Garlic Knots

Garlic Knots are delicious strips of pizza dough, knotted up and baked with an irresistible garlic parmesan topping. You don’t have to wait for pizza night to enjoy these little bites of garlic heaven at home.

My favorite part of ordering in pizza isn’t even the pizza–it’s the garlic knots that come on the side.The best ones are soft, fluffy and served piping hot with plenty of garlic butter on top. Homemade garlic knots are easy to make any time! We love to dip them in my easy Homemade Alfredo Sauce recipe or enjoy them with my garlicky Chicken Skewers.

Garlic Knots Recipe

This is an overview of the ingredients you will need to make this easy garlic knots recipe. Important notes and substitutions for certain ingredients are discussed. The full printable recipe, with amounts and specific details, can be found at the bottom of the page.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Pizza Dough – You can make your own pizza dough, but for this recipe I find that a pre-made pizza dough works just fine. Pillsbury is an easy to find pizza dough at most grocery stores, Trader Joe’s has good pizza dough, and if you have Italian delis in your area, they often have excellent pizza dough for sale.
• Salted Butter – If you only have unsalted, just add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to compensate. You can also use olive oil, and just like with unsalted butter, add that 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
• Garlic powder, Oregano & Dried Parsley – You can reduce or increase these as you like according to taste. You can even swap the garlic powder for garlic salt (will be salitier) or use some fresh minced garlic.
• Parmesan Cheese – I like the freshly grated parmesan for this recipe. You can also use the canned parmesan cheese if that’s what you have on hand. Shaved parm is a bitter harder to use in this recipe just due to it’s size.

How To Make Garlic Knots

1. Prepare baking pans by lining them with parchment paper and spraying with non-stick spray. Roll out pizza dough into a large rectangle.
2. Cut the rectangle in half so that you have 2 equal squares of dough. Cut each square into 4 strips.
3. Cut these strips in half. You should now have 16 (fairly) equal pieces of dough.
4. Roll each strip into an 8 inch rope. 
5. Tie the rope into a knot. You can choose whether to tuck the ends under or not, that’s just a matter of preference.
6. Place each knot on the pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed. Leave a little space between each knot to allow for rising. Lightly cover the pans and allow the knots to rise until doubled in size. This usually takes about an hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Melt butter and stir in seasonings: garlic powder, oregano, and parsley.
8. Save the parmesan to be used later.
9. When the garlic knots have finished rising, brush on the butter mixture, and save some for later. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

While baking, add the parmesan cheese to the leftover butter mixture. Allow the knots to cool slightly, then brush this mixture over the knots. Sprinkle them with extra cheese if you’d like.

I love to serve these with my quick and easy tomato sauce for dipping.

Recipe Tips and Advice

Rolling Out Dough: Dough that is cold can be a bit of a challenge to roll out. If you let your dough sit for a bit and lose a bit of it’s chill, it will be easier to work with.

Storage: Garlic knots may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 – 3 days. You can also store them in the fridge for up to a week. They are best warmed before serving. 

Freezing: You may freeze the garlic knots before or after baking. They will freeze for up to 3 months. To freeze prior to baking, freeze the knots after they have risen and before you brush them with the garlic butter mixture.

Baking From Frozen: When you remove them from the freezer, allow them to sit at room temperature for about an hour. Then brush on the garlic butter mixture and bake them at 400 degrees. Check them after 15 minutes and keep an eye on them until they are golden.

To Tuck Or Not: I found that the knots look nicer with the ends tucked under. The ends tended to brown quicker than the rest of the knot when not tucked. Also, because they were a little thicker this way, they were a bit chewier, which I think is a good thing.

Recipe FAQs

What To Serve With Garlic Knots

Garlic knots are an amazing side dish for all kinds of recipes. Here are some great pairing suggestions.

• Easy Lasagna
• Sheet Pan Lasagna
• Instant Pot Spaghetti
• Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
• Ricotta Stuffed Shells
• Pizza Casserole
• Breaded Chicken Parmesan
• Easy Ravioli Lasagna
• Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
• Lasagna Soup
• Olive Garden Salad Recipe
• Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo
• Chicken Gnocchi Soup

If you love these garlic knots, I think you’ll also love my Cheesy Garlic Rolls. They take a bit more time, but add lots of gooey mozzarella to the recipe!