The best garlic bread at the grocery store is just as good as—if not better than—freshly made garlic bread. I said what I said! It’s squishy and crusty in all the right places, it’s buttery as hell, and it’s perfect for sopping up red sauce (naturally, we have thoughts on the best marinara, too). When we set out to find the best frozen garlic bread, we picked up everything from loaves to pre-sliced Texas toast to garlic rolls. In a pair of follow-up taste tests, we added gluten free garlic bread and the best garlic knots to the mix.
Grab some paper towels and a breath mint, and let’s talk about the best garlic bread you can buy.
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- Katz Gluten Free Texas Toast
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If we were going by looks alone, Katz Gluten Free Texas Toast would be the best gluten free garlic bread by a mile. It gets so golden and toasty, even people who swear by gluten would be hard pressed to turn down a slice of this stuff. And it tastes great, too, especially if you’re accustomed to the somewhat dry, crumbly nature of most gluten free bread. Still, this is the best frozen garlic bread to serve to GF friends who eat with their eyes.
Credit: Merc / Katz
- Rudi’s Gluten Free Garlic Texas Toast
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When this gluten free garlic bread emerged from our little countertop oven, I was dubious it would be good. The slices of bread are very thick, and I figured that would be a bad thing since a lot of GF bread isn’t very good (although we have found some pretty great gluten free bread). It also looks downright pale compared to Katz’s gluten free garlic bread, but Rudi’s won us over. The bread itself is super moist, almost spongy in a pleasing way, and it’s absolutely saturated with garlicky butter. This is a treat-yourself kind of garlic bread, despite being GF. My favorite part is that it purports to be made with sourdough bread, and you really do get a little bit of that sourdough tang on the finish. All in all, this gluten free garlic bread is some of the best frozen garlic bread and the best Texas toast, even if you eat gluten.
Credit: Liv Averett / DoorDash
- New York Bakery Garlic Knots
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Real talk from a garlic knot freak: None of the frozen garlic knots we tried were able to approximate the greasy, garlicky goodness of the really oily garlic knots you get at a pizzeria, but New York Bakery makes the best garlic knots we tried. They’re really squishy and tender, and they pull apart beautifully. Could they use more garlic? Sure. If I were in the business of making garlic knots I would absolutely package them with an extra packet of seasoned garlic butter to slather on after the fact, but if you have some leftover garlic butter cups from Domino’s (or if you snag a bar of the best garlic butter in our butter ranking), you can improvise.
Credit: Liv Averett / New York Bakery
- New York Bakery Breadsticks
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New York Bakery makes more than one appearance on this list because their garlic bread is just so, so good. After our second taste test, these breadsticks bumped Signature Select’s garlic breadsticks from the list, but it was a close call. These are just a little greasier and a little more garlicky tasting, but a little garlic and a little grease go a long way. They’re very squishy and moist inside, not crumbly like other frozen garlic breadsticks we tried. These are very much like Olive Garden breadsticks—they’re gonna be great with a big ol’ bowl of minestrone or pasta fagioli. This is the best garlic bread to buy if you like the nostalgia and simplicity of a stick.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Stater Bros. Garlic Dinner Rolls
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These garlic dinner rolls from Stater Bros. aren’t just adorable, they’re really delicious, too. They’re crusty on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, and have lots of good garlic flavor. While you’re probably picturing these in a wicker basket wrapped in a red-and-white checkered tea towel, we think they would be killer bisected and used as buns for meatball sliders. The inside will absorb the sauce, but you’ll still get some crunch when you bite in. Oh, and if you need frozen meatball suggestions, we have you covered there, too.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- New York Bakery Five Cheese Texas Toast
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I know this is going to sound nuts, but sometimes, cheesy frozen garlic bread is just too damn cheesy. If the bread in question has already been coated in a thick layer of butter or margarine (and garlic, obvi), the addition of cheese can turn the bread into an oily, gnarly mess. New York Bakery—king of the store bought crouton—makes the best garlic toast if you want the perfect bread to cheese to grease ratio. The bread is super crispy on the outside, really soft and squishy inside, and the combo of cheeses has such a nice bite. Even the crust of the bread feels like it was buttered. This is just so, so good.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread
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A lot of people believe that Texas toast is the most perfect form of garlic bread, but there’s something so satisfying about the sheer surface area of a loaf. I’m talking about the wonderfully crusty outside and the pillowy, oily innards. If you also like a loaf, Pepperidge Farm makes the best garlic bread out there. When you take this loaf out of the bag, it’s covered in a thick smear of garlic butter and that really works for it. The best thing about a loaf? Options, baby. You can leave the two halves of the baguette together in the oven if you like a super squishy center, or separate them and put them face up on a cookie sheet if you want the edges to crisp up a little bit (I did the latter, FWIW). Either way, it’s perfection. Some of the frozen garlic bread we tried tasted overwhelmingly like oil, but this really tasted buttery and fresh. Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling thought this tasted like homemade.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
Best Gluten Free Garlic Bread (Runner Up)
Best Gluten Free
Best Garlic Knots
Best Garlic Breadsticks
Best Dinner Roll
Best Garlic Toast
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Mama Cozzi’s, Mama Cozzi’s Five Cheese, L’Oven Fresh Parmesan Romano, Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast, Great Value Garlic Texas Toast, Great Value Five Cheese Texas Toast, Great Value Garlic Breadsticks, Kroger Garlic Knots, Great Value Garlic Knots
