Easy Garlic Breadsticks

These garlic breadsticks are like none you’ve ever had! They combine easy breadsticks dough with a delicious buttery garlic topping for a breadstick that no one will be able to resist!

Pull Apart Breadsticks

When I first heard about these garlic breadsticks, I was a bit confused. My sister tried to describe it as kind of like a pull apart bread. In my head I was thinking something like this pineapple monkey bread.

And they’re sort of like that but sort of not.

The basic idea is that you bake the breadsticks in a dish super tightly together so they pull apart but they actually come apart okay, unlike the monkey bread.

They do bake up all together and are way better eaten hot straight from the baking dish. But they’re also delicious a day or two later heated back up in the oven.

Or used as a pizza crust with a little mozzarella cheese baked on top – as evidenced by my two boys eating these as garlic breadstick pizzas for the next three days.

But anyway, I digress. These are likely not like the breadsticks you’ve made before, but they’re absolutely delicious and totally worth trying.

I’m betting you’ll love them as much as I do. I mean they’re buttery, garlicy, and cheesy – what’s not to love about that? And they come together super fast with a really short rise time.

And they’re fun looking, which makes them perfect for serving with a family dinner like homemade lasagna or baked ziti!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

This is more about the method of cooking than the measurements!

• Grated parmesan – You definitely want to use grated parmesan in this, not shredded. Shredded just won’t coat the breadsticks as well.
• Garlic salt – If you don’t have garlic salt on hand, you can make it using this quick tutorial out of garlic powder and regular salt.
• Water – Make sure your water is warm but not boiling.

Instructions

You’re going to love how easy this recipe is, I mean I do at least. Use the short rise time to make one of these easy weeknight dinners like this Instant Pot fettuccini Alfredo or this air fryer garlic butter salmon to go with the breadsticks!

Start out by dissolving the yeast and sugar in warm water. This typically takes about five minutes but if they’re not quite dissolved yet, wait another minute or two until they are.

Add the flour and salt to the bowl and knead lightly for two minutes. Then you’re going to take it out the bowl (or leave it – up to you) and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While the dough is resting, melt some butter in a 9×13 pan. I like to do this by simply putting the butter in the pan, placing the pan in the oven, and preheating the oven.

The butter will melt while the oven is preheating and your oven will be preheated. Two birds with one stone!

Once the dough is done resting, divide the dough into 18 equal parts. Roll those pieces into snakes and line them up in the pan.

I’ve included step by step images below so you can see what I mean by line them up in the pan – they’re going to be right next to each other, not spaced out. This is on purpose and makes these garlic breadsticks so unique!

Let these rise for 20 minutes, they’ll typically fill the pan.

Once they’ve risen, sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese making sure to get it all over the tops of the breadsticks! You can see how they filled the pan in the photo below.

Now it’s time to bake! Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Eat warm, like right out of the pan is our favorite, with your favorite meal and/or dipping sauce! They’re great alongside this ground turkey pasta or with a bowl of this Whole 30 zuppa toscana soup.

Expert Tips

Don’t leave space between snakes in the baking dish. You want them to be tightly packed in there with a little space around the sides of the dish so the breadsticks can rise and fill up the rest of the space.

Double the parmesan cheese if you like really cheesy breadsticks. I don’t recommend doubling the garlic salt because they’ll get really salty but adding a little more cheese never hurt anyone.

Use a high-quality butter like Kerrygold for the best taste. These are baked in butter so the taste of the butter does matter. You can make them with whatever butter you have on hand but the good stuff is better.

Make two batches of these breadsticks, they’ll go fast. You can eat one alongside a dinner like this chicken spaghetti recipe and eat one the next day with something else!

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Side Dishes

Want some extra side dishes to add to these garlic breadsticks? Here are some of our favorites!

• Corn succotash
• Air fryer french fries
• Instant Pot basmati rice
• Twice baked potatoes
• Easy mashed potatoes
• Coconut rice