Over nearly two decades of crafting recipes for my food column and guiding countless home cooks, I’ve perfected a Garlic Bread Recipe that rivals and often surpasses any you’ll find in a restaurant. What began as a simple favor for Emma evolved into an extensive series of trials: testing various loaves, experimenting with Garlic Bread Recipe techniques, and fine-tuning the butter blend. After hosting dinner after dinner and feeding friends and family, I’ve arrived at a formula that delivers crunchy, golden edges, tender, pillowy interiors, and a heady garlic fragrance that wafts through the whole home.
Why You'll Love This Garlic Bread Recipe
This garlic bread recipe fixes every headache I've had making it over the years. The bread comes out soft inside but gets those crispy edges everyone grabs first. Emma loves helping - he can mix the garlic butter and lay out the slices without making a mess. It's ready in 15 minutes, which saves my sanity on busy weeknights when I need something good fast.
The garlic butter gets into all the bread's nooks while the top gets golden and crunchy, just like the stuff we pay too much for at restaurants. I've made this for potlucks, family dinners, and those nights when pasta needs a sidekick. Even picky eaters ask for seconds, and that's saying something in my house.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Garlic Bread Recipe
- Ingredients for Garlic Bread Recipe
- How To Make Garlic Bread Recipe Step By Step
- Equipment For Garlic Bread Recipe
- Storing Garlic Bread Recipe
- Garlic Bread Recipe Variations
- Smart Swaps for Garlic Bread Recipe
- Why This Recipe Works
- Top Tip
- The Dish My Grandmother Taught Me to Love
- FAQ
- Time to Make Some Garlic Bread!
- Related
- Pairing
- Garlic Bread
Ingredients for Garlic Bread Recipe
The Must-Haves:
- French bread or Italian loaf
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Unsalted butter
- Fresh parsley
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper
If You Want Extras:
- Oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- Chives
- Mozzarella cheese
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Garlic Bread Recipe Step By Step
Get Ready:
- Heat oven to 425°F
- Cut bread thick, maybe ¾ inch
- Let butter get soft on the counter
- Chop garlic small
Mix the Butter:
- Mash garlic with salt using your knife
- Stir it into soft butter
- Add parsley and Parmesan
- Add a little olive oil
Spread and Bake:
- Put butter on each slice (use plenty)
- Put slices on baking sheet
- Don't let them touch
- Keep leftover butter for serving
In the Oven:
- Wait 2 minutes before eating
- 8-10 minutes until golden on edges
- Watch it close - goes from good to burnt quick
- Broil 1-2 minutes if you want it crunchier
Equipment For Garlic Bread Recipe
- Bread knife
- Bowl
- Garlic press
- Spoon or brush
- Baking sheet
Storing Garlic Bread Recipe
Same Day:
- Eat it hot if you can
- Keep it warm in a low oven
- Cover with foil if it sits out
- Don't refrigerate it yet
Next Day:
- Put it in a container
- Heat in 350°F oven
- Add more butter if it looks dried out
- 3-4 minutes makes it crispy again
Make Ahead:
- Don't pre-bake it
- Mix garlic butter the day before
- Cut bread and wrap tight
- Assemble right before baking
Garlic Bread Recipe Variations
More Herbs:
- Basil and thyme
- Rosemary
- Lemon zest
- Extra Parmesan
Hot Stuff:
- Red pepper flakes
- Jalapeño slices
- Chipotle powder
- Pepper jack cheese
Pizza Bread:
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Black olives
- Feta cheese
- Oregano
Pull-Apart Style:
- Cut deeper slices in the loaf
- Stuff cheese in the cuts
- Wrap in foil
- Bake longer so cheese gets gooey
Smart Swaps for Garlic Bread Recipe
Different Bread:
- French → Sourdough
- Italian → Whole wheat
- Fresh → Day-old (actually tastes better!)
- Store bread → Homemade
No Dairy:
- Butter → Vegan butter
- Parmesan → Nutritional yeast
- Cheese → Dairy-free cheese
Garlic Stuff:
- Regular → Green garlic when it's in season
- Fresh → Roasted garlic (milder)
- Raw → Garlic powder (last resort)
Why This Recipe Works
I've messed up Garlic Bread Recipe plenty of times, so here's what I learned the hard way. Room temperature butter is key - cold butter rips the bread apart when you try to spread it, and melted butter just runs off everywhere. You want it soft but not liquidy. Fresh garlic beats garlic powder every time. I used to think powder was fine until I tried fresh - now the powder stuff tastes like nothing.
The salt thing really works - when you mash garlic with salt, it breaks down the garlic more and makes it taste stronger. It also stops the garlic from getting brown and bitter in the oven. Even the bread makes a difference. Day-old French bread works better than super fresh because it doesn't get mushy when you put butter on it.
Top Tip
- Here's the thing that changed everything for me: let the Garlic Bread Recipe sit in the salt for about 5 minutes before you mix it with the butter. I discovered this by accident when I got distracted by a phone call. When I came back, the garlic had turned into this paste that mixed way better with the butter and spread so much easier. Now I always do this step on purpose.
- The other game-changer is using the back of a fork to really mash the garlic and salt together until it's almost like a paste. It takes maybe 30 seconds of mashing, but it makes the Garlic Bread Recipe flavor go into every bit of butter instead of having chunks that some people bite into and others miss completely.
- One more thing - don't spread the butter all the way to the edges of the bread. Leave about a quarter inch border or the butter will drip off onto your baking sheet and smoke up your kitchen. I learned this one the hard way when our smoke alarm went off during a dinner party.
The Dish My Grandmother Taught Me to Love
My grandmother never measured anything when she made Garlic Bread Recipe. She'd take whatever bread was left from dinner, slice it thick, and mix butter with garlic using just her hands and a wooden spoon. I was maybe eight years old, standing on a step stool in her kitchen, watching her work. "The garlic should smell like summer," she'd say, even though I had no idea what that meant back then.
What made her version special wasn't some secret ingredient - it was how she'd rub the cut side of a garlic clove directly on the toasted bread before adding the butter mixture. The rough texture of the toasted bread would grate the garlic right into the surface. Then she'd spread her garlic butter on top of that. It was like getting hit with garlic flavor twice, but in the best way possible.
I still do the garlic rub thing sometimes when I want to remember her kitchen. Emma thinks it's weird, but when he tastes it, he gets why Grandma did it that way. She always said food should make you remember good things, and this garlic bread definitely does that for me. Sometimes the old ways really are the best ways.
FAQ
What ingredients are in garlic bread?
Basic garlic bread needs bread, butter, fresh garlic, salt, and parsley. I throw in Parmesan cheese and olive oil too. Some people use garlic powder, but fresh garlic tastes a million times better. You can add oregano or basil if you want, but honestly the basic version is hard to beat.
How do you make your own garlic bread?
Mix soft butter with chopped garlic, salt, parsley, and Parmesan. Spread it on sliced bread and bake at 425°F for 8-10 minutes until edges turn golden. Use room temperature butter so it spreads without ripping the bread. Fresh garlic beats powder every time. Salt makes the garlic punch stronger.
How to make garlic bread in 10 minutes?
Buy pre-sliced bread to skip the cutting. Mix garlic butter while oven heats to 425°F. Spread mixture on bread, bake 8 minutes, then broil 1-2 minutes for crunch. Takes exactly 10 minutes if you don't get distracted. Keep it simple and move fast.
What makes garlic bread better?
Fresh garlic instead of powder, soft butter that spreads without tearing bread, and decent bread. Parmesan cheese and olive oil help too. Don't spread butter to the edges or it drips and smokes. Day-old bread beats fresh bread because it doesn't turn to mush when you butter it.
Time to Make Some Garlic Bread!
Now you know how to make garlic bread that tastes good - from picking the right bread to Grandma Rosa's garlic rub trick. This goes with everything and makes dinner feel less boring, even if you're just eating spaghetti from a jar.
Want more easy recipes? Try our Best French Toast Casserole for weekend mornings when you don't want to stand at the stove flipping pancakes. Our Easy Egg Muffins Recipe works great for busy mornings, and you can make a bunch on Sunday. And check out our Easy Banana Bread Recipe when those bananas get too brown to eat but you hate throwing them out!
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Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Garlic Bread Recipe
Garlic Bread
Equipment
- 1 Baking sheet (Large enough so slices don’t touch)
- 1 Bread knife (Serrated)
- 1 Bowl (For mixing garlic butter)
- 1 Garlic press (Or finely mince with a knife)
- 1 Brush (Or use the back of a spoon to spread butter)
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French or Italian bread - Slice into ¾″ thick pieces
- ½ cup Unsalted butter - Room temperature softened
- 4 cloves Fresh garlic - Minced
- 2 tablespoon Fresh parsley - Finely chopped
- ¼ cup Grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper - Freshly ground
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 °F and allow it to fully come to temperature
- Slice the bread into uniform ¾-inch thick pieces using a serrated knife
- Mash the fresh garlic and salt together until it becomes a smooth paste
- Combine the garlic paste thoroughly with softened butter and herbs
- Bake the garlic-buttered slices until the edges turn golden and crisp
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