Air Fryer Garlic Bread Recipe: Easy 4-Minute Crunchy Side

Slices of warm garlic bread adorning your dinner table never fails to excite your taste buds. And you can make it in as quick as 4 minutes using the air fryer. Cooking this flavorful side in this machine toasts the bread and melts the garlic butter fast. Before you know it, you’ll have crunchy garlic bread to enjoy with any pasta, soup or another savory dish. We also spoke to a chef who offers an easy tip for infusing the bread with an extra garlicky flavor. Here’s how to quickly make savory and zesty garlic bread in your air fryer!

How garlic bread is traditionally made

Making this beloved side starts with the spreading melted garlic butter onto pieces of artisan bread like an Italian loaf, baguette or ciabatta. The buttery bread is then baked and served once it’s cooled slightly. While this process produces pungent and golden brown garlic bread, it can take about 15 minutes to bake at 400°F. The speedy alternative: Use your air fryer to create toasted garlic bread in less time!

Why the air fryer works to make crispy garlic bread

Air fryers utilize circulating heat, which simultaneously melts the butter and crisps up the bread faster than in the oven. This ensures that the bread cooks evenly and that none of the ingredients burn. Also, a standard 6-quart air fryer is large enough to make 8 hearty slices of garlic bread! While this appliance helps produce yummy garlic, it doesn’t do all of the heavy lifting. See, there’s a simple trick to infusing the garlic butter with more flavor.

Chef’s secret to mouthwatering garlic bread

For an intense garlic flavor, Kelly Kubala, test kitchen assistant at Cuisinart, suggests giving whole or minced cloves time to sit in the plain butter. “Let the garlic cloves steep in the melted butter for at least 10 minutes before brushing on the bread for maximum flavor,” she says. Once the butter is fully infused, add other ingredients including chopped parsley and stir until combined. And voilà! You’ve transformed regular butter into a delectable spread for your best-ever garlic bread.

How to make garlic bread in the air fryer

Here, Kubala shares Cuisinart’s recipe for Classic Garlic Bread that cooks in the air fryer in 4 to 6 minutes. Make it once to serve with your favorite meal — and you may find yourself ditching store-bought garlic bread for good!

Classic Garlic Bread

Air fryer garlic bread — Kritchai Chaibangyang/Getty

Ingredients:

½ loaf Italian bread (8 inches long), halved horizontally
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 Tbs. fresh parsley leaves, chopped
2 tsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Yield: 8 slices

Heat small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add butter, oil, garlic and cook until butter has melted, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat and allow to sit 10 minutes before adding parsley.
Brush garlic butter on top of each piece of bread. Season with salt and pepper, and then sprinkle Parmesan evenly over each piece of bread.
Preheat air fryer to 350°F.
Once preheated, place bread in basket and then slide basket back into the air fryer. Cook about 4 to 6 minutes or until bread is fully browned and toasted.
Carefully remove bread from air fryer and transfer to cutting board. Cool 2 to 3 minutes before slicing into 8 even slices. Serve.
Note: This recipe uses preheat and cook times for Cuisinart’s 6-Quart Digital Air Fryer AIR-200 model.

5 tasty ways to flavor up air fryer garlic bread

With garlic butter being the source of this dish’s flavor, you can dress it up to suit your taste buds. Mix in any of these 5 ingredients into the butter before brushing it in onto the bread.