Homemade Air Fryer Garlic Bread

If you love garlic bread, you’ll love this easy homemade Air Fryer Garlic Bread recipe. I recently discovered that you can toast bread in the air fryer, and it takes less than 5 minutes! And, you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already!

The air fryer gives it a crispy crust but leaves the inside soft and chewy. It can go with just about any dish, making it very versatile.

Can an air fryer toast bread?

Yes, you can toast bread in an air fryer! Air fryers are just countertop convection ovens that can do much of the same things that a regular oven can.

It’s super flavorful with just the right amount of garlic kick. The recipe is simple enough that anyone can make it! It will become a staple in your kitchen.

I used an air fryer in my Whipped Goat Cheese Crostini recipe to toast the bread and it worked perfectly!

Ingredients

Butter: The butter should be softened in advance. If you forget, that’s okay. Melting the butter in order to spread it isn’t a big deal since it just gets melted anyway.

Garlic: I go with about 4-5 cloves, and I’m a garlic person. Adjust this to your taste and liking. Fresh garlic cloves are best, the recipe just isn’t as good using only garlic powder.

Fresh herbs: I used fresh rosemary because that is what I had in my garden. You could also use fresh parsley or basil. In a pinch, dried Italian seasoning would suffice.

Parmesan cheese: Cheese makes everything better. Opt for freshly grated if you can for the most flavor. I also like to sprinkle a little extra after the bread when it’s still hot.

French baguette: You could use any crusty, fresh bread. An Italian loaf is also a good choice, but the baguette is always my favorite. If you want to use Italian bread, I recommend something like ciabatta.

How to Make

If you can make toast, you can make homemade air fryer garlic bread. I cut the loaf into my desired-sized slices. Then put together the homemade garlic butter by combining room temperature butter, garlic, and my favorite herbs in a small bowl.

Then divide the garlic butter mixture amongst the slices of bread. Preheat the air fryer oven to 375 degrees and arrange the bread in a single layer in your air fryer basket or tray. Bake for about 3-4 minutes.

If you don’t want to worry about preheating, you can just go with about 5 minutes or until golden brown and toasty.

How to Serve

Honestly, I would eat anything with cheesy garlic bread, but I would first suggest this Instant Pot Marinara Sauce – you can dunk it in the tomato sauce or you can serve on the side of classic spaghetti and meatballs.

One of my favorite meatball recipes is Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs and Chicken Marsala Meatballs. If you’re vegetarian or like plant-based meals, it would also be great with White Bean Vegetarian Ravioli.

This recipe is especially good for any meal that includes sopping up the sauce with bread. My Instant Pot Swiss Steak has a tomato gravy that is just perfect for dunking. Same with my Lemon Chicken with Spaghetti Squash.

For soups, try Italian Wedding Soup, Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings or Potato Leek Soup with Kale. 

I know homemade air fryer garlic bread is not the most glamorous dish in the world, but it sure is a favorite in my house. The smell of fresh garlic baking in the oven will fill your house with a wonderful aroma that tells everyone there’s something yummy coming their way.

Leftover Storage

I don’t generally have that problem, but if you have any leftovers you can keep the bread slices in an airtight container for a day or two. To bring the bread back to life, simply repeat the same air fryer temperature and time.

However, you may find that the bread goes stale before a day or two depending on the freshness of your bread. If you do end up with stale bread, you can break it into pieces and toast it again in the air fryer to make homemade croutons.

How to Freeze

Absolutely! After you smear the garlic butter on each slice, you would simply wrap each slice in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil and place it in a freezer bag.

Make sure to get as much air out of the bag as possible. Then you would follow the directions in the next section for heating up the garlic bread.

You can keep homemade garlic bread in the freezer for up to 6 months. If you go past that, it’s not going to make you sick, but the texture and quality will not be nearly as good. For best results, try to eat within 3 months.

How to Reheat (Homemade or Store Bought)

These directions would apply to both frozen homemade garlic bread and store-bought (aka “Texas Toast” type). Air frying frozen bread just requires a little bit longer in the air fryer.

Typically it is a little more than double the amount of time, so about 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees. You don’t need to flip halfway through unless you are skipping the cheese or buying the non-cheesy type at the grocery store.

You don’t want the cheese to stick to your air fryer basket, but it’s not 100% necessary to flip with either type of garlic bread.