Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (2024)

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

By

Elise Bauer

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (1)

Elise Bauer

Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

Learn about Simply Recipes'Editorial Process

Updated January 21, 2024

33 Ratings

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (2)

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.

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (3)

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.

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (4)

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

  • The Best Homemade Lasagna
  • Chicken Piccata
  • Eggplant Parmesan
  • Baked Spaghetti
  • Italian Meatballs

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (5)

The Best Garlic Bread

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time13 mins

Total Time18 mins

Servings4to 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.

    Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (6)

  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.

    Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (7)

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.

    Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (8)

  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.

    Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know with a rating and review!

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
254Calories
13g Fat
28g Carbs
5g Protein

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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4to 8
Amount per serving
Calories254
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13g17%
Saturated Fat 7g35%
Cholesterol 30mg10%
Sodium 311mg14%
Total Carbohydrate 28g10%
Dietary Fiber 2g7%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg4%
Calcium 49mg4%
Iron 2mg9%
Potassium 71mg2%
*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.

Do You Like Your Garlic Bread Soft or Crispy ? With This Recipe, You Can Have Both (2024)
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