5-Minute Easy Garlic Bread Recipe

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.

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.

Why Does This Homemade Garlic Bread Recipe Work?

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 quick meals.
Check out the other 5-minute recipes:

• 5-Minute Homemade Garlic Herb Dip
• 5-Minute Garlic Bread With Garlic Powder
• 5-Minute Fragrant & Crispy Pan-Fried Egg Tofu With Chopped Cilantro
• 5-Minute Vegan Silken Tofu With Green Onion Couldn’t Be Easier
• 5-Minute Five-Spice Tofu with Peanut Butter Sauce
• 5-Minute Homemade Vegan Miso Soup With Silken Tofu and Seaweed 🥣

How to Make 5-Minute Garlic Bread With Fresh Garlic

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!

A lot of Garlic Delight readers requested this version of 5-minute garlic bread made with garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. Alex & I came up with the 5-Minute Garlic Bread

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.

5-Minute Garlic Bread with Fresh Garlic

This is a super quick and easy garlic bread recipe that’s perfect for satisfying my garlic cravings. Scale the recipe up to serve three, four, or even six with the same amount of effort.

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Prep Time: 4 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 5 minutes

Course: Appetizer, Brunch, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American, Anna&Alex, Italian

Keyword: 10 ingredients or less, 5-minute recipe, batch-cooking, carbs, comfort, family-friendly, vegan, vegetarian

Servings: 2 person

Calories: 178kcal

Author: Anna Rider

Cost: $1

Equipment

• Knife
• Chopping Board
• Spatula
• Garlic Press
• Microwave
• Paper towel

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)

US Customary – Metric

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

You can use this garlic butter technique on different foods, not only garlic bread. For example, this garlic butter works well spread over popcorn, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

Nutrition

Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 246mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 500IU | Vitamin C: 1.1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @GarlicDelight or tag #GarlicDelight!

FAQs for 5-Minute Garlic Bread

How Can You Make Vegan or Dairy-Free 5-Minute Garlic Bread?

Instead of butter, substitute olive oil and follow the same recipe below. Use the best quality olive oil you can.

How Do I Avoid Burning My Mouth With Raw Garlic?

Peyton left a comment that the garlic bread burned her mouth. Upon investigation, she mentioned that the garlic was too raw. Yes, raw garlic has sulfuric compounds that can cause a spicy or burning sensation in your mouth.

To avoid raw garlic in your garlic bread: look to see if the garlic is opaque white. If it is still a bit translucent and a yellowish/off-white color, then it may be too raw. To be safe, you can zap it in the microwave for an extra 30 seconds to 1 minute longer until it’s definitely not raw anymore.

The safer bet is to try the garlic powder garlic bread recipe. No risk of burning there.

Can You Use Garlic Powder in This 5-Minute Garlic Bread Recipe?

Use fresh garlic for this recipe. After much experimentation, Alex & I developed a version of the 5-minute garlic bread recipe using garlic powder. Alex discovered a technique that creates a well-mixed garlic butter, which was a challenge because garlic powder led to dry, powdery garlic bread! We’re pretty proud of our technique so check out our stress-free garlic bread recipe using garlic powder and leave a comment to let me know what you think.

How Can I Make This 5-Minute Garlic Bread More Interesting?

• Sprinkle parmesan or the real-deal Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top (check out our test taste article to learn the difference and why Parmigiano-Reggiano is superior)
• 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 to Eat With Garlic Bread

Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Mozzarella & Cherry Tomatoes

The spaghetti squash takes a tad longer to make than pasta from a box. But it’s a wonderful variation on the traditional pasta salad. 

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Vegan Ratatouille with Eggplant and Zucchini

This simple, no-bake recipe makes a hearty pot of ratatouille that your vegan friends & family will love. The recipe is designed to feed a group of 6-8 (depending on serving size) or allow a family of 1-2 to have leftovers for 3-4 meals.

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Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts

Roasting Brussels sprouts with whole garlic cloves produces creamy and sweet garlic. The red pepper flakes add a surprising twist to give this side dish a little kick. 

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