House Favorite Garlic Bread Recipe

comment icon 29 more comments This is our house favorite garlic bread, the one I make almost weekly at this point in the year. I like a garlic bread that is crisped, golden, heavily garlicked, a little Parm-y, and thoroughly saturated with butter. It’s not overloaded with cheese because it’s not cheese bread! I feel strongly about this. It’s garlic bread. It’s classic, it’s incredibly savory, and it’s so ridiculously good!

House Favorite Garlic Bread

Take Me To The Recipe Why I Love This Recipe Ingredients for Garlic Bread How to Make This Garlic Bread Reviews

Why I Love This Garlic Bread

Garlic bread is something that I’ve spent a stupid amount of time thinking about over the last 2-ish years. We did a soup series a few years ago, and I was thisclose to posting a garlic bread recipe in the series, but I never quite locked it in. I just could never commit to a certain type of bread, or a particular texture, or just a general look and feel. Do we want it crusty? Chewy? Hearty? Or light and toasty? A few years and many batches of garlic bread later, and I think I’ve landed. And we are garlic bread happy over here. This is the house favorite garlic bread at the Ostrom household these days – a dense but springy Italian loaf as the base, generously slathered with butter and Parmesan, appropriately garlicky but not overdone (and important balance, even for garlic bread), and flecked with bits of fresh herb to just elevate the eating experience. The end result is golden brown, buttery and savory, with a satisfying bite and chew to it. It makes for elite dipping, sopping, and scooping, which is a top quality for me when it comes to garlic bread. Another important quality: this is fast. In our house, garlic bread is usually a bonus meal item (served with spaghetti, soup, etc.) in which case I’m willing to give it 15 minutes of my life, but no more. Current favorite way to eat this garlic bread: dunked in a rich tomato soup or scooping up this amazing baked tortellini or this ricotta meatball skillet situation.

Ingredients For This Garlic Bread

There aren’t many! Yay!

Italian bread (more on that in a second) Butter Garlic (I use both fresh garlic and a pinch of garlic powder) Parmesan cheese Parsley

Which leads us to the most important decision one can make about garlic bread, I think.

My Thoughts on The Bread Selection

This is something that I’ve spent a stupid amount of time thinking about. All of it comes down to this: What do you really want from your garlic bread? Do you want it to sop up sauces? Do you want it to give you a hearty, crusty chunk that you can sink your teeth into? Do you just want it to be a vehicle for that Parmesan-laced garlic butter flavor? Some options we have:

Italian loaf French bread Baguette

(French loaf and baguette pictured here.) Ultimately I’ve found that I prefer the Italian loaf for a few reasons:

It has a wider, flatter shape that works well for garlic bread; It has a more even crumb with fewer holes. It’s dense enough to be a little chewy, but not as chompy as the baguette. The perfect in-between!

When I say Italian loaf, I’m talking about something like this. A take-and-bake style, flatter, wider, smallish loaf of bread. My second favorite would be the French bread: I thought I wouldn’t like the light, fluffiness of the French loaf but I’ve actually really enjoyed it because it can kind of be both – it gets crunchy and chewy with the golden browning of the Parmesan on top, but it’s light enough to sop up whatever sauces and soups you’re eating it with. The baguette has a nice chew, but there are so many holes and nooks and crannies that it’s hard to get your butter to lay on a flat surface. That said… garlic bread almost never tastes bad. 🙂 There’s room for every bread type here. I’ve also seen garlic bread made with challah, and sourdough, and ciabatta. But if you’re asking me (and you are on my website!) in the year of our Lord 2023, I’m going with the Italian loaf!

How To Make This Garlic Bread

Step 1: Soften your butter.

I do this in the microwave, in short increments, and then whisk it to get it smooth-ish. Cutting it into uniform chunks (like the photo above) will help it soften at an even rate.

Step 2: Grate that garlic right in there.

My hot take: anything more than one clove is overpowering and generally unpleasant. Stop at one! It doesn’t seem like it will be enough, but trust me. Even for me – a self-proclaimed garlic lover – one clove is plenty.

Step 3: Add Parmesan and parsley.

Finely grated Parmesan cheese is where it’s at! That savory flavor and golden browning – YUM. I also like to add a little bit of garlic powder at this point just to slightly extend my garlick-ing of things (but with more subtlety than fresh garlic).

Step 4: Spread that amazingness on your bread.

I find this amount of butter mixture is good for one full Italian loaf, of half of a French bread loaf. Really, really coat it. Layer it on. Be generous.

Step 5: Bake it!

If you don’t want any browning, first of all, why? It’s delightful. Second of all, you’ll just want go for more like 375 to 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. If you like it a little golden brown, like I do, with a bit of texture on top, shoot for 10 minutes at 400 to 425 degrees. Just keep an eye on it and nudge it up as needed. Cut those halves into strips and get straight to the dunking!

5 from 14 reviews If you use unsalted butter, be sure to add a pinch of salt to the butter mixture! This is AMAZING to freeze! Spread the bread with the butter as usual, then pop it in the freezer. Once solid, throw it in a bag or wrap in foil. You have garlic bread at the ready to bake the next time the craving strikes! What a treat!