Garlic Bread

Garlic bread is one of the most useful side dishes around. It goes with everything: soup, grilled fish, lasagna—you name it. Find a homemade garlic bread recipe that you love (we’re pretty confident it’s this one) and you’ll reach for it for family dinners, big cookouts, and, of course, whenever you make a big Italian meal. You can even cut it into small squares to serve as an appetizer with antipasti or some marinara for dipping.

The key to the best garlic bread is to make sure not to skimp on the flavoring ingredients—the fresh garlic, fresh parsley, and Parmesan cheese. This crusty version replicates the style of bread you’d find at an old-school Italian American restaurant. We use a loaf of soft Italian bread (though French bread or a soft baguette would also work) and slather it with garlic butter seasoned with parsley, which gives the dish a flavor similar to a typical Italian seasoning mix but is fresher and brighter. After sprinkling the split loaf with Parmesan and baking so that the garlic-butter mixture permeates the entire loaf of bread, we stick the buttery halves under the broiler, where they turn crispy and golden brown. The toasty result is just as good at room temperature as it is hot out of the oven.