Learn how to make mouthwatering garlic bread in 5 minutes without turning on the oven. It’s so easy to get dinner ready after a long work day and satisfy your garlic craving.
Why does this homemade garlic bread recipe work?
When I’m in the mood for my garlic fix, I want garlic bread immediately.
When dinner is almost ready, the last thing you want is to fiddle with baking garlic bread. That’s why this recipe cooks the garlic butter in the microwave and then toasts the bread.
This technique allows you to skip baking or broiling the garlic bread in the oven, which is how most other recipes recommend making homemade garlic bread.
With the power of your toaster, you can have garlic bread almost from scratch ready in 5-minutes. While it’s not restaurant-style garlic bread, it’s delicious and will satisfy your garlic cravings.
This is the first recipe in my series of 5-minute recipes for garlic lovers.
Check out the other 5-minute garlic recipes:
How to make 5-minute garlic bread
I designed this recipe around minimalist or small apartments that might not have an oven. So, you can make this recipe on vacation in a limited AirBnB rental or if you live in a studio without a kitchen!
What equipment do you need for the 5-minute garlic bread recipe?
- If you have a microwave and toaster, you are all set in terms of appliances.
- Ideally, you should use a garlic press. But if you don’t have one, you can chop the garlic with a knife.
- Use a microwave-safe bowl to heat the butter. Be careful when you take the hot butter out of the microwave because you can burn yourself touching the hot bowl. Use oven mitts or a dish towel to protect your hands.
Ingredients
- 2 slices Bread (Fresh crusty bread is the best.)
- 2 tablespoon Butter (Salted butter tastes better and is less work.)
- 1-2 cloves Garlic (Fresh garlic only)
- 2 sprigs Cilantro (Optional)
Instructions
- Collect all the ingredients for the recipe.
- Peel the cloves of garlic. Squeeze the cloves through a garlic press.
- Scrap off all the pressed garlic and put into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Add the butter to the bowl with the garlic.
- Heat the butter in the microwave on high for 30 seconds.
- Stir the garlic into the melting butter. Place a paper towel over the bowl to avoid splattering butter in your microwave. Heat the butter again on high for 30 seconds.
- While waiting for the butter to cool down, toast your bread in the toaster. I like my toast lightly browned but you can toast it on whatever settings you prefer.
- In the meantime, finely chop the cilantro. If you’re skipping the cilantro, then jump straight to step 10.
- Add the cilantro to the garlic butter.
- Using a spatula, spread the garlic butter on your toast.
- Enjoy your 5-minute garlic bread!
Notes
Nutrition
FAQs for 5-minute garlic bread
How can you make vegan or dairy-free 5-minute garlic bread?
Substitute the butter for olive oil and follow the same recipe below. Use the best quality olive oil you can.
Can you use garlic powder in this 5-minute garlic bread recipe?
Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend using garlic powder. A couple of negative reviews indicated that the garlic powder produced a mediocre garlic bread.
I would never want you to waste your precious time and end up with subpar garlic bread.
Please, only use fresh garlic for this recipe. I will test a recipe variation using garlic powder and share it with you if I can give you a result that is worth making.
How can I make this 5-minute garlic bread more interesting?
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top
- Add Italian seasonings to the garlic butter, such as dried oregano
- Switch out the cilantro for finely chopped parsley or basil
How do you make garlic bread from the store?
This recipe is not quite the same as garlic bread from the store or restaurant, which tends to be softer and chewier.
If you want soft garlic bread, choose a soft bread like a dinner roll, naan or focaccia. Also, toast the bread for 30 seconds just to heat it up without making it crispy
What do you eat this garlic bread with?
- Spaghetti Squash with Garlic Pesto, Mozzarella, & Cherry Tomatoes
- Deliciously Simple and Vegan Ratatouille
- Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts
- Garlic Tomato Cream Zucchini Pasta with Shrimp
Recipes you might like similar to this garlic bread
I will have to make this, so simple and love the instructions. Thank you for sharing and will let you know how it goes!
Thanks Travis!
Let me know how it goes. I just published a sister recipe using garlic powder, due to popular request. Maybe it will be even EASIER: https://garlicdelight.com/5-minute-garlic-powder-bread/
i made this but i only had garlic powder can you please let me know on a recipe of garlic bread with garlic powder?
Hi deja,
Thanks for your message. Did you try the recipe with fresh garlic?
I will test the recipe with garlic powder and let you know how you need to modify it to make it work.
Thanks for your message and happy to hear from you.
Anna
Pretty decent given it takes literally 5 minutes.
My wife made some lovely tomato soup, and requested some garlic bread after the soup had finished.
Followed your recipe to the T and voila, it wasn’t perfect but it definitely managed to quench the need for our garlic fix.
Will try experimenting with some oregano or some other seasonings for some zest.
Hi Shehreyar,
Glad to hear you tried the recipe & it quenched the garlic thirst.
What parts of the recipe did you find to be imperfect and how could I improve the recipe?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anna
I made it but only had garlic powder so I used that instead of fresh garlic. In the words of my mum “it’s not bad but it’s not great, it kinda looks like apple sauce”
Hi Katie,
Thank you very much for your comment! I really appreciate that you tried to make this recipe. Just curious, did you think it was very good because it was from garlic powder? Or do you think there was something wrong with the recipe? Would love to know how you think it would be improved.
Also, just curious, how did you find this website?
Nice meeting you,
Anna