Easy homemade Garlic Knots recipe with butter garlic topping. They’re soft, chewy, and a great side to pizza, pasta, and salad.

Looking for more bread and roll recipes? Check out my Cheesy Breadsticks, Beer Bread, and Buttermilk Cornbread!

Why I love this recipe:

  • Unique – They just feel a little more special than classic garlic bread or breadsticks, and my kids always request them.
  • Easy – They may look intimidating, but they are actually so simple to make.
  • Garlic Sauce brushed on top is delicious, and if you serve them with a bowl of marinara sauce, they’re out of this world good!

How to make Garlic Knots:

Proof Yeast: Combine warm water, yeast, and ¼ tsp sugar and stir–allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy. 

Yeast proofing in a small bowl.

Make Dough: Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, warm milk, butter, egg and salt. Blend mixture until combined. Add the flour slowly, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 – 6 minutes. You may not use all of the flour called for. The dough should be soft, very slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger, and pulling away from the sides of the mixer. 

Bread dough for garlic knots mixed in a stand mixer.

Allow Dough to Rise: Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil. Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and turn it over once to coat all sides in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Risen bread dough in a bowl, punched down once, leaving an imprint.

Shape Dough: Gently punch the dough down. Add a little flour to your countertop or work surface. Grab a ball of dough, about the size of a golf ball, and roll it out into a long rope (about ½ inch thick and around 9 inches long). Tie the rope into a knot and place it on prepared baking sheet.

Hands forming a rope of bread dough into a knot.

Second Rise: Cover garlic knots loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Garlic knot dough rising on a pan for the second rise.

Bake: Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 min. or until lightly golden on top.

Baked bread knot being coated in garlic butter sauce.

Brush with Garlic Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl while the knots are baking. After removing knots from oven, brush them lightly with garlic sauce while they are still warm.

Serve with:

Storage and Freezing Instructions:

Store in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for 2-3 days.

To Freeze After Baked: Allow homemade garlic knots to cool completely and place in a freezer safe bag.  Store for up to 2 months.  To thaw, remove garlic knots from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature, or stick them in the microwave for a few seconds.

To Freeze the Dough: Make the dough and shape the knots. Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and flash freeze (place them in the freezer for 1-2 hours).  Move the frozen dough knots from the baking sheet into a freezer safe ziplock bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.  To bake, remove frozen rolls and line them on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow them to thaw and rise on the countertop for about 2 hours. Uncover and bake at 400º F for 9-12 minutes.

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Recipe

Prep 2 hours
Cook 15 minutes
Total 2 hours 15 minutes
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Ingredients
 
 

Garlic Topping

Instructions
 

  • Combine warm water, yeast, and ¼ tsp sugar and stir–allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until foamy. 
  • Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer (or into a large bowl if you plan on kneading by hand). Add remaining ¼ cup sugar, warm milk, butter, egg and salt. Blend mixture until combined. 
  • While mixing on low speed, slowly add the flour, mixing until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 – 6 minutes. You may not use all of the flour called for!
  • The dough should be soft, very slightly sticky when touched with a clean finger. It should be pulling away from the sides of the mixer. 
  • Grease a large bowl with cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil. Place the dough in the bottom of the bowl and turn it over once to coat all sides in oil (this helps keep it from drying out.) 
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
  • Gently punch the dough down. Add a little flour to your countertop or work surface (or spray it lightly with cooking spray).
  • Grab a ball of dough, about the size of a golf ball, and roll it out into a long rope (about ½ inch thick and around 9 inches long). Tie the rope into a knot and place it on prepared baking sheet.
  • Cover garlic knots loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
  • Bake for 10-12 min. or until lightly golden on top.
  • While they're baking, make the garlic sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.
  • After removing knots from oven, while still warm, brush them lightly with garlic sauce.

Notes

Cheesy Garlic Knots: add a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese on top of the knots before baking.
Storing Instructions: Keep in an airtight container or bag at room temperature for 2-3 days.
To Freeze After Baked: Allow garlic knots to cool completely and place in a freezer safe bag.  Store for up to 2 months.  To thaw, remove garlic knots from the freezer and allow to thaw at room temperature, or stick them in the microwave for a few seconds.
To Freeze the Dough: Make the dough and shape the rolls. Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and flash freeze (place them in the freezer for 1-2 hours).  Move the rolls from the baking sheet into a freezer safe ziplock bag or container and freezer for up to 3 months.  To bake, remove frozen rolls and line them on a greased baking sheet.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow them to thaw and rise on the countertop for about 2 hours. Bake at 400º F for 9-12 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 125kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 3gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 176mgPotassium: 45mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 106IUCalcium: 9mgIron: 1mg

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I originally shared this recipe April 2013. Updated April 2019 and March 2022.

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Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

    1. Yes, making garlic knots with bread flour can definitely work! Bread flour has a higher protein content, which leads to more gluten development and can make your garlic knots chewier and more bread-like in texture. It’s a great option if you’re after that extra chewiness.

  1. 4 stars
    The knots were good, with a few caveats.

    First, our family considers 2 Tablespoons of garlic butter entirely inadequate for 24 knots, but we’re probably spoiled. My husband would prefer 8 STICKS of butter, but I used 8 Tablespoons (6 of butter and 1 of olive oil). I brushed it on before and after baking, and I would use even more next time.

    Second, it was way more than “slightly sticky” when I had added the full 4 1/2 cups of flour. Like others, I had to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour (total of 5 cups). Also, the metric conversion for the milk does NOT equal 1 1/3 cups; it’s for 1/3 cup. As another review mentioned, the video does NOT seem to show adding 1 1/3 cups of milk, which seriously made me question how much SHOULD be used.

    Finally, step 8 says to put the (single) knot on prepared baking sheet, which isn’t prepared until step 10. That part should be moved up before step 8, and step 8 should say to repeat with the other 23 knots. Personally, I think it’s more helpful to say to divide the dough into 24 equal parts than to say “grab a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball.” I don’t play golf, and I might have ended up with, say, 10 balls of varying sizes. I prefer to divide my dough in half, then in half, etc., ending with dividing in thirds until I have 24 pretty even pieces.

    I just think this recipe could be written better, and I would prefer much more than the 2 T. garlic butter so I could brush it generously (not lightly) on 24 rolls.

  2. 5 stars
    The garlic knots were absolutely fantastic! I made them for a holiday meal and froze the knots after shaping and before baking. I let them rise in the car for 2+ hours on the way to our destination. Because of this, they may have risen a bit too much and were pretty big, but oh so light and tasty with your marinara sauce. As my daughter said, can a garlic knot be too big?

    Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    Depending on your elevation (for example, if you live in the mountains versus at sea-level) can determine if you need to add more or less flour, I added the amount called for (unpacked, level scoops) and it was perfect. One trick I learned is to make your hands wet before you handle stickier dough, to avoid adding too much flour to be able to work with the dough. This dough is sticky, but by the first rise it should be pliable enough to work with! Flour your surface well, wet hands until you’re at the step of working & rolling the dough into shape. I used the ratio for the butter/oil spread and applied to to the rest of the stick of butter (approx 4 tsp left), equal amounts of oil, once this got hot and incorporated together on the stove I poured it into a jar with pre-cut fresh garlic. This recipe produced soft, fluffy, and perfectly browned garlic knots (the biggest ones I’ve ever seen). Two of my garlic knots ended up flattened, out of the 16 huge ones I made from this recipe, and I’m not sure why, but the rest fluffed up and are bigger than my palm! They’re absolutely beautiful. After I dressed them with the butter/oil/garlic spread is when I sprinkled on grated parm (the brand matters!) This will go perfectly with my lasagna tonight, thank you so so muccccch!

  4. 1 star
    Doesn’t taste like classic garlic knots at all. More like a supple brioche which is far off the mark for me. The amount of garlic oil topping was soooo small for the large recipe as well. It’s not the worst tasting thing but this might as well not be a garlic knot recipe at all.

  5. 4 stars
    The knots rise but never get tall like a knot. Any suggestions? They taste fantastic, just flat in shape.

  6. 4 stars
    I made these tonight and the measurements were pretty far off for me… I ended up adding 5 cups of flour and might have been able to add more because the dough was still so sticky. Shaping them was difficult because they were so sticky. BUT… The flavor was out of this world and it ended up making 15 very large garlic knots. My family hasn’t stopped talking about how good they were since dinner ended and are already talking about finishing the leftovers for breakfast 🤣😊

    1. 5 stars
      I also added like 5 cups of flour, and it was still sticky. Not like the video. However i think itll be okay. Theyre doing their second rise right now.

  7. 5 stars
    Wow is all I gotta say about these knots. I make them all the time. I even use it for hamburger buns, hotdog rolls. It is a very versatile recipe and so soft and fluffy. You really knew what you were doing when you made this recipe.

  8. 5 stars
    Very yummy. Made these for dinner tonight and they came out great. I added extra granulated garlic since my family lobes garlic but otherwise stuck to the recipie.

  9. 5 stars
    Made these today to go with our pasta dinner. Absolutely loved them. I substituted olive oil for the butter and used up some garlic cloves poached in oil olive for the topping in addition to some shredded parmesan cheese. Will be making these again. My boys gave it two thumbs up.

  10. 1 star
    I am in love with all your recipes, so I turned to this to whip up soem quick garlic knots for inner. Sadly, something is seriously wrong with the liquid measurements in this recipe! Please compare the water and milk numbers in metric and US customary. It created a huge sticky mess. I added extra flour, but not too hopeful. Saw a few other people had this problem too.

  11. 5 stars
    These garlic knots are great. I found out the hard way that the metric conversion for the milk is incorrect. It should be about 325.68g.

  12. 5 stars
    The recipe came together easily. I did need to double the garlic topping, that could be because of the silicone brush I was using. My whole family enjoyed it and they looked lovely!

  13. 5 stars
    A perfect dinner rolls recipe – thank you! I wasn’t very good at making the knot shape, but the recipe was spot-on and I was delighted at how easy it was to turn these out. The rolls were a hit with my dinner guests who enjoyed them with spaghetti and a salad. I only needed about 8 rolls, so I have a plastic freezer box full of these lovely rolls on hand to thaw and bake whenever I want them!

  14. 5 stars
    I made this recipe for dinner tonight and wow! so easy and taste amazing! if you are someone that remembers the loafs of bread that you could buy with KFC back in the day this bread taste like that amazing!
    great recipe thanks

  15. Do I need to use a standing bowl mixer, or will a handheld one suffice? (albeit make my arm tired)

  16. I made these yesterday. Substituted dry buttermilk/water for milk since I didn’t have milk. These are so pillowy-soft and yummy!

  17. 5 stars
    Nice, soft rolls. I live in an area where garlic knots are HUGE, and you can find them everywhere. However not all knots are made equally. These are excellent. The only additions I made were to add oregano to the butter/oil mixture and top them with fresh grated garlic and Parmesan cheese based on an Utica, NYer’s recipe.

  18. 5 stars
    This are the most delicious garlic rolls/knots ever! Recipe is perfect, they taste just like Olive Garden bread. My husband is continuously asking me to make these now!

  19. 5 stars
    I haven’t made this recipe yet but I’m making it next Friday but just reading the instructions I can tell they are so clear and the fact it has the nutrients is so good lol thanks

  20. 5 stars
    This is a _fantastic_ recipe, thank you for sharing! I’ve now baked easily over 400-500 garlic knots this pandemic and shared many of them with friends. They unfailingly ask for the recipe 😋

    I don’t usually have much milk in the fridge so I swapped out the 1 1/3rd cup of warm milk for Meyenberg powdered goat’s milk (full fat, not evaporated) mixed with warm water. Not only is it an easier to manage dry ingredient, with its high fat content I think it makes the bread in the knots a little softer. It had better because the fat content at 6g out of 28g is 30% of one’s recommended daily allowance in a single serving!

    My electric mixer does a fine job of combining ingredients but I don’t like how it kneads the dough. After mixing I usually apply ~3-4 folds, separated by a few minutes of resting. This helped make the dough less sticky and more pliable.

    Like a few other commenters suggested I also used fresh garlic, hand-grated.

  21. 5 stars
    We loved these, although my first rose took like 3 hours. House temp is like 74, so maybe I needed to make/fine an even warmer place? I’ll make these again, but I’ll make them smaller. I made half of the recipe and still got 14 knots. Would have preferred them even smaller. Also I added the garlic butter mixture before baking and then after baking. Delicious! I plan to add this to my recipe book. Thanks so much!!

  22. I made this today and I used butter with garlic rather than the regular butter and oh boy I wish I didn’t have to share 😂 Thank you for sharing your recipe 🥰

  23. I am currently in the process of making this- my dough is so sticky, I added extra flour but it didn’t help. Did not pull away from side of bowl, looks more like slim😬 It’s in a bowl trying to rise but I have little faith. Any idea what I did wrong? Followed all the steps as written

      1. Okay, tried again today, waiting for them to rise, I added more flour but still a sticky mess- I noticed in the video it doesn’t look like 5 tablespoons of butter- is that the correct amount?

        1. In the video it sure doesn’t seem to be 1 1/3 cup of milk. My dough was so wet. Needed a lot more flour. I’m thinking it was too much milk. Idk.
          Lisa

        2. I mixed with the dough hook in Kitchen Aid on a low to medium setting. I had to add more flour -literally only 1 Tbsp. at a time until it pulls away from the sides. Then it will be easy to handle. Just be patient waiting for it to finally come together. It’s a soft pliable dough that’s not sticky and easy to roll into ropes for the knots. I let this rise in my oven on proof mode which works very well.

  24. I tried making bread a couple of times about 20 years ago an it was a total failure. My husband makes great bread/rolls so I decided that I can do this and wanted to make garlic knots. I checked out a few recipes then found yours that was different than most of the others so thought this is the one. Holy Mackerel they turned out great.
    I just made a bunch more garlic topping than your recipe and added minced garlic too. Thanks

  25. 5 stars
    Hi Lauren!

    Big fan of your blog. I made these for for my family for our dinner after a 16 hour fast. They loved them so much, and devoured all 16 that I made. Thank you!

  26. 5 stars
    Amazing!! Simply fantastic recipe! So I made them between the size of a golf ball and baseball… ended up with 16. Delicious!! My husband could not stop eating them! We had baked salmon for dinner, and the knots were a perfect addition.

  27. Just made these for dinner. Doing a lot of cooking with all of us having to stay at home. They are great will make again. Want to say stay safe an well

  28. 4 stars
    I loved the old recipe that was featured here because it was vegan. If anyone has the old measurements from this recipe it would be greatly appreciated thanks

  29. 5 stars
    Super yummy and fluffy. I am definitely saving this recipe to do again! Love the slight sweetness from sugar! Reminds me of milk bread

  30. 5 stars
    Excellent rolls, great flavor, big hit with dinner! Made as instructed. Nice soft crumb, unlike other knots.

  31. These are the absolute best rolls! I made them yesterday for my huge family and everyone loved them. This has become my go recipe for rolls! Thank you so very much ❤️

  32. 5 stars
    Made these yesterday and they were soooo delicious! Followed recipe exactly and was so happy with results. Already planning my next batch.

  33. 5 stars
    I made the dough in my bread machine and followed the rest of the recipe as written. The rolls turned out beautifully! We dipped them in marinara sauce, poured a little wine, and had an incredibly tasty time. I’m glad I discovered your site!

    1. If your electric mixer has any sort of dough hook attachment that would work best. The wire whisk attachments might not be strong enough to knead the dough–you may be better to do it by hand.

  34. 5 stars
    As my husband and Iare both garlic lovers, I too doubled the garlic in the knots, but in retrospect likely won’t do that again as the flavour of garlic is a bit overpowering when eaten plainly. They do seem to bake to a very light colour even when extending the time, but are light, fluffy and delicious. Plan to serve them with a big pot of homemade soup for supper. Will definitely be making these again and likely pairing with a pasta dish next time. This was my first visit to your site and will be using it again soon I hope.

  35. 5 stars
    this was the first recipe I tried for garlic knots…I followed it EXACTLY and it came out absolutely perfect!! thank u for sharing!!

  36. 5 stars
    Thanks for this wonderful recipe, I’ve made it a few times now and always use unsweetened vanilla almond milk (no noticeable difference) ! I definitely freeze the leftovers.

  37. Hi there,
    Just came across this amazing recipe, however, I am enquiring what these rolls would be like if they were made with fresh garlic rather
    than the garlic powder ? Please tell me if this is at all possible and if so, what changes would need to be made to the recipe?

    Thank you
    Gisele

    1. Hi Gisele, you could add 2 cloves of minced garlic to the dough, in place of the garlic powder. 🙂 Make it the same.

  38. 5 stars
    Just tried these today and they are very tasty. Being a serious garlic lover, I doubled the garlic powder in the dough. They came out great!!

  39. 5 stars
    Thanks for the amazing recipe! Worked perfectly and everyone loved these knots, they’re so good!
    I used vegan buttery spread and omitted the parmesan cheese from the topping to make them vegan and they came out great!

  40. First made these tonight , for dinner. Awesome husband loved it and so did I. Easy to make . Faboulous recipe. Thanks , Darlene Pollock

  41. I have made these several times and never noticed the garlic powder in the bread flour mixture. So, today I am adding the powder. They have always been great.

  42. I’ve never baked with yeast before but these garlic knots make me want to start. I’ll have to tinker with the topping a little to make it dairy free, but this is going on my to-make list 🙂
    Stopping by from Blog Love!

  43. O M G !!! These are incredible! What a great recipe. Will use this every time I make shrimp scampi or anything with pasta! Thank you thank you thank you! Lauren

  44. These were awesome and easy to make. I actually made the dough in my bread machine. This the second time making them as my hubbie and I loved them!!

  45. Hi thanks for sharing this recipe……….i made these for my daughter’s birthday…ppl asked me from where you bought them?:)

  46. I stumbled across these on pinterest, and have made them a couple of times. They are AMAZING!! Thanks so much for the recipe!

  47. I have made these garlic knots 6 times. Always turn out amazing! I keep two dozen in the freezer. Great for pasta or soup and salad nights. Way better then anything from the frozen section in your grocery store! Thanks for the great recipe!

        1. Hi Leona, you could do either. I usually bake them, allow them to cool, and then freeze a few so theyre ready to go when I want them! Just take them out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature. 🙂

  48. Oh my goodness these look delicious! We’ve had something similar at a pizza place in town, and I could just chow down on way too many garlic knots and a salad! I will definitely have to try these out!

    Cheers!
    Buttons
    The Hot Toddies of Washington