Savory Monkey Bread Recipe

Our Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread transforms the familiar flavors of pizza into a cheesy, snackable, pull-apart bread that your friends and family will love! After careful testing, our recipe uses only 6 simple ingredients to make an easy, show-stopping appetizer (or meal!). We’ve provided detailed step-by-step photos and directions so you can successfully make this fun pull apart pizza bread the first time you try.

We love making new appetizer recipes to share whenever we’re hosting. As someone who’s developed dozens of snack and appetizer recipes for this website and has been cooking for myself (and now my family) for over 20 years, I’m always looking for recipes that are impressive yet easy to pull off. This seriously snackable pizza pull apart bread has been a huge hit at game day parties, on game night, and for miscellaneous play dates with my daughter’s friends.

I started making savory monkey bread variations after perfecting our classic cinnamon monkey bread, and this pizza-inspired take has become one of our most requested recipes. Through testing, I’ve figured out the ideal biscuit-to-cheese ratio, the best way to distribute the pepperoni throughout so every bite has some, and the perfect baking technique that gets the outside golden and crispy while keeping the inside soft and cheesy. With just 10 minutes of prep time, this savory pull apart bread is everything you love about pizza but in fun, finger-food form.

Pizza monkey bread also works as an entertaining and interactive kind of dinner main dish! It satisfies your pizza cravings, especially when served with classic pizza side dishes.

Pizza Monkey Bread Recipe Ingredients

• Canned biscuits. You’ll need two cans of refrigerated biscuit dough. I like the Grands Original Flaky Layer Biscuits. Use a chopping knife to cut each biscuit into bite-sized quarters.
• Salted butter. Melted butter helps the Italian seasoning stick to the biscuits, keeps them soft and moist while baking, and adds to the flaky texture. 
• Pepperoni. You can cut standard sized pepperoni in half for this recipe, or use mini pepperonis!
• Italian seasoning. Italian seasoning will give the bread that distinct pizza flavor. 
• Italian cheese blend. Shredded Italian cheese blends usually include mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan cheeses. Any similar combination will work! 
• Pizza sauce. You’ll definitely want to serve this with a good pizza sauce for dipping!
• Optional toppings. Optional toppings for monkey bread with biscuits include red pepper flakes, grated parmesan cheese, or fresh basil. 

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Helpful Equipment

Monkey bread should be made in a bundt cake pan or tube pan for best results. A large mixing bowl is also helpful when combining the bread ingredients. 

How to make Pizza Monkey Bread

Prep ingredients by cutting canned biscuits into quarters, cutting pepperonis in half, and pre-heating the oven to 350°F.

Add the biscuit pieces and melted butter to a large mixing bowl.

Toss by hand to coat each piece of biscuit with butter. Pull pieces apart as needed to ensure all sides are coated.

Add in the Italian seasoning.

Toss again to coat all of the biscuit pieces with the seasoning.

Add the pepperoni pieces and shredded Italian cheese to the bowl.

Toss again to distribute the ingredients.

Transfer the pizza monkey bread mixture to a greased bundt cake pan.

Rearrange the biscuits and pepperoni pieces as needed so they’re evenly distributed throughout the pan and not clumped together. Goal to have an even layer when all ingredients are in the pan.

Cover the pizza monkey bread with tin foil and bake it in your preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown on top. 

Allow the monkey bread cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes.

Turn the monkey bread out onto a large serving platter and serve the bread with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Savory Monkey Bread Recipe Variations & Substitutions

Just like there is an endless variety of pizza recipes, there are endless ways you could be creative with monkey bread pizza! 

• Mix in different pizza toppings. Some of my other favorite pizza toppings include sausage, bacon, garlic, and veggies. 
• Use different dipping sauces. Instead of pizza sauce, try alfredo, pesto, or marinara sauce. 
• Make homemade dough. If you prefer to make your dough from scratch, I recommend using my friend Cynthia’s homemade flaky biscuit recipe! 

Possible Dietary Restrictions?

This Pizza Monkey Bread recipe doesn’t fit into any special diets as written. I don’t recommend trying to make the recipe work with a vegan or dairy-free diet, as cheese and butter add rich and savory flavor. 

• Eliminate the pepperoni to make this a vegetarian recipe. I suggest replacing the pepperoni with vegetarian pizza toppings, such as black olives, bell peppers, mushrooms, or broccoli.
• To make this into a gluten-free pizza monkey bread recipe, you’ll need to use a gluten free biscuit mix or make homemade gluten free biscuit dough. 

How to Store Pepperoni Monkey Bread

I’m pretty confident you won’t have any leftovers. However, if you do, leftovers will stay fresh for 2-3 days if stored properly. 

Let the monkey bread cool to room temperature, then transfer it to an airtight container or ziplock bag. Store the pizza bread in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

Pizza Monkey Bread Recipe FAQs