Cooking with Kids: Quick and Easy Pizza Garlic Bread Recipe

This is easily the most requested--and the easiest--pizzas the girls and I make in our little corner of the world.  The girls love making them--and eating them.  We use this pizza garlic bread recipe for quick lunches, party appetizers, dinner, and sleepover snacks.  The crust is an inexpensive, bakery Italian Bread.  (Our local Kroger usually offers these loaves for $1 or less!) We top the bread with a homemade garlic butter, a little leftover pizza sauce or even pasta sauce, shredded Italian cheese and a hand full or two of the girls favorite pizza toppings.  This Pizza Garlic Bread is a fun "cooking with kids" project--and makes a perfect snow-day lunch if you've planned ahead and picked up a loaf of Italian Bread! 

Ingredients for our Pizza Garlic Bread Recipe
Garlic Butter Ingredients
1/2 c. Butter or Margarine, softened and whipped with a fork until smooth and spreadable
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 Large Loaf of Bakery Italian Bread (Sliced in half lengthwise)
1 c. Pizza Sauce or Marinara Sauce ( I use DelGrosso New York Style Pizza Sauce
Pizza Toppings of Choice  (Pepperoni, Sausage, Black Olives, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Onions, etc.)
 

Instructions for our Pizza Garlic Bread Recipe
Preheat the Oven & Prepare your Baking Sheet.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  I generally line a pizza pan or cookie sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.

Mix up the Garlic Butter.  This is my go-to garlic butter for making garlic bread for any Italian dinner.  Combine the butter, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning in a small bowl.   Spread 1/2 of the garlic butter onto each bread half.  Place the buttered, Italian bread onto baking sheets and bake for about 5-7 minutes or until the garlic butter has melted into the bread.  (If you just want an awesome garlic bread--bake for a full 10 minutes and stop here with the recipe!)


Set up a Pizza Making Station for the Kids.  I LOVE this recipe--because we can make these pizzas with leftovers.  A few slices of pepperoni, a 1/4 cup of sausage, fresh onions, tomatoes, peppers....I simply pull out some random ingredients, put them into bowls or onto plates-- and the kids are able to create their pizzas.

Top the Garlic Bread with Sauce and Toppings.  Divide the pizza sauce between the two slices of Italian bread and spread evenly over the bread.  You can adjust the sauce to your taste--using more or less to your liking.  Top the sauce with shredded cheese and desired toppings.

Bake and Serve.  Bake the Pizza Garlic Bread for an additional 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  We like to cut these pizzas into slices with a sharp knife and serve with extra pizza sauce or marinara sauce for dipping.  (Kids love dip-able meals!)

Disclosure:  We were not compensated for this post.  However, our posts do frequently contain affiliate links from which we may receive slight compensation.