With a lovely, crisp crust and a tangy, tender interior slathered in a super flavorful compound butter that is broiled to golden perfection, my Sourdough Garlic Bread recipe is sure to elevate any dinner. Best of all, it’ll be ready for eating in just 10 minutes!
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About This Recipe
Recently, I’ve been on something of a bread-baking kick. Between rising gas prices and inflation at the grocery store, I’ve been finding solace knowing that I can whip up a batch of bakery-style bread at home for a fraction of the cost of what I’d pay in-store. Not only is the process immensely satisfying, but it also has the added benefit of making our house smell delightful!
As a result, we’ve been eating a LOT of bread lately. delicious sandwiches, tangy french toast, tasty tartines, and this cheesy sourdough garlic bread have been playing on repeat for a few weeks now.
For this cheesy garlic bread, I follow my Dutch-Oven Sourdough Bread recipe, except I shape it into a batard (an oval, oblong shape) rather than a boule (a round shape). If you’re not up for making your own sourdough, you can still make a delicious loaf of garlic bread using a store-bought loaf instead.
From there, all you’ll need to do is whip up a cheesy & garlic-y compound butter as your garlic bread spread, which takes just a few minutes. Slice open your loaf, slather on the buttery goodness, and quickly bake it under the broiler. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better accompaniment for dinner, and garlic butter bread is honestly so easy to make!
Ingredients & Substitutions
You don’t need much to make this sourdough cheesy garlic bread recipe. Here’s what you’ll want to gather:
- Loaf of Sourdough - If you’re feeling adventurous, try your hand at making this garlic sourdough bread entirely from scratch. Otherwise, grab your favorite unsliced loaf at the store.
- Garlic Cloves - FACT: You need fresh garlic for making top-notch garlic bread.
- Mustard - Having just a touch of acidity and the spicy flavor of mustard takes this recipe up a notch.
- Onion Powder & Garlic Powder - A triple whammy of alliums gives this cheesy garlic bread depth of flavor.
- Parmesan Cheese - The only thing better than sourdough garlic bread is sourdough garlic cheese bread. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! For the best results, grate your own cheese.
- Unsalted Butter - Look for cultured, grass-fed, and/or organic on the label for the best flavor.
- Rosemary & Parsley - I love adding fresh herbs to the garlic butter. Feel free to swap in your own favorites like thyme or oregano if you prefer.
- Flaky Sea Salt - Rather than using salted butter, I prefer to add an extra textural dimension by adding a sprinkling of flaky sea salt to the garlic bread when it is done baking. YUM!
Equipment
Making stellar garlic sourdough bread is actually quite simple and uses basic kitchen equipment. Here’s what you’ll need to gather:
- Baking Tray - Investing in nice, unwarped baking trays is the kindest thing you can do for yourself if you love to bake!
- Serrated Knife - Serrated knives are often called “bread knives” for a reason. Using a knife with teeth will help you cut the fresh loaf in half without smooshing it!
- Rocking Pizza Cutter - While this is technically an “optional” tool, I find that it lets me cut through the baked sourdough garlic bread with ease. As the name suggests, it’s also great for cutting pizza, which makes it an essential tool in our house.
How To Make Sourdough Garlic Bread
Step 1: Make Garlic Compound Butter. Combine all your garlic butter ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined.
Step 2: Spread. Cut your bread in half lengthwise and spread the garlic butter equally onto each half.
Step 3: Toast Garlic Bread in Oven. Place the bread onto a baking tray and turn your oven onto broil making sure that there is a rack near the top of your oven. Place the sourdough garlic bread inside the oven for about 4-6 minutes making sure to keep watch for some slight browning to start to occur on the edges of the loaves and on top of the bread.
Step 4: Cool & Cut. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before topping with flaky sea salt, cutting, and enjoying!
Optional Variations
I love this tangy, cheesy garlic bread recipe just the way it is, but there’s always room for customization. Here are a few popular variations:
- Make it vegan. Swap in your favorite plant-based butter and vegan cheese substitute (or omit the cheese).
- Swap in different herbs. I used rosemary and parsley, but try switching things up by using thyme, basil, oregano, dill, or cilantro.
- Make it extra cheesy! Before baking, slice the loaf into individual-sized portions, leaving the pieces attached at the center seam of the bread. Slide thin slices of your favorite melting cheese between each cut, then bake.
Expert Tips
- Quickly soften butter using the microwave. Having your butter at room temperature is the key to perfect compound butter. If you forgot to take the butter out until dinnertime, don’t fret! Simply pop your butter in the microwave for 40 seconds at 30% power to quickly soften your butter.
- Use a garlic press. If you don’t want to make your fingers sticky, the easiest way to get several cloves of garlic into perfect minced form is by using a garlic press!
- Meal prep by making the compound butter ahead of time. While garlic bread will taste better when it is still fresh from the oven, you can get a jump on things by making your cheesy, garlic-laced butter ahead of time. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months!
Frequently Asked Questions
I find that garlic bread is best when it is still warm from the oven, but you can easily get a jump on meal prep by making the butter spread. It will last a week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Absolutely! Simply swap in your favorite non-dairy butter and cheese substitute (or omit the cheese).
If you happen to have leftover garlic bread, place it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to a month. Reheat in the toaster oven prior to serving for the best flavor.
Compound butter is just butter that has been mixed with other flavorings. In this instance, we’re making cheesy garlic butter, but you can make sweet options like honey butter or strawberry butter, or other savory versions like buffalo blue cheese butter.
More Bread Recipes
As always, I love seeing your creations and hearing from you! If you try the recipe for this Cheesy Sourdough Garlic Bread, please share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!
Sourdough Garlic Bread
Ingredients
Garlic Butter
- 5 Garlic cloves, minced or finely cut
- 1 teaspoon Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ cup Grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup Unsalted butter, room temp, microwaved at 30% power for 30 seconds
- 1 Tablespoon Minced rosemary
- ⅓ cup Minced parsley
Assembly
- 1 Sourdough Loaf
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Combine all your garlic butter ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined. Having your butter at room temperature is key to ease this process - simply pop your butter in the microwave for 30 seconds at 30% power to quickly soften your butter.5 Garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon Mustard, 1 teaspoon Onion powder, 1 teaspoon Garlic powder, ½ cup Grated parmesan cheese, ½ cup Unsalted butter, 1 Tablespoon Minced rosemary, ⅓ cup Minced parsley
- Cut your bread in half lengthwise and spread the garlic butter equally onto each half.1 Sourdough Loaf
- Place the bread onto a baking tray and turn your oven onto broil making sure that there is a rack near the top of your oven. Place the sourdough garlic bread inside the oven for about 4-6 minutes making sure to keep watch for some slight browning to start to occur on the edges of the loaves and on top of the bread.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before topping with flaky se salt, cutting and enjoying! I love using this rocking pizza cutter as it allows me to cut through the sourdough with ease!Flaky sea salt
Video
Notes
- Quickly soften butter using the microwave. Having your butter at room temperature is the key to perfect compound butter. If you forgot to take the butter out until dinnertime, don’t fret! Simply pop your butter in the microwave for 40 seconds at 30% power to quickly soften your butter.
- Use a garlic press. If you don’t want to make your fingers sticky and smelly, the easiest way to get several cloves of garlic into perfect minced form is by using a garlic press!
- Meal prep by making the compound butter ahead of time. While garlic bread will taste better when it is still fresh from the oven, you can get a jump on things by making your cheesy, garlic-laced butter ahead of time. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months!
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