Tips for Making the Best Garlic Bread Ever

Garlic butter, or as the French call it “beurre à la bourguignonne,” is an incredibly simple, yet effective way to elevate any meal and add an element of extra decadence. Forget about the store-bought stuff in the freezer aisle, garlic butter for bread makes one of your favorite Italian-American dishes even easier to bake fresh at home. 

What is garlic butter used for?

Although spreading it over warm, toasted bread is the most obvious use for garlic butter, the options for our most popular butter flavor are nearly endless. From sautéing your vegetables with it in a skillet to folding it into your pasta, or melting a pat of it over your steak or chicken—garlic butter adds creamy, savory texture and flavor while reducing your grocery ingredient list and prep time in the kitchen. You can even drop a spoonful on your mashed potatoes or inside a baked potato. Trust us, you’ll never look back.

How to make garlic butter for bread

At Epicurean Butter, we blend fresh, creamy, European-style (82% butterfat) butter with roasted garlic and chopped herbs. Some of our favorites include parsley and chives. If your house is full of cheese lovers, you can even stir in some shredded Parmesan before spreading it over your bread. We make it easier (and tastier) for you by making our flavored butter with only fresh or fresh frozen ingredients. If you decide to DIY, make sure to carefully select your butter and herbs to get the highest quality results.

Garlic butter for bread FAQs:

• What temperature do you cook homemade garlic bread? Depending on the recipe you use, you’ll see different instructions for recommended oven temperature when baking garlic bread. In our humble (and chef-backed) opinion, broiled is better. Because of the level of heat, broiling browns and crisps the edges quickly while keeping the middle soft. 
• What kind of bread is garlic bread made of? You can use any type of bread for garlic bread, but we do have our favorites. Thick bread with an airy texture that will absorb the butter and a nice, robust crust for crisping are the standards for the best garlic bread. A French baguette or a sourdough ciabatta are two of our go-tos. The more crunch, the better.
• Is garlic bread good for health? Bread’s high carb content gives it a bad rap when it comes to nutrition (especially if it’s white bread rather than whole grain or sprouted). But the good news is, garlic is known to boost your immune system and reduce cholesterol. The bottom line? Don’t make garlic bread your entire meal, but it’s a delicious and balanced appetizer or accompaniment to pasta that’s just fine for your diet when eaten in moderation.

How to make homemade garlic bread

We don’t like to brag, but the chefs at Epicurean Butter have created an easy, quick, crunchy, chewy, melty, buttery recipe for homemade garlic bread.

All you need is one large baguette, sliced however you wish, one tub of Organic Roasted Garlic Herb Flavored Butter, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, and two tablespoons of fresh, chopped parsley. You can go from prep to perfection in less than 15 minutes. All you have to do is:

1. Turn on your broiler and arrange your bread sliced side up on a foil-lined baking sheet.
2. Melt the butter and brush it over the top of the bread.
3. Sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese and pop it in the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

You can’t go wrong with a side of marinara for dipping, plus a couple of breath mints for after you’re done. You’ll thank us later. If there are leftovers, you can seal them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for up to three months. If you want to eat it the next day, we recommend wrapping it up and leaving it on the counter rather than refrigerating it. The bread might last longer in the fridge, but it will dry out more quickly.

Now go enjoy making the best garlic bread ever—ciao!