Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks are fluffy on the inside with a perfect balance of buttery garlic and salt on the outside! This recipe is NO KNEAD, so literally anyone can (and should!) make it!
Copy Cat Olive Garden Breadsticks
We all know that the greatest thing about Olive Garden is their breadsticks. They’re famous for the breadsticks and salad deals! Every time you go to eat, they sit a bread basket full of warm Olive Garden breadsticks in the middle of the table to munch on and enjoy while waiting for your meal to come.
Waiting for your food to come and filling up on breadsticks is a two sided sword. On the one hand the breadsticks are amazing, but on the other hand, if you don’t practice self-restraint, you get too full to enjoy eating your entire dish. There’s a solution to this though- making your own breadsticks at home!
When you follow this copycat Olive Garden Breadstick recipe at home you can make a ton of delicious fluffy breadsticks in the comfort of your own home and eat as many as you want! And the best news yet?? This recipe is NO KNEAD!
What’s In Olive Garden Breadsticks?
There is nothing crazy in this recipe, you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry already! There are two parts to this recipe, the dough and then the butter and garlic topping.
Breadstick Dough
- All Purpose Flour
- Active Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Warm Water
- Canola Oil
Topping
- Butter
- Garlic Powder
- Salt
How to Make No Knead Breadsticks
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Then we will add in water and oil, stirring until combined. The dough will look shaggy, don’t worry about kneading it. Below is a photo of the dough prior to the dough rising.
Cover and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Find that sunshine and and get that bowl into it! If it is cold and dreary, I have a trick for that! Turn your oven on to 180° for about 5 minutes, TURN THE OVEN OFF, and then place the covered bowl inside of the oven for the hour.
When your dough has risen for an hour (and should definitely be doubled by now! See photo below) Flour your counter generously. Pour the dough out onto the counter. Flour the top of the dough and knead a few times until it is no longer sticky and easy to handle.
Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Then cut each of those into 8 pieces. Knead each piece in a little flour, to make it easier to handle. The dough will be sticky, so a little extra flour is a must! Roll into a rope that is about 8 inches long. Arrange the breadsticks on your pan, allowing some rising room.
Repeat with remaining dough. Expect to have about 3 pans worth of breadsticks so if your oven has a convection function, I would suggest using it! If not, once your first pan is ready, I would start baking as you are rolling the remaining breadsticks.
Let the breadsticks rest while the oven is preheating to 375°. (350° if you are using convection) Bake fro 15-17 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately after taking the breadsticks out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle on a mixture of Garlic Powder and Salt.
Can You freeze Olive Garden Breadsticks?
Yes you can! After your breadsticks have cooled, place them flat on a baking sheet and freeze solid. Them transfer to a Ziploc bag and squeeze out the extra air. Now you can reheat the breadsticks when you’re ready to eat and they’ll taste just as good as when they were fresh.
How do you reheat frozen Olive Garden breadsticks?
Place your breadsticks in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes or until they have a nice deep golden brown color and are warmed all of the way through. You can also heat them in the microwave for about a minute or so.
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Want all the Bread Recipes? Try some of these!
- Asiago Cheese Bagels
- Dinner Rolls
- Honey Wheat Bread
- French Bread
- Soft Pretzels
- Cinnamon Roll Recipe
- Blueberry Quick Bread
- Bread Bowls
- Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread
Olive Garden Breadsticks
Ingredients
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- 2 pkg active yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 4 tsp salt
- 3 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp canola oil
Garlic Topping
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Instructions
- Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add in water and the oil. Stir until combined.
- Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Flour your counter generously. Pour the dough out onto the counter. Flour the top of the dough and knead a few times until it is no longer sticky.
- Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Then cut each of those into 8 pieces. Knead each piece in a little flour prior to rolling into a long rope. Arrange the rope on your pan, allowing some rising room.
- Repeat with remaining dough. Expect to have 3 pans worth of breadsticks.
- Let the breadsticks rise for an additional 15-20 minutes, while the oven is preheating to 375°.
- Bake at 375° for 15-17 minutes.
- Mix together the garlic powder and salt.
- Immediatly after taking the breadsticks out of the oven, brush each breadstick with melted butter and then sprinkle the salt/garlic mixture onto each breadstick.
- Serve immediately!
SaraT says
The step by step directions nor the list of ingredients has “minced garlic”, yet in the printable recipe, the first step in the instructions has the addition of “minced garlic” with the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. I assume that is an error?
Megan says
Delicious! 2 questions though:
1) the recipe calls for 4 tbsp oil but the instructions only require 2 tbsp
2) the instructions mention adding minced garlic but that ingredient isn’t called for.
Karli Bitner says
Hi Megan- Those errors have been fixed, this recipe is an adaptation of my Garlic Parmesan Focaccia Bread recipe and when I was writing things up those two things must have been overlooked. Thanks for having my back. 🙂
Karli Bitner says
Hi Sara- it’s all fixed now. Thanks!
Halle says
Even better than Olive Garden!
Karli Bitner says
Good job Halle, I’m glad it worked out. Isn’t it awesome to get better that restaurant food in your own home? One of my favorite things. Happy baking!
Kelly says
My daughter did these while I was doing the Fettuccine Alfredo recipe in the Instant Pot. Both worked out great!
BTW We kept the bread sticks in the fridge and then cut them in half lengthwise, added a good grated cheddar along with garlic. We heated them in the oven at 375 to get the bread a bit crisp and the cheese to melt. Voila nice garlic breads for dinner another night.
So far your recipes are a hit in our house.
Thanks!
David says
You should do a video of this it sounds yummy. im a visual learner. 🙂