Easy Pull-Apart Pizza Bread

Pizza Bread has all the flavors of pizza in a fun, pull-apart savory monkey bread. It is a simple appetizer that can be pulled together easily using either homemade or store-bought pizza dough to create a delicious, cheesy spin on pizza that everyone loves.

What is Pizza Bread?

This recipe for Pizza Bread is a savory spin on Monkey Bread made with pizza dough, pizza toppings, and served with a side of pizza sauce.

It bakes up into a pull-apart bread that features crispy edges and a soft, pillowy interior that is perfectly seasoned and oozing with cheese. Most importantly, pizza bread is downright delicious!

In fact, this Pizza Bread recipe is a favorite from my childhood that now my own children can't get enough of. And I am willing to bet this cheesy, gooey, pizza seasoned bread is bound to become a favorite at your house as well. Who doesn't love pizza?

Best Ingredients to Use

• Pizza Dough: Most recipes for Pizza Monkey Bread start with canned biscuits. However, if you want the BEST Pizza Bread, you need to ditch the biscuits and use pizza dough. The pizza dough will bake up so much softer and there is no canned biscuit taste, letting the flavors of pizza really shine through. I use 2 pounds of homemade pizza dough for this recipe, but feel free to use refrigerated premade pizza dough and this recipe will come together with hardly any effort.
• Cheese: For a super cheesy result, use both shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese for the recipe.
• Seasonings: To add pizza flavor to the pizza bread I add a combination of garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes.
• Garlic Oil: To impart additional flavor to the pizza, I brush the pan with garlic infused olive oil instead of simply using cooking spray. It is as easy as mixing olive oil with garlic powder and is a simple step that imparts a lot of flavor to the final result.
• Toppings: I often keep pizza bread simple and opt to omit additional toppings, however, feel free to add any of your favorite pizza toppings to the pizza dough mixture before baking. Pepperoni, cooked and crumbled Italian sausage, olives, and/or mushrooms are all great options.

How to Make Pizza Bread

Step One: Prepare Garlic Oil

• Mix together the olive oil and garlic powder together in a small bowl.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the inside of a large mixing bowl with the oil and set aside.
• Use the infused olive oil to grease a bundt pan or a 9x13 baking dish as well.

Step Two: Prepare Dough

• Roll or pat the prepared pizza dough out on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangular shape.
• Cut the dough into 1-inch cubes.
• Transfer the pizza dough cubes into oiled mixing bowl.

Step Three: Add Toppings

• Add the Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and garlic powder to the pizza dough cubes.
• Sprinkle with cheese and any other additional topping, like pepperoni, mushrooms, or sausage.
• Lightly toss everything together until the toppings are evenly distributed throughout the pizza dough.

Step Four: Form the Pizza Bread

• Evenly spread out the prepared dough in the greased baking dish.

At this point, it looks like a giant loaf of messy dough but once this pizza bread is baked, it will have nuggets of cheese and seasonings in every bite. Some of the cheese will get browned and crispy and some will stay creamy and gooey--it will have a little bit of everything!

Step Five: Bake

• Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and the let the dough rest as the oven preheats.
• Once preheated, remove the towel and bake the pizza bread until browned and the center of the dough is completely cooked through.

Step Six: Serve

• After allowing the pizza bread to cool slightly in the baking dish, invert the bundt pan on a serving platter and remove the pan.
• Serve with a side of pizza sauce or marinara, as an appetizer or pair with a salad for a kid-friendly meal.

More Cheesy Pizza Creations

• Pizza Meatloaf: This is NOT your average meatloaf. Instead, it is stuffed with cheese and flavored with pizza seasonings.
• Spinach Pizza: A white pizza made with gooey cheese and a layer of spinach. This is a great way to enjoy your greens.
• Pizza Rolls: Made with puff pastry, these bite-sized pizza rolls are buttery, cheesy, and perfect for parties.
• English Muffin Pizzas: This simple snack comes together in minutes and is always a hit with the kids!
• Air Fryer French Bread Pizza: You know those frozen french bread pizzas? You can make them at home in minutes that taste a million times better using this recipe.

This Pizza Bread is the BEST way to enjoy savory monkey bread. If you give it a try, I would love for you to leave a comment below!

This post was originally published in 2016 but has been updated with new pictures and tips in 2020.