This homemade breadsticks recipe is the best – even better than Olive Garden breadsticks! They are soft and moist with a buttery garlic topping.
I have been making this homemade breadsticks recipe for over a decade now. It was born out of my husband's love for Olive Garden Breadsticks, and my unwillingness to dine at said location!
So I created this recipe for homemade breadsticks and even my husband agrees that they are the best!
They're soft, moist with a delicious buttery garlic topping. They're also fairly simple to make. Serve them alongside your favorite Italian dishes like homemade meatballs, pesto pasta, pasta primavera, tortellini soup, and so much more!
Homemade Breadsticks Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Warm water. Make sure the water is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Honey. granulated sugar is a good substitute for honey.
- Salted butter. unsalted butter works well in this recipe.
- Olive Oil. technically avocado oil or canola oil would work in this recipe - but olive oil yields the most authentic flavor.
- All-purpose flour. bread flour is a good substitute for all-purpose flour
How to Make Breadsticks
This breadstick recipe has a few steps, but they're pretty straightforward and foolproof! Let's walk through how to make breadsticks step-by-step, and don't forget to watch the video.
Make the garlic salt topping:
Begin by making the garlic topping by combining the sea salt and garlic powder in a small bowl. Then set it aside to use later.
Make the breadstick dough
Next, make the breadstick dough my combining the water, honey and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let the mixture sit until foamy (5-10 minutes).
Alternately you can mix the ingredients together by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
Once the yeast has proofed, add the olive oil and melted butter and stir to combine.
Then, add 2 cups of flour and sea salt to the wet mixture and stir with the dough hook until combined.
Next, add an additional 1 cup flour and stir until incorporated. If necessary, add up to ¼ cup additional flour until the dough is smooth and only slightly tacky.
Knead until dough is smooth and soft with the dough hook - or by hand.
Then, transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour).
Form the breadsticks
Once the dough has doubled in size, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Then, divide dough into 10 equal pieces (I suggest using a food scale and weighing the dough. For me, the entire batch weighed 804 g, divided by 10 each breadstick was 80.4g).
Roll each portion of dough out into a 10” long cylinder and place them on 2 baking sheets (5 on each), evenly spaced.
Loosely cover with a damp tea towel and let the breadsticks rise until puffed/doubled (about 30-60 minutes).
Bake the breadsticks
Once dough begins to rise, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Bake at 400 degrees for 11-13 min or until the breadsticks are lightly browned. (note: In the photos below, the breadsticks are a little darker than I usually like them)!
Remove the breadsticks from the oven and immediately brush each one with butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt mixture.
Serve
Serve the homemade breadsticks warm with your favorite Italian dishes. Here are some of our suggestions:
- This pesto pasta with homemade basil pesto.
- Spaghetti and homemade meatballs
- This pasta primavera is one of my all-time favorites!
- Spinach tortellini or tortellini soup.
Store/Freeze
Store leftover breadsticks in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Reheat in the oven set to warm or in the microwave for 10 seconds.
Recipe FAQS
There are a few different varieties of breadsticks, these Olive Garden copycat breadsticks are supposed to be very soft.
Olive garden breadsticks have many unnecessary ingredients like mono & diglycerides (a harmful emulsifier), soy (found in their garlic topping), margarine etc. That is why I chose to create this recipe for homemade breadsticks. If using organic ingredients you can ensure they are made from only flour, yeast, honey, real salted butter, pure olive oil, and fine sea salt.
Yes, if feeding a large crowd you can double this recipe to make 20 breadsticks.
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Homemade Breadsticks Recipe
Ingredients
Breadstick dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 3 to 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Topping
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- optional, add 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
Make the garlic salt topping:
- Combine the sea salt and garlic powder in a small bowl, set aside.
Make the breadstick dough
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine water, honey and yeast and let sit until foamy (5-10 minutes). (Alternately you can mix the dough by hand in a large bowl with a wooden spoon).
- Add olive oil and melted butter to the proofed yeast mixture.
- Add 2 cups flour and sea salt to the wet mixture and stir until combined.
- Add additional 1 cup flour and stir until incorporated. If necessary, add up to ¼ cup additional flour until the dough is smooth and only slightly tacky.
- Knead until dough is smooth and soft.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl, cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour).
Form the breadsticks
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Divide dough into 10 equal pieces (I suggest using a food scale and weighing the dough. For me, the entire batch weighed 804 g, divided by 10 each breadstick was 80.4g).
- Roll each portion of dough out into a 10” long cylinder.
- Put on 2 baking sheets (5 on each), evenly spaced.
- Loosely cover with a damp tea towel and let the breadsticks rise until puffed/doubled (about 30-60 minutes).
Bake the breadsticks
- Once dough begins to rise, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 11-13 min or until the breadsticks are lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and immediately brush each breadstick with butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt mixture.
- Serve warm.
Video
Notes
Ingredients and substitutions
- Warm water. Make sure the water is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Honey. granulated sugar is a good substitute for honey.
- Salted butter. unsalted butter works well in this recipe.
- Olive Oil. technically avocado oil or canola oil would work in this recipe - but olive oil yields the most authentic flavor.
- All-purpose flour. bread flour is a good substitute for all-purpose flour
Store/Freeze
Store leftover breadsticks in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Reheat in the oven set to warm or in the microwave for 10 seconds.Nutrition
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Rita
I made your bread stick it was so fully and soft it was a big hit with me
Laura
Thank you Rita!