Homemade Garlic Bread

By
Danette St. Onge
Danette St. Onge
Danette St. Onge
Danette St. Onge is a food writer specializing in international cuisines. She authored "The Better-Than-Takeout Thai Cookbook" and has also served as the Italian Food Expert for The Spruce Eats.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 09/24/21
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Yield: 1 loaf

First, a disclaimer: garlic bread is not Italian. In fact, it is an Italian-American invention, perhaps improvised, some hypothesize, by Italian immigrants who had trouble finding the right ingredients in the U.S. and so made-do, instead, with what was available: butter instead of olive oil, for example, and French bread instead of Italian bread.

If you go to Italy expecting to find long, thin loaves of bread slathered in butter and minced garlic and baked until crisp and golden-brown around the edges, you will be disappointed; it simply does not exist there. The closest thing in Italy would be fettunta (meaning, literally "oily slice"), which is a grilled or toasted slice of hearty, crusty bread lightly rubbed with a raw garlic clove before being garnished with extra-virgin olive oil and salt. That's Italian "garlic bread." 

This does not, however, mean that Italian-American garlic bread is not totally delicious. It is one of the best things on offer in your average Italian-American restaurant but it takes just 15 minutes to make at home. While serving it with pasta—as is often done—might be a bit of overkill, it's a classic pairing. It's great with seafood and chicken or as an appetizer with marinara for dipping, but there's really no wrong way to serve garlic bread. 

How to garlic bread recipe

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Ingredients

  • 1 large baguette or loaf of French bread

  • 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) salted butter, softened

  • 4 to 6 cloves garlic, very finely minced

  • Fresh parsley leaves, finely minced, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for buttery garlic bread
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover a baking sheet in aluminum foil.

    Cover a baking sheet
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  3. Slice the baguette in half lengthwise.

    Slice baguette
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  4. Mix the softened butter and minced garlic in a small bowl.

    Mix softened butter
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  5. Spread the butter-garlic mixture over both halves of the loaf of bread, then sprinkle evenly with the minced parsley, if using.

    Spread butter on bread
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  6. Place the bread on the baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the butter has melted and the bread is lightly crisped around the edges.

    Bake garlic bread
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  7. Serve alongside your choice of pasta dish and enjoy.

    Garlic bread
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

How to Store Freeze

  • Garlic bread tastes best when freshly made, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days. Reheat in a toaster oven or under a broiler just until warm.
  • Garlic bread can be frozen for later. Assemble but skip baking. Wrap tightly in a few layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month.
  • To heat, defrost in the fridge or on the counter and bake. Garlic bread can be baked straight from frozen (add a few minutes to the cook time), but the edges may brown more than you like by the time the center is defrosted.

Tips

  • Adjust the garlic to suit your level of garlic tolerance. Four smaller cloves yield a milder garlic bread, while six bigger cloves are for garlic lovers only.
  • To save time you can press the garlic instead of mincing.
  • A large baguette, a loaf of crusty French bread, or even a medium loaf of Italian bread works well for this recipe.
  • For a crispier, more browned top, you can also put the bread under the broiler for another one to two minutes (watch carefully so that it doesn't burn).

Recipe Variations

  • Make this garlic bread vegan by using your favorite vegan butter.
  • Add a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese before broiling. Or add more cheese to make cheesy garlic bread.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
265 Calories
13g Fat
31g Carbs
7g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 265
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g 17%
Saturated Fat 8g 38%
Cholesterol 31mg 10%
Sodium 445mg 19%
Total Carbohydrate 31g 11%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 1mg 4%
Calcium 38mg 3%
Iron 2mg 13%
Potassium 81mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)