Pesto French Bread Pizza with Grilled Chicken
This Pesto French Bread Pizza with Grilled Chicken is a tasty and fun appetizer to serve during the big game!
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I’ve never won the lottery, though…unless you count winning a couple bucks on a scratch-off ticket that Santa left in my stocking one year. Of course, I guess I’d have to actually buy lotto tickets in order to win. Have you guys ever looked at the odds of winning legit money in the lottery? (Hint: They aren’t good odds.) In the end, I’m just not much of a betting kinda guy. I had a good friend back in college who basically ran a sports betting business on the side. I’ve always loved sports, but I know enough to steer clear of sports betting. The problem is I always (always!) think my team is going to win the game, so I would be terrible at sports betting.
Speaking of sports betting, there’s kind of a big game coming up this weekend, and I know a lot of money will be wagered on both sides. But have y’all ever heard of prop bets? A prop bet (short for proposition bet) is a side bet that has nothing to do with the actual outcome of the game. For instance, at the start of this season, there were prop bets out there on whether Roger Goodell (the NFL commissioner) and Tom Brady (QB for New England Patriots) would shake hands before the first game. There were also prop bets on how long the New England fans would boo Goodell before the game. The over/under was set at 35.5 seconds, and the fans definitely took the over. (As a refresher, Goodell spearheaded the Deflategate scandal despite a complete lack of evidence. I’m not even a New England fan, and it was obvious that Goodell was on a witch hunt there.)
Now for this weekend’s game, the Patriots are currently 4.5 point favorites over the Eagles, and the over/under (total number of points) is set at 48.5. But those are the mainstream bets. The prop bets for the Super Bowl get a little wacky…and fun! There are more than 1,000 prop bets out there, but some of the more unique ones include: what color will the Gatorade bath be, how many times will the announcers mention the Minnesota weather, how long will it take Pink to sing the national anthem and how many commercials will Peyton Manning appear in? Even if you’re not into betting for real, you could take these prop bets and come up with a pretty fun Super Bowl game for everyone to play. After all, there’s more to the Super Bowl than the commercials, right? …right?
Speaking of the Super Bowl, do you have your game day snack table ready? I love football appetizers, and the Super Bowl is pretty much the perfect chance to make all of our favorite snacks. Take this Pesto French Bread Pizza with Grilled Chicken. There is so much awesome going on in this one…and it doesn’t take that long to make, either. Plus, think of all of the ooo’s and aaah’s from the crowd when you walk into the room carrying two huge slabs of Pesto French Bread Pizza! You can bet on that. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the cheesy pun there!)
French bread pizza was totally a staple in our house when I was a kid. Pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni. How can you go wrong there? I took that classic idea and gave it a makeover with this Pesto French Bread Pizza with Grilled Chicken. There is so much flavor going on here! You might remember that we made ~2 gallons of basil pesto with our insane amount of basil from the garden this past summer. We froze the pesto in snack-sized sandwich bags, and I pulled out a couple of bags for this Pesto French Bread Pizza. (Store-bought pesto could totally work here, too, though!) Add in some fresh tomatoes, cheese and grilled chicken, and you’ve got one heck of a Super Bowl appetizer right here! Enjoy the big game (and the yummy eats) this weekend!

Pesto French Bread Pizza with Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
For the Pizza
- 1 loaf French bread
- ⅔ cup basil pesto homemade or storebought
- 1¼ cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ¾ cup red onion sliced
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Brush the chicken with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper.
- Using a grill (outdoors) or grill pan (indoors), grill the chicken over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes per side, or until completely cooked. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and slice into strips.
For the Pizza
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Slice the French bread in half lengthwise. Place both halves cut-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Spread pesto evenly over both halves of pizza. Divide mozzarella evenly between both halves and then top with grilled chicken, tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle fresh basil over top of halves.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese has fully melted.
- Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese before serving.
When it comes to betting on sports I have the opposite problem you have; lifelong Ducks fan that I am, I always assume they’ll lose and I can’t bring myself to bet against them. But prop bets sound like a lot of fun! Next college football season I’ll definitely be betting people on just how many times announcers can mispronounce Oregon in one game :). As for this bread–you KNOW it’s going to make an appearance at my house this weekend. Bread, cheese, pesto–I swoon just thinking about it!
Hey now…you guys had a decent run in football a few years back! But as I recall, an SEC team that shall not be mentioned outlasted the Ducks in the national championship game. (And that game was in Phoenix I believe!) Anyhoo, do announcers really mispronounce Oregon?? I hope you have fun watching the big game this weekend, Kelsie! I think there should be a prop bet on whether Cookie needs to go out during the first commercial break. Hah!
I love French bread pizza. I love the idea of pesto and grilled chicken on this French bread pizza. I am not much for sports, but I do love the food. The Super Bowl is in my home state this year and I have a feeling they will be talking about the weather a quite a bit. I think it is supposed to be a high of zero that day. Good thing they are playing inside.
French bread pizza is a classic around here, too, Dawn! We typically just toss whatever we have around on top, but I decided to go all out and actually make this pesto version instead of using just leftovers. Oh my gosh…a high of zero!? We had weather like that back around Christmas, and it was miserable. Stay warm, my friend! Oh, and you have to watch the Super Bowl at least for the commercials, right?? 🙂
Prop bets sound really interesting… just imaging somebody clutching the arms of their seat hoping that the Gatorade bath is blue makes me laugh! I’m not much of a betting man but those could be fun, even if it’s just monopoly money or something.
Your bread just looks fantastic though! I mean it’s hard to go wrong with french bread, but all those toppings do it some reallll justice! Definitly be saving this recipe to try out sometime!
Yeah, I’ve always chuckled at these prop bets. I mean one of the most popular is the coin flip. Seriously!? It’s a 50-50 chance…with absolutely no skill involved. One of the best Super Bowl party games is to organize a prop bet sheet and play with monopoly money. We did that one year, and it was a blast! Thanks so much for the kind words about this pizza. I mean, it’s pizza. It’s gotta be delicious. But the pesto base here was so good! Thanks, Matt!
chicken on pizza ? I am already hungry now
thank you for sharing
Haha! Yes, this French bread pizza is mixing up the traditional pizza toppings…but it’s so good! I love pesto, and the pesto base here is awesome! 🙂 Thanks, Deepika!
With your luck, I’d enter countless competitions – amazing how many things you won in the past! Winning the lottery would be fantastic but you are so right, the odds of actually winning aren’t very good are they 🙂 I am not really into watching sports but definitely into all the food that comes with it 🙂 Have a great weekend, my friend!
Yeah, it really is quite strange how many things I’ve won over the years. It’s been a few years since a win, though, so I might need to go find something to enter now! Haha! I know you guys might not get the Super Bowl over there (or if you did, it would start at like midnight), but the commercials really are fun to watch even if you aren’t into sports. Either way, hope you and the family have a great weekend ahead, Miriam!
Enjoy the game David! That’s some good luck you’ve had in the past. Fantastic! Maybe you brought me luck today with my £25 lottery win? 🙂 I’ve got plenty of pesto in my freezer too and whilst I won’t be watching the game, I’m certainly up for making and eating these fantastic pesto french bread pizza sticks! What a brilliant combination of flavours, my mouth is watering just thinking about them. 😀
I really have had some good luck in the past. I have no idea how! Wait, you won £25 in the lotto? Congrats! But don’t spend it all in one place, ok? 🙂 Pesto is a great base for pizza, and this one is nice and easy since you just use store-bought French bread. Yum! Thanks so much, Neil, and I hope you and Lynne have a great weekend ahead!
This recipe sounds tasty David. I am just wondering, if I can substitute chicken with cottage cheese.
Yes! You could absolutely use cottage cheese here instead of the grilled chicken. In fact, that’s a wonderful idea…the creamy cottage cheese combined with the crunchy pesto bread would be delicious! Thanks so much, Puja!
When it comes to contests and lottery, I don’t have any luck at all. I only recall one fact (fun indeed) from my childhood. One day my dad got angry with me and, as a punishment, took away all my pocket money (quite a lot!) Few hours later my mom bought me a scratch-off ticket at the book store, and I won a free game. The next ticket gave me either 1-2 free games or a little of money. That (those) ticket(s) resulted in another free game. And the very last ticket was winning too! It was a lovely sum (not a lot but kind of 100$ which was great for a kid), so we even needed to head to the lottery office to claim the money. I guess that was the time when I used up my entire lifetime of luck haha. And I absolutely like this bread pizza. So versatile, delicious, and easy to make. Perfect, David!
Hahaha…I love that story! I had one similar thing happen a few years back where “Santa” put a lottery scratch-off in my stocking…and then I just kept winning another scratch-off. I think I went to the store about 4 times, although I probably only won about $8. 🙂 Thanks so much, Ben!
Well! Two gallons of pesto? We should have taken prop bets on that.
French bread pizza! As always, you are the king of game food.
Oh man, everyone (and I mean everyone) would’ve lost that bet on the pesto. You should’ve seen the kitchen that day that I made all of the pesto. There were basil leaves everywhere!! Hope you had an epic Super Bowl party last night, Jeff. (Either that, or got a lot of sleep…which is equally epic.)
I have never had any luck with contests and I am so jealous of you winning a trip to Italy! And so many other things too! But I am happy as long as I have this amazing looking french bread pizza by my side! Love the simplicity of this recipe!
That was absolutely insane that I won that trip to Italy! (Check out today’s post…I talk a bit more about that trip there.) I haven’t won much in a few years now, though, but I’m ok with that. As long as I have pizza, I’m happy! Haha! Thanks, Deepika!
How do I always forget about French bread pizza? I saw this on Instagram and had to pop over for the recipe – love love that you used pesto.
I totally agree with you, Marissa! I always forget about French bread pizza, too. Oftentimes it comes about here because we happen to have leftover bread. But this time I actually planned ahead and made French bread pizza…and it was SO tasty. Definitely making this one again soon! Thanks, my friend!
Pesto is my jam. I never win contests but I do win small amounts of money on lottery scratchers and that’s always fun. OMG you won a trip to Belgium! Now that’s pretty darn lucky David. I’m not a better either, its just too much stress for me. This french bread pizza looks delicious 🙂
Hey, lotto scratchoffs are always a good time! I don’t do them very often, but it’s always fun to scratch and win. 🙂 And I did indeed win that trip to Belgium…I think I used ALL of my life’s luck on that one. Haha! Thanks so much, Mary!
Haha – David, while the odds of winning the lottery might be slim for me – duuuuude – with your streak … there’s no telling …but those numbers might not have taken you into account 😉
I remember your post about freezing that basil pesto, y’all out it to great use in this pizza! Like you said – SOOOO MUCH flavor!!! So Much! This would have been a welcome treat for the big game this past weekend! I’m usually not about football (unless an ATL team is in the running) but I was rooting for the Patriots NOT winning – and I did hear about “prop bets” just this past week – at church of all places!
That’s true! I do have a pretty nice win streak going. But I’ve never won the lotto (unless you count a couple of bucks on a scratch-off). But there’s still time! Wait. Prop bets at church? I bet that was an interesting conversation? Haha! And it seems like so many people were pulling against New England rather than for Philly. Oh well. Time to look forward to next season. Speaking of next season, did you catch that Eli Manning + Odell Beckham Jr commercial? Best. Super Bowl. Commercial. Ever. 🙂