If you’re looking for a better-for-you version of a popular side dish, try this Olive Oil Garlic Bread! It is vegan, dairy-free, and takes less than 30 minutes to make!
If I use any kind of oil these days, it’s either olive oil or avocado oil. I try to stay away from the oils that are not as good for you, such as vegetable oil. I obviously stay away from butter because I am plant-based, but I also try to avoid vegan butter brands because they are pretty processed and usually contain at least some of the bad oils.
If you do use plant-based butter, you can follow this recipe and just substitute melted vegan butter for the olive oil. It will still taste delicious, but if you want a minimally processed, better-for-you version of garlic bread, this Garlic Bread with Olive Oil recipe will do just that!
Ingredients
- bakery bread loaf (like Italian or French)
- Olive oil
- dried oregano
- fresh parsley
- garlic cloves
- salt
- pepper
How to Make Olive Oil Garlic Bread
This vegan garlic bread recipe is quick and easy! Before you start preparing anything, go ahead and preheat the oven to 350°F.
For this recipe, I recommend using a small food processor. Butter is often used to make garlic bread, and it is much easier to spread because it is thicker than oil. With a food processor, you can blend the garlic and oil together to get a thicker consistency that is easier to spread over the bread.
In a small food processor, blend together the oil, garlic cloves, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. After that is blended, add in the fresh parsley and pulse to combine. You don’t want the parsley to be blended, but you want it finely chopped.
You should be left with a semi-thick oil mixture. Cut your bakery bread into slices. I prefer to cut 1-inch thick slices for Texas Toast-style garlic bread, but you can really cut it however you want. You can even slice the bread lengthwise, top the two long pieces, and then cut it into smaller pieces once it’s done baking! Note that thin slices will need to bake for less time than thick slices.
After you slice your bread, spread the oil mixture over each slice. Be careful not to go overboard while topping one slice, or you won’t have enough for all of them. I recommend putting a little on each slice until you finish off the mixture.
When all of the slices have been topped, let them bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes. The cook time will vary depending on how you choose to slice your bread. Remove the bread from the oven when the crusts are crispy but not burned.
You can either serve the bread as is or with marinara sauce — my personal favorite! You can check out my list of vegan pasta sauce brands if you are looking for a plant-based marinara.
How to Store Garlic Bread
You can keep this olive oil garlic bread in the refrigerator and heat some up whenever you want. Store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. When you want some garlic bread, bake it in the oven at 300°F for about 10 minutes.
Olive Oil Garlic Bread
Equipment
- small food processor
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian bread or similar bakery bread*
- ½ cup olive oil or similar oil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 6 cloves garlic about 6-7tsp minced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley lightly packed
- ¼ tsp salt
- â…› tsp pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut the Bakery Bread as desired. **
- In a small food processor, blend together garlic, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Add fresh parsley to the food processor and pulse to combine. Make sure the parsley is finely chopped, but not blended.
- On a baking sheet, top each of the bread slices with the garlic/oil/herb mixture.
- Bake the garlic bread slices in the oven for 10–15 minutes, depending on slice size. They are done baking when the crusts are crispy but not burned.