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Garlic Knots are the quintessential side dish for any good pizza night! Simply made with store-bought pizza dough, butter, seasonings, and parmesan cheese, this is an easy recipe that just about anybody can follow. Don’t forget to dunk them in some marinara sauce to really seal the deal!
Garlic knots? Yes, please! I can’t think of a single time in my life that I turned down one of these little treasures. Because you know what pairs perfectly with a cheesy, saucy, carb-y slice of pizza? More carbs. There’s just nothing quite as satisfying as dunking a buttery garlic knot into a warm bowl of marinara sauce next to your pizza!
Here’s the deal – I love dressing up store-bought ingredients. Sometimes (most times), I just don’t have the patience to make and knead dough. When the craving for garlic knots strikes, I like knowing that I can make semi-homemade ones with just pizza dough and a handful of simple ingredients to make it delicious.
Why You’ll Love This
- SO easy. Yes! This is a kid-friendly, budget-friendly, and just all around friendly recipe. You’re essentially just making store-bought pizza dough way tastier with butter, seasonings, and cheese. It’s such an easy recipe to bake in no time!
- Inexpensive. Have you looked at food delivery apps lately? Restaurants seem to be more expensive than ever, and all of those service/delivery fees are wild. And you can’t forget to tip the driver of course! When you make garlic knots at home, you’re cutting all of those extra expenses out of the picture with super simple (i.e. CHEAP) ingredients.
- Just plain fun. It’s hard to frown when you’re enjoying a buttery, seasoned, and cheesy garlic knot. Bring a batch of them to your next pizza party to make everyone smile!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here is a list of ingredients you will need to make easy garlic knots. Make sure to scroll down to view the full recipe for exact measurements.
- Premade canned pizza dough
- Salted butter
- Garlic powder
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Parmesan
How To Make Garlic Knots with Pizza Dough
Here is a general overview of the steps involved to make this garlic knots recipe. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
Cut the dough. Roll out the pizza dough into a large rectangle. Cut it in half, then cut each half into four even strips. Cut the strips in half. This should yield 16 pieces of dough that are all about the same size.
Form the knots. Roll each strip of dough into an 8 inch rope. Tie the rope into a knot.
Let the knots rise. Place the knots on a prepared baking sheet and leave a little room between each one. Let them rise and double in size, which should take about an hour.
Butter them up! Melt the butter and stir in all of the herbs and seasonings. Brush most of this all over the knots but be sure to save some. Save the parmesan for a little later.
Bake. Bake the knots at 400°F for about 15-20 minutes.
Add the cheese. Stir in the parmesan cheese to the leftover melted butter. Brush this all over the knots. Feel free to sprinkle with more cheese if you’d like.
Recipe Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
Here are just a few things to keep in mind when making garlic knots:
- You can make them more garlicky. If you really want to scare away all of the vampires, stir some minced garlic into your melted butter mixture! You can also double up on the garlic powder to make these knots unmistakably garlicky. When it comes to garlic, most people tend to measure with their hearts… You can do that too, just note that a little garlic goes a long way!
- Feel free to use homemade pizza dough. It may require more work, but then you can have the true homemade bragging rights! Use my easy recipe for homemade pizza dough blend for more info if you choose to go this route.
- Let them rise. I know it may seem strange to let store-bought dough rise. However, it makes a big difference! The knots are bigger and more enjoyable once baked if you decide to give them about an hour to rise at room temperature first.
- Tuck the end. We found that the knots looked nicer with the end tucked under – the ends tended to brown quicker than the rest of the knot. Also, because they were a little thicker this way, they were a bit chewier, which we preferred.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Once cooled to room temperature, transfer your leftover garlic knots to an airtight container or zip-top baggie. In the fridge, they’ll stay fresh for about 3-4 days. Feel free to reheat in the microwave, air fryer, or oven until they’re warmed through.
They freeze well too! Allow to cool to room temperature then place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe zip-top bag. They will keep for about 3 months in the freezer. To reheat, remove them from the freezer and put them immediately into the air fryer or oven and cook until they’re warmed through.
What to Serve with Garlic Knots
Garlic knots are a pretty legendary pizza appetizer/side dish! Round out your pizza night with these recipe ideas:
- Pizzas. Of course you have to serve these garlic knots with some pizza! I’ve got a whole ‘lot of options for you on the site. Pick from these and have an awesome pizza night: Triple Mushroom and Herb Grilled Pizza, Grilled Caprese Pizza, Spicy Korean Pork Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Pizza, White Pizza, or the classic Pizzeria Style Pepperoni Pizza and Spicy Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza!
- More appetizers. Who doesn’t love a table full of finger foods and appetizers as a meal? Pizza Rolls and Pepperoni Pizza Dip would make a great addition to these garlic knots.
- Pizza wannabes. These are inspired by pizza but not really pizza – equally delicious though! Pizza Stuffed Chicken, Pizza Muffins, and Pizza Muffins.
Garlic Knots
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 ounce (397 g) package of pizza dough, room temperature
- ¼ cup (57 g) salted butter
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 Tablespoons (10 g) parmesan cheese
- Optional garnish: serve with marinara sauce on the side
Instructions
- Prepare baking pans by lining them with parchment paper and spraying with non-stick spray.
- Open the can and roll out the pizza dough. You want to form it into a large rectangle.
- Cut the rectangle in half so that you have 2 equal squares of dough.
- Cut each square into 4 strips. Cut these strips in half. You should now have 16 (fairly) equal pieces of dough.
- Roll each strip into an 8 inch rope. Tie the rope into a knot (you can choose whether to tuck the ends under or not).
- Place each knot on the pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed. Leave a little space between each knot to allow for rising.
- Lightly cover the pans and allow the knots to rise until doubled in size (I found this took about an hour.)
- Heat the oven to 400 °F (204 °C)
- Melt butter and stir in seasonings: garlic powder, oregano, and parsley. (Save the parmesan for later.)
- When the knots have finished rising, brush on the butter mixture, and save some for later.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
- Add 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese to the leftover butter mixture.
- Allow the knots to cool slightly, then brush this mixture over the knots. Sprinkle them with extra cheese if you’d like!
- Serve with marinara dipping sauce on the side.
