French Bread Taco Pizza takes a loaf of French bread, loads it up with taco-seasoned meat, lots of cheese, and finishes it off with your favorite taco toppings.
This French Bread Taco Pizza is part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. Click here to see all the recipes in the series!
French Bread Taco Pizza
This recipe is a flash-back to a recipe my mom used to make frequently when I was growing up; in fact, this is the second French Bread Pizza recipe to hit this site and I am wondering how there haven’t been a dozen more pizza variations shared — they’re ridiculously easy to make and such a fun change-up from your typical pizza!
Today we’ve loading up French bread with taco-seasoned ground beef, lots of melted cheese, and adding plenty of toppings.
French Bread Taco Pizza Ingredients
- French bread. The fresher, the better! Don’t worry about picking stale bread to avoid soggy pizza; we’ll pre-bake it before adding the toppings.
- Pre-diced onions. Most grocery stores sell diced yellow onions in the produce section of the store. Alternatively, frozen diced onions are often found by the other frozen veggies and can be used in this recipe. Or, use a food processor to quickly chop an onion.
- Garlic. We love Dorot’s® cubes which have crushed garlic that you can keep handy in the freezer and pop into this (and other) recipes when needed. (Check if you local store carries them; they’re typically found with frozen veggies in the grocery store). Another option is to use refrigerated minced garlic.
- Lean ground beef. We like to use the 93/7 blend. Ground turkey also works great in this French Bread Taco Pizza.
- Tacoseasoning. Again, taco seasoning packets can vary in the spice level and even in overall flavor. I’ve generally found the cheaper the taco seasoning packet, the less flavor it has. If you don’t mind spending a couple of extra minutes of prep time, you can always make your own (I like to make a few homemade taco seasoning “packets” when meal prepping for the week). Check out my “quick tip” box below!
- Tomatosauce. The tomato sauce adds some moisture to the meat and a nice tomato flavor.
- Cheese. We like using two different types of cheese — sharp (or extra-sharp) Cheddar and Monterey jack. To cut down on ingredients, just use Cheddar cheese.
QUICK TIP
If you’d prefer to make your own taco seasoning blend instead of using a store-bought mix, here’s my go-to taco seasoning blend (this mix perfectly replaces the store-bought mix in this French Bread Taco Pizza recipe):
- 1 tablespoon ground chili powder (McCormick® for mild chili powder)
- 1 teaspoon EACH: ground cumin, paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon EACH: onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, fine sea salt, and pepper
The secret to avoiding soggy French Bread Pizza
The “secret” to not having soggy French bread pizza? Bake it twice.
Start by brushing all of the pieces of French bread with olive oil and then bake just the bread. This dries out and toasts the bread nicely–and that will keep it from getting soggy after the saucy taco meat is added on top.
You’ll be amazed at the difference this makes to the texture and overall flavor of this French Bread Taco Pizza!
Tips
- Make sure to purchase the freshest ground beef possible. (Look at the furthest expiration date when purchasing.)
- To avoid steaming (we want to brown the meat!), use a cast-iron pan, and wait for it to be HOT until you add in the meat.
- In order to brown (and become more flavorful), the beef has to maintain contact with the pan for a little while. Remember that as you break the meat into smaller pieces; the moisture evaporates, which can cause the meat to steam instead of brown. Avoid this by giving the meat a few minutes to cook and develop a brown color before breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
- Enjoy right out of the oven. This French Bread Taco Pizza is best right after being baked — the bread is nice and crisp and the cheese is gooey and melty.
- Line the pan with parchment paper. To avoid too-crisp pizzas, line the pan before baking with either a Silpat liner or parchment paper.
After the French Bread Pizzas are done baking, it’s all about the toppings! Below are some of our favorite toppings, but get creative with what you typically pair with taco meat.
French Bread Taco Pizza Toppings
This French Bread Taco Pizza really benefits from some creamy additions. We think a ripeavocado or guacamole and sour cream are the “must have” additions!
- Chopped cherry tomatoes, salsa, or pico de gallo
- Black beans or pinto beans
- Freshly chopped cilantro
- Fresh limewedges
- Avocado or guacamole
- Tacosauce or hot sauce
- Creamy cilantrosauce (like the sauce in this Honey Lime Chicken recipe)
- Sourcream (fat-free or low-fat works great!)
STORAGE
This French Bread Taco Pizza is best enjoyed the same day it is made. After that, the taco meat will soften the bread.
More plays on pizza
- Caesar Salad Pizza with rotisserie chicken
- Margherita Pizzaon naan
- Blackberry Pizzawith ground sausage
- Flatbread Pizzawith loads of veggies
- BBQ Pulled Pork Pizzawith pineapple and bacon
French Bread Taco Pizza
French Bread Taco Pizza
Ingredients
- 1loafFrench bread
- 4tablespoonsolive oil,separated
- 1/2cupfinely diced yellow onion,optional
- 2teaspoonsminced garlic
- 1lb.lean ground beef(93/7) or ground turkey
- 1/2cuptomato sauce
- 1pkt (1 oz.)taco seasoning mix
- 2cupsshredded sharp Cheddar cheese Note 1
- Toppings such as ripe avocado or guac, sour cream, cherry tomatoes, black olives, cilantro, etc.Note 2
Instructions
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FRENCH BREAD: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Slice the bread in half widthwise. Then cut both pieces in half lengthwise to have 4 total pieces. Gently compress each piece in the center, making a cavity for the meat. Brush 3 tablespoons olive oil evenly over all sides of each of the French bread pieces. Place the pieces cut side up on a large greased cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes and remove.
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TACO MEAT: Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 4-6 minutes. Add garlic; stir for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, crumbling into small pieces as you cook. Cook until browned through. Drain off any grease (if needed) and then add in the taco seasoning mix and tomato sauce. Cook for 2-3 more minutes. Remove and set aside.
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ASSEMBLY: Gently press in the centers of the bread once more, making a cavity to hold the beef. Divide the beef mixture evenly among each piece of French bread. Divide cheese evenly on top of each piece.
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BAKE: Return to the oven and bake (uncovered) 8 to 13 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bread is lightly browned at the edges. Remove from oven and add toppings of choice. Thinly slice into pieces and enjoy immediately.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 2: Toppings: This pizza really benefits from some creamy additions since the bread is so thick and crusty. We think a ripe avocado or guacamole and sour cream are the «must-have» additions!
Nutrition information does not include toppings.
Nutrition Facts
We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.
