Classic Homemade Garlic Bread

Homemade garlic bread is so simple to make!  Complete with crispy edges, buttery and soft middles and plenty of garlic and herb flavor. Frozen bread doesn’t stand a chance against this bread!

This is part of a series of recipes here on the site that I’m calling “Back to Basics“.  In this series you’ll find recipes that are common building blocks for beginner cooks, as well as homemade versions of pantry/store-bought staples, such as cream of mushroom soup, pie crust, homemade gravy, etc.  With easy to follow instructions, detailed notes, and step by step photos, you’ll be on your way to being a master in your kitchen in no time! 

Homemade Garlic Bread

There’s something so comforting about a perfectly warm and toasty loaf of sliced bread… each sliced slathered in the most delicious garlic parmesan and herb spread!  

I don’t know about you, but for me the best part of any Italian-style meal is the bread. What can I say, I’m a carb-lover!

So for our pasta nights, when I was already tired from cooking the main meal, whipping up some from-scratch bread wasn’t always in the cards. Naturally, we’d fall back to some variety of frozen bread.  

Not knocking those prepared breads, they’re great in a pinch, but I found the “butter” was generally not real butter, and I’d always end up not feeling so great after eating it.

So I set about coming up with a homemade garlic bread recipe that could be frozen ahead of time! All the convenience of a prepared bread, but with that home-cooked taste.

Since we’re huge cheese fans here, I added some shredded Parmesan cheese on top, but that’s completely optional. If you want to be extra decadent and cheesy, you have to check out my Cheesy Garlic Bread, with multiple types of cheese!

For the sake of convenience, I use store-bought bread, but if you wanted to make this with some of my No-Knead Artisan Bread, I certainly wouldn’t stop ya!

How to make homemade garlic bread

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Combine garlic butter ingredients. Just make sure the butter is softened to room temperature, otherwise you’ll have a hard time getting everything combined.
2. Slice bread in half. Slice it in half lengthwise, so you end up with 2 long halves that are the same length as the entire loaf was.
3. Spread the butter. No need to be stingy here, slather it on.
4. Add cheese, if using.
5. Bake. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until it’s crispy enough for your liking.

Cooking tips

• Use great bread – you’ll want a bread that will give you a crispy exterior, with a fluffy interior, and with a crumb tight enough to soak up alllll the amazing garlic flavor.  French, Italian, or a sesame seeded Italian loaf are my personal favorites.  I just use what looks best that day at the grocery store.
• Don’t forget the olive oil – I know we’re already using butter in this recipe, but you really want both the butter and the olive oil.  The olive oil helps the butter mixture truly spread into every nook and cranny of the bread.

Variations of this recipe

• To cheese, or not to cheese – I’m a huge cheese lover, so I went allll cheesy on this recipe, but if you’d prefer not to use it, you can omit the Parmesan.
• Bonus flavor – try adding 1/3 cup of Italian salad dressing to the butter mixture! It may sound strange, but the flavor is really awesome!
• Change the garlic amount – the amount of garlic in this recipe is what my family and I enjoy, but if you’d like more (or less), feel free to change it up.  This is YOUR bread 🙂
• Use fresh garlic – I chose to use garlic powder for this recipe, as I wanted this to a be a pantry staple meal, but if you have fresh garlic, absolutely go for it! I like to use about 5 cloves of garlic, very finely minced, or even grated.
• Try roasted garlic – if you’ve never had roasted garlic before, you’re in for a treat! Check out how to make it in this post.
• Softer garlic bread – Slice bread as directed. Spread garlic butter mixture on each cut surface of the bread and sprinkle tops with Parmesan cheese. Place the two halves together and wrap in foil.  Bake at 400 F degrees for 15 minutes.
• Garlic bread slices – Slice bread into 1″ thick slices (similar to Texas toast). Spread garlic butter mixture on each slice of the bread, sprinkle tops with mozzarella cheese, and bake at 400 F degrees for 10 minutes. Move baking sheet about 6-8″ away from the broiler and broil for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is bubbly, watching closely so the cheese doesn’t burn.

Making homemade garlic bread ahead of time

Since this garlic bread comes together so quickly, the only thing I regularly make ahead of time is the garlic butter mixture.  Just keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

To be completely safe though, you’ll want to either eat it within a few days, or freeze it.

Storage

Leftovers should be kept in an airtight container (normally I use a resealable plastic bag), refrigerated, and consumed within 3 days.

Freezing

I tested freezing the leftovers of already made bread and wasn’t super enthused with the results, but you can ABSOLUTELY freeze the assembled (but not baked) garlic bread ahead of time!

1. Slice bread in half so you have two long pieces of bread.
2. Spread garlic butter mixture on each slice of the bread and sprinkle tops with Parmesan cheese.
3. Place bread slices on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour, until frozen solid.  Then remove from baking sheet, wrap individually with plastic wrap and/or foil.  Add to resealable freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
4. To bake: remove from plastic wrap and foil, place on baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until heated through.
5. Move baking sheet about 6-8″ away from the broiler and broil for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is bubbly, watching closely so the cheese doesn’t burn.

This way you can have the convenience of frozen garlic bread, all while knowing it’s actually homemade!

Freezing garlic butter

1. Mix up the butter, then dollop it on a sheet of plastic wrap. 
2. Fold the wrap over the butter completely, then grab each end of the plastic wrap and make small circular motions with both hands to wring and wrap the butter up like a giant tootsie roll. 
3. Add it to a plastic resealable bag and freeze for 1-2 months. 
4. Just thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Shop the recipe

• Baking Sheet – you’ll want a rimmed baking sheet for this recipe, just in case there’s any melted butter overflow. These pans are my absolute favorite!

Be sure to scroll down to check out other readers’ comments for tips and reviews.

And don’t forget, if you’ve made this recipe, leave a comment and please consider giving it a star rating letting me know how you enjoyed it 🙂