Crusty French bread is topped with homemade meat sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoni and diced peppers. French Bread Pizza with Homemade Meat Sauce is an easy recipe to add to your Weekly Meal Plan.
This also happens to be an inexpensive dinner idea that you can easily customize with your family's favorite pizza toppings.
When I need an easy recipe for dinner on a busy weeknight, I love putting together this pizza with meat sauce recipe. All you need to put this meal together is a loaf of French bread, homemade meat sauce and your favorite pizza toppings.
I usually pick up a few loaves of French bread while I'm out shopping. They freeze great and come in handy when you need to put together dinner fast.
Table of Contents
Meat Sauce Pizza
I decided to keep this meal really simple by using a jar of my favorite marinara sauce and adding browned ground beef.
Looking for more Pizza Recipes? Try my Pizza Crescent Rolls, Air Fryer Pizza Monkey Bread and my Homemade Pizza Recipe. Yum!
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Main Ingredients Needed
- Ground beef
- Marinara sauce; or about 3 cups homemade sauce
- French bread
- Mozzarella cheese
- Diced green and red peppers
- Sliced pepperoni
- Italian seasoning
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Recipe Note: For this recipe, I used a 14 ounce loaf of bread from Walmart bakery. It was about 17 inches long.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1 | Marinara Meat Sauce
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground beef and Italian seasoning.
- Saute until the beef is no longer pink.
- Add the marinara sauce and simmer until the meat is cooked through; about another 15 minutes.
Recipe Note: Most likely you won't use all the homemade meat sauce. You'll need about 1 ½ cups of sauce for one loaf of French bread. The sauce freezes well or you could use the leftovers served over pasta for another meal later in the week.
Step 2 | Prepare the French Bread
- Slice the loaf of bread in half and place each half on a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper.
- Spread the meat sauce on top of the bread.
- Add the mozzarella cheese followed by the sliced pepperoni, diced peppers and whatever other toppings your family likes.
Step 3 | Baking Instructions
- Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.
- Serve immediately.
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Recipe Variations
You can change this recipe by using a different sauce for the bread. Try using a marinara sauce without the meat or an Alfredo sauce. You could even make this a barbecue pizza by using barbecue sauce.
Favorite Pizza Toppings
Add any of the following toppings to your French Bread Pizza:
- Diced cooked chicken
- Cooked crumbled Italian sausage
- Canadian bacon
- Mushrooms
- Olives
French Bread Pizza with Meat Sauce
French bread pizza with meat sauce is an easy and inexpensive recipe for dinner tonight. It's very easy to customize with your family's favorite pizza toppings!
Ingredients
- Loaf of French bread
- One jar marinara sauce; 16 ounce size
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- Favorite pizza toppings; sliced pepperoni, diced peppers, etc.
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground beef and Italian seasoning.
- Saute until the beef is no longer pink.
- Add the marinara sauce and simmer until the meat is cooked through; about another 15 minutes.
- Slice the loaf of bread in half and place each half on a baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper.
- Spread the meat sauce on top of both pieces of bread.
- Add the mozzarella cheese followed by the sliced pepperoni, diced peppers and whatever other toppings your family likes.
- Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.
- Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Notes
- For this recipe, I used a 14 ounce loaf of bread from Walmart bakery.
- Most likely you won't use all the homemade meat sauce. You'll need about 1 ½ cups of sauce for one loaf of French bread. The sauce freezes well or you could use the leftovers served over pasta for another meal later in the week.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 600Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 1154mgCarbohydrates: 50gFiber: 3gSugar: 9gProtein: 37g
The nutrition information is calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you, please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator.
This recipe has been updated since it first appeared in 2015 with new photos, information and a new printable recipe card that includes nutritional information. I hope you enjoy the updates as much as I enjoyed working on them!
Kathy says
I just made this tonight -- So easy, and delicious! Thank you!!
Lois says
Thank you so much for letting me know. Glad you enjoyed dinner!
Kathy says
I can't wait to try this (and some of your other) recipes! Thanks for your awesome blog!
Lois says
Thank YOU Kathy for a great comment. Made my morning to read this!
Linda Brown says
Good Morning Lois! I just now found your site when I googled homemade garlic spread.
SOOOO glad I found you.
I was wondering what you thought it would be like to lightly use your garlic spread & LIGHTLY toast the french bread & then make the Frenchbread Pizza?
(And for family night I would use Panera Breads Asiago Cheese Bread!!!)
Lois says
I think that sounds yummy! Let me know how it turns out. Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you again!
Carole says
Hi Lois, love this. Would you like to share this with the other participants in Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter? I have a weekly link up party – each week there is a different ingredient or theme. The current theme is Pizza!
You can see upcoming themes in one of the pages at the top of my home page. If you would like to join in the fun please schedule a reminder for each week. The collection starts at 7am Friday New Zealand time – which might be some time Thursday your time – I do find time zones quite confusing. Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Carole
Christine Graves says
That looks so good, pinning it!
Michelle James says
My family just loves french bread pizza & this looks delicious! While I was here I snagged your Peanut Butter Bar Recipe for Pinterest-yum!! Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Lindsay at Crazy Organized says
these look absolutely delicious! Trying out this weekend! thanks so much for sharing at Merry monday!
Charlene says
I remember my mom making french bread pizza growing up. It's so simple and delish. Thanks for sharing with us all #HOMEMATTERSLINKYPARTY
Morgan Wieboldt says
LOVE french bread pizza! My mom used ot make it all the time for a fast dinner. I never thought of using meat sauce instead of regular sauce!
Catherine says
Dear Lois, this is a quick and wonderful way to make pizza...I love this idea. Perfect for Friday movie night with the family. xoxo, Catherine
Pamela Bennett says
Used to make this recipe all the time when my kids were younger. It's also a great little recipe to get the kids involved in making their own. Thanks for sharing on The Living with Style Linky Party!
Down Sprigg Lane says
This looks so good!! I think I am going to serve this this weekend, yum. Visiting from Dream.Create.Inspire.
Allison Miller says
Yum this looks awesome. Love French bread pizza. Saw this over on Inspiration Monday's and had to stop by!
Shirsie says
Looks amazing. Definitely trying this.