Truly, the Best Roasted Garlic Bread You’ll Ever Make!
PWWB readers have been asking for a homemade garlic bread recipe for years, but honestly, it always felt too simple to share. If I was going to share one, it had to be special—something truly worthy of a spot in your kitchens. After all, the internet doesn’t need another basic garlic bread recipe! 🙅🏻♀️
So, I set out to create my ultimate version: an easy recipe that delivers BIG on flavor and works as an all-purpose side for any meal—soups, pasta, salads, you name it!
And trust me, the wait was worth it. This is hands down the Best Garlic Bread you’ll ever have.
The secret? This recipe uses not one, but THREE types of garlic: fresh, granulated, and roasted.
After obsessively testing countless combinations, I can confidently say this trifecta is the game-changer. Fresh cloves and garlic powder give a bold, punchy bite, but it’s the roasted garlic that takes it over the top, rounding everything out with sweet caramelization. 🤤
You’ll whip it all up into a homemade herb butter, loaded with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. The butter melts into the bread as it bakes open-face in the oven (no foil needed!), creating the most perfect roasted garlic bread with irresistibly crispy edges and a soft, pillowy center.
In other words, it’s gloriously golden, garlicky heaven—and what’s not to love about that?! 🤩✨
Maximum Flavor, Minimal Effort
3 foolproof secrets to low-fuss, flavor-packed dinners, learned from years working in restaurants.
🥖Best bread for garlic bread? ⇢ Amazing homemade garlic bread starts with the right loaf—but don’t worry, there’s no need to bake anything from scratch. Store-bought is totally fine! My personal favorite is the Semolina Italian Bread from Whole Foods, but any fresh, good-quality loaf will work beautifully.
Jess’ Ultimate Garlic Bread Must-Haves
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → 
Stainless Steel Measuring Cups & Spoons
Buy Now →
Buy Now → First, Prepare the Triple Garlic Herb Butter
A rich garlic herb butter is the secret to mega garlicky flavor and perfectly golden, toasty bread.
The first step? Roast a head of garlic. Sure, roasting garlic takes a little extra time, but the payoff is so worth it. In my recipe testing, there was a huge difference between garlic bread made with and without roasted garlic. Its caramelized sweetness adds so much depth and balance.
Plus, the oven does all the work!
Next, mix the garlic butter with lots of fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. The herbs balance out the punchy garlic flavor with freshness, while the parmesan adds an irresistible savory touch. It’s cheesy without the heaviness of melted cheese.
Save Time, Make It Ahead!
The most time-consuming part of this garlic bread recipe is roasting the garlic, so feel free to do it ahead of time! You can also cut down prep time by making the garlic herb butter up to 5 days in advance. Check the Recipe Notes below for detailed prep tips.
The Best Way to Cook Garlic Bread: Bake Then Broil Until Toasty!
Once your herb butter is ready, turning it into the perfect homemade garlic bread couldn’t be easier!
Baking takes just 15-20 minutes, and there’s no need for foil in this recipe. By baking the bread open-face on a sheet pan, you’ll get pillowy-soft slices with irresistibly golden, toasty edges.
Save Time, Assemble It Ahead!
My ultimate dinner prep tip? Butter your bread in advance, then store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. The assembled roasted garlic bread keeps well for up to 1 day. Just add a few extra minutes to the baking time and you’re good to go!
Serving Suggestions
This garlic bread is the ultimate side dish for any meal—soup, salad, pasta, you name it!
Try it with a Classic Caesar Salad, my Best-Ever Bolognese, or a cozy bowl of Hearty Minestrone Soup. Or, enjoy it all on its own with a bowl of marinara sauce—you really can’t go wrong!
I can’t wait for you to try my Garlic Lover’s Garlic Bread! If you do, be sure to let us know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. We LOVE seeing your PWWB creations! ♡ Happy cooking!
Print
Garlic Lover’s Garlic Bread with Parmesan Cheese & Fresh Herbs
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 pieces 1x
- Category: Breads & Cakes; Side Dish Recipes
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian-American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Calling all garlic lovers: this Triple Garlic Bread is the recipe you’ve been waiting for! The secret? It’s made with 3 types of garlic—roasted garlic, fresh garlic, and granulated garlic powder—to create the perfect trifecta of garlicky goodness.
Mix it all into a homemade garlic herb butter (packed with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese!), slather it onto your favorite loaf of bread, and bake until perfectly golden and toasty—easy!
Whether you’re serving it with pasta, soups, or salads, this is the BEST garlic bread recipe you’ll ever make!
Ingredients
- one loaf Italian or French bread (approx. 16 ounces), sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 head garlic
- 1–2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ cup very soft unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup finely chopped leafy fresh herbs (e.g. basil, parsley, oregano, etc.)
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F, ensuring a rack is positioned in the center.
- Roast the garlic: Remove excess paper from the head of garlic and slice off the top to expose the cloves. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, wrap in foil, and place on a small baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the garlic is fragrant and golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Prepare the garlic herb butter: In a medium bowl, combine softened butter, chopped garlic, grated parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste. Once the roasted garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves from the head and mix them into the butter until well combined.
- Prepare the garlic bread: Spread the prepared garlic herb butter generously over the cut side of a loaf of bread, halved lengthwise.
- Bake the garlic bread: Place the buttered bread halves on a large baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. For extra toastiness, turn on the broiler and broil on the center rack for 2-3 minutes, until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven.
- Slice and serve: Transfer the garlic bread to a cutting board and slice into individual pieces using a serrated knife. Serve immediately with your favorite pastas, soups, or salads. Enjoy!
Notes
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating:
- Make-Ahead: This garlic is best enjoyed fresh, immediately once it’s baked. That said, The garlic herb butter can be prepared up to 5 days in advance (Steps 1-3) and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Allow the butter to come to room temperature before spreading it onto the bread. Alternatively, you can also assemble the garlic bread completely (Steps 1-4), wrap it tightly in foil, and refrigerate for up to 1 day. When ready to serve, bake as directed, adding 2-3 minutes to the baking time to account for the chilled butter and bread.
- Storage and Reheating: Leftover garlic bread can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. To reheat in the oven, wrap the bread in foil and warm it in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes. For crispier edges, unwrap the bread for the last few minutes of reheating. To reheat in an air fryer, place slices of garlic bread in a single layer in the air fryer basket and heat at 350°F for 3-5 minutes, or until warmed through and crisp. Avoid microwaving, as it can make the bread chewy.
Follow along with Plays Well With Butter on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest for more unfussy recipes that pack a big punch of flavor!
WOW! Just WOW! I can’t say enough about this and this will be the ONLY recipe we use for garlic bread in this house! No one seemed to be able to stop picking at it once dinner was over. We used a Ciabatta loaf because the bakery had fresh loaves and they looked SO good and it was just as wonderful as the first time we made this with an Italian loaf (yep, twice in a month….ooooops!) A MUST TRY!
Twice in a month doesn’t even seem like enough, Chris! 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Roasting the garlic kicks the bread up a notch! I also love the addition of parmesan cheese – which my kids were apprehensive about. The parm is settle and melds well with the other ingredients. A new household favorite garlic bread!
I love how the parmesan melds with the garlic butter too, Amy! So glad you and your family love the garlic bread!
The best bread! It’s worth the extra effort to roast the garlic and while it seems like way too much garlic, it’s perfectly balanced! I had leftover that I mixed with mayo for an aoli, so good!
Using the leftover garlic mixture for aioli is BRILLIANT, Sadie! So happy you loved the garlic bread as much as we do!
This garlic bread is epic! The roasted garlic makes all the difference and adds a lovely mellow garlic flavor without the bite of just all raw garlic. It was perfect with soup and the leftovers reheated nicely for a hearty pasta dish. Definitely a bit more labor intensive than just some butter and garlic powder but very worth it!
So glad to hear you love the garlic bread as much as we do! It’s definitely worth the extra effort 🙂
This garlic bread was perfect for my Italian themed dinner tonight! Yum, will definitely make it again.
So happy you enjoyed it, Sarah! Hope your dinner was amazing!
Delicious! Took more time either roasting the garlic but the flavors of everything was great!
Hi Alison, so glad you loved the garlic bread! We think the extra time it takes to roast the garlic is absolutely worth it 🙂
I thought this might be TOO garlicky, but WOWZER! This garlic bread is so good and full of rich, smooth garlic flavor! We love it!
So thrilled that you loved the garlic bread as much as we do, Dru!
The extra time and little effort that roasting garlic took was 10000% worth it and now I never want to not have roasted garlic on hand ever again?? It reminds me of growing up eating spaghetti, frozen meatballs and frozen garlic bread at least once a week—just as cozy and comforting but elevated and fresh! I used an Italian loaf and fresh parsley for the herbs. Yummo!
Roasted garlic really is the absolute best! So happy to hear you loved the garlic bread as much as we do, Katie 🙂
Wow!! I’ll never be able to have store bought garlic bread again. The roasted garlic and the parm together are perfect. I opted to make the butter spread earlier in the day and stored in the fridge. Worked out perfectly and helped speed up dinner time. I paired it with the spicy vodka pasta and it was a match made in heaven.
What a delicious dinner!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
You guys… This is the one. This is the recipe that you’ve been looking for. Follow it exactly… But maybe triple the batch like I did. So you can use the garlic butter on everything. Literally everything. Mashed potatoes? Check. Roasted carrots. Check. I made a loaf of Italian bread and slathered this garlic butter all over it and my partner won’t stop raving about it. We had it last night and he’s already requesting it again this week. You can freeze the butter and smaller portions to add tremendous flavor and depth to any dish. Like I need an excuse to eat more bread. 🙂 don’t skip any steps and don’t change anything. This recipe is perfect.
Thank you so much for this rave review, Rah!! Freezing a bunch of this butter is brilliant and I will absolutely be doing so, it’s so good! Glad you and your partner enjoyed the bread as much as we do! 🙂
Served this tonight and everyone raved about it! Served it with a Mediterranean fish soup, but would serve it with anything really. Or even on its own with a glass of wine…
I followed this recipe exactly. My family loved it, but I found the loaf overwhelmingly garlicky. I solved that problem by making the spread without the chopped garlic. I spread half the butter over one bread half, added half the chopped garlic to the spread, and put that on the other half. Instantly customizable for different tastes!
Hi Karen, this is definitely a super garlicky garlic bread! So glad you were able to adjust the butter to your taste 🙂