There are few things in life more satisfying than pulling apart a warm, cheesy, gooey piece of bread with your hands and not feeling even slightly guilty about it. Pizza monkey bread combines everything we love about classic monkey bread — that pull-apart, shareable, finger-food magic — with all the bold, savory flavors of your favorite pizza. It is the kind of recipe that makes everyone at the table gasp when you set it down, and then immediately reach in with both hands.
If you have never made monkey bread before, let us assure you that this is one of the most forgiving and fun recipes you will ever attempt in your kitchen. It requires no special skills, no complicated techniques, and absolutely no restraint when it comes to cheese. Whether you are making it for a game day gathering, a weekend family dinner, a party appetizer, or just because it is a Tuesday and you deserve something extraordinary, this pizza monkey bread recipe is going to become a permanent fixture in your rotation.
We first made this recipe on a whim one Friday night when the pizza craving hit hard but we did not want to deal with stretching dough or waiting for delivery. What came out of the oven was something genuinely spectacular — a golden, bubbling, herb-flecked, mozzarella-loaded pull-apart bread that disappeared in under ten minutes. Since then, we have refined the recipe, tested different combinations of toppings and doughs, and landed on the version below as our absolute favorite. Get ready to fall completely in love.
Pizza Monkey Bread Recipe
✨ Recipe Card
Pizza Monkey Bread
Pillowy pull-apart dough balls stuffed with molten mozzarella and pepperoni, bathed in garlicky herb butter, baked until the edges caramelize into a deeply golden, cheese-crusted masterpiece you tear apart at the table.
⏱ Prep
20 mins
🍳 Cook
30 mins
⏰ Total
50 mins
🍽 Serves
8 servings
🥘 Ingredients
📋 Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 375°F and generously grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or bundt pan with non-stick spray.
- 2. Separate biscuit dough into individual rounds and cut each round into quarters using kitchen shears.
- 3. Flatten each dough quarter into a small disc, place a pinch of shredded mozzarella and 2–3 mini pepperoni in the center, then pinch the edges firmly together to seal into a ball.
- 4. Whisk together melted butter, minced garlic, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl.
- 5. Toss each stuffed dough ball in the garlic-herb butter mixture until fully coated.
- 6. Layer half the coated dough balls into the prepared skillet, drizzle with 1/4 cup pizza sauce, and scatter 1/3 cup mini pepperoni over the top.
- 7. Add the remaining dough balls as a second layer, drizzle with remaining pizza sauce, and top with remaining pepperoni and any leftover mozzarella.
- 8. Sprinkle grated Parmesan evenly across the entire surface.
- 9. Bake uncovered for 28–32 minutes until the top is deep golden-brown and the center dough balls are fully cooked through — test by pulling one from the center.
- 10. Remove from oven and rest for 5 minutes, then garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve immediately with warm marinara for dipping.
💡 Tips & Notes
- • Seal the dough balls tightly or the cheese will leak out during baking and burn on the pan surface.
- • For extra pull-apart stretch, add an additional 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella between the two dough ball layers.
- • Swap mini pepperoni for Italian sausage crumbles or diced bell pepper for a different flavor profile.
- • Leftovers reheat beautifully in an air fryer at 325°F for 4–5 minutes to restore the crispy exterior.
KitchenGuide101.com
Why This Recipe Is So Irresistible
The secret to what makes this pizza monkey bread so incredibly addictive lies in the layering of flavors at every single step. You start with buttery, garlicky biscuit dough pieces that get coated in an herbed butter mixture before they even go into the bundt pan. Then you add in all your favorite pizza toppings — pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, peppers, or whatever your heart desires — tucking them between layers of dough so that every single pull-apart piece has a little treasure hidden inside.
Then there is the cheese situation, and we are not going to pretend it is subtle. Mozzarella gets packed in generously throughout the layers, melting down between the dough pieces during baking and creating those legendary cheese pulls that make this bread so photogenic and so deeply satisfying. A finishing layer of parmesan on top caramelizes into a golden crust that adds a nutty, salty complexity you simply cannot resist. The result is a bread that tastes like a pizza and a dinner roll somehow had the most delicious baby imaginable.
Ingredients You Will Need
- 3 cans (16.3 oz each) refrigerated biscuit dough, cut into quarters
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup pizza sauce, plus extra for dipping
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mini pepperoni slices
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
- 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
- Fresh basil leaves for garnish
- Non-stick cooking spray for the pan
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and generously spraying a large bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Make sure you coat every nook and cranny — this is important for getting the bread to release cleanly once it is baked. Open your biscuit cans and cut each biscuit into four equal pieces. Place all the dough pieces into a large mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, minced garlic, dried oregano, dried basil, onion powder, and red pepper flakes if using. Pour this garlic herb butter mixture over the biscuit pieces and toss everything together until every piece of dough is thoroughly coated. This step is what infuses the entire bread with that deep, aromatic, pizza-forward flavor before anything else even happens.
Now begin layering into your prepared bundt pan. Start with a single layer of the buttered dough pieces, then scatter a generous handful of mozzarella cheese, some mini pepperoni, a few pieces of bell pepper, mushrooms, and olives over the top. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of pizza sauce across this layer as well. Repeat the layering process — dough, cheese, toppings, sauce — until you have used up all of your ingredients. Make sure your final top layer is dough pieces, and then sprinkle the parmesan cheese generously over the very top.
Place the bundt pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deeply golden brown and the dough is cooked through. You can check doneness by inserting a toothpick or skewer into the center — it should come out clean without any raw dough. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for exactly 10 minutes before placing a large serving plate over the top and carefully flipping the whole thing over. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately with warm pizza sauce on the side for dipping.
Tips, Tricks, and Variations
One of the best things about this recipe is how endlessly customizable it is. If your family is not big on olives or mushrooms, simply leave them out and double up on the pepperoni. You can also go completely vegetarian by skipping the meat entirely and loading up with roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and extra cheese. For a supreme pizza version, add in cooked and crumbled Italian sausage alongside your pepperoni for an even heartier result.
If you want to take the flavor up another notch, you can substitute the plain butter mixture with garlic butter that has been browned slightly on the stovetop first. That nutty, toasty quality from browned butter adds a whole new dimension to the bread that your guests will notice immediately. For those who love heat, swapping in hot honey as a drizzle over the finished bread creates an incredible sweet-spicy contrast against the salty cheese and savory toppings.
One technical tip worth mentioning: do not skip the ten-minute resting period after the bread comes out of the oven. This short wait allows the interior structure to set just enough so that when you flip the bread, it holds its beautiful bundt shape rather than falling apart. The team over at KitchenGuide101.com has a fantastic breakdown of monkey bread techniques that is worth bookmarking if you plan to experiment with different versions of this recipe going forward.
How to Serve and Store Pizza Monkey Bread
Pizza monkey bread is best served immediately, straight from the oven while the cheese is still in full melt mode and every pull reveals ribbons of stretchy mozzarella. Set it in the center of the table with a bowl of warm marinara or pizza sauce alongside, and let everyone go to town pulling off pieces. It is a completely hands-on, communal eating experience that is guaranteed to get people talking and laughing.
If you happen to have leftovers — which is genuinely unlikely but theoretically possible — store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. To reheat, place individual pieces on a baking sheet and warm in a 350 degree oven for about eight to ten minutes until heated through. You can also use the microwave in thirty-second bursts, though the oven method will keep the exterior slightly crispier. Avoid freezing this bread as the biscuit dough texture does not hold up well through the freeze-thaw cycle.
Make It Ahead for Easy Entertaining
If you are planning to serve this bread at a party or gathering, you can do a significant amount of the prep work the night before. Assemble the entire bundt pan, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, simply pull it from the refrigerator about thirty minutes before baking to allow it to come to room temperature, then proceed with the baking instructions as written. This make-ahead approach is an absolute lifesaver when you are juggling multiple dishes for a big event.
Pizza monkey bread is the kind of recipe that earns you a permanent reputation as the person who brings the best dish to every gathering. It is warm, indulgent, endlessly shareable, and packed with flavors that everyone already loves. Whether you stick with the classic pepperoni and mozzarella combination or venture into your own creative variations, this pull-apart bread is going to make every single occasion feel like a celebration. Now go preheat that oven — your people are waiting.
