Olive Garden Breadsticks are one of the primary reasons people go to the restaurant. These buttery breadsticks can’t be beat. They go so well with their salad and soups. Never fear, I will help you make them at home.
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Breadsticks at Olive Garden
Who doesn’t love these? Everyone loves the Olive Garden breadsticks! Hot and buttery, they are so hard to resist. Here is my homemade breadstick recipe that is a little heartier than what you will get in the restaurant.
I have seen a lot of recipes for these online, but I think the butter seasoning is missing a touch of oregano which gives these breadsticks a little something extra.
If you have any leftover of the buttery Parmesan blend you need to use it for when you take the breadsticks out of the oven.
Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Active dry yeast
- Water
- Sugar
- Vegetable Oil
- Salt
- Bread flour
- Butter
- Garlic powder
- Parmesan cheese
- Oregano
How to Make Olive Garden Breadsticks
- Combine warm water, sugar, oil, and yeast in a large bowl of a mixer or a food processor.
- Add flour and salt and process until the dough forms a nice uniform ball.
- Place dough in a bowl that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place.
- When the dough has doubled in size, place dough on a well-floured board and roll out the dough into a large rectangle.
- Cut the dough in half horizontally and then cut vertical strips of dough about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Roll the strips of dough into logs.
- Place dough logs on a greased baking sheet and allow them to rise until they have doubled in size.
- Melt butter and stir in Parmesan cheese and oregano.
- Just before baking the breadsticks, brush them with the melted butter mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush any remaining Parmesan butter on the breadsticks just before serving.
CopyKat Tip: For best results, rub the oregano between your fingers as you place it into the butter. This will help release the oils of the oregano and make it taste even better.
Recipe Tips
A couple of suggestions I would like to add to this recipe:
- Use bread flour if you have it. The breadsticks will come out slightly better. If you don’t have bread flour, don’t worry about it, all-purpose flour will be fine.
- Use real butter. When you use real butter on the breadsticks you are enhancing the flavor.
- Buy yeast in bulk. I like to buy yeast in bulk packages from large stores because you can save a lot of money doing this. I keep my yeast in an airtight container in the freezer to help lengthen its shelf life.
- Kneading the dough. If you don’t have a mixer or a food processor you can knead the dough by hand, it will work out fine. Often if I am having a stressful day I love to knead the breadstick dough by hand because it helps me to work out my frustrations.
Do these taste exactly like Olive Garden breadsticks? No, but they are pretty close. You will find these have a much denser structure. So you are going to get a familiar taste with a heartier bread.
Love Olive Garden? Check out these copycat recipes:
- Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Toscana Soup Recipe
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Toasted Ravioli
- Alfredo Sauce
- Seafood Alfredo Recipe
- Bolognese
- Meat Sauce Recipe
- Capellini Pomodoro
- Peach Cheesecake
More Copycat Bread Recipes
Be sure to check out more of my easy bread recipes and the best copycat Olive Garden recipes here on CopyKat.com!
Olive Garden Breadsticks
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups water warm
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/8 teaspoon yeast or one package of active yeast
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour plus extra for the board
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1/8 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Combine warm water, sugar, oil, and yeast in a large bowl of a mixer or a food processor. Add 4 1/2 cups of flour and salt and process until the dough forms a nice uniform ball. Place dough in a bowl that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place. When the dough has doubled in size (this should take about an hour) place dough on a well-floured board and roll out the dough. Roll out dough into a large rectangle. Cut in half horizontally, and then cut vertical strips of dough about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Roll the strips of dough into logs. Place dough logs on a greased baking sheet, and allow them to rise until they have doubled in size (this should take about 45 minutes). You should get between 20 and 24 breadsticks from this recipe. Melt butter, and stir in Parmesan cheese garlic powder, and oregano.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Just before baking the breadsticks, brush them with the melted butter mixture. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush any leftover butter topping on these just before serving.
Mr. G
I know it’s a no brainner, but in the instructions above, adding the garlic powder is not listed.
I just made this recipe and oh my gosh! everyone at my home just loved them.
Thank you for sharing.
Art Montesa
Hi Stefanie,
As I go over your recipe, my mind’s tongue is tasting the breadsticks and it tells me that this recipe will be great! Thank you so much.
Art Montesa
stephaniemanley
Thank you very much!
Guest0023159
I tried my hand at these tonight and they came out perfectly! Paired nicely with my Chicken Alfredo 🙂
stephaniemanley
So glad you hear that these worked well for you. I hope you get toe try more recipes soon.
Ed Feekings
Made these with one of my pizza dough recipes. The pizza dough uses flat beer as the liquid for the dough and ad dad just an amazing flavor. This is obviously my only breadstick recipe for either spaghetti or pasta with clam sauce!
Bebop
HI I am making these today to watch with the Brazil/Mexico WC match tonight. I have replaced the garlic and parmesan powder with real garlic and parmesan and fresh oregano so here’s hoping
J
JUST FYI… Olive Garden bread sticks can be purchased at a Flowers Foods thrift store. Here in NC they are made and distributed by Flowers Baking company. They come 16 to a pack and are half baked like a brown and serve roll. Just butter season and bake.. delicious!!
kidsmom
Olive Garden does not make their breadsticks from scratch. All they do is all is brush them with butter and shake on garlic salt.
stephaniemanley
You are correct. I hope you don’t mind this version. Thank you for stopping by.
l a k
I use to work at Olive Garden and that was my job, the bread sticks are the brown and serve then we would brush melted butter then sprinkle garlic salt
stephaniemanley
Thank you.
francesca
Young lady your are the best,, I’ve been doing your recipe for the last 2 days,. Oh my God me and my family just fell in love with you & your recipes on YouTube, it feels like i I’m the chef at Olive Garden you are so wonderful you are fantastic, awesome I have a hole lot of words, I could say but thank you, for sharing with us,, Your # 1::::
PS. My daughter first baby shower is going to be awesome thanks to your recipes. 🙂
Stephanie Manley
Oh wow. Thank you so much for your kind words. I hope you have enjoyed many new meals with your family. I am happy to help out!
Collin Averill
A suggestion for another recipe is the apple butter from cracker barrel. I love it and have always wanted to make it but I would have no clue how to start.
stephaniemanley
Thank you for your suggestion.
HomebirthMomma
I am definitely going to try this tomorrow and even though I have a bread machine with a yeast dough recipe, I am doing this and by hand. This will go nicely with my meatballs and spaghetti. Just know I have tried a couple of your other recipes and have not been disappointed. Thank you for inspiring us to cook!
stephaniemanley
I think you could do everything but shape them by hand with your bread machine. Let me know how it goes.
IzzieM
When I made this recipe, my breadsticks tasted alot like yeast. I watched the video and followed the instructions verbatim. How can I fix this?
Issy
I had that problem with a lot of ‘quick’ doughs, I usually sprinkle a bit of granulated garlic into the dough when mixing it. Probably a bit less then a tablespoon give or take,( might use less for garlic powder.) but you can use however much you like. It really helps mask the yeast taste tremendously! =) Hope this helps.
IzzieM
Thank you! I’ll try that the next time I make these! Sounds good!
stephaniemanley
Maybe next time try a not quick yeast, and go for the other normal yeast.
IzzieM
Okay, I’ll give that a try! Thank you!
pregnancy cravings
PS. Thank you for posting!!!
pregnancy cravings
Pregnant and craving olive garden bread sticks. Guess what I’m about to make!
stephaniemanley
I hope you enjoyed them.
Rhonda Barnett
i worked at OG and made them, they are prepackaged breadsticks that you get from the store, covered in melted butter then baked and topped with a garlic powder and salt mix, this recipe is really close and im sure tastes better but for the lazy way thats how it is done 🙂
Thankful
Your recipes are great no matter how close they come to the original. You do a great job and an even better job on your videos…. Thank you for taking the time to share!
stephaniemanley
Thank you very much. I hope these are pretty close.
JoAnn
Really wanted to make them but just couldn’t get the ingredients list to come up. I have a tip to add though. I use my pizza cutter whenever I’m dealing with breads and dough. It doesn’t tear or misshape anything because there is not a sawing motion. Honestly, I even use it to cut grilled cheese, etc.
JoAnn
I have no clue why but the computer recipe gods just let me have the ingredients info. I’m so excited! Making them tomorrow!
ginnygirl
I recently saw on a chef’s t.v. program that we should always use oil and not flour on the surface we will need or shape bread dough on. It keeps the dough from getting too dense. I wonder if that would be helpful here?
stephaniemanley
Ginnygirl great suggestion I think it may help some certainly. I don’t think it will take care 100% of the denseness. I believe the difference may also be in the flour as well. I can’t replicate a particular bakery’s flour.
Sandybreit
I made these tonight to go with lasagna, and first would just like to say that they tasted great! However, the recipe needs a few more specifics… It says “serves 8,” but does not say what a “serving” is. I made the dough into what I would consider a pretty large rectangle, and then cut it into 16 pieces, but the “bread sticks” came out more the size of hot dog buns. Next time I will definitely cut the amounts in half (I bake bread pretty often and should have known this was going to make a lot from the amount of flour), but otherwise this is definitely a keeper for me — thanks for sharing!
Stephanie
Great point about the serving size. I need to change my website to work in more specific proportions. We are working on that right now. I will get down do some more specifics.
Cory
“Now you can make the Olive Garden breadsticks at home. Now any mean can be complete with these buttery and garlic flavored bread.” just curious what “any mean” is
stephaniemanley
i made a typo, thank you for noting this.
Julia
Have you eaten at olive garden? The bread sticks aren’t buttery. Not at all. They have a light yeast taste to them. And they aren’t yellow. WTH?
stephaniemanley
Believe it or not I have eaten there many times. I respect your opinion, but I don’t share your take on them being not buttery. They are oiled down with butter or butter like substance. I used Kerrygold butter which tends to be more richly colored than most American butters. Thank you for checking out the recipe, even if you disagree with me, and seem to think I have never ate at the Olive Garden.
Kelsey
have YOU ever eaten at Olive Garden? Because the bread sticks do in fact have a light butter coating on them. If you’re still uncertain, ask an employee. Because they will tell you that as soon as they come out of the oven they are brushed with butter and topped with the garlic mix.
Kris B.
the OG you eat at must be skimping on what they do. I have never had a bread stick at any OG that I have been to that is not just like this.
kidsmom
You can also ask them for more butter too if they don’t use enough. It depends on the person making them. Sorry yours aren’t brown and buttery
Robin
Hi Stephanie! I’m actually making these tonight, the dough is rising as I’m typing this. I wasn’t sure where the vegetable oil and salt went, so I added it with the flour. Is that right? Just wanted to make sure for the next time I make this. Thanks for your help 🙂
stephaniemanley
Yes, add it in with your liquids. I hope you enjoy these.
cafeari
Do you use freshly grated Parmesan reggiano or the processed pre-grated Kraft kind?
stephaniemanley
For this you can use the cheese in a can 😉
Mona
Never ever never cheese in a can…….sorry!
stephaniemanley
Yes, add it in with your liquids. I hope you enjoy these.