Delicious, fresh, and flavorful homemade Garlic Bread Recipe straight from the oven! Here you get each bread piece perfectly slathered with garlic butter, with crisp edges and a soft buttery-melty center, a golden brown toasted top, with fresh garlic, parsley and black pepper.
Who doesn’t like some flavourful homemade garlic bread? It’s quick and easy to make, and tastes so amazing.
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Table of contents
3 Classic Methods
This recipe has 2 methods, Garlic bread toasted in the oven, parmesan garlic bread in the oven, and toasted garlic bread in a pan. It is prepared with real butter, fresh garlic, fresh parsley, and fresh black pepper.
Plus, I have also used grated parmesan cheese in half of the garlic butter to make parmesan garlic bread.
This bread recipe is super simple and easy to make. Actually, the bread tastes as good as what you get at Domino’s or Pizza Hut! And it is surely better than the store-bought garlic loaf which is made with margarine.
The secret to making incredibly flavorful, fresh, and easy cheesy bread is to keep things simple. A few handfuls of fresh ingredients and 15 minutes of your time, is all you need to make the best garlic bread recipe.
On this page, you will get the step-by-step picture recipe and video instructions on how to make garlic bread at home.
About this Garlic Bread
For a classic flavor-packed Garlic Bread experience, I have used the basic French Baguette and Ciabatta for making bread recipe. And, if you truly want to have the experience of relishing the traditional bread, then this homemade recipe is made just for you.
It has real butter, and there is no way you can swap it with anything else.
Once you make this homemade garlic bread you would never want to buy the garlic bread from the stores again.
Garlic bread is an ideal starter to begin an Italian-style dinner. My family and I love to enjoy it with Italian meals. So every time we order a pizza or pasta, garlic breadsticks are mandatory.
Making it at home is very easy and quick. So at home, I always prepare some fresh garlic bread to complement the Italian meals such as this Penne Arrabbiata, Pasta Aglio E Olio (Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic), Mushroom Fettuccine with Alfredo Sauce.
This Homemade Garlic Bread
✓ is super delicious and satisfying
✓ goes well as a side dish for soup, pasta, pizza, or salad
✓ is simple to make and freeze
✓ can be prepared with or without oven
✓ can be customized
✓ also goes well with evening tea or coffee
✓ is vegetarian and can also be made vegan
✓ is ready in under 15 minutes
Ingredients
Ingredients for this bread include french bread loaf, garlic, butter, and fresh herbs.
Bread – For making this bread at home, you can use a French baguette, French loaf, Italian Ciabatta, sourdough bread, or breadstick. For the simplest version, you can even make garlic bread with regular white or wheat bread slices.
Butter – I generally use salted butter, but you can surely use unsalted butter too. When using unsalted butter, you make sure to season the butter mixture with some salt.
Garlic - For 1 cup butter I’ve used 7 garlic cloves. For me, the more garlic the better. If you want it to taste less garlicky, then feel free to reduce the amount of garlic in this bread recipe.
Freshly ground black pepper – I like to season garlic butter with some freshly ground black pepper. A little bit of black pepper magically enhances the flavors of garlic butter. However, adding black pepper is completely optional here.
Fresh herbs – Adding fresh herbs such as parsley or cilantro takes the taste of this bread to the next level. Again, adding fresh herbs is optional. If you don’t like to add fresh herbs then you can also use some dried herbs such as basil and oregano.
Cheese - Adding cheese is optional in this recipe. Since I’ve also made parmesan garlic bread, I have added grated parmesan to half of the garlic butter. You can also use some melting cheese like mozzarella to make the cheese garlic bread recipe.
How to make garlic butter
To make garlic butter, fresh garlic is essential. The key to making the most delicious garlic bread is to use a lot of freshly minced garlic. And adding parmesan is highly recommended for that classic French Garlic bread taste and cheese meltiness.
My recipe makes the best homemade garlic butter. It is made with 8 freshly minced garlic, 1 cup (227g) butter, 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper — this ratio makes the perfect garlic herb butter!
How to make it with regular bread
Making garlic bread recipes with regular bread is possible. You just need to swap baguettes with any of your preferred white or whole bread slices.
Best bread for this recipe
For this recipe, you can use any fresh Italian or French loaves of bread. Also, both soft or dense bread work here.
Freezing
Freezing homemade garlic bread is very easy. You can freeze it without baking/toasting. To freeze this bread, smear the garlic butter and freeze the bread. Once frozen, transfer them to a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Thaw it at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.
It tastes best when eaten warm straight from the pan or oven. Leftovers don’t taste so fresh. So make sure to toast the bread as needed. You can always keep a batch of garlic butter smeared bread slices in the freezer to use later.
Reheating
There are different ways to reheat this bread. The bread that is cooked in the oven is soft and crispy and toasty when cooked in a pan over the stovetop.
To reheat soft bread, wrap it lightly in a foil and then bake until it is warmed. To reheat crispy toasty garlic bread, preheat the oven and broil it for about 30 seconds or until butter is melted.
Serving Suggestions
It can be served with many many dishes. It is comfy enough to make your dinners cozy and satisfying. You can have it as an appetizer, or serve it with any of your favorite soups or Italian dishes.
My favorite dishes to serve with this bread are: Creamy Sweet Potato Carrot Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Vegetarian Pizza, or Makhani Pasta.
This garlic bread is also the perfect side for our Chickpea Zucchini Mushroom Pizza with Pickled Peppers — an amazing Italian pizza dinner.
Garlic Bread Variations
Garlic: Fresh garlic is the BEST. However, if you are not a super fan of pungent garlic flavors and still want to enjoy this bread, then use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. This way you will get mildly flavored garlic bread.
Herbs: I have only used parsley in this recipe, but if you want you can make it extra herby by adding a mix of 1-2 other herbs such as basil, rosemary, marjoram, or thyme.
Roasted garlic: You can also use roasted garlic cloves for making garlic butter.
Olive oil: Butter makes the best garlic bread, but olive oil also tastes great in this bread. So you can replace butter with extra virgin olive oil. Or you can also use a mix of oil and butter.
Cheese: You can also use mozzarella or cheddar instead of parmesan cheese to make cheesy garlic bread.
Chili: For a hot flavor, freshly chopped chilies or dried chilies can be added to the garlic butter.
Pro tips & tricks to make the best garlic bread at home
1. I have used only freshly chopped parsley in this recipe. You can also add dried basil and oregano.
2. Always spread the garlic butter evenly and edge to edge on the bread. It gives them an even garlicky flavor.
3. I have baked it in the oven, but you can also broil the bread on high settings for about 45 seconds to 3 minutes until golden brown.
4. When making this bread without the oven, you can toast it in a non-stick or cast iron pan. A grill can also be used for making bread.
5. Taste garlic butter spread, and feel free to add salt if needed.
6. I f you want hot flavors, then you can also add hot sauce, chili flakes or some red pepper flakes to the garlic butter.
7. If you are not comfortable using butter or you want to make vegan garlic bread, then substitute it with extra virgin olive oil. But don’t use margarine for making it. It doesn’t taste very good.
8. For the ultimate fresh garlicky flavors using fresh garlic is highly recommended. You can also add about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder to the garlic butter for additional flavors.
The Best Garlic Bread (Step-by-step photo instructions)
Garlic Bread In Oven:
- Finely chop fresh parsley, and keep it aside. Now in a medium bowl, add butter.
- Then using a garlic press, mince garlic and add it to the bowl. After that, add ground black pepper, and finely chopped parsley.
- Now, mix everything together until thoroughly combined. Garlic butter is ready. Set it aside.
- Cut the ciabatta loaf in half, lengthwise. Then spread the garlic butter mixture liberally over the one bread halve. Make sure to coat the bread halve edge to edge with the garlic butter. Keep the other half aside, if making garlic Parmesan bread like me. Or else use the same garlic butter for other halves too.
- Garlic Parmesan Bread: To make garlic Parmesan bread, add 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to the garlic butter and stir well to incorporate all these ingredients. Garlic parmesan butter is ready.
- Now, spread a generous amount of garlic parmesan butter across the second bread halve. Line a baking sheet/pan/tray with a foil and place both the bread halves on it.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and bake it on a middle shelf for about 9-10 minutes or until edges are toasted and golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for 1 minute on a baking tray.
- Slice the garlic bread and serve with it any of your favorite pasta or any Italian meal of your choice.
Garlic Bread Without Oven:
- Slice the baguette diagonally. You can also slice the baguette horizontally.
- Now spread the butter on each slice of baguette.
- Now heat a pan over medium-low heat and place the buttered baguette slices; keeping the butter smeared side facing down.
- Spread butter also on the other side of baguette slices and toast for 1-2 minutes or until bread slices are toasty, flavorful, and golden.
- Flip the baguette slices and toast from the other side too. Alternatively, you can toast garlic bread in a preheated grill for about 2 minutes. Remove toasted garlic bread from the pan.
- Your delicious, crunchy, and aromatic garlic bread without oven is ready.
Recipe Card
The Best Garlic Bread [Recipe]
★★★★★
(Rating: 5 from 9 reviews)
| Prep time 🕐 | Cook time 🕐 | Total time 🕐 |
|---|---|---|
| 17 mins | ||
| Category ☶ | Cuisine ♨ | Serves ☺ |
| Snacks | Italian | 8 |
| Nutrition Info ⊛ | Serving size ⊚ | |
| 241 calories | 1 |
INGREDIENTS
For Garlic Bread:
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened
- 7-8 garlic cloves, peeled
- A handful of fresh parsley or cilantro finely chopped
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano), grated (optional)
- 1 large ciabatta loaf + 1 baguette
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Garlic Bread In Oven:
- Finely chop fresh parsley, and keep it aside. Now in a medium bowl, add butter.
- Then using a garlic press, mince garlic and add it to the bowl. After that, add ground black pepper, and finely chopped parsley.
- Now, mix everything together until thoroughly combined. Garlic butter is ready. Set it aside.
- Cut the ciabatta loaf in half, lengthwise. Then spread the garlic butter mixture liberally over the one bread halve. Make sure to coat the bread halve edge to edge with the garlic butter. Keep the other half aside, if making garlic Parmesan bread like me. Or else use the same garlic butter for other halves too.
- Garlic Parmesan Bread: To make garlic Parmesan bread, add 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to the garlic butter and stir well to incorporate all these ingredients. Garlic parmesan butter is ready.
- Now, spread a generous amount of garlic parmesan butter across the second bread halve. Line a baking sheet/pan/tray with a foil and place both the bread halves on it.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F and bake it on a middle shelf for about 9-10 minutes or until edges are toasted and golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for 1 minute on a baking tray.
- Slice the garlic bread and serve with it any of your favorite pasta or any Italian meal of your choice.
Garlic Bread Without Oven:
- Slice the baguette diagonally. You can also slice the baguette horizontally.
- Now spread the butter on each slice of baguette.
- Now heat a pan over medium-low heat and place the buttered baguette slices; keeping the butter smeared side facing down.
- Spread butter also on the other side of baguette slices and toast for 1-2 minutes or until bread slices are toasty, flavorful, and golden.
- Flip the baguette slices and toast from the other side too. Alternatively, you can toast garlic bread in a preheated grill for about 2 minutes. Remove toasted garlic bread from the pan.
- Your delicious, crunchy, and aromatic garlic bread without oven is ready.
WATCH RECIPE VIDEO: Click the play button and video will load ...
NOTES:
- Always spread the garlic butter evenly and edge to edge on the bread. It gives them an even garlicky flavor.
- I have baked this bread in the oven, but you can also broil the bread on high settings for about 45 seconds to 3 minutes until golden brown.
- When making this bread without the oven, you can toast it in a non-stick or cast iron pan. A grill can also be used for making this bread.
- Taste garlic butter spread, and feel free to add salt if needed.
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Author: Anupama
Recipe Source Link: https://www.mygingergarlickitchen.com/garlic-bread/
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