🧄🧀🥖 My Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread starts with a loaf of French bread brushed with melted garlic butter and Italian seasoning. Then, I top it with mounds of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese before baking it to perfection. A family favorite recipe ready in just 15 minutes, it’s an easy appetizer, snack, or side!
Easy Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
Everyone’s favorite snack, appetizer, or family-friendly side dish is coming in hot and fresh!
That’s right, this easy 15-minute recipe for easy cheesy garlic bread is a guaranteed family favorite. And it’s a total cinch to make using just a handful of ingredients. You’ll wonder why you haven’t always been making it!
You can just dive right in, maybe dunking it in some marinara sauce, ranch, or blue cheese dressing.
Or you can make this as a side to accompany your favorite pasta or Italian recipe, make this semi-homemade cheesy garlic bread recipe to dunk into a bowl of soup or chili, as an afterschool snack for the kiddos or grandkids. Or whip it up for hungry game day fans – Super Bowl and March Madness, I’m looking at you – this is a hit, always!
My new favorite! The combination of seasonings are great and especially love how the mozzarella seemed to melt into the bread.
Jeanne
Recipe Ingredients
Just a handful of extremely common and easy-to-find ingredients are needed for this quick garlic cheese bread recipe, including:
- French bread – Italian bread will also work. Don’t use a regular loaf of bread. You want bread with a nice crusty exterior and a soft-yet-substantial-enough interior to hold up to all the cheese you’re going to pile on
- Unsalted butter (salted butter is fine if you want a saltier flavor) – I am partial to butter in this recipe rather than olive oil, but you can add a drizzle of olive oil, in addition to the butter, if you’d like. It’ll make it extra decadent, but I wouldn’t try to swap oil for butter here
- Garlic cloves – Being that garlic is a key ingredient in Cheesy Garlic Bread, I suggest finely mincing fresh garlic rather than using pre-minced garlic from a jar or bottle. Use 3 to 5 cloves, depending on how garlicky you want your garlic cheese bread. If you’re a super-fan of garlic, you can also add a bit of garlic powder to the melted butter mixture to really amp up the garlic flavor
- Italian seasoning
- Cheese – I use Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. For the best taste and texture, buy blocks of cheese and shred them yourself. Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, or Pepper Jack also melt nicely, and you can sub about 1 cup of either for 1 cup of the mozzarella if you’d like. There really isn’t a substitute for Parm, other than perhaps a Pecorino-Parm blend. Make sure to use real Parmesan cheese, and nothing from a green can
- Fresh parsley, basil, oregano; optional for garnishing
- Pinch of salt, optional if desired
- Red pepper flakes, optional if desired
Add even more flavor!
Adding a layer of pesto after you add the melted butter mixture is a great idea. I have seen people put mayonnaise on the bread before adding the garlic butter mixture. If you’re a mayo fan and this secret ingredient sounds good to you, be my guest!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Garlic Cheese Bread
With only 5 minutes of prep time and less than 15 minutes of cook time, this homemade garlic bread is a perfect side dish or appetizer recipe! Here’s an overview of how the French bread garlic cheese bread is made:
Step 1: Slice the bread in half lengthwise,, and place it on a parchment or aluminum foil lined baking sheet
Step 2: In a small bowl, combine melted butter, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and brush the garlic butter mixture evenly over the inside or interior cut sides of the bread halves.
Step 3: Evenly sprinkle the Parm and mozzarella over the top and bake for about 12 mins.
Step 4: Optionally, but recommended, broil for about 2-3 minutes until golden grown, keeping a VERY watchful eye on it so it doesn’t burn! If you choose to broil this bread, and I do recommend doing so in order to achieve that golden browed cheese flavor and appearance, make sure you DON’T walk away from your broiler. Don’t turn your back on it, get distracted, or all of a sudden decide it’s time to start multi-tasking.
You’re only going to be broiling for about 2 minutes. So, I recommend just standing in front of your oven, with the door ajar if you’d like, and WATCHING exactly just how golden brown things are getting. With a 500F+ degree broiler, things can go from golden to charred in a matter of seconds so use caution and keep a watchful eye!
Step 5: Optionally garnish with fresh parsley or your favorite herbs, and optional salt and red pepper flakes, and serve!
Serving Suggestions for Homemade Garlic Cheese Bread
Storage, Make Ahead & Reheating Info
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
In the Freezer: This recipe (unbaked) will keep airtight in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead: Prep it, wrap it well, freeze it, and then bake it off like you would a frozen pizza when you’re ready to enjoy it. You’ll probably need to add a few extra minutes to the bake time.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease, and reheat my leftovers for about 30 seconds, or as needed. But you can use your oven if preferred. It will reheat more “nicely” and evenly in the oven, but truthfully, the microwave is ‘good enough’ for me when it comes to rewarming leftovers.
Cheesy Garlic Bread
Equipment
- 1 Small Microwave-Safe Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh French bread, halved vertically
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (salted butter may be substituted if preferred)
- 4 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided; plus more for garnishing if desired
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella Cheese, divided (use a 12-ounce block if grating it yourself)
- Fresh parsley, basil, oregano, or other herbs for garnishing, optional and to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easier cleanup if desired; set aside.
- Slice the French bread vertically, so you have two long pieces with an interior cut side. Tips – I buy my 1 pound (16 ounce) loaf of French bread from my grocery store's bakery section. You can also use Italian bread or anything hearty, crusty bread if that's what you have available. Don't use regular bread because it won't stand up to the weight of the butter and cheese.
- Place the bread with the interior cut side facing up. Tip – If the half that used to the the top of the bread is a little wobbly or won't sit flat on your baking sheet, using a knife shave off the offending area so it will lay flat. This is important so the cheese doesn't slide off while it bakes. Set aside.
- To a 2-cup glass measuring cup (easier) or small bowl microwave-safe bowl, add the butter, and heat on high for about 45-60 seconds to melt.
- Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and stir to combine. Tips – If you love garlic and want to make this more garlicky, you can add additional freshly minced garlic, or add about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt. You can also add salt and/or pepper to the melted butter mixture if you want it saltier.
- Evenly pour the butter over the cut side of the bread. If you melted the butter in a small bowl, use a brush to brush it on. Make sure to use every last drop!
- Evenly sprinkle the 1/3 cup Parmesan divided over the two halves of bread and then evenly sprinkle the 3 cups of mozzarella divided over the two halves.
- Baking – Bake for about 12 minutes on the middle rack, or until the cheese has melted. Make sure to keep a close eye on it since all ovens bake differently, and all cheese melts at different rates, so bake until done and melted as desired in your oven. You can stop here although I recommend broiling it momentarily, see Step 9.
- Broiling (optional but recommended) – Turn your oven to high broil and allow the bread to broil for about 2-3 minutes. Tips – You don't have to move the baking sheet to the top oven rack, and it can just remain on the middle rack. This is safer since its farther away from the heat source, and while it may take an extra minute, you'll have more control over the heat output and it'll be less prone to accidentally burning. Make sure not to get distracted, nor start multitasking. I recommend standing at the oven door (closed or open, as you prefer) for the 2-3 minutes it will take to broil the bread, and simply watch it so that cheese becomes dotted with golden spots and neither the cheese nor the bread actually burns!
- Optionally garnish the baked bread with fresh herbs as desired, and optionally sprinkle a bit more Parmesan before serving. Serve immediately. Bread is best hot and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. I reheat carefully in my microwave, although you can reheat in your oven, if preferred. See Notes below for freezer and make-ahead instructions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love your recipes!
Thank you very much, Susan, I appreciate it!
My new favorite! The combination of seasonings are great and especially love how the mozzarella seemed to melt into the bread.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m so glad this is your new favorite and that the seasonings and cheese melting action is on point for you!
On the Easy Cheesy Garlic bread you probably meant slice the bread horizontally, not vertically.
Very tasty. I used more cheese and garlic.