These homemade garlic knots are extra soft and fluffy, and use a dough almost identical to this reader-favorite pizza dough. Top with flavorful garlic herb butter before AND after baking. And use my detailed instructions, video tutorial, and step-by-step photos below to help with the shaping step.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
These are the BEST garlic knots. I’m knot even kidding. 😉
Tell Me About These Garlic Knots:
- Made from an easy homemade dough
- Leftovers freeze beautifully
- Super soft and fluffy
- Golden brown
- Extra garlic butter
And I know you’ll appreciate this too: You can use the entire batch of dough for 16 knots or you can use half of the dough to make a pizza or stromboli, and then have 8 knots on the side. Perfect for pizza night—no delivery required.
Garlic Knots From Pizza Dough
You can make these garlic knots with 1 or 2 pounds of store-bought or homemade pizza dough. Today’s dough is almost identical to my homemade pizza dough, which yields about 2 pounds of dough. You can make 16 knots or 1 pizza + 8 knots. If you only need about 8 knots, freeze the other half of dough for another time. You will want to make these garlic knots again.
- Besides garlic knots and pizza, you can use this dough for cheesy breadsticks, pepperoni pizza rolls, and ham & cheese pockets too! So versatile.
Compared to my pizza dough, I add 1 extra Tablespoon of olive oil for a little extra flavor and richness. Sometimes for extra flavor I use butter instead, similar to what I do when making homemade breadsticks. Either one works. (Melted butter in the dough is convenient because you also need melted butter for the topping.)
Even though store-bought dough is convenient, I encourage you to try homemade dough. The dough requires so few ingredients, and about 60–90 minutes of rise time.
You need flour, yeast, sugar, water, salt, and olive oil (or melted butter). I always use Platinum Yeast from Red Star. If you’ve been baking my yeast breads for a while, you know I swear by it! Its careful formula strengthens dough and makes working with yeast simple.
Let Me Show You How to Shape Garlic Knots
Start by making and kneading the dough. (Reference my How to Knead Dough video tutorial as necessary.) After the dough rises, punch it down to release the air. Then begin shaping the dough. If you know how to tie a knot, you can shape garlic knots.
- Shape into a 16-inch log: Using your hands, shape the dough into a 16-inch log. No need to use a rolling pin because this doesn’t need to be perfect.
- Cut into 16 strips: Cut the log into 16 1-inch strips.
- Roll each strip into an 8-inch rope.
- Tie the rope into a knot.
Here are step-by-step pictures of the shaping process. It’s a lot easier than it seems, and you don’t need any special tools.
Shape each strip into knots:
You can tuck the ends underneath the knot or leave them out—that’s totally up to you. The ropes are longer when making soft pretzel knots, but tying the knot is the same.
Let the shaped knots rest for about 30 minutes before brushing with butter and baking.
Garlic Herb Butter
Right before baking, generously brush the knots with garlic herb butter. Simply combine melted butter, fresh minced garlic or garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt.
- If you can’t find a spice labeled “Italian Seasoning” in the spice aisle, use dried oregano, dried basil, and/or dried parsley instead.
Bake the knots until golden brown and experience the lofty smell of garlic throughout the kitchen. Everyone (um, even your neighbors) will know what’s on the menu tonight!
Flavor Tip: Save some of the garlic butter to brush onto the knots as they come out of the oven, then top each with fresh parmesan and chopped parsley. The parmesan and parsley are completely optional, but make an awesome garnish. This is your happy place:
More Surprisingly Simple Homemade Bread:
- Sandwich Bread
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Homemade Cheese Bread
- Dinner Rolls
- Focaccia
- Soft Pretzels & Soft Pretzel Knots
Homemade Garlic Knots
- Prep Time: 3 hours (includes rising)
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 16 knots
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Follow these detailed instructions for super soft and flavorful homemade garlic knots. Review video tutorial and recipe notes below before beginning.
Ingredients
Homemade Dough
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320ml) warm water (between 100–110°F, 38–43°C)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) Platinum Yeast from Red Star instant yeast (1 standard packet)*
- 1 Tablespoon (13g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) olive oil or (43g) melted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder*
- 3 and 1/2 cups (about 450g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more for hands and work surface
Topping
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 garlic cloves, minced; or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- optional after baking: 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- optional after baking: 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Whisk the warm water, yeast, and granulated sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. *If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use a large mixing bowl and mix the dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in the next step.
- Add the olive oil (or butter), salt, garlic powder, and half of the flour. Beat for 15 seconds, then add the remaining flour. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray—just use the same bowl you used for the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 1–2 hours or until double in size. (Tip: For a warm environment on a particularly cold day, heat your oven to 150°F (66°C). Turn the oven off, place the dough inside, and keep the door slightly ajar. This will be a warm environment for your dough to rise. After about 30 minutes, close the oven door to trap the air inside with the rising dough. When it’s doubled in size, remove from the oven.)
- Shape the dough: Use the video tutorial and step-by-step photos as your guide for this step. When the dough is ready, punch it down to release the air. Using floured hands on a lightly floured work surface, shape the dough into a 16×5-inch (13x41cm) log. (5-inch width really isn’t as important as the 16-inch length here—no need to be exact.) Using a very sharp knife, pizza cutter, or bench scraper, slice into 16 1-inch strips. Roll each strip into 8-inch ropes. Tie each into a knot. You can tuck the 2 ends of the knots underneath or leave them out—that’s up to you. Arrange the knots on 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Lightly cover the shaped knots and let them rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 45 minutes. They will slightly puff up during this time, producing softer rolls.
- Towards the end of the rise time, preheat oven to 400°F (204°).
- Make the topping: Stir the melted butter, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt together. Brush on the knots. Reserve some of the topping for when the knots come out of the oven.
- Bake for about 20–23 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from the oven and brush the warm knots with remaining garlic butter. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and/or parsley, if using.
- Serve plain or with marinara sauce for dipping.
- Cover and store leftover knots at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze baked and cooled knots for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter, then reheat as desired. (I usually just microwave them for a few seconds.)
Notes
- Freezing Dough or Overnight Dough Instructions: See Pizza Dough recipe for details; the doughs are almost identical.
- Freezing Unbaked Shaped Knots: Instead of freezing the dough as a whole, you can freeze the shaped knots before baking them. Shape the knots as directed in step 4. Arrange on a lined baking sheet. Freeze, uncovered, for 1–2 hours. Remove from the freezer. At this point, knots should be frozen and no longer sticky. Place them into a freezer-friendly container or zipped-top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter. Bring to room temperature, arrange on 2 lined baking sheets, cover lightly, and allow to rest/rise for 1 hour before continuing with step 6.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Dough Scraper | Pizza Cutter | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Dough: You can make these garlic knots with 2 pounds of store-bought or homemade pizza dough. This recipe yields just about 2 pounds of dough, which is enough for 16 knots or 1 pizza + 8 knots. If you only want to make 8 knots, punch the dough down as directed in step 4. Cut in half. Use the other half of the dough however you’d like or freeze for later. Shape into an 8-inch log and cut into 8 1-inch strips. Continue with the recipe as directed.
- Garlic Powder: I now add a little garlic powder to the dough. You won’t see that addition to the dough in the recipe video, but it adds a little extra flavor. Highly recommended.
- Yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star is an instant yeast. You can use active dry yeast instead. The 1st rise time may take a little longer. Reference my Baking With Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Italian Seasoning: If you can’t find a spice labeled “Italian Seasoning” in the spice aisle, use dried oregano, dried basil, and/or dried parsley instead.
Tried this recipe. Had to add extra flour as the dough was quite wet…almost a half cup. The rest worked like a charm. Tasted great. Got done little over a day.
Another fabulous recipe from Sally! Made these to go with spaghetti and meatballs. I added italian seasoning and garlic powder to the dough. My knots weren’t the prettiest, but were super tasty. Def adding this to our pasta night menu. 🙂
I tried this recipe today for the first time. It was delicious! However, I was wondering why my dough puffed up a bit more than pictured? They looked more like rolls than knots. I followed the ingredients and procedure as closely as possible. I’m new to baking with yeast so I’d appreciate any tips, thank you!
Hi Camille! It’s possible the dough over-proofed during either of the two rises, most likely during the second rise. If you slightly cut down on that rise time, they should hold their shape much better. So glad you tried and loved these!
Hi sally,
I made these knots but the inside was still really soft when I took them out after 25 minutes. Not sure if they’re still raw or if it is supposed to be like that what do i do?
Hi Ash, it sounds like the garlic knots weren’t finished in the oven. Don’t be worried if yours take longer– all ovens are different. If you decide to try the recipe again, you may want to lower the oven rack a bit (if they were browning quickly on the exterior) and extend the bake time as well.
Tried garlic knots for the first time and these were perfect! My girls (15, 13) enjoyed making the knots! Thanks so much!
Hi Sally !
Just tried this recipe. Came out so well. Nice and soft in between and tastes so good.
One question though, the top and bottom were a little crunchy. Should i have taken them out earlier?
Hi Meenu! Glad you tried and enjoyed these. Removing them from the oven a few minutes earlier would definitely help promise a softer garlic knot.
I made garlic knots for the first time and I followed your recipe. They turned out great!! Thank you for this great recipe
Simple recipe and detailed instructions. Thanks!!! My knots turned out great. Another yeast recipe success after using your pretzel recipe with success as well.
Hi Sally
I have made these but only once. My family found we wanted more garlic flavor. Is there a way to get garlic into the dough itself?
Sure can! Add 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 clove minced garlic to your dough. Enjoy!
Fabulous! I have never baked with yeast before and these came out perfect! Thank you Sally!
Hi Sally, I made these for the first time and they turned out delicious! A bit crunchier and crispier than I expected but probably because I left them in for 20 min instead of 18. I didn’t have fresh garlic but garlic powder did the trick, plus some dried parsley. For some reason the knots didn’t hold their shape very well so it all blended together after they were baked (looked kind of like garlic rolls). Any idea why? I figured it was just a rookie mistake. Yours are way prettier, but in any case, I can’t complain about the recipe though, because hubby and I ate them all within 24 hours! They were even good the next morning. Thanks for the recipe.
Hey Sally, this recipe is just what I was looking for! After trying a few others, this has been the best. Thanks for sharing :).
Such a great recipe. My fanily loved it.
Hello! Just wanted to say that these taste amazing, me and my family loved it. We didn’t have Italian seasoning so i used oregano and thyme instead.
Hello, I am new to dough making. I want to prep these knots during the day and then pop them in the oven right before dinner. After kneading it, can I put the dough in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and then let it come to down to room temperature before making the knots?
Hi Priya, I don’t recommend letting the shaped dough sit for longer than 45 minutes. You can however do a slow rise in step 3 for 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. See my pizza dough recipe notes for full instructions.
Any idea on calories or shouldn’t I ask.
Thank you
Hi Steve, I’m unsure of the nutritional info of this recipe, but there are many great online calculators like this one: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Oh my! These turned out wonderful. Didn’t brown on top enough…so I turned up to 500, three minutes later…perfect! Everyone raved! Thanks again. This recipe is a keeper.
Such an amazing recipe. With everything that’s going on with the virus I’ve had more time to learn new skills. I made them to go along with our deer stew and they were so good. My partner gave them a 9/10 (he said the only thing that would have made them better was if I had cut them open and put butter inside) Definitely becoming a staple in our home.
These are so delicious! I usually make Sally’s pizza crust recipe – use one half for the pizza and the other half for these garlic knots. Since they bake at different temperature than pizza, I bake these first, then bake the pizza while the knots cool down. Great appetizer while waiting for the pizza. They are very addicting!
Made these the other night to go with a homemade pasta alfredo and wow, they were so good! Mine were a bit… wide and flat? Thinking I must’ve let it rise too long the first time (way more than doubled) and then again rest too long after forming the knots (my 14yo interrupted me for help with Algebra). But the taste and consistency were amazing, even though they looked a bit more like garlic buns than knots. Can’t wait to make a pizza with this dough recipe!
They turned out fab! Thanks so much Sally… Will try more bread variations with your dough recipe xxx
These were so simple to make and turned out AMAZING! The recipe and video were easy to follow. They look and taste impressive, and these are going to be my
go-to for dinner parties in the future!
Hi Sally! These garlic knots could not have been more perfect! They looked and tasted absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to make them again! Thank you for such a great recipe!
I had to take the time down to 14 mins for my oven and they were perfect!!!!!! Amazing!!!!! Tastes just like little Caesars crazy bread but better, because you control the amount of seasonings! Will definitely be making these again soon.
Hi Sally, thanks for the recipe!
I wanted to ask about the red sauce. What is it made of? Could you give me the recipe for it? looks delicious
Hi Silia, I just use store bought marinara sauce. I don’t have my own recipe for homemade marinara but there are many great recipes online if you search for one.
Hi Sally! These look amazing. Trying them today. Can i use active dry yeast instead of platinum yeast? I only have active dry yeast available. Thank you!
Thank you so much Sally!
I never thought that I could be a good baker. After I followed your recipe, I made my first time Garlic Knots and they turned out delicious(looked nice too)! Both my husband and my son said they were better than the ones in stores. I will definitely make more. Thank you again!
Hi Sally! They were delicious however they were a bit hard from the outside! any tips on how to make them softer next time I make them?
Hi Tala! If you try the recipe again, this could easily be fixed with less time in the oven. Sounds like they could have been over-baked.
Absolute perfection!