This homemade Garlic Bread recipe is the best you will ever taste. And I stand by that boos! It’s buttery and garlicky with a crispy crust on the outside and a fluffy center, and it’s absolutely addictive. The best part is that making garlic bread from scratch couldn’t be easier. If you can mix, spread, and bake, you can make this recipe ya dig?
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I didn’t grow up eating garlic bread from scratch. My mama didn’t have time for that. Between a 9 to 5 (sometimes 9 to 6 or 7) job, a husband, and two demanding kids, she was spread thin. If garlic bread was served, it was served from a frozen box. Then, one day, everything changed. Our local grocery store started selling homemade garlic bread in their bakery section. My mom decided to try it out. She popped it in the oven as she was finishing her famous spaghetti and meatballs, and something magical occurred at dinner. I was totally changed! Frozen garlic bread was kicked to the curb.
I worked on this easy garlic bread recipe until it was perfect. It is legit reminds me of the version we grabbed at our grocery store, but better, of course! Once you try this recipe, you won’t go back to the frozen box again boos!
The Lowdown on This Garlic Bread
Cuisine Inspiration: Italian-American
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Vegetarian. Can be made Gluten-Free with an adjustment
Key Flavor: Garlicky, Buttery, and Herbaceous
Skill Level: Easy (No Sweat, Fam!)
Unmatched Freshness
Nothing beats the aroma and taste of garlic bread made from scratch. You control the freshness and know exactly what’s going into your food.
Customizable Garlic Intensity
With both garlic cloves and garlic powder in the mix, you can adjust the garlicky punch to your preference.
Versatile Pairing
This garlic bread goes with everything! Whether it’s Baked Ziti, a Classic Lasagna Recipe, or a Homemade Tomato Basil Soup Recipe, this side is an Italian dish’s BFF.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Garlic Bread
- Bread: Make sure you grab a crusty bread from the bakery section of your grocery store. I use baguette, but you can also use French or Italian baked bread. Fresh is key!
- Butter: This creates the rich and delicious base of our spread. I use salted butter since it is already flavorful and cuts down on the ingredients we need. Grab a French-style butter that has more fat because it is creamier and more decadent in taste.
- Garlic: Grab a bulb and mince that baby down. We need ample garlic flavor in this recipe!
- Garlic Powder: I double on the garlic flavor by also added the granulated version. This way, you get a taste of garlic in each bite wherever minced garlic doesn’t reach.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley doesn’t just add color. It gives subtle earthiness that complements the robust garlic flavor.
- Olive Oil adds moisture and richness to the spread, making it easier to spread and giving it a great mouthfeel.
- Parmesan: Optional, but I love the salty, tangy touch it gives to the garlic bread.
How to Make Garlic Bread
What to serve with homemade garlic bread
- Quick Appetizer Idea: Keep it easy and serve along with some marinara sauce or pizza sauce on the side.
- Easy Lunch Option: This is great served along with a delish bowl of Italian wedding soup or homemade tomato soup. Dip your homemade garlic bread in to sop up the flavors.
- Classic Italian Meal: Keep it vintage and serve this old school style with some spaghetti and meatballs or lentil meatballs and spaghetti recipe.
- Delish Special Occasion Menu: This is wonderful served along with my Italian pot roast recipe and harvest salad.
- Quick Italian Vibes: I can’t imagine not having this simple garlic bread recipe with chicken piccata recipe and chicken stuffed shells.
- Hearty Sunday Supper: It’s so wonderful with beef stew and garlic mashed potatoes.
- Pizza Night: Remember when old-school pizzerias always served garlic bread before pizza? Serve this as a nice snack before you serve some meat-lovers’ pizza, pepperoni pizza, or Sicilian pizza.
Recipe Substitutions
- Baguette: Feel free to get down on whatever you prefer here. Italian bread, french bread, and ciabatta are all great.
- Butter: You can totally use unsalted butter here. Just add a pinch of salt. If no butter is around, you can just use all olive oil but you will miss that creamy richness.
- Garlic: No garlic cloves? Just use all garlic powder. And vice versa. It will still turn out super yum boos.
- Parsley: You can substitute with other herbs like thyme, basil or oregano.
- Cheese: If you want to use a little cheese (totally optional) in this garlic bread and parm is out of the question, try pecorino romano for a nice sharp and salty contrast. Asiago has a lovely nutty vibe too!
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Make it Cheesy: I’ve added parmesan to this recipe but you can totally sprinkle on an extra layer of cheese. Before baking, layer the top of the garlic spread with a cup or so of shredded mozzarella or your fave cheese. For those golden-brown bubbles, turn the broiler on for the last minute but watch carefully.
- Make it Vegan: All you gotta do is replace the butter with your favorite vegan margarine or butter substitute.
- Make it Gluten-Free: Just use your fave gluten free bread in place of the baguette.
- Spice it Up: Add a light pinch of red pepper flakes to the spread for a bomb kick.
- Bruschetta it Up: After you bake, top with some chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and a little balsamic drizzle ya dig?
- Upgrade: Replace the olive oil with some truffle oil for a sophisticated touch.
- Top It Up: Add some caramelized onions and a bit of fresh thyme and serve it up. That’s good eatin y’all!
Expert Tips and Tricks for making the best easy garlic bread recipe
- No Store-Bought Minced Garlic: Do not, I repeat, do not use the pre-packaged minced garlic in the grocery store. The bottles have additional chemicals and aren’t as fresh. Make sure you grab fresh garlic and mince it yourself.
- Mince Finely: Nobody wants to bite into big ole chunks of garlic. It can be too overpowering so make sure you mince that garlic as fine as possible.
- Keep that Butter Soft: Get that butter to room temp so you can really mix all of the ingredients together well. We want a nice smooth spread.
- Toast Perfectly: If you want to brown the top even more, turn your broiler on for 1-2 minutes but watch carefully so your bread doesn’t burn!
How to store & reheat Garlic Bread
If you somehow manage to have leftovers (I’m impressed, boo!) simply wrap that garlic bread in foil or put it in an airtight container. If you want to refrigerate it, make sure the bread has cooled completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap before popping in the fridge.
To reheat, you can just pop back in the oven at about 350 F for 10-15 minutes or until warmed and crispy again. Or wrap a slice in a damp paper towel and heat it for about 20 seconds.
How long will Garlic Bread last in the fridge?
At room temp, your garlic bread will stay fresh for up to 2 days. After that, it starts to lose that golden magic. If you pop it in the fridge, you can stretch it out for up to 3 days.
Can I freeze homemade garlic bread?
Yes! It’s actually best to freeze your garlic bread BEFORE you bake it. Just assemble with the garlic spread and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze up to 3 months. You can also freeze after baking the same way, and it should last about 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before heating.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can either soften the butter quickly by cutting it into smaller cubes and letting it sit for about 15 minutes or popping in the microwave for 5 second intervals until it softens. Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t melt boos.
For sure boos! Just assemble the bread with the garlic bread spread, wrap super well and pop in the fridge or freezer. Follow the rest of the baking instructions when you are ready to bake. It will need to bake a bit longer if you are baking from frozen however.
Y’all gotta make sure you bake it long enough so it gets crispy. Check to make sure the bread is super toasty on the sides and golden brown on top before removing from the oven.
This Garlic Bread is so good, you might just forget about the main dish. Trust me boos, once you try it, you’ll be finding excuses to make it with everything. I mean, is there such a thing as too much garlic bread? (Spoiler: nope!). Now go ahead and get that bread, y’all!
More Garlic Bread Recipes
Garlic Bread Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- baguette
- 1/2 cup salted butter room temperature (1 stick)
- 4 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup parmesan optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut bread roll in half lengthwise.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together butter, minced garlic, garlic powder, parsley, olive oil and parmesan cheese if using until well combined.
- Liberally spread garlic butter mixture on each half of bread.
- Bake bread for 10-14 minutes or until bread is crisp and top is golden brown.
- Cut bread into slices and serve.
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Excellent to see how to bake the garlic bread because I wasn’t sure whether you needed to wrap the bread in aluminium foil first (no, you don’t) and how to place the two halves in the oven (side by side, butter side up). Your video showed me. Thanks very much.
Thank you for this great post. Your ketchup recipe is a staple in my kitchen! I just made another batch yesterday
Do I melt the butter? Or just soften it?
Just soften. Also there is a video for this recipe in the recipe card if you need to see anything or confirm how anything is made. Happy to help.
I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella over the top to make it cheesy garlic bread! Yum!! Thanks for the recipe
I found this recipe on your website a couple of years ago, and it is been my go-to garlic bread ever since. Simple yet flavorful. Thank you for sharing!
Made it without the parmesan cheese. Very yummy!
I also make it without parmesan too!
I was looking for a garlic bread recipe and found yours. It’s to die for , love it as does my crew !!!
YES!!!
Am I missing something? I see that you have Parmesan listed as one of the ingredients but I didn’t see the amount listed in the ingredient list.
It’s an optional ingredient. I actually make it without the parm.
Put as much in it as you want or none at all anyone has to ask in regards to that ingredient in this particular dish obviously has no clue about cooking stick with Texas toast..!
You don’t have to be rude. We all had to learn how to cook and bake so don’t act like your way smarter than anybody else. The only dumb question is the one you didn’t ask. Have a great day!
This garlic bread went great with your Italian pot roast recipe! Thanks for both!!
Looks yummy, How much Parmesan cheese?
Thanks!
I never add more than a tablespoon or two because it is stronger but i would taste and see if you like a lot or not.
Seriously it’s obviously you don’t know how to cook and you’re asking how much parmesan to add when it’s not an integral ingredient in basic garlic bread it’s just an add-on..! Put as much in or as little as you want or just stick with my advice and eat Texas toast Frozen from your local grocer
So good, thanks for the recipe!
Hooray fantastic!!!