Garlic Knots
Homemade Garlic Knots with delicious garlic butter topping! This easy garlic knot recipe makes the best garlic knots: they’re soft on the inside, slightly chewy, and perfectly golden on the outside.
These garlic knots are one of my all-time favorite homemade bread recipes. I love to serve them for dinner alongside Chicken Parmesan, Instant Pot Spaghetti, Lasagna or Instant Pot Minestrone. My family goes crazy for these garlic rolls!
These garlic knots are also an addictive appetizer or game day snack. Serve them with marinara sauce for dipping!
The Best Garlic Knots
You’ll love this garlic knot recipe because:
- The garlic rolls are perfectly soft on the inside with a slightly chewy bite.
- The garlic herb butter topping adds incredible flavor!
- Garlic knots are perfect for almost any occasion. Serve them as an appetizer, or with pasta, pizza, baked chicken and more.
- I’ve included step-by-step photos as well as a video tutorial of the recipe so that you’ll know exactly how to shape the knots.
Making homemade garlic knots is surprisingly simple! I encourage you to try my easy recipe for making the garlic knot dough from scratch. The dough is quick to prep and the steps are easy to follow. If you prefer to use store-bought pizza dough, you’ll also find tips for how to do that below. Try my Garlic Bread Recipe next!
Recipe Ingredients
Garlic Knot Dough
- Warm Water: The water should be between 110-115° F. If the water is too cool, it may not activate the yeast. If it is too hot, it may kill the yeast. I recommend using an instant read thermometer to measure the water temperature.
- Instant Yeast: Instant yeast is sometimes called rapid rise yeast. You can also use regular active dry yeast in this recipe without any modifications. The dough may take a little bit longer to rise with active dry yeast.
- Granulated Sugar: A small amount of sugar helps to activate the yeast.
- Olive Oil: Olive oil adds richness and flavor to the dough and helps to make the dough soft.
- Salt: Salt is essential for flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: I’ve found that this recipe works best with all-purpose flour. You can use bread flour if you want your garlic knots to have even more of a chewy texture.
Garlic Butter Topping
- Melted Butter: The butter flavors the garlic knots and helps them to brown in the oven.
- Italian Seasoning: Dried Italian seasoning adds delicious flavor.
- Garlic: Use either 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder. Fresh garlic will give you a stronger garlic flavor. I often use garlic powder when I’m in a hurry to get dinner on the table.
- Salt: A small amount of salt adds flavor. If using salted butter in the topping, don’t add extra salt.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese: The Parmesan is optional, for extra flavor. If using Parmesan, sprinkle it on when the knots come out of the oven. You can also sprinkle on a bit of chopped fresh parsley for fresh flavor and a pop of color.
How to Make Garlic Knots
Here’s an overview of the steps to making this recipe. You’ll find the full ingredients list and instructions in the recipe card below.
I find that it’s easiest to make the garlic knot dough using a stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
- Proof the yeast: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let the mixture rest for 5 to 10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam or bubble.
- Mix the dough: Add the olive oil, salt and flour to the mixer bowl. Mix using the paddle attachment to combine.
- Knead the dough: Switch to the dough hook. Knead the dough on low speed for about 8 minutes. At this point, the dough should mostly come away from the sides of the bowl and it should be slightly sticky. If the dough is very sticky, you can add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little bit at a time, as the dough kneads. Try to avoid adding too much flour, as this will make the rolls tougher. A slightly sticky dough will produce softer garlic knots.
- First rise: Let the dough rise in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, until doubled in size. This will take 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces.
- How to tie garlic knots: Shape each piece into a ball and then roll into an 8-inch long rope. Tie the rope into a knot. You can tuck the ends of the knot underneath or leave them as is.
- Second rise: Place knots on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper, cover, and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
- How to make garlic butter: In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, Italian seasoning, garlic and salt. Brush the garlic butter over the rolls before baking.
- Bake the rolls until golden brown.
- Sprinkle warm rolls with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
How to Make Garlic Knots from Pizza Dough
I highly recommend that you try making homemade garlic knots using the homemade dough in this recipe. It’s really simple and you can’t beat homemade bread!
If you prefer to use store-bought pizza dough, you can. One pound of store-bought pizza dough is enough to make 12 garlic knots, and two pounds will make 24 knots. If making only 12 knots you can halve the ingredient amounts for the garlic butter topping.
To make garlic knots with pizza dough, let the dough come to room temperature. Then proceed with the recipe from the step of cutting the dough into pieces and shaping the garlic knots.
Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
You can make the dough ahead and let it do the first rise in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours. Then, let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before cutting it into pieces and shaping the knots.
Baked garlic knots can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat Garlic Knots
If frozen, let the garlic knots thaw at room temperature. Reheat garlic knots on a baking sheet in a 350° F oven for about 5 minutes, or until warm.
Recipe Tips
- When measuring the flour for this recipe, be sure to spoon it into your measuring cup and then level it off. Scooping the flour directly with your measuring cup can cause you to use too much flour.
- To speed up the dough rise steps, you can let the dough rise in a warm oven. Turn the oven on for 30-45 seconds, then turn it off and place the covered bowl of dough in the warm oven.
- You can reserve some of the garlic butter mixture to brush on the rolls after baking, if desired. This will make the topping flavor more intense. My garlic butter recipe is also delicious on dinner rolls.
- This recipe makes 24 small garlic knots. If you prefer your knots larger, you can cut the dough into 16 or 18 pieces instead.
More Homemade Bread Recipes
- Yeast Rolls
- Drop Biscuits
- Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Brioche Bun Recipe
- Biscuit Recipe
Garlic Knots
Ingredients
Garlic Knot Dough
- 1 ½ cups warm water, 110-115° F
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast, or active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
Garlic Butter Topping
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- grated Parmesan cheese and/or chopped fresh parsley, optional
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if you plan to make the dough by hand), combine the warm water, yeast and granulated sugar. Whisk together. Let rest for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam or bubble.
- Add the olive oil, salt and 4 cups of flour to the bowl. Mix with the paddle attachment on low speed until combined.
- Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough on low speed for about 8 minutes, until it mostly comes away from the sides of the bowl and is slightly sticky when you press it with your finger. If the dough is very sticky, you can add up to ¼ cup more flour, a little bit at a time, during the kneading step. Try to avoid adding too much flour, as this will make the rolls tougher. A sticky dough produces softer garlic knots.
- Transfer the dough to a large lightly oiled bowl and turn the ball of dough once to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, until doubled in size.
Shape the Garlic Knots
- (See step by step photos and video tutorial in the post above for a visual of how to shape the garlic knots.)
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured work surface. Press down on the dough to remove air bubbles.
- To make 24 garlic knots, first cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Then cut each of the 3 pieces into 8 equal pieces by cutting it first in half, then cut each half in half, and finally cut each piece in half once more. You should end up with 24 roughly equal pieces of dough.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape each piece of dough into a ball. Then, working on a very lightly floured work surface, roll each dough ball into an 8-inch long rope. Tie each rope into a knot. If desired, tuck the ends of the knot underneath the knot. Place the knots on the prepared baking sheets, evenly spaced.
- Lightly cover the rolls with clean kitchen towels or plastic wrap. Let rise on the baking sheets for 30-45 minutes.
- During the last 15 minutes of rise time, preheat the oven to 400° F.
Make Garlic Butter Topping
- To make the topping, melt the butter. Whisk in the Italian seasoning, minced garlic (or garlic powder) and salt until well combined. Brush over the rolls. (If desired, you can reserve some of the butter mixture to brush on the rolls after they come out of the oven.)
Bake Garlic Knots
- Bake the rolls for 17-22 minutes, until they are lightly golden on top. Rotate the baking pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure that the rolls bake evenly.
- If you reserved some of the butter mixture, brush it on when the warm rolls come out of the oven. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley, if desired. Serve garlic knots plain or with marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
- To speed up the dough rise steps, you can let the dough rise in a warm oven. Turn the oven on for 30-45 seconds, then turn it off and place the covered bowl of dough in the warm oven.
- You can reserve some of the garlic butter mixture to brush on the rolls after baking, if desired. This will make the topping flavor more intense.
- This recipe makes 24 small garlic knots. If you prefer your knots larger, you can cut the dough into 16 or 18 pieces instead.
- Baked garlic knots can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Love these!
Have you tried doing your first ride or proof in the instant pot on the yoghurt These sound fun to make.
No, I haven’t tried that. If you try it, let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
These were so yummy! Next time I’m going to try to cook them in the air-fryer. They didn’t get toasted enough in the oven. I thought about using the broiler – but, I was too hungry for them!!! I had to have a taste!
Can these be made in the bread machine on dough cycle?
I haven’t tried it but that should work fine.