French bread pizzas are a total weeknight win. They’re fast and easy, you can top them with whatever you have in your fridge, and they’re always delicious. This week, I had some leftover frozen spinach that was begging to be used up, so I whipped up these quick Spinach Mushroom French Bread Pizzas. They have a garlic bread base for extra flavor and then are topped with a simple mix of spinach, sautéed mushrooms, and cheese. Simple but perfect!
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Cheese Options
I used a combination of mozzarella and Swiss cheese for my pizzas, but there is a lot of flexibility here. You could do any of the following cheeses, or any combination of two or more:
- Mozzarella
- Provolone
- Swiss
- Goat cheese
- Feta
- Monterey jack
- Smoked gouda
And, admittedly, these pizzas are not very cheese heavy, so if you like lots of cheese you may want to double the amount listed in the recipe below!
What About Pizza Sauce?
I made my pizzas kind of like a white pizza or loaded garlic bread, sans red sauce. But if you happen to have leftover pizza sauce (because sometimes that happens) you can spread a layer onto the bread before the spinach and mushrooms, or use your sauce on the side for dunking!
What Else Can I Add?
Diced-up cooked chicken would go really nicely with these pizzas, as would some artichoke hearts, olives, tomatoes (fresh or sun-dried), or Parmesan. That’s what’s great about pizza, you can put just about anything on there and it will be great!
Spinach Mushroom French Bread Pizzas
Servings 4Ingredients
Spinach and Mushrooms
- 8 oz. mushrooms ($2.79)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
- 8 oz. frozen spinach ($1.00)
Garlic Butter
- 2 Tbsp butter, room temperature ($0.20)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.10)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
Pizzas
- 1 loaf French bread ($1.50)
- 1 cup shredded cheese* ($1.25)
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.01)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Slice the mushrooms, then add them to a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, ⅛ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper. Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until they have softened and all of the water has evaporated out of the skillet.
- Add the frozen spinach to the skillet with the mushrooms and continue to sauté until the spinach is heated through and most of the moisture has evaporated (there should be no water pooling in the skillet). Transfer the mushrooms and spinach to a bowl to cool.
- To make the garlic butter, combine the butter, olive oil, minced garlic, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir well to create a soft garlic butter mixture.
- Cut a loaf of French bread in half length-wise, then slice each half-open. Place the pieces of bread on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cut sides up. Spread the garlic butter mixture over the surface of each piece of bread.
- Add half of the shredded cheese, the remaining ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper to the bowl with the slightly cooled spinach and mushrooms. Stir to combine.
- Divide the spinach mushroom mixture between the four pieces of bread and spread it over the surface of the bread. Top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake the pizzas in the preheated 350ºF oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top. Enjoy hot.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Love French Bread Pizza? Check out my classic French Bread Pizza recipe for more topping ideas!
How to Make Spinach Mushroom French Bread Pizza – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Slice 8oz. mushrooms. I used baby bella mushrooms, but white button mushrooms work fine as well.
Add the sliced mushrooms to a skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 clove of minced garlic, ⅛ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper. Sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms have softened and all of the water in the skillet has evaporated.
Add ½ lb. frozen spinach to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the spinach is heated through and most of the moisture has evaporated from the skillet. There should be no water pooling in the skillet. Transfer the spinach and mushrooms to a bowl to cool slightly.
Add 2 Tbsp butter (room temperature), 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), ½ tsp garlic powder, and ⅛ tsp salt to a bowl and stir until it is all well combined.
Line a baking sheet with parchment for easy cleanup. Cut a loaf of French bread in half length-wise then cut each half-open. Place the pieces of bread on the baking sheet, cut sides up. Spread the garlic butter mixture over the surface of the bread. (I accidentally melted my garlic butter, so I brushed it over the surface.)
Add ½ cup shredded cheese, ⅛ tsp freshly cracked pepper, and ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper into the partially-cooled spinach and mushroom mixture.
Divide the cheesy spinach mushroom mixture between the four pieces of bread, then top with the remaining cheese.
Bake the spinach mushroom French bread pizzas in the preheated 350ºF oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.
Easy and delish!
Yummy and super easy!! This is a great recipe that you can make your own. I added vegan Italian sausage and doubled the garlic. I also used fresh mixed greens since that’s what I had. I only used half a loaf of French bread but my husband and I still had leftovers. Very hearty.
We loved this! Small things we did to amp up the flavor:
– I took some extra care to really brown the mushrooms at the beginning of the recipe, letting the water evaporate and giving the mushrooms time and space in a hot pan to get golden. I added the garlic in the last 2 minutes of cooking here, before I added the salt and spinach.
– We used Trader Joe’s Quattro Formagii cheese blend (Asiago, Parmesan, fontina, and provolone) and it was perfect!
I used frozen garlic bread and it was delicious!
I am a huge fan of French bread pizza. In my area, Jimmy John’s is a sandwich chain. I think that they are nation wide now. Jimmy John’s sells day old bread for about 50 cents a loaf, and it makes a perfect French bread pizza. Delicious and Budget Friendly.
Cool tip–they make their own bread and it is very good! Even my small town has one of their stores. Also perfect size for slicing for bruschetta or crostini. Thanks.
I knew I had to try this as soon as I found this recipe! It was delicious and made for a really quick and easy dinner.
Looks absolutely delicious and definitely student skill and budget friendly. I’ve just started blogging about student food myself and you are a huge inspiration!
Greetings from the student kitchen,
Johanna
Hi! I’m planning on trying this recipe this week. Can I substitute fresh spinach instead of frozen? If so, how would you go about doing this?
You’d just need to sauté it down until it’s wilted, then it can be used just like the thawed frozen spinach. :)
I made it tonight and it turned out great with fresh spinach. However, I think I’m going to migrate over to your other french breads for some more flavor. Thanks Beth!
Easy, tasty, simple.
Hey… can i put any other kind of cheese???
You can use just about any type of cheese that you like for this one. :D
The French bread pizza was absolutely delicious! I added ground sausage to give the pizza more flavor, and it knocked the pizza out of the park!! I’ll definitely make this recipe again, and thank you, Beth!! :-)
Made this last night for an impromptu birthday dinner and it was a hit! We have french bread pizzas pretty regularly at our house and this one will definitley be added into the rotation. Thanks for the great idea!
I made this for lunch today and loved it! I had a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, so i sautéed that with some garlic and Italian seasoning and used it as a dipping sauce. It was quick, easy, and very filling. I will definetly make this again.
Yum!! I love quick broiler meals :)
Sounds so delicious, definitely going to try it :) x
My sister is a HUGE fan of French bread pizza. Is it possible that I can add ground Italian sausage? Thanks, Beth!! :-)
Oh yes, absolutely! That would be wonderful with this mix. I’d brown the sausage first, then add the mushrooms and go on as usual. The sausage will add quite a bit of flavor because of all the herbs and spices it contains.