you can absolutely use a fresh deli-made garlic bread loaf. You’ll probably want to adjust the initial cooking time on the garlic bread—it should be crispy on the bottom and sides but not tough before you top it. And if your loaf is a full pound, you’ll need closer to 3/4 cup pizza sauce and 1 2/3 cups mozzarella to give your pizzas that perfect even topping.
Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
- Yields:
- 4 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 5 mins
- Total Time:
- 55 mins
Ingredients
Pizza Sauce
- 1
(28-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 tbsp.
extra-virgin olive oil
- 3
cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp.
tomato paste
- 1 tsp.
(or more) kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp.
dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp.
crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp.
granulated sugar (optional)
Garlic Bread Pizza
- 1
(10-oz) loaf frozen garlic bread, halved lengthwise if needed
- 1 c.
shredded mozzarella
- 14
pepperoni slices
- 2 tbsp.
grated Parmesan
- 1/2 tsp.
crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
Pizza Sauce
- Step 1In a blender or food processor, purée tomatoes until mostly smooth.
- Step 2In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until darkened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add puréed tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thickened and reduced by about one-third, 20 to 25 minutes. Taste and season with salt and granulated sugar for sweetness, if needed. Let cool to room temperature.
- Step 3Make Ahead: Pizza sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container and refrigerate, or freeze up to 1 month.
Garlic Bread Pizza
- Step 1Preheat oven to 425°. On a large baking sheet, arrange bread halves garlic side up.
- Step 2Bake bread until warmed through and crisp on the sides and bottom, 9 to 11 minutes.
- Step 3Spread each garlic bread half with 1/4 cup pizza sauce. Top with mozzarella, then pepperoni and Parmesan.
- Step 4Heat broiler. Broil bread until cheese is bubbling and browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 5Top with red pepper flakes, if using. Slice and serve.