Small Batch Roasted Garlic Cheese Bread

> originally published on August 29, 2020 | updated on February 16, 2022 <

This is like the ultimate cheesy garlic bread recipe, seriously. I love cheesy bread (like the Pizza Hut cheese bread, if I’m being honest), and I wanted to make a homemade version of it. However, I stepped it up a notch by using roasted garlic butter (which is heaven), and gooey, melty, low-moisture mozzarella cheese.

Roasted garlic is the easiest thing in the world to make, I promise. I’ll show you how! This cheesy bread recipe uses an entire head of roasted garlic, which I whip into a compound butter before slathering it on the bread and covering it all with cheese. My recipe makes four slices of bread, which is perfect for 2-3 servings. (Or you could make a meal out of it for one person.) 🙂

Ingredients for Homemade Garlic Cheese Bread:

• half of an Italian (or French) Bread Loaf*
• 2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• one head of Roasted Garlic
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 tsp. each of Salt & freshly cracked Black Pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tbsp. freshly chopped Parsley
• 4 oz. shredded Mozzarella Cheese**

*I cut a 5 inch section off of the loaf of bread, then freeze the rest for later. We also use leftover bread for sandwiches, toast in the morning, or you could use some in these Italian Meatballs!

**Low-moisture mozzarella cheese melts more evenly, so I suggest finding a block (or ball) of it, then grating it on the large holes of a grater for this recipe. (I used half of this specific fresh mozzarella ball from Whole Foods for these pictures.)

This small batch cheesy bread recipe is a much better alternative to anything you can buy from the freezer aisle.  We don’t eat the frozen stuff quickly enough, so it usually tastes a little off by the time we get to the third and fourth pieces.  This roasted garlic bread is just so perfect for a quick, cheesy, delicious alternative that uses fresh ingredients.  It’s like leaps and bounds better, seriously.

How To Make Roasted Garlic:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Slice the top quarter off of a head of garlic. Peel off as much of the flaky exterior pieces as you can. Place the head of garlic on a piece of foil that is large enough to wrap around it. Drizzle olive oil on the cut side of the garlic, then sprinkle a pinch of salt over it.

Wrap it in foil, place it in an oven-safe ramekin or muffin tin.

Roast in the oven at 375 F for about 40-45 minutes until the garlic cloves are golden brown and soft. Check out this reel I made for this recipe if you’d like to see a video from start to finish!

How to Make Homemade Cheesy Garlic Bread:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut a 5″ section off of an Italian bread loaf. Cut the loaf in half lengthwise, as evenly as possible.

• Slice down the middle of each slice 3/4″ of the way through the bread, keeping the bottom intact. Set the bread slices aside.

• Combine the roasted garlic, softened butter, parmesan, parsley, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Smash all of the ingredients together until very well combined.

• Spread the roasted garlic butter all over the surface of the bread slices. Set the prepared bread on a small rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.

• Sprinkle the grated mozzarella over the entire surface of the breads. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes, then broil for a couple of minutes until the cheese is bubbly.*

• Let it cool for about a minute, then serve hot!

*If any exposed pieces of the bread are closer to the broiler than others, there’s a chance they will burn. Try to cover them with cheese, or use a small piece of foil to tent the exposed parts of the bread so it doesn’t burn!

This makes quite a bit of roasted garlic butter, which I use all of for this recipe. However, you could easily double the amount of butter (keep the roasted garlic amount the same), and double the recipe if you need more than four slices of cheesy bread!

The roasted garlic butter will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. It’s also VERY delicious when melted on top of steaks, chicken, or used in roasted vegetables!

What to Eat with Garlic Cheese Bread:

• Date Night Bolognese Sauce
• Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup
• Simple, Spicy Tomato Soup
• Spicy Ricotta Baked Meatballs
• Creamy Cajun Linguine
• Cacio e Pepe with Shallots
• One Pot Sausage and Bacon Cheesy Baked Gnocchi

I sincerely hope you enjoy this cheesy garlic bread as much as we do! If you make it and post it on social, feel free to tag me on Instagram so I can see! If you make it and love it, a comment and rating below would be SO awesome! And as always, if you ever have any questions, reach out to me via email so I can help. 🙂 

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It’s a fun program that makes me feel so much more connected to each and everyone who visits, and I’ve loved seeing the various stickers I’ve received so far! Any donation that is given to me alongside a sticker goes directly back into creating more recipes for you to enjoy, and all of that means so much to me.

You can find the Thank with Google feature on my sidebar. If you try it out, let me know what you think! I appreciate any and all support so much, and I am excited to keep bringing you the content that you love to see!

xx Sara