I’ve made my own garlic bread in the past and it’s to die for, but when do I ever need a whole loaf at once? While I probably could eat a whole loaf, I know deep down that it’s probably not a good idea (look at me being a responsible adult!). This Homemade Freezer Garlic Bread fixes that problem. Prepare the slices of garlic bread ahead, freeze them (unbaked), and then they’re ready and waiting for you whenever you get the craving, just like the kind you buy in a box at the store.
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What’s So Great About Freezer Garlic Bread?
EVERYTHING. J/k, almost. It’s super fast to prepare and then you have a whole stockpile of single serving slices that are ready to pop into the oven on a moments notice. Bake two slices or ten, it’s up to you! Plus, since you’re mixing up the garlic butter topping, you know exactly what’s in there (and what isn’t), which always makes me feel good.
How Long Can You Keep Garlic Bread in the Freezer?
I usually try to use my garlic bread within three months of freezing. But if we’re being honest, it never lasts that long because it’s too good! Frozen foods undergo a slow decline in quality and flavor while frozen, so you don’t want to keep them too long, even if technically they are still safe to eat.
Homemade Freezer Garlic Bread
Servings 12 to 16 slicesIngredients
- 8 Tbsp salted butter, room temperature ($1.04)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.32)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley ( $0.30)
- 1 loaf French bread ($1.00)
Instructions
- Add the butter, olive oil, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt, and parsley to a bowl. Mix the ingredients together until they form a fairly smooth mixture.
- Slice the French bread into 1-inch thick slices (12-16 slices, depending on the size of the loaf). Add 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of the garlic spread to each slice of bread and spread it from edge to edge. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and then place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes to allow the butter to firm up. Once firm, transfer the garlic bread to a gallon-sized freezer bag for longer storage. Store in the freezer up to three months.
- To cook the frozen slices of garlic bread, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is heated, take as many slices out of the freezer as you’d like, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.* If you prefer a softer garlic bread without crispy edges, wrap the slices in foil before baking.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Video
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Freezer Garlic Bread – Step by Step Photos
In a bowl, combine 8 Tbsp room temperature salted butter, 2 Tbsp olive oil, 4 cloves garlic (minced) 1 Tbsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Mix them all up until it forms a fairly smooth mixture (a few chunks of butter are a-okay).
Take a loaf of French bread and slice it into 1-inch pieces (12-16 pieces, depending on the length of your loaf).
Place your bread slices on a baking sheet. Divide the garlic spread between your slices (about 1/2 to 1 Tbsp per slice) and spread it from edge to edge of the bread. Freeze the bread flat on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until the garlic spread is firm (if you forget at 30 minutes and come back to it hours later, that’s okay. Just don’t leave it for more than a day or it could start to dry out or absorb rogue flavors.
Transfer the frozen garlic bread to a gallon-sized freezer bag for long term storage. Always make sure to label and date your frozen goods!
To bake the frozen garlic bread, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place your frozen slices on a baking sheet and once the oven is fully preheated, transfer the slices to the hot oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the garlic bread are golden brown. If you prefer a softer garlic bread rather than one with crispy edges, you can wrap the slices in foil before baking.
Beth. This is absolutely EVERYTHING. Bless you ma’am.
thank you for the recipe. I cannot eat garlic so wanted to make my own without the garlic since could not find it anywhere in grocery stores without garlic.
I’m so glad you found this helpful. xoxo
Can you butter both sides of Texas toast for freezing?
You would need to butter one side, freeze it on a sheet pan with the butter side facing up, then turn it over to butter, and freeze again. Then divide the toasts with parchment in whatever freezer-safe container you are going to use. Obviously do not place buttered toasts in a toaster, and use a sheet pan in a warm oven instead. xoxo -Monti
I cook dual sided garlic bread in my air fryer when I just need 2 to 3 pieces for DH and myself. I do have an oven type and I also have a roll of liner for ovens that I purchased from Amazon that I cut down to fit and it keeps my oven part clean. Plus I can wash, dry and reuse many times. You could use the same thing in a toaster oven.
Your recipe looks great!. I will be making two loaves tomorrow and freezing. These days the frozen (even off brand) runs over $3 to over $5 box for eight slices. My bread was $1.00 a loaf at Walmart. This is a big saver.
Love this! It’s so good and so convenient to have a slice with my soup or whatever. The last time I made it, I used the last of the fresh parsley from the garden and it tasted great and looked so pretty. I often give homemade soup to neighbors and adding a couple slices of this garlic bread has been a big hit.
Made this and now it’s all I want to eat. Have been heating it up in the air fryer at 300°F for 7 mins and it’s perfect. Will have to make a new batch soon.
Made these for the first time last night. Delicious! It tastes just like the Texas toast my family often had growing up. Plus I’ve got a whole stash of it in my freezer! I’m definitely excited to pull some out and toast it up after a work day.
So yummy and convenient. I pop a slice in the air fryer and after about 3 minutes hit the broil button. I love how the bread gets a bit crunchy and the raw garlic has been mellowed by the broil.
Simply brilliant!
Literally salivating while reading this post. I love all of your content, keep it up!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We love garlic bread and it never dawned on me that I could make it up in advance like this. Since it’s just hubby and I at home, buying and eating a whole loaf of French/Italian bread means we’re either over eating or some bread goes to waste. I was so excited to buy a whole loaf yesterday, knowing it would all be used for the easily prepped Homemade Freezer Garlic Bread. We had it tonight with the Classic Baked Ziti! Delicious!
I have been making garlic bread like this for a good five years now. I have never frozen any. What a great idea!!! Once you make your own you will never be able to stomach the store bought in a box again. I made the mistake of buying a box of it a couple years ago. I took one bite and it was awful tasting! I guess I spoiled myself. LOL
I have loved this recipe for many years and even adapted vegan butter with success. Thank you for this excellent technique. I love freezing things to be used in smaller portions and two slices of garlic bread is perfect.
Thank you for this recipe! I just picked up 4 packs of 8/buns, through the Flash Food app..so cheap, for doing exactly this! Just needed a recipe for the perfect garlic butter that didn’t include parmesan cheese as i rarely ever have that on hand. The recipes i have tried of yours have all been so successful, i am definitely using this one! Thank you!!!
But if you did have some parm to use up, adding it to this recipe would be perfect.
Have you tried using the air fryer instead of the oven to heat from frozen?
Unfortunately, I don’t have an air fryer, so I haven’t tried that.
I have! I haven’t put them in the oven. I loved it this way. Unfortunately I don’t remember what time and temp I cooked in air fryer. I have the instant pot air fryer if that’s helpful.
Could you add cheese? Would you add it before you freeze it or before you bake it?
Cheese would be great on this. :) I would probably add it just before baking just because it might be kind of difficult to make it stick when frozen, although you might be able to make it stick with the garlic butter as a sort of glue.
I finally made this tonight, after saving it months ago. It turned out so good! I might do a little less salt next time, but I didn’t measure it exactly, so I might have just added too much.
I love your recipes! Thank you!
This is is a staple in our household. I love that you can make a batch, and just take slices out as needed. I’ve made this over and over again for years. Thank you!
I love garlic bread and could eat a whole loaf by myself. So this freezer recipe is a life saver! Helps me portion out the slices and only make a couple at a time. It also helps my wallet since I can stretch this garlic bread out over several meals instead of just one.
Just made this and it smells wonderful and tastes great! I made my slices fairly thin, not as thick as regular garlic bread comes in the box. I will be doing this again!! Thank you!!
.
This is my favorite garlic bread recipe EVER!! I’ve made it probably 5 times in the past few months since discovering it. Instead of slicing the bread into individual slices, I slice it in half lengthwise and spread the garlic-butter mixture on the halves, which I freeze and subsequently bake. Whenever I make this it’s either for a crowd or when I’m meal prepping–the half loaf never goes to waste!
good recipice, although churning the butter took me approximately 45 minutes which was slightly misleading. i would prefer better instruction so i can conduct my satanic rituals in a more organized manner.
best,
bess
Snort! Good one!
I love this Homemade Freezer Garlic Bread, Thank you so much
Hello love the recipe but I was wondering if you could reheat this in the microwave, as I do lunch meal preps and this looks so yummy.
Yes you definitely could, you just may not get the crunch as you would in the oven.
Have been making more soups as an excuse to eat this garlic bread. So good. Thanks!
Do you put the spread on both sides of the slices?
No, I just do it on top. :)
This was really really good! I think I used slightly too much butter and salt (I was making it for half of a very small baguette), but it still tasted very nice. The only thing I would change next time is using vegetable oil instead of olive oil, but that’s only because I don’t like the taste of olive oil much, and I can still taste it even when the tiniest amount is used.
The recipe was so much tastier than any frozen garlic bread I can buy from a shop, and it also works out so much cheaper, which is always a win!
Thanks so much for the tip about freezing garlic bread. Just the info I was needing because I’ve been craving garlic bread but wondered if I really wanted a whole loaf just for myself. You’ve solved my problem and I’m going to make this (and spaghetti) tomorrow.
I love and hate Beth for this one. We’ve now had garlic bread almost every day for months because of this great idea. We get the huge po-boy bread loaves and double the recipe. AMAZING.
For anyone who wants their garlic bread ready like, right now, they can also be cooked in a skillet on low heat. Start with the butter side down for a couple minutes until toasty, then flip for another few minutes. Much faster than waiting for the oven to heat up. I can get the garlic bread done in the amount of time it takes to heat up a bowl of soup from the freezer, and within ten minutes of entering the kitchen I’m out with dinner ready.
Great tip!
Check the math. It says $3.82 per recipe but I didn’t get that when I added up your cost of ingredients. I’m trying to decide if it’s more cost effective to buy a box of premade garlic toast at Wal Mart.
Thanks for catching my math error! All fixed now.
Love every one of the fixings. Idealize declaration of fall ! Much obliged to you !
plan to make this often now, it turned out so well! Perfect as written but I also added a bit of shredded mozzarella to a few slices, really good too.
Thanks for this idea!! I grabbed a two-pack of fresh bread loaves at Costco and we quickly ate one, but the other was starting to get a bit firm. This is the perfect use for the second loaf! And now I can pay the Costco price for bread in the future (garlic bread will not last long in the freezer with my family!)
I love your blog and recipes. I especially use a lot of your recipes that freeze well or are made for the freezer like this. I would love it if you could have a tab under your recipe index that brought up all your recipes that can be freezer meals. When I searched freezer meals this recipes and ones like your bean quesadillas and freezer biscuits didn’t come up. Thanks so much and keep posting!
The reason I’ve decided not to do this is because “freezer friendly” is so subjective. So many of the dishes that I think freeze well others find the texture/flavor changes to be too much. Unfortunately it’s not a clear line between freezes well and doesn’t freeze well. There is a large grey area. :(
I skip between following recipes and just throwing ingredients together for garlic bread, but after trying this garlic butter spread last night, I think I’ll be following this recipe from now on. My husband and kids loved it, and so did I!
I made a big ol’ double batch of this, and my husband has decreed that we’re never buying the store-made garlic bread ever again. I haven’t yet found a recipe from your site that hasn’t been A+
Could this be cooked in a microwave? I know it will not be as good as in an oven, but the man I am making this for does not use his. :)
It will probably be soggy, but it can technically be done. :P
So easy and delicious. Love being able to make just one or two pieces at a time. Thanks!
Does the garlic burn when you reheat? Have you ever reheated in a toaster oven?
I haven’t used a toaster oven, but my garlic didn’t burn when I reheated them. :)
hi i don’t have microwave or oven, is there any way to make this recipe on stove.please let me know
This recipe doesn’t use a microwave.
Hema, to answer your question you should be able to do this on the stove using a pan.
Hi! I really loved this garlic bread recipe. It was very easy to make & tasted great! I was just wondering if you had a suggestion on how to make the bread crunchy? I left mine in the oven for about fifteen minutes and the center of the bread wasn’t even golden :/
You can try placing it under the broiler for a minute or so. That will help crisp up the outside.
if I make the bread fresh for a party and skip freezing it will it turn out ok?
Yep, it sure will. :)
I feel silly for not thinking of this sooner. My local Wal-Mart always has day old loaves for $0.39. Now I known what to do with the rest of loaf if I don’t use it. Thanks.
Awesome!!
These are fabulous. I added some grated Parmesan cheese, perhaps a tablespoon or so, and a pinch of cayenne. Also, because I don’t like garlic bread with a wet, butter soaked center, after I buttered the slices, I scraped off most of the butter from the very centers, scraping off an area about the size of a penny. They were nice and toasty all the way through.
I really enjoyed this recipe. It’s super easy to make, and the final product tastes great. I mixed up the spread in my food processor to make it even easier. I’ll be making my own garlic bread from here on out!
Just pulled these out of the freezer and made a mozz and cheeder grilled cheese with them. Oh my… THANK YOU BETH
Oh my gosh, James! That sounds SO GOOD! I’ll have to try it!
Made this for my family last night to go with your Spicy Tomato and Shrimp Pasta – absolutely knocked it out of the park! All we could do was make happy moany noises at each other the whole time we were eating, haha! I had some rosemary’d green beans and a simple green salad on the side with fresh cut strawberries for dessert. So much food omg.
So glad you liked my recipe for Freezer Texas Toast! It’s one of our favorites! Beautiful pictures. :)
Wow you are the best seriously. I always like to have garlic bread in my freezer so I end up spending like 6 bucks on it at the store and regretting it after. This is a wonderful solution, thank you once again :)
What a great idea! Perfect for a busy week when you need something quick to make. Thank you :)
seriously why didn’t I think of this? So genius! Bet it would be good for using up those loaves that are a day past prime too.
CANT WAIT TO TRY THIS!!! Thanks Beth!
Just made some! the smell and the taste is great!
Wow! What a coincidence that I just tried my hand at making my own French bread for the first time today before I saw this (it is in the oven as I type this and smelling AMAZING). It’s snowing like crazy here right now, so I got a little over-zealous in my bread-making and have two more loaves ready to go in the oven after these two. This will be a great way to use some of it…and the hubby will love me even more for it! Thanks, Beth!
Um, I had no idea you could make your own French Bread, but then again, you’re dealing with a person who thought making garlic bread was whipping out a piece of white bread, putting some melted butter on and then sprinkling a bit of garlic from a can. Bad idea. It was disgusting! I love the idea of making an actual good loaf of bread and having a real freezer pleaser for later. Thanks!
I too like to have garlic bread in the freezer. I slice the whole loaf lengthwise , butter and season both halves then stick back together and slice about 10 or so times. I wrap up in foil and put back into the plastic bread bag . We only have 5 at home now but there are often extras over for dinner so I do the whole loaf.
I think I will do the mix as you do with the oil and parsley….I need to get more bread again. As someone suggested get jimmy john bread. I do that. Other wise store loaves can be over 2.00 a piece. I put the frozen loaf rigght into oven in foil. It makes a soft loaf rather than crispy.
You know what else you could do with these? Put a slice of cheeeeeeeeeeese in between them when you pull them out of the freezer, and make garlic grilled cheese! And here’s my secret to excellent grilled cheese…press some fresh parmesan into the garlic-buttered side of the bread. This technique has made me semi-famous amongst my friends. :)
I make garlic bread slices all the time but never thought to do a whole loaf at once and freeze it! Now I won’t have bread going bad between dinners! :)
If you don’t mind the calories, I find adding some mayo to the mix and giving the tops a dash of paprika really gives it something special…my local grocery store makes loaves in-house that way and I had to try to recreate it!
Cathryn does it taste like mayonnaise ?
I also add a dollop of mayonnaise (rather than oil) and it makes for a creamy easy-to-spread mixture. I’ve never noticed any taste other than what I was expecting – that of delicious homemade garlic bread.
I’m drooling.. and love this idea of having garlic bread at the ready. Thanks for another great tip!
Not sure if you have a Jimmy John’s restaurant nearby, but they always sell loaves of day – old bread for 50 cents. That could make this an even cheaper recipe :)
Wow! Thanks for the tip!
How much more salt should I add when using unsalted butter? I don’t use salted butter normally so I don’t want to buy the whole package just for that purpose. It’s hard to come by where I live anyway.
I think the standard is 1/4 tsp of salt per stick (8 tbsp).
I’d take Megan’s advice and start with 1/4 tsp (in addition to the 1/4 tsp called for in the recipe). You can give the garlic butter a taste and add more if needed before spreading it on the bread. :)
whoops, you skipped the step where you stuff a whole piece in your mouth, just to get the flavor correct, while you’re piling the others on the cookie sheet for the freezer. because yes, this would be heavenly even without baking–who doesn’t like bread and butter? :)
Ha! Ha! I was thinking the same thing. In fact the skinny “heels” of the bread are perfect for this task….it’s exactly what I did!
How long can the garlic bread stay in the freezer? Thanks, Beth!! :-)
There’s not a definitive cut off, but I find that most food starts to degrade in quality after about three months. :)
I was JUST thinking about this the other day! So crazy to pay $1.99 for 8 slices of yuck. How I make them, though, is in a skillet like grilled cheese! WAY easier than heating up the entire over for one or two slices :)
That should say oven…. :)
Great tip! Thanks!
A Youtuber mentioned last week about making garlic bread, and I was thinking how to make some. Amazing.
Thank you! Your blog is a huge inspiration right now, took me out of a cooking slump.
We did this style from time to time when doing something like a Spaghetti dinner or Lasagna except it was typically a full loaf. Instead of freezing the individual slices with butter side up we’d stick them together (so you got garlic/butter on both sides of the bread) and then put the entire stuck together loaf (wrapped in tin foil in the oven to heat up and melt the butter. We also did a horizontal slice through the bread and at the end did vertical slices. for indivudal servings depending on how much you wanted.
Also consider tossing some crushed red pepper flakes to raise the “spicy heat” while not overloading it.
Great tips! I love it!