A friend changed my weeknight dinner game three years ago with two words: "garbage bread." We were at the farmers market, both staring at our half-empty wallets after splurging on fresh produce, when she casually mentioned making this garbage bread thing every Friday. "I just throw whatever's dying in my fridge into pizza dough," she said, "and my kids think I'm a genius."I laughed at the name. She pulled out her phone and showed me a photo this gorgeous golden loaf stuffed with layers of cheese, vegetables, and who knows what else.
Why You'll Love This Garbage Bread
I've made this probably 80 times in three years, and honestly, it never gets old. This garbage bread recipe takes whatever's sitting in your fridge and I mean whatever. I've stuffed it with leftover spaghetti, random deli meat from last week's sandwiches, those vegetables you bought with good intentions, even that last spoonful of chili that wasn't enough for another meal. I swear I've never made it the same way twice, and that's exactly why it works so well.
The whole thing comes together in under 30 minutes, which matters on those nights when everyone's hungry and you're out of ideas. It costs basically nothing since you're using stuff you already have, and somehow it always tastes way better than the effort you put in. Emma gets genuinely excited not knowing what's stuffed inside until we slice it open at the table it's like a dinner surprise every time.But here's what I really love: that satisfying feeling when you open your fridge the next day and realize you actually used up all those random ingredients instead of finding them moldy a week later.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Garbage Bread
- Ingredients for Garbage Bread
- How To Make Garbage Bread Step By Step
- Smart Swaps for Your Garbage Bread Recipe
- Creative Garbage Bread Variations
- Equipment For Garbage Bread
- Storing Your Garbage Bread
- A Family's Hidden Recipe
- Top Tip
- What to Serve With Garbage Bread
- FAQ
- Time to Make Your Own Creation!
- Related
- Pairing
- Garbage Bread
Ingredients for Garbage Bread
The Foundation:
- Pizza dough
- Olive oil for brushing
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
The "Garbage" Fillings (Use Whatever You Have):
- Pepperoni slices
- Cooked Italian sausage
- Diced ham or salami
- Cooked bacon bits
- Bell peppers
- Sliced mushrooms
- Chopped onions
- Spinach or kale
- Banana peppers
- Black olives
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Fresh basil
Optional Stuff:
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top
- Marinara sauce for dipping
- Red pepper flakes
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Garbage Bread Step By Step
Prep Your Station:
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Line baking sheet with parchment
- Let pizza dough sit at room temp for 15 minutes
- Chop all fillings into bite-sized pieces
- Pat any wet ingredients dry
Roll and Fill:
- Roll dough into 12x14 inch rectangle
- Leave 1-inch border on all sides
- Layer cheese first
- Add meats and veggies in center
- Don't overstuff—I've learned less is more
- Keep fillings in middle third of dough
The Roll:
- Fold long sides over filling
- Pinch seams tightly
- Tuck ends under
- Place seam-side down on baking sheet
- Brush top with olive oil
- Sprinkle with Italian seasoning
Bake:
- Cut with serrated knife
- Bake 25-30 minutes
- Look for deep golden color
- Internal temp should hit 190°F
- Let rest 5 minutes before slicing
Smart Swaps for Your Garbage Bread Recipe
Dough Options:
- Regular pizza dough → Whole wheat dough
- Store-bought → Crescent roll dough (desperate times)
- Traditional → Gluten-free pizza dough
- Standard → Puff pastry if you're feeling fancy
Cheese Choices:
- Mozzarella → Provolone or whatever Italian cheese blend is on sale
- Regular → Vegan cheese shreds
- Dairy → Nutritional yeast if you're skipping dairy
Meat Alternatives:
- Any meat → Just load up on vegetables and throw in some chickpeas
- Pepperoni → Plant-based pepperoni
- Italian sausage → Crumbled tempeh
Creative Garbage Bread Variations
Breakfast Style:
- Scrambled eggs
- Cooked bacon
- Cheddar cheese
- Hash browns
Buffalo Chicken:
- Shredded rotisserie chicken
- Buffalo sauce mixed in
- Ranch drizzle
- Blue cheese crumbles
Philly Cheesesteak:
- Sliced steak
- Sautéed peppers and onions
- Provolone cheese
- Garlic butter brush
Mediterranean:
- Feta cheese
- Spinach
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Kalamata olives
Equipment For Garbage Bread
- Half-sheet baking pan
- Parchment paper or silicone mat
- Rolling pin
- Pizza cutter or sharp knife
- Pastry brush
Storing Your Garbage Bread
Counter (Same Day):
- Wrap it loosely in foil
- Good for 4-6 hours at room temp
- Reheat in the oven at 300°F
Refrigerator (3-4 Days):
- Let it cool all the way first
- Wrap tight in plastic wrap
- Stick it in an airtight container
- Reheat slices in the oven or air fryer
Freezer (2 Months):
- Wrap individual slices in plastic wrap
- Throw them in a freezer bag
- Write the date and what's inside
- Thaw overnight in the fridge
Reheating:
- Microwave: 45 seconds (but the crust gets soggy)
- Oven: 350°F for 12-15 minutes
- Air fryer: 370°F for 6-8 minutes (gets the crust crispy again)
A Family's Hidden Recipe
My grandma never called it garbage bread she called it "Friday night magic" because that's when she'd raid her fridge before the weekend. I didn't know that's what she was doing as a kid. I just knew every Friday at her house meant this golden loaf that was different every time. Sometimes it had leftover pot roast and peppers. Sometimes it was breakfast sausage and eggs. One time it was Thanksgiving leftovers with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce all rolled up together.
She died six years ago, and I never got the recipe because there wasn't one to get. It was just her way—roll out dough, throw in whatever needs using, seal it up, bake it. But what she showed me, without ever saying it, was that cooking doesn't have to cost money or look pretty to taste good. Some of my best food memories are from those Friday nights, eating slices of whatever weird combination she'd thrown together that week.
Top Tip
- Here's stuff I wish someone had told me before I wrecked my first dozen tries. Make three small diagonal cuts on top before baking steam has to escape or the whole thing bursts open down the middle. Put cheese directly on the dough first to block wet ingredients from turning everything into mush. And don't cram too much in there even though you want to keep fillings in the middle third and leave space to seal the edges, or it's gonna explode all over your oven.
- The other big thing is drying off wet ingredients with paper towels. Mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes they're all full of water that'll wreck your garbage bread. Let it sit for 5 minutes after baking before you cut it, even when it smells so good you can barely stand it. Those few minutes stop everything from falling apart when you slice into it. And grab a bench scraper to move the filled dough to your pan instead of using your hands way less ripping and stretching.
What to Serve With Garbage Bread
Honestly, this thing is so filling you barely need anything else. Most nights, we just grab marinara sauce for dipping and call it dinner. That's it. The whole point of garbage bread is it's already loaded with whatever you had in your fridge, so you're getting protein, vegetables, cheese, all wrapped up in one package. But I get it sometimes you want something on the side to round things out, especially if you're serving guests who expect more than just bread on the table.
When I do sides, I keep them simple. A Caesar salad with extra Parmesan is Emma's favorite because he can pick out the croutons and ignore the lettuce. Roasted vegetables work if you're trying to add more healthy stuff to the meal I usually just toss whatever's in the crisper with olive oil and throw it in the oven. Sometimes it's literally just a bag of chips or some pickle spears. Coleslaw is good when I'm bringing garbage bread to a potluck because it adds some crunch and freshness. For dipping, marinara is the obvious move, but we've done ranch, garlic butter, pesto, even buffalo sauce when we made the buffalo chicken version.
FAQ
Why is it called garbage bread?
The name comes from using up random stuff in your fridge that might otherwise get thrown out. It's not actual garbage just a funny way to describe shoving whatever leftover ingredients you have into pizza dough. People started calling it that because there's no recipe to follow, you just use what needs eating.
What is another name for garbage bread?
Depends who you ask. Some people call it "stuffed pizza bread," "kitchen sink bread," or "everything bread." In Italian cooking, similar stuff is called scaccia. When it's made with specific fillings, people might call it "pepperoni bread" or "stromboli," though stromboli is rolled differently and not quite the same thing.
What are the different types of garbage bread?
There aren't really set types that's the whole point. But the most common ones are Italian-style with pepperoni and mozzarella, breakfast versions with eggs and bacon, buffalo chicken, Philly cheesesteak style, and vegetarian with whatever vegetables you've got. Every time you make it, it can be completely different based on what's in your fridge.
What temperature should I cook garbage bread at?
Bake it at 375°F for 25-30 minutes until it's deep golden brown. Some people go hotter at 400°F for crispier crust, but I've found 375°F cooks it evenly without burning the bottom. Inside should hit 190°F so the dough's cooked all the way through. Brush olive oil on top before baking if you want it extra crispy.
Time to Make Your Own Creation!
Now you've got everything you need to make garbage bread from what goes inside to how Grandma used to make her Friday night magic without ever writing anything down. This is one of those meals that proves you don't need fancy stuff or a game plan to feed people. Just open your fridge, grab whatever's been sitting there too long, roll it all up in pizza dough, and bake it until it's golden. That's it. No stress, no wasted food, no calling for pizza because you swore you had nothing to eat.
Looking for more weeknight dinners that don't need a store run? Try our Healthy and Easy Tilapia Recipe when you want something light that's done fast. Want big flavor? Our Best Shrimp Mofongo Recipe tastes like restaurant food without the restaurant bill. Or if you feel like showing off, make our Healthy Beef Wellington Recipe that looks way harder than it is and tastes amazing.
Share your garbage bread with us! We love seeing what random stuff people throw in theirs. Someone made it with leftover mac and cheese. Someone else did pulled pork and coleslaw. One person sent me a photo of a dessert version with Nutella and bananas. There's no wrong way to do this.
Rate this recipe and tell us what you stuffed in yours! Did it work? Did it flop? We want to know either way.
Related
Looking for other Garbage Bread like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Garbage Bread
Garbage Bread
Equipment
- 1 Half-Sheet Baking Pan (A large baking tray for cooking your garbage bread.)
- 1 Parchment Paper or Silicone Mat (For lining the baking pan and preventing the bread from sticking.)
- 1 Rolling Pin (To roll out the dough into a rectangle.)
- 1 Pizza cutter or sharp knife (For slicing the bread after it’s baked.)
- 1 Pastry brush (To brush olive oil and seasoning on top of the dough.)
Ingredients
- 1 package Pizza dough - Or use whole wheat gluten-free, puff pastry
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil - For brushing the top
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning - For sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder - For sprinkling
- 1 ½ cups Shredded mozzarella - You can swap with provolone or Italian blend
- ½ cup Pepperoni slices - Optional or substitute with other deli meats
- ½ cup Cooked Italian sausage - Optional
- ½ cup Diced ham or salami - Optional
- ½ cup Cooked bacon bits - Optional
- 1 cup Bell peppers - Chopped into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup Sliced mushrooms - Optional pat dry
- ½ cup Chopped onions - Optional
- ½ cup Spinach or kale - Optional
- ¼ cup Banana peppers - Optional
- ¼ cup Black olives - Optional
- ¼ cup Sun-dried tomatoes - Optional
- ¼ cup Fresh basil - Optional
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese - For sprinkling on top optional
- 1 tablespoon Everything bagel seasoning - Optional
Instructions
-
Preheat oven, soften dough, chop and dry all fillings.
-
Roll dough, layer cheese, and fill with chosen ingredients.
-
Fold dough, seal edges, brush with olive oil and season.
- Cut top, bake at 375°F until golden, and check internal temp.
-
Let bread cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
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