Prepare a restaurant-quality flatbread pizza at home in about 15 minutes! The easy dinner includes store-bought crust, marinara or pizza sauce, a blend of Italian cheeses, and all of your favorite toppings. Serve each pizza with a crisp Caesar salad, tomato salad, or marinated cucumbers for a quick weeknight meal.
Flatbread Pizza Recipe
This homemade flatbread pizza recipe is hardly a recipe at all! Instead, it's more of a dinner idea, perfect for those busy nights when you need something quick and easy on the table. Everyone loves pizza, and you can prepare as many (or as few) as you like. Make one pizza for a solo snack, or set up a pizza bar and allow a group of friends to design their own creations. Party appetizers, quick lunches, or rushed weeknight dinners -- flatbread pizzas are always the answer!
What is flatbread pizza?
Pizza is a yeasted flatbread typically topped with tomato sauce and cheese, and then baked in an oven. It is commonly topped with meats and vegetables, too. A flatbread dough is generally a thinner, crispier crust with lighter toppings and sauce. Flatbread pizza is typically smaller than a standard pizza, and is sized for individual servings.
Is flatbread pizza better for you than regular pizza?
Not necessarily. The flatbread pizza might be smaller or thinner, and therefore might have fewer total calories, but the ingredients are essentially the same -- a crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings -- no matter the type of pizza that you choose to enjoy.
The Best Crust for a Store Bought Flatbread Pizza Recipe
While you can certainly prepare homemade pizza dough or focaccia, the beauty of this particular flatbread pizza recipe is its ease. Thanks to a store-bought crust, the entire meal is ready in about 15 minutes!
You have a variety of options when it comes to a store-bought crust for flatbread pizza. I like to use this tandoori flatbread, which I find in the deli section of my local grocery store. It's ideal for pizza because it's thick and sturdy (so it doesn't get soggy when you add the toppings), the edges get crisp, but the inside stays soft. You can also use Naan bread or even pita bread.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you'll need for a homemade flatbread pizza. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Crust: we typically use these thick, sturdy tandoori flatbreads for a crust, which we find in the deli or bakery section of the grocery store. Other good options include naan bread or pita bread.
- Pizza sauce: or use marinara sauce to spread on top of the crust.
- Cheese: we like an Italian cheese blend, which includes mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, provolone cheese, asiago cheese, and Romano cheese). You can also just use plain mozzarella, or a combination of mozzarella and grated Parmesan.
- Optional pizza toppings: if you like a more jazzed-up pizza, try adding sliced pepperoni, cooked and crumbled Italian sausage, ham, pineapple, bacon, green bell peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, sliced sweet onion or red onion, olives, or fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, or oregano.
How to Make Flatbread Pizza
This easy flatbread pizza recipe is absolutely one of my kids' most-requested meals! They love it for a special weekend lunch, or for a quick dinner as we're all coming and going from sports practices during the week. Customize each pizza with the toppings that your family members love most!
- Arrange flatbread pizza crusts on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Top each flatbread with about pizza sauce or marinara sauce.
- Sprinkle about ½ cup of grated cheese over top.
- Finish with pepperoni or other toppings of choice.
- Bake the pizzas in a 425°F oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.
- Garnish with crushed red pepper flakes, additional grated Parmesan cheese, or chopped fresh herbs, then slice and serve!
What to Serve with Homemade Flatbread Pizza
Pair the pizza with some fresh vegetables to round out the meal. Try these easy options:
- Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
- House Salad with Candied Pecans
- Classic Caesar Salad
- Spinach Salad with Bacon
- Mixed Greens or Arugula Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
- Vinegar Coleslaw or Creamy Homemade Coleslaw
- Cucumber Dill Salad
- Onion Dip with Fresh Veggies
- Refrigerator Dill Pickles
- Roasted Broccoli
- Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
- Roasted Green Beans
- Sauteed Spinach with Garlic
- Green Bean Salad
- Garlic Parmesan Zucchini Casserole
- Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
- Carrot Raisin Salad
Storage
- Make Ahead: You can assemble the pizzas in advance and freeze them for a later meal. Talk about convenient!
- Leftover pizza will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
How to Freeze
You can freeze flatbread pizza before or after baking.
- To Freeze Before Baking: Gently press the toppings into the crust, and then place them on a baking sheet in the freezer for about one hour. Once frozen, transfer the pizzas to large Ziploc freezer bags (or other airtight containers) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Bake the frozen pizzas straight from the freezer, but add a few extra minutes to the suggested baking time.
- To freeze the leftover pizza, let it cool completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or other airtight freezer-safe containers, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
Place the pizzas on a baking sheet and warm in a 350°F oven (or toaster oven) until heated through, about 5-10 minutes.
Recipe Variations for Easy Pizza
- Instead of the store-bought flatbread crust, use regular pizza dough to make a full-size pizza. Store-bought pizza dough or homemade dough will both work well. See these instructions for baking a regular pizza.
- I used a blend of shredded Italian cheeses here, but you can use sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes (for a margherita flatbread pizza), feta (for a Greek inspired flatbread), blue cheese, or a combination of your favorite cheeses.
- Make a white flatbread pizza by swapping out the pizza sauce for Alfredo sauce. You can also use pesto instead of a tomato-based sauce.
- Make bbq chicken flatbread pizza with these instructions.
- Hawaiian Pizza: Top the pizza with diced ham and/or cooked bacon and diced pineapple.
- Grilled Flatbread Pizza: Instead of baking the pizzas, try grilling them. To do so, preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Oil the grates, place the pizzas on the grill, close the lid, and cook for about 10 minutes.
Tips for the Best Flatbread Pizza Recipe
- You don't need to measure all of the ingredients -- I typically just "eyeball" it. Use more or less of the different ingredients to suit your personal preferences.
- Scale the recipe to accommodate the size of your family. For instance, if you're cooking for two, cut all of the ingredients in half and prepare just 2 pizzas. Similarly, you can double the ingredients to feed a larger group.
- Top flatbread with all of your favorite toppings. My boys keep it simple with plain cheese pizza, while we typically add sliced pepperoni. You can also top the pizza with sautéed sliced mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and olives for a veggie-packed meal. Try cooked, crumbled bacon or Italian sausage, diced ham, or rotisserie chicken, too. Make your own homemade flatbread the way you like it!
- Garnish the pizza with fresh basil or parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, or crushed red pepper flakes right before serving. Drizzle with olive oil, too!
More Pizza Recipes to Try
- BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza
- Deep-Dish Cast Iron Skillet Pizza
- Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
- French Bread Pizza
- Taco Pizza
- Pizza Quesadillas
- 4-Ingredient Dump-and-Bake Pizza Casserole
15-Minute Flatbread Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 small flatbread crusts or store-bought Naan bread
- 1 ¼ cups pizza sauce (or marinara sauce), divided
- 2 cups grated Italian cheese blend (such as a combination of mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone, asiago, and Romano)
- Toppings of choice, such as sliced pepperoni, green bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, diced ham, cooked and crumbled Italian sausage, sliced olives
- Optional garnish: chopped fresh basil, oregano, or parsley; grated Parmesan cheese; crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange flatbreads on rimmed baking sheets.
- Spread about ¼ cup of pizza sauce on each flatbread. Sprinkle cheese on top, and finish with additional toppings, if desired.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is crisp on the edges.
- Garnish with chopped fresh herbs, grated Parmesan cheese, and crushed red pepper flakes just before serving.
Notes
- Instead of the store-bought flatbread crust, use regular pizza dough to make a full-size pizza. Store-bought pizza dough or homemade dough will both work well. See these instructions for baking a regular pizza.
- I used a blend of shredded Italian cheeses here, but you can use sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh tomatoes (for a margherita flatbread pizza), feta (for a Greek inspired flatbread), blue cheese, or a combination of your favorite cheeses.
- Make a white flatbread pizza by swapping out the pizza sauce or marinara sauce for Alfredo sauce. You can also use pesto instead of a tomato-based sauce.
- Make bbq chicken flatbread pizza with these instructions.
- Hawaiian Pizza: Top the pizza with diced ham and/or cooked bacon and diced pineapple.
- Grilled Flatbread Pizza: Instead of baking the pizzas, try grilling them. To do so, preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Oil the grates, place the pizzas on the grill, close the lid, and cook for about 10 minutes.
- You don't need to measure all of the ingredients -- I typically just "eyeball" it. Use more or less of the different ingredients to suit your personal preferences.
- Scale the recipe to accommodate the size of your family. For instance, if you're cooking for two, cut all of the ingredients in half and prepare just 2 pizzas. Similarly, you can double the ingredients to feed a larger group.
- Top flatbread with all of your favorite toppings. My boys keep it simple with plain cheese pizza, while we typically add sliced pepperoni. You can also top the pizza with sautéed sliced mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and olives for a veggie-packed meal. Try cooked, crumbled bacon or Italian sausage, diced ham, or rotisserie chicken, too. Make your own homemade flatbread the way you like it!
- Garnish the pizza with fresh basil or parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, or crushed red pepper flakes right before serving. Drizzle with olive oil, too!
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