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Garlic Bread

Toasty, buttery, herby, covered in a dusting of salty parmesan cheese, piping hot and fresh out of the oven—our homemade garlic bread recipe is everything you're craving right now, and then some.

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cheesy garlic bread cut into slices

Garlicky, Buttery Slabs of Bread. Need We Say More?

We don’t need to sell you on garlic bread as a concept, right? Buttery, garlicky, toasty carbs? Yeah. We’re all on board. But our homemade garlic bread recipe is a particular stand-out—with loads of parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and plenty of garlic, it’ll make your whole house smell heavenly.

Ingredients for perfect garlic bread; crusty bread, fresh parsley, parmesan cheese, garlic, butter and salt

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Garlic Butter x2:

The secret to truly sumptuous garlic bread spread is to whip not one but two kinds of garlic into your softened butter. Our homemade garlic bread recipe gets its garlicky punch from:

  • Fresh garlic. Six cloves of it, in fact! After all, it’s not called butter bread, it’s called GARLIC bread. Go big, guys.
  • Garlic powder. A little extra boost of garlicky flavor, and it’ll blend beautifully with your softened butter, ensuring that every last nook and cranny of your toasty bread is imbued with the sweet-sharp flavor of our favorite allium.
butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and salt in a medium sized bowl
garlic, butter, fresh parsley, salt and parmesan cheese mixed together in a small bowl
crusty bread loaf cut in half with garlic butter spread on each half
baked garlic bread loaf on a baking sheet

The Best Garlic Bread Recipe Ever.

Whether you’re looking for a quick way to impress dinner guests, or just a treat for your next family movie night, our cheesy garlic bread recipe is just the thing. Here’s why it works so well:

  • Softened butter. This is the only “big ask” this recipe makes of you—remember to leave some unsalted butter out to soften about an hour before you’re going to make the garlic bread. In a pinch, you can soften butter quickly by pounding it with a rolling pin.
  • Cheese! Not every homemade garlic recipe calls for parmesan, but as far as we’re concerned that’s just a big missed opportunity. We’re firm believers in cheesy garlic bread.
  • Fresh parsley! Keyword “fresh”. The dried stuff has no place here, where as fresh parsley will enliven your garlic bread with color and a lovely herbal lift.
close up of cheesy baked garlic bread topped with fresh parsley

How To Make Garlic Bread From Scratch:

Making fresh garlic bread at home is so easy. As with so many recipes, once you get over the hurdle of trying it for the first time, you’ll be hooked. If you have kids and they’re interested in cooking, this is a great one for them to get involved in, too, since most of the work is just mixing and spreading. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Make garlic butter. Mix the herbs, garlic (x2) and cheese with your butter until well combined.
  2. Slather generously. Slice your bread in half and slather the halves with your herby garlic butter.
  3. Sprinkle with cheese and bake!
  4. Eat up! And, if you’re like us, probably get started on making garlic bread loaf #2.
baked garlic bread cut up into slices with a knife

What Do You Eat Garlic Bread With?

Garlic bread is a dreamy side dish for most any meal. Although we traditionally think of Italian-American food pairings for garlic bread—spaghetti and meatballs, or fettuccine alfredo—it’s actually hard to think of something that it wouldn’t go well with. We’ve enjoyed it with:

cheesy garlic bread cut into slices

Tools You’ll Need:

closeup of cheesy garlic bread cut into slices

How Did You Enjoy It?

We’d love to see! Snap a photo of your dinnertime (or snack time, or movie night) spread and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you share it with. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

Garlic Bread

  • Serves: 8
  • Prep Time:  10 min
  • Cook Time:  5 min
  • Calories: 363

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt (see Note)
  • ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 (1-pound) loaf rustic bread, French or ciabatta

Method

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, parsley, garlic, garlic powder, salt and half of the parmesan cheese.

  2. Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthwise, being careful to keep the thickness the same on both sides.

  3. Turn the oven to broil with a rack in the center position.

  4. Using a knife or spatula, spread half of the garlic butter mixture onto one half of the loaf. Repeat with remaining butter on the second half. Set the bread buttered side up on a rimmed sheet pan and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

  5. Broil until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.

  6. Remove from the oven and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.


Note: If using salted butter, reduce added salt to ¼ teaspoon.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories363
  • Protein6 g
  • Carbohydrates25 g
  • Total Fat26 g
  • Dietary Fiber0 g
  • Cholesterol68 mg
  • sodium612 mg
  • Total Sugars0 g

Garlic Bread

Questions & Reviews

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  • judy

    any particular bread recommended

    My personal favorite is a nice soft French bread!

  • Bart

    The only thing you forget to mention is the temperature of the oven. :-)

    We just broil it. So you basically just turn on the broiler and broil it for 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it.

  • Anna

    Amazing! Will be making again!!

    Thanks Anna, we are so glad you loved it!

  • Jenn

    Is there any other way to eat bread? Not anymore. The broiled parmesan on top was absolutely amazing.

    Thank you, we are glad you loved it!