Turkish Garlic Bread

Turkish Garlic Bread is a super quick and easy homemade garlic bread recipe. Using store bought Turkish bread, butter, garlic and dried herbs smothered in Romano, it is a must try recipe. Turkish garlic bread with cheese has crispy, crunchy edges and soft fluffy melt in your mouth buttery insides 😍.

Recipes like the Ciabatta Garlic Bread and Garlic Pizza Bread make easy cheesy sides 👍😉.

Serve them with the Lamb Bolognese, Turkey Mince Bolognese or Marinated Lamb Ribs 😍.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Easy ingredients: each (in most cases) of the herbs used are pantry staples so you might find that you already have some of the ingredients needed for the recipe.
• Family favourite: the whole family will love getting together on a Saturday night and chowing down on spag bowl with homemade garlic bread, it is a match made in heaven!
• Versatile: you will love the fact that this garlic bread can be served with pretty much anything and everything. It is an easy side that works providing the delicious additional other than makes many mains sing!
• Taste and texture: there's the soft white bread, the garlicky butter, the aroma of the dried herbs and the crispy crunchy bread edges. Packing a whole lot of yum into a usually plain and simple white bread loaf.
• Mixed herb garlic bread: often store bought garlic bread relies on only the use of parsley to provide the colour and herb component. This version of homemade garlic bread provides a wider palate of flavour through the use of multiple dried herbs.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Turkish bread: this is a popular loaf of white bread which is long and rectangular. Often sold seeded, sometimes with a combination of white and black sesame seeds, it is great for sandwiches, grilled cheese and as a substitute pizza base.
• Butter: as we don't add additional salt to the recipe, you could use regular salted butter or if you prefer unsalted butter. You will find it easiest to work with if you chop it into small cubes as shown in the photo above.
• Garlic: store bought minced garlic is fine to use. The chunkier the texture, the better. You can also purchase cloves of garlic and finely chop them if you prefer.
• Dried parsley: one of the main dried herbs in the recipe. It is a great pantry staple that saves you always having to have fresh parsley on hand.
• Dried basil: another popular and common dried herb chosen for its flavour and ability to compliment the other flavours in the recipe.
• Dried oregano: commonly used in Italian cooking. This dried herb is paler in colour to the other dried herbs. It is also great to use sprinkled on cheese on toast!
• Dried chives: bright green and full of flavour even when dried, this is the 4th and final dried herb used to bring flavour to the garlic bread.
• Cheese: this is an optional ingredient, however, a little of it takes the garlic bread to next level yum with a bold flavour that will tick a lot of boxes. Recommend is pecorino romano or parmesan cheese.

Tasty tip: the butter needs to be at room temperature otherwise it will be too firm to work with. So grab it out of the fridge as a starting point so that it will have had a chance to soften by the time you come to use it.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the bread. You will need a knife and chopping board for this initial step.

• Cut Turkish loaf in half (Photo 1)
• Add butter to bowl and soften (Photo 2)
• Add garlic and dried herbs to softened butter (Photo 3)
• Combine till consistently mixed together (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Turkish Garlic Bread

To make the bread, start by preparing the Turkish loaf by cutting it lengthways. When that is done add the butter to a small bowl. Use a spatula to mush it up so that it is soft and pliable. Then add the garlic and dried herbs, stirring to ensure they are consistently mixed in.

• Spread butter mixture onto bread (Photo 5)
• Sprinkle with cheese (Photo 6)
• Transfer to baking tray (Photo 7)
• Bake for 15 minutes (Photo 8)

The bread will only take about 15 minutes to cook. The edges will be golden brown and crispy, the centre, fluffy, garlicky and cheesy 😍.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

Anything you can think of is pretty much the best way of serving this bread!

It works perfectly as a side to the Honey Soy Pork Ribs, Honey Glazed Pork Chops or Slow Cooker Lamb Ribs. It goes down a treat with the finger licking BBQ Lamb Ribs.

After spaghetti and garlic bread? Try it with the Chicken Spaghetti Bolognese, Pork Bolognese or Linguine Bolognese😁. Or serve it with a piping hot bowl of the Slow Cooker Lamb Stew.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftovers in a sealed air tight container for 2 days. Reheat prior to serving.

How to Freeze

You can make the bread, place both halves back together and freeze (uncooked) for up to 3 months. Oven bake prior to serving.

How to Reheat

You will get the best results reheating garlic bread in the oven or air fryer. Whilst the microwave can be used to warm the bread, it won't allow crispy edges and can be somewhat dry in texture.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• If you prefer to use finely chopped fresh herbs you can.
• For the cheese, you have a wide variety of options. Romano or Parmesan cheese are recommended but if you are at a stretch mozzarella or pizza cheese will also work well.
• You can add a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes to the dried herbs if you want a little kick of heat.
• If you want to use a different type of bread you can. My Ciabatta Garlic Bread shows you an alternative to Turkish bread garlic bread.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Grab the butter out of the fridge to begin with so that it has a chance to soften before you come to use it.
• Ensure that the oven is preheated as this is the best way to accurately follow the cook times specified in the recipe card.
• Slide the garlic bread off the baking tray and allow it to cook on an oven rack with baking tray beneath as a method to achieve super crispy, crunchy edges.
• Use oven mits to remove the garlic bread and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes before using a bread knife to slice into pieces.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

What is traditional Turkish bread called?

The name for traditional Turkish bread is Pide.

What do you eat with Turkish bread?

Turkish bread can be used as a pizza base, bread for sandwiches, toasted for dipping, served with olive oil and dried herbs or open grilled cheese.

Is Turkish bread the same as pita bread?

Turkish bread and pita bread are different. Turkish bread is a long white loaf of bread, often sold with sesame seeds on top. Pita bread comes in a variety of sizes, is round in shape and can be thin or thick. Pita bread is also commonly available in both white and wholemeal varieties.

😍 More Easy Side Dishes

Side dishes can be a super quick and easy way to create balance, variety and excitement to main dishes. Here are some more ideas that I know you will love to give a go:

• Creamy Garlic Potatoes
• Fried Cabbage and Bacon
• Quick Potato Bake
• Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad
• Garlic Butter Potatoes
• Skin on Roast Potatoes
• Garlic Pizza Bread
• Bruschetta Pizza
• Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
• Duck Fat Roast Potatoes

You can also find all of my side dishes in the one spot for your leisurely perusal 👍😉.

Adrianne

PIN and save this recipe for later! 

Hunger still got you? You can SUBSCRIBE to receive the latest recipes, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.