pepperoni pizza loaf;
Originally published May 24, 2017. Updated for clarity and content February 21, 2021.
What’s better than homemade bread straight from the oven? Homemade bread stuffed with all the pizza toppings you could want and THEN dunked in marinara. This pizza loaf is delicious, if I do say so myself. You will be making the bread from scratch, so it takes a little work and a little patience. But let me tell you, it’s worth it! Because it takes some time for the bread to rise, I find this a great appetizer for game day. It lets you get a head start on making this tasty bread, but then lets you switch focus to prepping some other snacks if you so choose.
This pizza bread plays on a pizza supreme–minus the olives, because I don’t personally like olives. Of course, if you’re a fan, add some chopped olives back in! I don’t actually dislike all olives, I just find that they very often overpower the other flavors, and I didn’t want to do that here. That, and opening a can of olives or attempting to buy 5-10 seems kinda silly. As always, you do you! If you’re a supreme pizza lover and can’t imagine this loaf with out them, then by all means add them in. But I find the peppers and pepperonis and sundried tomatoes are plenty to get the pizza feel going in this pizza loaf.
I will say, the more cheese the better. Of course you need some mozzarella, but I usually like to sprinkle the top with parmesan for a little extra punch of flavor. Would it even count as pizza bread without strings of ooey gooey cheese? If you have extra grated cheese, be sure to throw it in!
I’ve also used both mini pepperoni or just chopped up full sized pepperoni for this recipe. The mini ones are cute, but you can’t always find them. I also prefer turkey pepperoni. It tends to have less fat, and I find that I don’t miss it. The flavor is still delicious and I can feel like I making good choices. If you’re looking to make this vegetarian-friendly, then leave out the pepperoni entirely. This can still be delicious and hearty even without the pepperonis. However, in this meat-eating household, I wouldn’t dare to leave them out. I think it just adds to the “pizza” in pizza loaf.
Secrets to Success
- I recommend chopping up everything for the pizza loaf ahead of time. It’s surprising how long it takes to chop all the different ingredients, but it’s so worth it in the end. You’ll have some leftovers as well, since this recipe only calls for about ¼ cup of each of the “toppings”. For the peppers, I recommend making stuffed peppers, pepperoni can be saved for other pizzas or just eaten straight, and sundried tomatoes should keep in the fridge long term.
- Serve with warmed up marinara sauce! It really rounds out the pizza loaf, and the loaf itself is a little on the dense side since it’s laden down with all those topping goodies. So dipping the pizza loaf in a sauce just rounds out the pizza experience.
- To make this pizza loaf vegetarian–just drop the pepperonis! Serve them on the side if you have a mix of herbivories and carnivores. Additionally, if you like olives on your pizza, you can add them in, but I personally can find them overwhelming on pizzas and therefore in this loaf.
Looking for other great game-day apps?
- I love these perfectly poppable pretzel bites, especially served with homemade white cheddar cheese sauce.
- For sweet, go with this caramel apple baked brie.
- Slow cooker meatballs are a great way to feed a crowd with minimal effort.
pizza loaf;
Ingredients
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1½ cups warm water
- 3⅓ cups flour
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup diced pepperoni (20-30 full sized, or you could use mini pepperonis instead)
- ¼ cup diced red pepper
- ¼ cup diced green pepper
- ¼ cup diced sundried tomatoes
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 3 Tbsp garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- Add yeast to warm water and allow to sit and bloom for about 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop the toppings: pepperoni, green and red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and remove to a plate. (If you’d like to use olives, chop them as well.)
- In a large bowl add flour, salt, and sugar, then mix to even out the mixture. Pour in the yeast and with a fork, mix until just combined.
- Add pizza toppings and parmesan cheese and mix together to make a tacky dough.
- Cover with a damp paper towel and let rise in the bowl 1 hour. Then remove to fridge and let rise another hour.
- Grate the parmesan and mince garlic. Once the dough has risen, roll out onto a floured surface until about ½” thick. Sprinkle mozzarella over the middle and mix in garlic.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Halfway through, spray with cooking spray. Then rest before slicing.
2 Comments
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August 4, 2023 at 7:04 am
[…] an American staple. Take your favorite pizza toppings and stuff them into this delicious appetizer pizza loaf. Serve with marinara sauce for a new take on […]
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June 8, 2024 at 11:03 am
[…] and serve pasta sauce for dipping! (Or if you’re willing to work a little harder, try this pepperoni pizza loaf). Or go a Mexican theme and grab some cheddar cheese and stuff some grilled corn kernels (I like […]