Easy Garlic Bread at Home

One of the best sides for soup, in this soup lover’s opinion, is bread. A lovely, warm loaf with a soft crumb and a toasty, crusty exterior, slathered with garlicky butter, so delish! And Easy Garlic Bread at home is just a few minutes from oven to table.

Here at Casa de SoupAddict, we treat hearty winter soups like a main dish, not as an appetizer or side. But it’s always nice to have a little nibble to go along with the soup.

And there’s no better soup companion than garlic bread. Top-notch favorite!

The optimal choice in my opinion is a fresh, rustic loaf of French bread or Italian bread with a perfectly crusty exterior and fluffy insides, but really almost any bread will do, including store-bought naan or even a package of dinner rolls.

Slathered with butter and then seasoned with homemade garlic bread seasoning, warm and toasty garlic bread is just minutes away. So easy to prepare while your delicious soup dinner cooks away on the stove!

Ingredients and notes

Bread — A rustic, crusty French baguette is the classic choice, but you can use just about any type of bread. Flatbread or naan. A plump boule. Even thick slices of sturdy sandwich bread for Texas Toast!

This recipe assumes a fully-baked loaf, but some grocery stores have partially baked loaves that you finish at home. They work here, too! Just make sure you bake the loaf per package directions rather than the temperature and time I’ve provided here, to make sure the loaf bakes completely through.

If you’re making bread from scratch, go ahead and bake the loaf, and then use the directions here.

Butter — IMO, a really good, creamy butter adds loads of character to garlic bread. But, I also live in the real world, and sometimes I don’t have the good stuff at home, just something butter-like in a tub. No worries. It all works! Use softened butter so that it’s easy to spread without tearing the bread. Just leave the butter on the counter at room temperature for a half hour or so.

Garlic seasoning — I love making homemade spice blends, and this one is no exception. Just with a few ingredients, including garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and dried herbs, you can create your batch of cheesy garlic bread seasoning to keep on hand in the fridge. No need to run out to the grocery store and buy garlic cloves for minced garlic and such. Fresh garlic is lovely, but the convenience of having your own spice blend during a snowstorm is priceless, lol!

How to Make Easy Garlic Bread

It’s so simple to make garlic bread at home: slice, spread, sprinkle! Don’t forget to preheat your oven.

Step 1: Choose your bread and slice (if necessary)

Of course a lovely baked, crusty French baguette is the classic choice. But there are so many other options. Flatbread or naan. Ciabatta. Thick-cut sandwich bread (for Texas Toast). Dinner rolls. Focaccia. Even Irish soda bread. Basically, any baked bread you can butter will work!

For whole loaves, like baguettes and ciabatta, slice them in half lengthwise (across the equator) using a sharp serrated knife. Other types of bread won’t need slicing, such as naan and dinner rolls.

Step 2: Butter the bread

Make sure your favorite buttery spread is nice and softened (but not melted). Unsalted butter is always a great choice, but salted works, too. And if you just have a tub of semi-butter lol, no worries. It’s all good.

For loaf slices, spread the cut side of each half evenly with a medium-thin layer of butter. The crumb should be coated; it doesn’t have to be mounded. For other types of bread, spread a thin layer of butter across the tops. This includes dinner rolls! (Tip for dinner rolls: you don’t have to pull them apart first, and they might be easier/faster to butter that way.)

Keep the mess to a minimum: you only have to butter one side!

Place the bread on a baking sheet, buttered side up. Tip: for super easy cleanup, line the sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Step 3: Add the seasoning

Sprinkle the garlic bread seasoning over the buttered side. How much you use will depend on your tastes and the size of your bread. Just eyeball it. I prefer that the buttered bread is lightly coated with seasoning, not solidly layered, but it’s your choice!

Step 4: Bake!

The recipe here assumes a hearty baguette, in terms of baking time. For other types of bread, keep an eye on everything in the oven to make sure the bread doesn’t burn. You’re looking for golden brown edges on the bread and butter that is completely melted. Delicate breads might need just 5 minutes or so.

Garlic Bread FAQs

Do you need to first mix the seasoning with the butter?

No. I’ve tested it both ways, and it makes no difference in the final flavor of the garlic bread. So save yourself some time and skip making a garlic butter spread.

But, you absolutely can create a batch of compound butter seasoned with garlic bread spice blend and keep it in the fridge or freezer.

Can this be made vegetarian or vegan?

Yes! To make vegan garlic bread, you’ll need to replace two ingredients, one in this recipe, and one in the homemade garlic bread seasoning.

Replace the butter with a vegan spread, such as Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter. This stuff is delicious, and I can find it now at both Kroger and Target. Or, use olive oil (see below).

In the garlic bread seasoning, replace the dairy-based parmesan cheese with vegan parmesan cheese, either store-bought or try my homemade Vegan Parm Seasoning.

Note for vegetarians: if you observe strict rules of consuming no animal flesh, note that most aged cheese uses animal rennet (made from calf stomach linings) in their processing. Unfortunately, ingredient labels on cheese are not required by law to be specific about the type of rennet they’ve used, so you have no choice but to assume that parm has been made with animal rennet.

Can you use olive oil instead?

Yes! If you’re a fan of the rich texture of extra virgin olive oil, you can use it in place of butter. You’ll want to be fairly generous with it, although pour it carefully so you don’t get big pools of it.

Drizzle in a thin stream with the stripes close together, and then spread out evenly with a butter knife.

For extra scrumptious garlic bread, use butter per the recipe, add the seasoning, and then finish with a light drizzle of olive oil. So decadent!

Can you make the garlic bread ahead of time?

Yes, you can bake up your garlic bread an hour or two before the meal and wrap in foil to keep warm. Note that the crusty bread might soften a bit. Reheat briefly under the broiler to crisp up, if necessary.

How do you store leftover garlic bread?

If you have cut halves, reassemble the loaf of bread by joining the halves at the buttered sides. Then wrap in plastic wrap or seal tightly in a plastic bag and stash in the fridge. You can refresh the bread by reheating under the broiler for a few minutes.

As you gear up for a winter full of delicious soups, you’re all set to include this irresistibly tasty and easy garlic bread recipe as the perfect side dish!

Soups that go great with garlic bread

• Ravioli Soup
• Italian Sausage Orzo Soup
• Creamy Tortellini Soup
• Italian Wedding Soup
• Philly Cheesesteak Soup
• Beef Stroganoff Soup