Making garlic bread at home isn’t hard. But making amazing garlic bread that is downright perfect, takes a little bit of trial and error! Trust me, there aren’t going to be any leftovers with this one! Luckily for you (and definitely for me) I’ve gone ahead and done all the testing and retesting for us and came up with the absolute best garlic bread recipe! It was hard work, but someone had to take one for the team 😉 It all started on my birthday. We had gone out to a super popular Italian restaurant in town. And the first thing that I ordered on the menu was, of course, the truffled garlic bread. I had seen it all over my instagram and I was ready to make a meal out of it. Holy cannoli! It was the perfect toasty bread. Golden brown and exploding with flavor, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, garlic, and fresh parsley. Their version also came with a scoop of creamy ricotta and tons of shaved Grana Padano on top. Ricotta and garlic bread are amazing for a special occasion. And you know that carbohydrates don’t count on your birthday and all! My homemade version is inspired by that but when I want garlic bread on a weeknight to serve alongside my bowl of pasta or homemade soups, I want a straight-up crispy baguette rubbed down with parsley garlic butter and served alongside a boatful of marinara sauce! If calories weren’t a thing, I would honestly eat garlic bread every single day of my life.
Ingredients for homemade garlic bread:
Bread: You can use a few different kinds here. I really like using a Rustic Italian Loaf for this recipe. However french bread from the grocery store will also work. Just be sure to use a 16-ounce loaf (or two 8 ounce baguettes) for this amount of garlic butter.Butter: I use unsalted butter for my homemade garlic bread. During recipe testing, I tested the garlic butter with 8,10,12 and even 16 tablespoons of butter. Ultimately, I decided that 1 stick of butter is the ideal amount for a 16-ounce loaf of bread. For me, the butter has to be there but I don’t want it to make the bread excessively greasy! Garlic: You’ll need a few fresh garlic cloves for this recipe – please, none of the stuff that comes pre-minced in a jar! Real garlic bread deserves a bit of freshly minced garlic. You can also run the clove through a garlic press if you’d like but I find fresh mince garlic yields the best results.Seasonings: You’ll need regular kosher salt and garlic powder. We’re doubling up on the garlic and using both fresh garlic and garlic powder to give it the most garlicky flavor! You can also add a pinch of red pepper flakes, oregano, or basil if you like a little heat. I’m a purist and usually don’t.Parsley: I use a tablespoon of fresh parsley for this recipe to give it that fresh herbs flavor and a pop of green color. You can also use dried parsley, but I find that it does tend to darken in the oven and doesn’t really add too much flavor.Grated Parmesan: a bit of grated parmesan just gives the bread a deep nutty flavor. You can also use Grana Padano if you happen to have that on hand. Sprinkle it right into the garlic butter so that you get a tiny bit in each bite. You won’t be able to make out that there’s parmesan in here, but it does help boost all the other flavors in this recipe.White Truffle Oil: This is the secret ingredient that makes my garlic bread UNFORGETTABLE and luxurious. The white truffle oil makes the garlic flavor more pronounced and just amps up all the other flavors. It totally feels like fancy garlic bread from your favorite Italian takeout without having to pay the big bucks. If you happen to have black truffle oil at home, you can swap it for white truffle oil here.
Instructions for how to make the best garlic bread:
What to serve garlic bread with:
Braised Beef RaguWeeknight Spaghetti PuttanescaRustic Chicken Piccata MeatballsGnocchi alla SorrentinaThe Best Minestrone Soup
