This Air Fryer French Bread Pizza is one of my favourite easy meals. It's perfect for a quick lunch, effortless to make and so tasty!
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Crisp french baguette topped with your favourite pizza sauce, gooey cheese and your favourite pizza toppings. What's not to love about this quick and easy meal?
Homemade French bread pizza is something that I've been making for ages. I used to bake them in the oven, but now I use my air fryer to make them! This is such an easy recipe and is sure to be a family favourite.
This is also a fun way of doing pizza night. The whole family can get involved and everyone can choose their own favourite toppings. Or this can be a great quick lunch for one!
What You'll Need
- French Baquette - I used one large french banquette for this recipe. Fresh bread is best but you can also use a day-old banquette. In fact, this recipe is great for using up any stale or leftover baguettes.
- Pizza Sauce - As this is a quick and easy recipe I buy a pizza sauce when I make this. Use your favourite pizza sauce, tomato sauce or marinara sauce. You can make your own homemade pizza sauce if you like, this is the one I use for homemade pizzas.
- Cheese - Mozzarella cheese will give you the best bubbly gooey cheese results. I use whole fresh mozzarella but you can use grated mozzarella if you prefer.
- Herbs - I use dried oregano for this recipe, but you can also use Italian seasoning. I like to top these pizzas with fresh basil but that's optional.
- Other Ingredients - You will also need olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. I also add sliced cherry tomatoes to my french bread pizzas, again this is optional but recommended.
How To Make French Bread Pizza
1. Start by adding some olive oil to a small bowl, mince the garlic and stir that into the oil. Leave that to sit for a while while you prepare the bread.
2. Cut the french banquette into evenly sized quarters. Then cut each quarter in half lengthways, making sure that they are evenly cut right down the middle. Now brush the olive oil along the cut side of each piece of bread.
3. Place the bread cut side up in your air fryer basket on the rack at the bottom of the basket and cook for 3 minutes at 200°C / 400°F. After 3 minutes they should be crispy and lightly toasted, carefully remove them from the air fryer basket. I find the best way to remove them is with metal kitchen tongs, this will help you avoid getting burnt!
4. Now, spread the pizza sauce over the toasted baguette then add the cheese along with any toppings. Sprinkle over the dried oregano and place the topped bread in a single layer into the air fryer basket. Cook for 4 minutes at 190°C / 375°F, they are done once the cheese is melted and bubbling. You may need a longer cooking time depending on your air fryer. Be careful removing them as they will be piping hot and the air fryer basket will also be very hot. Repeat with the remaining bread.
Variations
- Pesto and Olives - If I don't have pizza sauce I sometimes use green or red pesto. This is a different way of making these pizzas but is really tasty too. Sliced black or kalamata olives are great with the pesto version.
- Mushrooms - I love mushrooms on my pizza but I find the best way to do this is to cook the mushrooms first then add them before they go into the air fryer.
- Chopped Peppers - We like some finely chopped peppers on these but you will need to chop the bell pepper finely. I like a mix of red and yellow peppers.
- Veggie Meat - Veggie meats such as pepperoni or sausage also work really well on these.
FAQs
Yes, you can. You can cook them from frozen and they will usually take about 7 minutes at 200°C/ 400°F. Make sure and place them on the tray at the bottom of the air fryer basket.
As this is a quick meal I tend not to freeze these. But if you need to you can freeze the assembled pizzas and then freeze them before you air fry them.
I find that these are best made fresh, but you can prepare all the ingredients the day before if you like.
More Pizza Recipes
We love pizza night and some of our favourite pizzas are quick and easy, like these Artichoke and Olive Naan Pizzas. Another family favourite is my White Pizza with Spinach and Ricotta, this always goes down a treat with everyone! And if you fancy something a little different my Artichoke and Spinach Flatbread Pizzas are a great way to get pizza on the table in a hurry.
Air Fryer French Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large french baguette cut into even quarters
- 350 g 1 ½ cups of pizza sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic minced or put through a garlic press
- 150 g ¾ of a cup of olive oil I use a light olive oil
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 balls of fresh mozzarella cut into thin slices
- salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
- cherry tomatoes and fresh basil optional
Instructions
- Pour the olive oil into a small bowl, add the minced garlic, stir well and set aside.
- Cut the baguette into even quarters. Cut each quarter lengthways, making sure you cut them evenly down the middle.Brush each piece of bread on the cut side with the garlic olive oil.
- Place two or three pieces (depending on the size of your air fryer) of the bread in the air fryer, and cook at 200°C/400F for 3 minutes.
- Use metal kitchen tongs to remove the bread from the air fryer, it should be lightly toasted.
- Place the bread on a board then spread about 3 tablespoons of pizza sauce on the cut side of each piece of bread.Place 2 or 3 slices of mozzarella on the sauce then add the cherry tomatoes if using. Sprinkle a pinch of dried oregano over the cheese then carefully place the french bread on the rack at the bottom of the air fryer basket.
- Cook at 190°C/ 375°F for 4 minutes, until the cheese has melted and is bubbling. You may need to cook them for longer depending on your air fryer, if so I would check them after a minute.Repeat with the remaining bread.
- Season with salt and black pepper, then add basil if using. Leave to cool slightly before eating as they will be piping hot.
Notes
- Leftovers - Any leftover pizzas can be reheated in the air fryer. Cook at 160°C /325°F for 2 - 3 minutes, check then reheat further if needed.
- What Air Fryer do you use? - I have a Ninja Max, basket-style air fryer that has a capacity of 4L.
- Nutritional Information - all nutritional information shared is an estimate based on third-party calculations. If calorie count and/or nutritional values are important to you, we recommend putting the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary depending on which brands were used. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
- Weights and measurements - For US readers, I use Cuisipro measuring cups and spoons, and a Pyrex measuring jug for liquids. These are the industry standard. Cup/spoon volumes can differ from brand to brand, for accuracy, I recommend weighing all ingredients if possible for best results.
Annette Chambers
So delicious.
Michelle Alston
Thank you x