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    Home » Recipes » Appetizers

    Homemade Garlic Bread Baguette

    By Lily・Published: Sep 23, 2022・Updated: Jun 6, 2023・Post may have affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This 15-minute homemade garlic bread is made with just a few simple ingredients: freshly crushed garlic cloves, melted butter, salt, and a fresh baguette. It's an easy baguette garlic bread recipe you will keep coming back to over and over again.

    homemade garlic butter french baguette.

    This easy garlic bread recipe is simple, delicious, and the perfect side dish for lentil soup, lasagna dinner, or Italian salad.

    What You Will Love

    It's a delicious way to jazz up a french baguette or any other type of bread loaf. This homemade garlic bread recipe is perfect for garlic lovers because it's made the old-fashioned way with raw, fresh, crushed garlic! This crispy garlic bread is an easy appetizer or classic side dish.

    garlic bread cross section.

    Ingredient Notes

    Fresh french baguette. Make sure to use a fresh loaf of bread. Baguettes dry out easily, so it's best to get them the same day. Use other types of bread: Italian bread, sourdough boule, homemade bread, or a loaf of french bread (country bread).

    a whole french baguette.

    Fresh mashed garlic: Use fresh raw garlic cloves. Don't use jarred garlic, garlic powder, or garlic granules. The garlic must be mashed into a paste. Minced, chopped, or sliced garlic won't work.

    Butter: My favorite butter is salted Kerrygold butter. You can also use extra virgin olive oil as a substitute.

    Pinch of salt: I like flaked sea salt, but any salt works. The salt gets mashed into the garlic paste.

    butter, salt, and fresh garlic cloves on a counter.

    See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

    Overview

    It takes 15 minutes to slice the bread, mash the garlic, mix butter with mashed garlic, spread the garlic butter sauce, bake, and enjoy hot!

    step by step instructions for garlic bread

    How To Make Garlic Bread (Step By Step)

    slice the baguette diagonally.

    Heat oven to 375 ℉ (190 ℃). Slice baguette with a serrated knife at an angle (about 1" thick). Don't cut all of the way through so the baguette will stay together.

    add the salt and fresh garlic cloves to a bowl.

    Peel the garlic and remove the top part of the garlic (it's like a stem). Add the garlic cloves and salt to a mortar.

    mash the garlic cloves and salt until a paste is formed.

    Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves with salt until it forms a paste.

    add the butter to a microwave safe bowl.

    Add butter to a microwave-safe small bowl.

    melted butter in a bowl

    Melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds.

    Add the mashed garlic to the melted butter.

    Mix the mashed garlic and melted butter together.

    spread the garlic butter on the sliced baguette.

    Spread the garlic butter mixture in between the diagonal cuts of the french baguette. Try to spread the garlic mixture evenly over the bread face. Spread leftover garlic butter (if any) on top of the bread.

    wrap the garlic baguette in parchment paper and foil.

    Wrap the baguette in parchment paper. Then wrap the parchment paper with foil.

    Place the baguette on a baking sheet or directly on the rack in the middle of a preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 ℉ (190 ℃) until golden brown.

    hot baguette garlic bread fresh from the oven.

    Tips and Tricks

    Mash fresh garlic with salt into a paste. The best way to get a garlic paste is to mash it with a mortar and pestle, similar to what you use when making guacamole. This is the most important tip for this recipe to be successful. Minced garlic, chopped garlic, or garlic from a jar are not substitutes!

    Wrap the bread in parchment paper and then foil. This keeps the bread from drying out while it bakes in the oven.

    a whole french baguette sliced with garlic butter sauce.

    Variations and Substitutions

    Use a garlic press instead of a mortar and pestle to crush the garlic. Be very careful with this because not all garlic presses are the same. Some garlic presses leave chunks of garlic, which is NOT what we want. We need the garlic to form a paste so it's not overly potent and can disburse easily in the melted butter.

    Substitute equal parts olive oil for butter.

    Add one tablespoon of freshly chopped herbs to the garlic butter sauce. The best fresh herbs are rosemary, thyme, or oregano. Fresh parsley and chives are a great combination as well.

    This homemade garlic bread recipe can be made with any type of bread. For soft garlic bread, use a softer bread loaf or even dinner rolls. Slice the roll in half, add the garlic butter, and close.

    Equipment

    Use a mortar and pestle to crush the fresh garlic cloves into a paste. Wrap the bread in parchment paper and aluminum foil. Bake on a baking sheet or directly on an oven rack.

    Storage

    Store leftover garlic bread in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.

    FAQs

    How do I make garlic bread better?

    Use freshly crushed garlic for the best garlic bread ever! Mash the garlic cloves with salt using a mortar and pestle until a paste is formed. Mix this mashed garlic with some melted butter. Then spread over the bread and bake.

    What is the green stuff on garlic bread?

    Some garlic bread recipes have herbs mixed into the butter.

    Does garlic bread need to be refrigerated?

    Garlic bread does not need to be refrigerated when it is made with fresh garlic, butter, salt, and bread.

    Serve With

    • butternut squash pasta recipe with roasted garlic and sage.
      Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
    • Italian 5 layer lasagna with bechamel
      Italian Lasagna With Béchamel (Lasagne Al Forno)
    • lentil soup adas bi hamod in a spoon.
      Adas Bi Hamod (Lebanese Lemon Lentil Soup With Chard)
    • Lebanese lentil soup with toasted pita.
      Authentic Lebanese Red Lentil Soup

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    Subscribe to The Matbakh Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Pinterest pages. We also have a saucy newsletter.

    📋 Recipe

    homemade garlic butter bread slice.

    Homemade Garlic Bread Baguette

    Author: Lily
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: Mediterranean
    Prep: 5 minutes mins
    Cook: 10 minutes mins
    Total: 15 minutes mins
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 8
    This easy homemade garlic bread takes only 15 minutes and is made with a french baguette, butter, fresh garlic cloves, and salt.

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    • 1 french baguette
    • 3 garlic cloves
    • 3 tablespoons of butter **see note 1
    • pinch salt

    Instructions

    • Heat the oven to 375 ℉ (190 ℃).
    • Cut the baguette at an angle into 1" slices. Don't cut all of the way through so the baguette will stay together.
    • Peel the garlic and remove the top part of the garlic (it's like a stem). Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves with salt until it forms a paste.
    • Melt the butter in the microwave.
    • Mix the mashed garlic and melted butter together.
    • Spread the garlic butter mixture in between the slices of the french baguette. Try to spread the mixture evenly over the bread face.
    • Wrap the baguette in parchment paper. Then wrap the parchment paper with foil. 
    • Place the baguette on a baking sheet or directly on the rack in the middle of the oven. 
    • Bake for 10 minutes in a 375 ℉ (190 ℃) oven.

    Video

    Notes

    1. Substitute olive oil for melted butter.
    2. Use a fresh baguette for the best results! Any type of bread works: Italian breads, sourdough boules, homemade bread, and even dinner rolls.
    3. Wrap the baguette in parchment paper and then aluminum foil. This keeps the baguette from drying out!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2 slices | Calories: 152 kcal | Carbohydrates: 24 g | Protein: 3 g | Fat: 4 g | Saturated Fat: 3 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 11 mg | Sodium: 334 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 1 g

    More Middle-Eastern & Mediterranean Appetizer Recipes

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      Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Dip
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      Vegetarian Eggplant Fatteh (Fattet Batinjan)

    About Lily

    Howdy! My name is Lilian, but my friends call me Lily. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 3 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Sherry

      September 29, 2022 at 3:16 pm

      5 stars
      Fast and delicious! Definitely for garlic lovers

      Reply
      • Lily

        September 29, 2022 at 3:24 pm

        Oh yes, this is definitely the real deal sort of garlic bread. You can adjust the amount of crushed garlic in this recipe depending on your garlic taste buds!

        Reply

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    lily at the matbakh

    I'm Lily

    I'm an American Lebanese living in Texas. My kitchen, or matbakh, is a hodgepodge of recipes from the U.S. and Mediterranean region.

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