Pizza Boats
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Need an easy, fast, family-friendly dinner recipe? Homemade pizza boats are easy to customize to your taste and perfect for parties, busy weeknights, or anytime!
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Do you ever get tired of making the same old dinners over and over and over? Switch it up with these fun pizza boats!
I love pizza so these easy French bread pizzas are one of my favorite ways to surprise my kids with a fun dinner. They take less than 30 minutes start to finish and each family member can customize them to their own taste.
Ingredients
- French bread
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- marinara or pizza sauce
- mozzarella cheese
- pepperoni or toppings of your choice
Step by step
- Preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the French bread in half horizontally and lay each side cut side up on the baking sheet.
- In a small bowl combine the olive oil and garlic powder. Brush the top of the bread with the mixture and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and top with the marinara sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly toasted.
- Enjoy!
Topping ideas & variations
- meats: pepperoni, ground sausage, crumbled bacon, diced ham, anchovies
- veggies/fruit: bell peppers, chopped red onions, mushrooms, olives, pineapple, spinach
- Hawaiian pizza: pineapple and ham cubes
- Meat lovers pizza: mini pepperoni, bacon, ham, sausage
- White pizza: Substitute garlic butter or pesto for the marinara if you prefer a pizza with no tomatoes!
- Low carb: Make healthy zucchini pizza boats instead! Slice lengthwise and scoop out the middle flesh. Fill with sauce and toppings and bake 15-20 minutes.
Love pizza? Try these pizza-stuffed waffles or sugar cookie “pizzas!”
FAQs
Bake the bread brushed with olive oil and garlic powder for ten minutes then bake an additional 5-10 minutes after adding the toppings. If you want to skip the olive oil step and add toppings right away bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly toasted.
This is such a common question!
Traditionally pepperoni is placed on top of the cheese allowing it to crisp as it cooks and release grease (flavor!) over the cheese.
I like to add the pepperoni over the cheese but then sprinkle a little bit more cheese over my toppings, it’s all personal preference!
If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
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Pizza Boats
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Need an easy, fast, family-friendly dinner recipe? Homemade pizza boats are easy to customize to your taste and perfect for parties, busy weeknights, or anytime!
Ingredients
- French or Italian bread (wide and soft bread works best)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (or more to taste)
- pepperoni or toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper if desired.
- Slice loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Place cut side up on prepared baking pan.
- In a small bowl, combine olive oil and garlic powder. Brush mixture over the cut sides of the bread.
- Bake for 10 minutes.Â
- Remove from oven and top with marinara and toppings, covering all the way to the edges of the bread. Return to oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly crisp.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: main course
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/3 pizza boat
- Calories: 672
- Sugar: 4.5 g
- Sodium: 1862.7 mg
- Fat: 44.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.1 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 27.9 g
- Cholesterol: 73 mg
