This post first appeared on Yellow Bliss Road where I am a contributor.
My family can’t get enough of these Pizzeria-Style Garlic Knots! Use homemade or store-bought pizza dough, bake until golden, and then dip in marinara!!
Garlic knots are my oldest son’s obsession. Anytime we go to an Italian restaurant he has to have them. He has a carb obsession like his mom.
The only downside is he can’t handle raw garlic. It’s too much for him. So each time we order garlic knots it becomes a crapshoot regarding the garlic.
To help him out, I whipped up a homemade garlic knots recipe using garlic butter with garlic powder instead. He devoured them! His brother and my husband gave them two thumbs up as well. YES!!
LOVE THIS RECIPE? PIN IT FOR LATER!
Follow Bread Booze Bacon on Pinterest
Truth be told, when it comes to Italian food my kids are the pickiest eaters ever. One loves pepperoni pizza and the other one won’t touch anything with red sauce.
Neither will touch pasta unless it’s mac and cheese. It hurts my foodie heart. Who doesn’t like pasta?! Even butter noodles are not an option for them.
Luckily they both love these Mini Parmesan Garlic Knots!
These knots are completely poppable and delicious dipped in a little marinara. They’re also super tasty served alongside your favorite lasagna and other Italian meals!
They’re crazy easy to make and are a sure-fire hit for all your football and holiday parties. You may want to make a double batch because they go fast!
What are garlic knots made of?
This recipe uses a few simple ingredients, nothing fancy.
- Pizza dough or bread dough
- Unsalted butter
- Garlic powder or minced garlic
- Dried oregano
- Dried or fresh parsley
- Grated Parmesan cheese (totally optional, but yum!)
The hardest part when making these knots is trying them. You need to get your dough pieces long enough to tie a full knot, but not so skinny enough it’ll tear while you tie the dough.
How to Make Garlic Knots
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Start by placing your pizza dough on a floured surface. Then form the dough into a ball and cut the ball into 4 equal pieces.
- Next, flatten the pieces into 4 x 5-inch rectangles. Use a knife or pastry cutter to cut each rectangle into 4 long strips. Then, cut long strips in half.
- To make the knots, take a small strip of dough and roll it into a snake (long and skinny). Gently tie the dough into a knot. Place the dough onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough placing the knots about 1-inch apart.
- Next, bake the dough for 15 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- While the knots are baking, make the garlic butter. To start, melt unsalted butter in the microwave. It will take about 30 seconds on HIGH. Stir garlic or garlic powder, dried oregano, and dried parsley into the melted butter.
- Carefully remove the knots from the oven. Immediately use a pastry brush to coat the knots in the garlic butter mixture.
- Then, if you want, sprinkle on some grated parmesan cheese. If the cheese doesn’t melt as much as you’d like, just pop the baking sheet back into the oven for a few minutes. This will also brown them up a little thanks to the butter!
- You can serve these garlic knots warm or at room temperature. We like ours with some marinara sauce!
As you’ll notice in these pictures, these garlic knots are fairly small. I love serving mini knots as a party appetizer, but you can easily make them bigger to serve as a side dish with dinner.
Instead of cutting the dough rectangle into 8 pieces each, cut them into 3 or 4 pieces. Then roll the dough snakes and tie them into knots. After that, proceed as directed.
Are garlic knots Italian?
Garlic knots were created in the US, not Italy. It’s not uncommon to have “Italian” food in the states be an American recipe or a variation of an Italian dish.
Garlic knots were created back in 1973 in New Jersey as a way to use up pizza dough scraps. They caught on quickly and can now be found on the menu of most pizzerias.
How do you store garlic knots?
Once your garlic knots are cooked you can store them in an air-tight container for a couple of days. Or you can flash freeze them for later.
My family’s favorite Italian meals!
- Easy Shrimp Scampi
- Italian Sausage & Caramelized Onion Pizza
- Chicken Glorioso Pasta Bake
- Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo
- More dinner recipes…
More tasty finger foods for your party!
- Ham and Cheese Roll Ups
- Pizza Muffins
- Bacon Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs
- Hawaiian Pizza Sliders
- More appetizer recipes…
Pizzeria-Style Garlic Knots
Ingredients
- 16 ounces pizza dough homemade or store-bought
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 3 cloves garlic minced)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1 tablespoon chopped parsley)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- Marinara sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Place pizza dough on a floured surface and form into a ball. Cut the ball into 4 equal pieces. Flatten the pieces into 4 x 5-inch rectangles. Use a knife or pastry cutter to cut each rectangle into 4 long strips, and then cut long strips in half.
- To make the knots, take a small strip of dough and roll it into a snake (long and skinny). Gently tie the dough into a knot. Place dough knot onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough placing knots about 1-inch apart.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the knots are golden brown.
- While the knots are baking, make the garlic butter. Melt the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder, dried oregano, and dried parsley.
- Carefully remove knots from the oven. Immediately use a pastry brush to coat the knots in the garlic butter mixture.
- Sprinkle on some grated parmesan cheese on top of the knots too. If the cheese doesn't melt on its own, you can pop the baking sheet in your warm oven for a few minutes. This will brown up the knots a little more thanks to the butter.
- You can serve these garlic knots warm or at room temperature. I like to serve them with a bowl of marinara sauce for dipping.
Betty says
Hi Julie,
I would love to make these for our Italian dinner night, but would prefer making them ahead. If I flash freeze them…that is once baked with garlic butter or raw?
Julie Espy says
Hi Betty! To prepare these rolls for the freezer here’s what you need to do.
Prep the knots through step 3. Then, preheat your oven to 275 degrees instead of 400 degrees. Bake the rolls for 15 minutes. The rolls will still look pale and undercooked, but the inside will be cooked. Remove them from the oven and cool to room temp. Flash freeze ’em on a sheet pan until they are completely frozen (about 4 hours), and then transfer frozen rolls to a freezer bag. The rolls will stay good frozen for 2-3 months
When ready to serve: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake from frozen until they are nicely browned on top and thawed in the center, about 10-15 minutes. Brush with garlic butter topping and serve.