If you love how easy and tasty a French bread pizza is to make then get ready for this amazing Stuffed Taco Bread! If you take the concept of a taco and make it into bread, you get this tasty, simple, easily-customized dish that’s ready quickly and is a real crowd pleaser. And, there’s a lot less mess than you get with tacos!
Back in the day we called this type of bread French bread, but now that term largely refers to baguettes. So, in your local grocery bakery section you might find this bread called Italian. As long as it’s wide and soft it will work for this. Skinny baguettes need not apply because we want to really pile on the yummy toppings here.
To make space for the most amount of meat and cheese we’re removing some of the bread in the middle of the loaf. Like with subs or Stromboli this just makes the topping go on easier and gives more space for the good stuff.
The taco meat filling gets topped with some delicious cheese. For this recipe I used a a blend of 3 cheddars and it was so tasty. But, you can use other types of cheese if you prefer, like Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack.
After a short bake the cheese gets all melty and delicious.
Then it’s time to add the toppings. You can stick to the list in the ingredients or add your own taco favorites to make this bread just how you like it.
As written the recipe calls for the toppings of green onions, sliced black olives, Roma tomatoes, and a bit of cilantro. But, here are a few more ideas for yummy add-ons that can take this bread up a notch: pickled sliced jalapeños, chopped bell peppers, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, or the salsa of your choice.
This Taco Stuffed Bread is French bread pizza meets taco night, made simply and quickly for maximum flavor. It’s the mashup we didn’t even know we needed!
Stuffed Taco Bread
Ingredients
- 1 large loaf (wide) French or Italian bread
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 2 cups shredded cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1-2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or to taste
Preparation
- Slice bread lengthwise if not already cut in store. You can substitute Italian if you cannot find the wide French style. Cut out a small portion from the center of each side, leaving the crust fully intact. This will make room for the toppings. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add beef then cook until no longer pink, 6-8 minutes. Drain grease then stir in taco seasoning.
- Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup cheese. Spread beef over the middle of each half of the bread. Top with remaining cheese. Place bread on lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese on top is melted and browning on edges.
- Remove from oven. Sprinkle bread with green onions, black olive, chopped tomatoes, and cilantro. Optional toppings include pickled sliced jalapeños, chopped bell peppers, parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, or green salsa.
- Slice into 3” sections to serve.
Recipe adapted from Yellow Bliss Road.
