Name: 3-Ingredient Pesto Star Bread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: All-purpose flour, for dusting; 2 16-ounce packages store-bought pizza dough; ~1/2 cup pesto (homemade or store-bought); 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, for brushing

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This 3-ingredient pesto star bread is fluffy, flavor-packed, fuss-free, and the perfect appetizer! Naturally vegan and ready in under 30 minutes.

Golden crust, fluffy bread, and herby pesto – what’s not to love?

This 3-Ingredient pull-apart Pesto Star Bread Recipe is the fuss-free appetizer you need to try. Layers of savory, herb-y pesto sandwiched between fluffy, chewy dough is reminiscent of pull-apart bread, but it’s way easier to make. It’s the perfect way to impress your friends, family, or guests — all while putting in minimal effort!

photo of a piece of star bread on wooden serving tray with bowl of pesto off to the side

INGREDIENTS + INSPIRATION

Ingredients for pesto star bread on stone background. Clockwise text labels read olive oil, pizza dough, flour, and pesto

I first saw star bread when I was scrolling my instagram feed – it’s traditionally similar to a cinnamon roll. Layers of dough and cinnamon sugar (or sometimes even chocolate!) are twisted together to form a beautiful “star” shape.

This star bread has a savory twist and uses pesto instead of a sweet filling. I used store-bought pesto for this recipe to keep things nice and simple (Trader Joe’s has a vegan one!). But you can easily make your own if you’d like, too – try my Vegan Nut-Free Pesto! Again, this recipe is all about the convenience, so I like to use store-bought pizza dough too 😉 Feel free to make your own via your favorite recipe – just make sure whatever you use has yeast in the ingredients so the bread will rise well and get puffy!

HOW TO MAKE PESTO STAR BREAD

This recipe takes less than 10 minutes to assemble – the hardest part is slicing the dough evenly, but there’s even a little room for error in that! Here’s the breakdown:

numbered steps for pesto star bread with photos showing the process of layering, slicing, and twisting the dough

Roll out half of your pizza dough, transfer to a baking sheet, and layer with pesto
Roll out the other half of the dough, place it on top (like a sandwich), and seal the ends.
Place a round object in the center of your dough (so you don’t cut through it), and cut the dough into 16 even strips. Divide the strips into pairs.
Holding one strip in each hand, rotate the strips outward 2-3 times to create a nice spiral, then pinch the ends together to form a star “point”. Repeat with the remaining dough
Brush with olive oil, then bake until golden and fluffy.

The twisting of the dough may seem intimidating, but it so simple once you get the hang of it! See the recipe video in this post for a better visual. The image below also shows the step-by-step (1-5) process with different strips of dough:

Step-by-step process of twisting dough strips to form a star point

FLAVOR VARIATIONS

This Pesto Star Bread is perfectly delicious on its own, but you can easily “level it up” (or customize it!) to your liking as well. Here are a few of my favorite flavor variations:

Up the Sauce: add a layer of tomato sauce with the pesto for a yummy tomato flavor
Add Some Texture: sprinkle some pine nuts or sun-dried tomatoes over the pesto for added texture in every bite
Get Cheesy: add some shredded vegan mozzarella or parmesan cheese to make this bread gooey and delish
Fresh Herbs: freshly chopped basil, or even some finely chopped rosemary can add a nice dimension
Make It Spicy: sprinkle in some chili flakes to add some heat, or mince up to 5 cloves garlic for an extra kick

This recipe can easily serve 8 people as-is. Cooking for a smaller crowd? Cut the recipe in half, and just roll out smaller circles of dough – the star will be smaller, but still delicious.

baked star bread on baking sheet with bowl of pesto off to the side

If you’re looking for more yummy vegan appetizer recipes, you’ll also love this Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and these Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms! Or if you have extra pesto, try making this Pesto Risotto or Pesto Fried Rice.

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂