This Bread and Butter Pizza is delicious and easy to make; it is a no-dough pizza hack that will give you a pizza reminiscent of Detroit-style pizza. The crunchy, buttery crust you end up with makes for a satisfying slice!
Don’t let the name fool you; Bread and Butter Pizza does NOT have bread and butter pickles (thankfully!), but it is a pizza hack. I love it because it’s one where you don’t have to have pizza dough ready. It is also a fantastic way to use up leftover French or Italian bread. I think you’ll love the ease and tastiness of this Bread and Butter Pizza!
Ingredients for Bread and Butter Pizza
- 6 slices of stale French or Italian bread, cut into ½” thick slices
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, brought to room temperature
- ½ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2/3 cup pizza sauce
- Your toppings of choice. We did three different varieties: Cheese and tomato, salami, and yellow bell pepper. (You’ll want 1-2 ounces of toppings, depending on what you choose. You do not want to put too much on your slices and overload them. Just a few tasty bites on each piece of bread will do the trick)!
- Basil leaves in a chiffonade cut to top the pizza (optional)
How to Make Bread and Butter Pizza
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
This pizza hack couldn’t be easier, and it’s got a little hack on top of the recipe: You’ll want to line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put a dab of butter in each corner of the cookie sheet before laying the parchment down. It will keep the paper in place. You can also use tinfoil if you don’t have parchment paper.
After your parchment paper is in place, spread half the butter equally over one side of the slices.
After that, lightly press each piece of bread into the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (reserve about 1 tablespoon for later). Turn the pieces over so the cheese side is down on the cookie sheet.
Spread the second half of the butter equally over the other side of the slices. Make sure the slices are back on the prepared baking sheet, cheese side down.
Top your slices with your pizza sauce of choice (on top of the butter); we used our Best Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce Recipe.
This step may seem wrong, but I promise it is correct! Bake the slices before topping the bread with cheese or toppings for 10 minutes. (It will only have butter and sauce on the top side). It helps bake the sauce onto the bread and keeps it from getting soggy.
Take the bread out and top it with the reserved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, your toppings of choice, and the Mozzarella; be careful not to overload your slices!
Bake until the cheese is melted and the bottom crust is crispy and browned, 10 to 12 minutes more.
Remove pizzas from the oven, and let rest for 3-5 minutes before eating.
Top with basil that has been washed, dried, and cut chiffonade style.
It is simple to cut basil in a chiffonade. Here are the steps:
- Using kitchen shears, trim the stems off.
- Stack the basil leaves from big to small, face-down. I don’t like to do more than 6 or 7 per stack.
- Roll the stack width or length-wise.
- Slice through the stack with a sharp knife or cut using your kitchen shears.
- Separate the ribbons!
Check out this video from Le Cordon Bleu if you want to see a chiffonade cut example.
Substitutions and Variations for Bread and Butter Pizza
You can do so many substitutions and variations with Bread and Butter Pizza! You can pick any sauce or toppings you like! You can also try different cheeses. If you want a Hot Chicken Pizza but don’t have time for our full Nashville Hot Chicken Pizza Recipe, a Hot Chicken Bread and Butter Pizza would be delicious! Cut up fried chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces (or use nuggets, although depending on the size, you may still need to cut them in half or thirds) and coat with your favorite hot sauce, making sure to add a dash of brown sugar and cayenne to the sauce before tossing to coat the chicken! It isn’t authentic Nashville Hot Chicken, but it will be reminiscent and be a tasty and yummy Bread and Butter Pizza slice!
Additional Tips for Making Bread and Butter Pizza
The Bread and Butter Pizza is easy to make and a super pizza hack when you’re in a rush. But, it does require you to use stale, not fresh, French or Italian bread. It works perfectly with a loaf from dinner the night before. I slice it the night before and wrap it loosely so all sides get exposed to the air, helping it dry out. If you only have fresh bread, you can dry out your bread. Cut into ½” thick slices and place it standing up on a baking tray, and put it in an oven preheated to 300 degrees. Keep a close eye on the bread and take them out until they are slightly dry, in about 10-15 minutes. You do not want the bread to be brown, just slightly toasty. Cool before making your Bread and Butter Pizza.
When making Bread and Butter Pizza, try to slice your bread as evenly as possible. You want it to lie flat on the baking sheet so it gets nice and evenly brown. If one side is more even, use the flatter side for the butter and initial Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese sprinkling (the side face down that is on the baking sheet).
How to Store Bread and Butter Pizza
If it doesn’t get eaten immediately (which is a possibility!), let it cool, but place it in the fridge within 2 hours. You can wrap it in tin foil or use a storage container. Eat within 4 days after refrigerating.
How to Reheat Bread and Butter Pizza
Possibly the only downfall to reheating this pizza hack is you’ll lose some of the lovely crispiness you worked so hard to achieve! To get some of it back, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place slices on a pizza stone or pizza pan for about 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can warm up in a skillet on the stovetop or in a toaster oven. Whichever method you choose, check after 5 minutes to ensure your cheesy bottom isn’t burning.
Bread and Butter Pizza
Ingredients
- 6 slices French bread (or Italian bread) stale and cut into ½” thick slices.
- 6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter Brought to room temperature
- ½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Finely grated
- ⅔ cup Pizza Sauce
- 1 oz Your toppings of choice Amount may vary depending on what toppings you choose.
- 1 tsp Basil Chiffonade cut (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put a dab of butter in each corner of the cookie sheet before laying the parchment down. It will keep the paper in place. You can also use tinfoil if you don’t have parchment paper.
- After your parchment paper is in place, spread half the butter equally over one side of the slices. Set the slices on the prepared baking sheet.
- Lightly press each piece of bread into the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (reserve about 1 tablespoon for later). Turn the pieces over so the cheese side is down on the cookie sheet.
- Spread the second half of the butter equally over the other side of the slices.
- Top your slices with your pizza sauce of choice (on top of the butter); we used our Best Authentic Neapolitan Pizza Sauce Recipe.
- Bake the slices before topping the bread with cheese or toppings for 10 minutes. (It will only have butter and sauce on the top side).
- Take the bread out and top it with the reserved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, your toppings of choice, and the Mozzarella.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and the bottom crust is crispy and browned, 10 to 12 minutes more.
- Remove pizzas from the oven.
- Let sit 3-5 minutes before eating.
- Top with basil that has been washed, dried, and cut chiffonade style (optional).
Notes
Nutrition
Heather is a passionate culinary enthusiast who has honed her baking and cooking skills since she was a young girl. Her culinary journey started in the kitchens of her mom, dad, aunt, and grandma. Even though Heather loves the comfort of a familiar recipe, she often embraces the role of an explorer in the kitchen and enjoys experimenting with new techniques and ingredients.