Garlicky pull apart pizza bread with gooey cheese and spicy pepperoni makes a fabulously fun weeknight dinner, game day snack, or party appetizer.
If you love pizza-flavored recipes, you'll want to try our cheesy homemade pizza pockets next time!
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The classic monkey bread is usually sweet with cinnamon and sugar flavors, but today we're jumping outside the box with this pepperoni bread.
My two favorite things to eat are bread and cheese which is why this pull apart pizza bread is kind of new favorite thing EVER. It's loaded with all the flavors you'd expect from a really great pepperoni pizza.
This Pizza Monkey Bread has all of the delicious flavors of a pizza in a full pull-apart bread that will make for the perfect appetizer for any party or tailgate. This easy recipe is layered with pizza sauce, pepperoni, cheese, and a dip that makes this an out-of-this-world recipe. This pepperoni bread won’t disappoint no matter who you’re serving it for.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions (and answers!) readers often ask about this pizza monkey bread recipe.
Monkey bread gets its name because of the method in which you eat it. Pulling off the chunks isn’t so far from how monkeys use their fingers to groom their friends.
Monkey bread of any kind is best enjoyed warm, so if you’re looking to reheat this recipe by baking it in the oven for about 20 minutes or put each portion in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
How do you thaw dinner rolls?
In my opinion, the best method is to put them in the refrigerator the night before you want to use them.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take the rolls out of the freezer and set them onto a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Put the baking sheet with the rolls into the refrigerator overnight (or during the daytime). The rolls need at 8-10 hours in the refrigerator.
- Remove the rolls from the refrigerator. If they have not doubled in size, let them rest at room temperature until they do.
🧂 Ingredients
- frozen dinner rolls or store-bought pizza dough
- Cooking Spray
- Olive Oil
- Fresh Garlic
- Italian Seasoning Mix
- Colby Jack and Mozzarella Cheeses
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Mini Pepperoni - if you have regular pepperoni slices, just cut them into quarters.
- Salt and Pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
- Tomato Sauce for dipping - I love using our homemade sauce.
This is meant to be a brief overview of the recipe. For step-by-step instructions and a full printable recipe card with ingredients, please scroll down to the teal box below or Jump to Recipe.
🔪Instructions
While it seems like a lot of steps, this one of my favorite easy recipes, especially for the Super Bowl! Trust me, you're going to love this pull-apart pizza bread.
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.
- Grease a bundt pan really, really, really well. I cannot overstate this. If you do not grease the pan REALLY well, your pizza bread won't come out of the pan. You can also use nonstick cooking spray.
- Once the dough balls are thawed (see above), cut them into quarters and place them into a large bowl.
- Drizzle the olive oil over all the dough pieces.
- After that, add the Italian seasoning mix and fresh garlic.
- Add the cheeses and pepperoni.
- Use a rubber spatula to mix the small pieces of dough with the other ingredients.
- Spoon the dough mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the pizza bread is cooked through and the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and use a butter knife to gently go around the edges of the pan to help loosen the pan.
- Finally, invert it onto a cutting board or serving plate.
- Serve hot with warm tomato sauce for dipping.
Equipment
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- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Spoonula
- Bundt Pan
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Dry Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
If you don't have a bundt pan, this pull-apart pizza recipe can be made in a 9x11 pan or even a loaf pan.
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📖 Variations
There are so many different ways to switch up how you make pull apart pizza bread. Here are just a few ways:
- Instead of pepperoni, use cooked ground sausage, Italian sausage, or chopped up leftover meatballs.
- Add ½ cup each of finely diced green peppers and onions before baking. You can any of your favorite pizza toppings - my husband loves olives!
- Instead of frozen bread dough, you can also use fresh store-bought or homemade pizza dough or refrigerator biscuits.
- You can also use canned biscuit dough from the grocery store instead of frozen dough or pizza dough. Simply toss the cut biscuit pieces with the rest of the ingredients as explained in the recipe.
- For extra spice, add a little bit of red pepper flakes to your tomato dipping sauce.
🍴 Serving Suggestions
Serve your pizza bread with marinara sauce for dipping. You could serve with ranch dressing for dipping also.
These are perfect for any game day or tailgating spread!
When you remove the yummy pull-apart bread from the oven, you can brush it with a little melted butter and herbs. (To make the garlic butter, in a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of butter with ½ teaspoon of Italian seasoning and an extra pinch of garlic powder.)
Storage
If you have leftovers of of this pull-apart savory monkey bread, store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
To reheat, pop it into the microwave in 30-second intervals until heated throughout.
😋 Similar Recipes
Next time, try one of these tasty recipes:
- Game Day Wings - we've got every kind of wing imaginable on this list - just what you need for watching the big game!
- S'mores Pull Apart Rolls - this is a fun and unexpected dessert and a great recipe for parties.
- Garlic Cheese Bombs - this is one of the best finger food recipes of all time. If you're a cheese-lover, you need to try these!
- Spinach and Artichoke Pull Apart Bread - Deliciously soft bread filled with the flavors of your favorite dip.
- Pepperoni Pizza Sliders - for pizza-lovers only! All the goodness of pepperoni pizza in a delicious and easy-to-make slider.
📋 Pizza Monkey Bread Recipe
It there anything more amazing that melted cheesy bread studded with pepperoni and smothered with garlic and herb flavors?!?
Not ready to make this delicious recipe for pull apart pizza bread yet? Don’t forget to pin the recipe for later.
When you do make it, please be sure to tag me on Instagram @jugglingactmama or #jugglingactmama – I’d love to see your pictures! And finally, if you get a chance, please comment and leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below!
Pull Apart Pizza Bread Recipe
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Ingredients
- 24 frozen dinner rolls or store-bought pizza dough
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning Mix
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup Colby Jack cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups mini pepperoni - or regular pepperoni cut into quarters
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan Salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- Cooking Spray
- Tomato Sauce, for dipping
Instructions
Thawing the Rolls
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take the rolls out of the freezer and set them onto a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.24 frozen dinner rolls or store-bought pizza dough
- Take the rolls out of the freezer and set them onto a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Put the baking sheet with the rolls into the refrigerator overnight (or during the daytime).The rolls need at 8-10 hours in the refrigerator.
- Remove the rolls from the refrigerator. If they have not doubled in size, let them rest at room temperature until they do.
Making the Pizza Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.
- Grease a bundt pan really, really, really well. I cannot overstate this. If you do not grease the pan REALLY well, your pizza bread won't come out.Cooking Spray
- Once the rolls are thawed (see above), cut them into quarters and place them into a large mixing bowl.
- Drizzle the olive oil over all the dough.⅓ cup olive oil
- After that, add the Italian seasoning mix, minced garlic, cheeses and pepperoni and seasonings.2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning Mix, 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1 cup Colby Jack cheese, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 cups mini pepperoni - or regular pepperoni cut into quarters, ½ teaspoon Himalayan Salt, ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- Use a spoonula to mix everything all together.
- Spoon the dough mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the pizza bread is cooked through and the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and use a butter knife to gently go around the edges of the pan to help loosen the pan.
- Finally, invert onto a cutting board or serving plate. Serve hot with warm tomato sauce for dipping.Tomato Sauce, for dipping
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Knife
- Bundt Pan
Notes
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or garlic powder)
- ½ teaspoon onion power
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Hollie Jahnke says
This pull apart pizza bread looks so good too!! I think I would add some veggies to it maybe.
Darcey Martinez says
Yummy this looks like bacon pull apart bread but better
Starla says
Goodness, that bread is so, so delish! I skipped the pepperoni and added bacon and everyone wanted to the recipe. Thank you!!
Regina says
I made this for my son and a few of his friends and they ate it in about two seconds. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
D'Ann says
I've made this before and it was a great hit! Can you put this together the night before, refrigerated overnight, and bake the next day? Would I thaw dough, assemble everything in the bundt pan and refrigerate? The next day, will the dough rise again? I'm not very successful with yeast dough. Thank you.
Ang Paris says
Hi D'Ann! I have not tried to make it the night before. If you try it, I'd love to know how it comes out!