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Meghan Splawn
Meghan Splawn
Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
updated May 1, 2019
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With a handful of ingredients you can make a loaf of garlic bread to keep in your freezer. Here's what you need to know to make the this buttery side.
Makes12 slicesJump to Recipe
Jump to Recipe
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Garlic bread is one of dinner’s simple pleasures. It comes together quickly and easily, and the results are always super satisfying, yet a huge market still remains for frozen garlic bread from the supermarket. If you’ve never bought a box to stash in the freezer, you may be wondering, why bother?
Here’s the thing about frozen garlic bread — not only is it a comforting little shortcut for your busy life, but good frozen garlic bread is also totally crave-worthy in its own right. Frozen garlic bread takes full advantage of every inch of surface area on a slice of bread by slathering it with rich garlic butter that basically fries the bread in the oven. Plus, with garlic bread in the freezer, you can make a single slice (or two) whenever the craving strikes.
What’s So Great About Frozen Garlic Bread, Anyway?
Wondering why you might need a stash of garlic bread in the freezer when you can make a loaf of garlic bread in about 15 minutes? The answer is super simple: Frozen garlic bread is a little gift for your future self: Whether you need a single piece of garlic bread to soak up the last little bit of soup from your lunch mug, or you have to feed 10 pint-sized soccer players before a game one night, frozen garlic bread is the answer.
For Your Information
- This garlic bread recipe calls for an eight-inch (14-ounce) loaf of soft French bread.
- Make sure you have freezer-friendly gallon-sized zip-top bags on hand for storing the frozen garlic bread.
- These garlic bread slices reheat at 425°F for about 5 minutes.
Making Frozen Garlic Bread Better than Store-Bought
Cent for cent, this recipe won’t save you any dough, but you will have total control over the ingredients, making it, in our opinion, better than store-bought.
When it comes to frozen garlic bread, the universal truth is that all of them use either Texas-style toast (square, thick slices of white bread), or soft French bread. You want to avoid crisp or crunchy loaves, like baguettes or boules, when making garlic bread for your freezer.
Make a flavorful garlic and herb butter, but make sure that the butter includes oil. Olive oil adds flavor, but you can swap it with a neutral oil if needed.
Frozen Garlic Bread: Step by Step
Preparing garlic bread for the freezer is just as fast as making a fresh batch.
- Make a garlic herb butter. Again, make sure the butter has a few tablespoons of oil in it, as this helps it spread and helps the bread crisp in the oven.
- Slice the bread and smear with butter. Go for thicker slices, as they hold more butter and hold up better to freezing and baking.
- Freeze the buttered slices in a single layer. Then move to a zip-top bag for long-term storage (up to 3 months).
Reheating and Serving Frozen Garlic Bread
No need to thaw — the frozen garlic bread pieces can go straight from the freezer to the oven. When ready to serve, heat an oven (or a toaster oven) to 425°F. Place frozen bread slices, butter-side up, on a baking sheet. Bake for five minutes or until butter melts and edges are golden. Serve immediately.
Looking for Frozen Garlic Texas Toast?
Use the same garlic butter recipe and spread it onto one-inch-thick slices of Texas toast. Freeze and reheat as you would garlic bread.
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(Image credit: Ghazalle Badiozamani)
With a handful of ingredients you can make a loaf of garlic bread to keep in your freezer. Here's what you need to know to make the this buttery side.
Makes 12 slices
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons
(1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons
olive oil
- 5 cloves
garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon
dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon
dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon
dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon
garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
- 1
(8-ounce, 14-inch) loaf soft French bread
Equipment
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Serrated knife
Rimmed baking sheet
Gallon-sized zip-top freezer bag
Instructions
Make the garlic-herb butter. Mash the butter, oil, garlic, dried herbs, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl with a spatula.
Slice the bread. Cut the loaf of bread crosswise with a serrated knife into 12 (1-inch-thick) slices. Discard the ends or save for breadcrumbs or croutons.
Spread the garlic-herb butter on the slices. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Spread each slice with a generous amount of the garlic-herb butter, 2 to 3 teaspoons.
Move frozen bread to a freezer bag for storage. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until the bread is solid. Once frozen, transfer the slices to a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake the garlic bread. When ready to bake, arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 425°F. Place the frozen bread slices, butter-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the butter melts and edges are golden-brown, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Cheese garlic bread: Make cheesy garlic bread by mixing 1 cup shredded mozzarella and 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese. Top the buttered slices with cheese, pressing down slightly so the cheese sticks to the garlic butter. Freeze and bake according to the instructions above.
Storage: Freeze in a freezer zip-top bag for up to 3 months. Extra garlic-herb butter can be wrapped in parchment or plastic wrap and frozen.
