The Best Garlic Bread

Here are two easy methods for making garlic bread: toasted or broiled.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated January 21, 2024
Elise Bauer

What would spaghetti be without a side of buttery garlic bread?

There are several methods and twists for making garlic bread, the easiest being just rubbing a cut clove of garlic over toasted slices of Italian or French bread, and spreading the toast with olive oil or butter.

Here are a couple of methods that make wonderful garlic bread, depending on how you like it, either toasty or soft.

A loaf of garlic bread on a cutting board, partially cut into slices

Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas

Toasty or Soft Garlic Bread?

The methods for making toasty garlic bread or soft garlic bread are slightly different:

  • Crispy, toasty garlic bread gets sliced in half down its length, spread with butter and garlic, and then baked open-faced in the oven. Broil it at the end for extra crispiness.
  • Soft garlic bread gets sliced like an accordion (slice as if cutting slices, but don't go all the way through), then slather the butter mixer between the slices. Wrap the bread up in foil, then bake. This will keep the bread soft while infusing garlicky-butter into each slice.
A pile of sliced garlic bread on a platter
Sally Vargas

Make Ahead (And Even Freezing!)

Crispy or soft, garlic bread is really at its best eaten right out of the oven. The leftovers don't keep particularly well.

If you'd like to make garlic bread ahead, you could prep the garlic bread up to the baking stage, then wrap in foil and store in the freezer for up to three months. This makes a great housewarming gift or for new parents, especially paired with a batch of frozen meatballs and sauce.

  • To reheat crispy garlic bread, unwrap the bread and place the halves buttered side up on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the bread is warmed through and the butter starting to melt. Remove the foil and continue baking and broiling as directed.
  • To reheat soft garlic bread, loosen the foil a little bit so it's not so tightly wrapped but still enclosed in foil, then place the bread in the oven and bake until warmed through.

Our Favorite Dishes to Serve With Garlic Bread

Easy homemade garlic bread on a plate
Sally Vargas

The Best Garlic Bread

Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 13 mins
Total Time 18 mins
Servings 4 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 16-ounce (450 g) loaf Italian bread or French bread

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 112 g) unsalted butter, softened

  • 2 large cloves garlic, smashed and minced

  • 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

  • 1/4 cup (25 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

Method 1: Toasted Garlic Bread

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Prepare the garlic bread:

    Cut the loaf in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves.

    Bread spread with garlic butter for homemade garlic bread
    Sally Vargas
  3. Heat in the oven for 10 minutes:

    Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 minutes.

  4. Sprinkle with Parmesan (optional) and broil:

    Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack.

    Broil on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.

  5. Slice:

    Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and use a bread knife to cut into 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

    Homemade garlic bread cut into slices on a cutting board
    Sally Vargas

Method 2: Soft Garlic Bread

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above

  2. Slice the bread and insert butter mixture:

    Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice, or between every other slice if you only want the garlic mixture on one side of the bread.

    Homemade garlic bread cut in vertical slices with butter in between
    Sally Vargas
  3. Bake the garlic bread:

    Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the 350°F (175°C) oven, until the butter has melted and the bread is warmed.

  4. Serve:

    To serve, remove from foil and present the loaf wrapped in a clean tea towel. Tear off slices to eat.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
254 Calories
13g Fat
28g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 254
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g 17%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 30mg 10%
Sodium 311mg 14%
Total Carbohydrate 28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg 4%
Calcium 49mg 4%
Iron 2mg 9%
Potassium 71mg 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. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.